Sunspots - Saturday May 2nd 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.

Moxon antennas

It was many years ago that I built a simple 70cm Moxon antenna in well under an hour from an old coat hanger.  I used this when out portable in a contest and it worked well.

Moxons have been made from HF to UHF. They are easy to make, have useful gain and bandwidth, a good front to back ratio and are quite broadband. In summary, they are useful antennas.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/70cm_moxon

Lockdown humour - NOT amateur radio

With many of us in lockdown we are sharing various funny clips to keep our spirits up. This one I have watched many times and I still find it funny as it could be so true! I hope you like it too.

Coleton Fishacre - NOT amateur radio

One of our favourite National Trust places is Coleton Fishacre near Dartmouth in Devon. It is a home once owned by the a famous theatre family in the mid 1900s with lovely gardens in a valley going down to the sea. The photo shows the sea at the bottom of the garden.

10m FT8

At about 0905z I turned on my 10m FT8 gear. As usual I was running 2.5W to the indoor loop. There looks like there's plenty of Es about already!

UPDATE 1255z:  86 stations spotted so far and my own 2.5W has been spotted by 6 stations. Nothing outside Europe yet.

UPDATE 1930z:  Now 15 stations have spotted my 2.5W to the indoor loop.  261 stations spotted on RX including 3 South Americans.

UPDATE 2200z:  QRT.

Wisteria - NOT amateur radio

This wisteria was growing up the walls of a cottage we saw on our walk yesterday.

See https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/wisteria/growing-guide

OFCOM's plan of work 2020-21

OFCOM has published plans of work for the next year on its website.

Rally News

The following have been received. Again, my apologies if the background makes this hard to see on some platforms, but this is how it came to me. As I have said before, it is safer to assume the rally is either cancelled or postponed until the current crisis is over.

Saturday 2 MAY : CANCELLED
CDXC CONVENTION, AGM & DINNER. 

Link Hotel, Loughborough. Non members welcome and there will be a partners' programme. Four DX & technical talks. Costs vary. Full details in January CDXC Digest. Chris Duckling, G3SVL Chris@G3SVL.com www.cdxc.org.uk.

Sunday 3 MAY : Delayed until September 2020
THORPE CAMP HAMFEST. 

Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, Tattershall Thorpe, LN4 4PL Open for traders from 6.30am and the public from 9am. Entry is £4 with children under 12 free. Hot and cold refreshments on site and car parking is available within the grounds. More information and bookings to Sylvia or Anthony on 0795 665 4481.


A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Sunspots - Friday May 1st 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 35, which is the highest for some time. A=2 and K=1.

6m FT8

Stations spotting me to 1300z today on
6m FT8 TX with 10W to the V2000 omni

For a few hours now I have been on 6m FT8.

There seems plenty of Es around and my low power (about 10W) to the V2000 omni is getting me plenty of QSOs across Europe.

In all (to 1305z) I have been spotted by 29 stations and I have spotted 41 stations so far on 6m FT8. Best DX spotted is probably EA8JK (3022km) on 6m FT8 RX so far today.

UPDATE 1325z: Now spotted by 32 stations and I have spotted 62 stations on 6m FT8. I keep getting called by Finns!

UPDATE 1745z: Now 46 spots of me so far today on 6m FT8 TX with 10W to the V2000 omni vertical.

UPDATE 2140z:   QRT.