Giddiness - NOT amateur radio

Whilst at Chippenham Park to see the snowdrops before lunch I was able to compare how I felt last year with this.

Driving there and back feels much more stressful than it was. 45mph feels to me like 60mph! I feel more tired and giddy than I remember a year ago. It is hard to tell whether these things are just old age or as a result of my 2013 stroke.

I feel older than I did. Now that is a daft thing to say! What I mean is I feel older in myself. Yes, I know we all get older all the time!  😀

Snowdrops - NOT amateur radio

Today we went to Chippenham Park near us to see the snowdrops. There were plenty out as well as daffodils, but they will soon be past their best.

2m FT8

At about 0920z I QSYed to 2m FT8. My initial CQ was spotted by 6 stations including 2 in Cornwall.

As usual running 10W to the big-wheel.

UPDATE 1453z:  Recent 2m FT8 CQs (10W) were spotted by 16 stations in 5 countries. On 2m FT8 RX quite quiet with just 11 stations in 4 countries spotted so far. I guess some people are at work.

UPDATE 1606z: G0LRD has a very useful real-time FT8 grabber allowing me to see my 2m FT8 signal in real time. It looks relatively clean, although it is hard to be sure when it is very strong.

See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/

Stations spotting my 10W
2m FT8 today to 1705z

UPDATE 1705z: Now 21 spots of my 10W 2m FT8 signal today. I have been called several times in the last hour, but sadly no 2-way QSOs.

UPDATE 2043z:  Now 30 stations in 6 countries spotted my 10W 2m FT8 today.

160m FT8 overnight

Overnight was another good session on 160m FT8 RX. Plenty of stations spotted in North America and South America as well as elsewhere. Overall 408 stations were spotted.

160m FT8 RX overnight
- stations spotted here

G3XBM history

Although this has been on before, some may be interested in how I got into the hobby. Even now, nearly 60 years later I still get fun from it.

Amateur radio means different things to different people. Some just like chatting, some ATV, others repeaters, others satellites, others QRP, others moonbounce and so on.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/history

Evolving language - NOT amateur radio

At one time the over-use of "like" and going up at the end of sentences really grated on me. Then I realised that speech and language have always been evolving and that I should just shut up. I guess as we become more global, language will be increasingly evolving. Oh, I really am a grumpy old man!

60m beacon

Southgate News reports that the 5MHz Westmorland beacon is to close, leaving just GB3RAL active in the UK on that band. I guess these days people can use FT8 or WSPR to check propagation. Personally I prefer FT8 to beacons. WSPR would be better still, but there is less activity.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/february/uk-5-mhz-beacon-to-close.htm#.XkmeiI6TK00

Sunspots - Monday February 17th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the sunspot number 0. A=3 and K=1.

160m FT8

At about 1700z, I QSYed to 160m FT8. Already, 10 spots of my 10W to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with the best DX being DG9BBC (522km).

UPDATE 1740z: 15 stations have spotted my 10W FT8 TX so far with best DX spotting me being OE9GHV (869km). On 160m FT8 RX 61 stations spotted so far.

UPDATE 1815z: 17 stations spotting me this evening on 160m FT8 TX (10W).

UPDATE 1935z: Now spotted by 26 stations on 160m FT8 TX (10W) with best DX being EA1JO (1167km).  On 160m FT8 RX 204 stations spotted with best DX spotted being RW9JZ (4318km).

UPDATE 2027z: My recent 160m FT8 CQ (10W) was spotted by 23 stations in Western Europe. See map.

Stations spotting my last 10W 160m FT8 CQ 

UPDATE 2056z: After spotting 284 stations on 160m FT8 RX, I have moved to 1908kHz RX in the hope of spotting a few Japanese stations in the next few hours. I shall move back to 1840kHz FT8 RX overnight.

UPDATE 2312z: Back on 1840kHz. A recent FT8 CQ was spotted widely in Western Europe. As yet no North Americans spotted. No Japanese tonight on 1908kHz.

The arrow of time - NOT amateur radio

Our everyday experience is that time moves from the past to the future. This is also the basis of all physical laws I think.

Our whole experience of time may be an illusion. What we think are our memories of the past may not be so.

I often wonder if the arrow of time could be reversed.