Mandarin ducks

On a recent visit to Ipswich, we saw several of these ducks on a pond in the park. They are very colourful. I think they were introduced to England in the last 200 years from China.

See https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/waterfowl/mandarin-duck .

The new world order - NOT amateur radio

Peace and harmony have always been my wish. We in the west are far from perfect, but I think recent actions by Russia are counter-productive with many countries being appalled by Putin's heavy handedness against fellow slavs.

In the end we all want peace. Let's hope good sense will prevail.

OFCOM and the upper 6GHz band

 OFCOM is consulting on the indoor use of this band. See the OFCOM website for details.

8m TX permit

OFCOM has assured me that it has granted all I asked for, but seem unable to tell me exactly what I am getting before I pay £50!  

As I do not know several things, I have asked them to clarify these before I shell out. I think this is reasonable. My wish is to go ahead.

Assuming all is OK, I hope to start TXing FT8 before the Es season and all reports will be appreciated. I suspect this summer could be most interesting on 8m regarding propagation studies.

UPDATE 1239z:   OFCOM has clarified things. It has granted me 40-42MHz and I can use my own amateur callsign. It is soon to invoice me. The permit is for a year starting April 2nd 2022. I must not cause interference! 

10m FT8

 After a very brief TX period with 2.5W FT8 (3 DX spots), I am now RX only.  49 spots so far with the furthermost YB2IQ (11988km).

UPDATE 1154z:  114 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1947z:  463 stations spotted.

Sunspots - Monday February 28th 2022

Solar flux is 97 and the SSN 48. A=13 and K=3. 

10m FT8 RX

Once again, 10m is becoming a great DX band. 

Most days, DX from across the globe has been copied on 10m FT8. 

If you are after a simple RX to monitor 10m FT8, then my 10FT8R RX may be the answer. You may be able to make yours better or simpler!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10ft8r-rx .

Daffodils - NOT amateur radio

 

This was me yesterday taking a photo of some daffodils near our church.

Anglesey Abbey earlier - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows Anglesey Abbey earlier in the afternoon sunshine. 

John Lewis - NOT amateur radio

John Lewis is one of the most respected store chains in the UK. 

Recently, they announced they would be "retiring" (don't you love that?) their long held policy of never knowingly undersold. This basically meant if you could buy it cheaper elsewhere, they would match the price. With the internet, this policy is far more difficult now.

Whilst I understand this, it is yet another example of things getting worse rather than better. In my view John Lewis, like many high street shops, is struggling. I hope they survive.