31 Aug 2016

QST - thank you Rupert

Rupert G4XRV very kindly sent me a copy of September QST. Rupert reads my blog from time to time and saw that I had not seen the magazine in which my recent article appeared. This was very kind and much appreciated. Thank you Rupert.

Counting Sheep? - NOT amateur radio

This was one of my grandsons at our local farm shop and cafe. I wonder if he was counting sheep trying to get to sleep? He is eight, nearly nine.

Fun at the fair - NOT amateur radio

On Monday we went to the Fenland Country Fair.

Our grandchildren (5 and 8 years old) went on the helter-skelter twice. For the younger one, it was her first time.

They go home tomorrow.

Operating today

I decided to go on 10m WSPR (500mW) and 6m JT65 (1W ERP) today. 10m has been very quiet here but I had a number of UK spots of my QRP JT65 signal on 6m.  My best report on 6m JT65 was from G0VUH (157km). So far, I have seen no evidence of Es here yet on either band.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday August 31st 2016

Solar flux is 99 and the sunspot number 64 today. K=2. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

No Internet

Yesterday, we had no internet, so no posts were possible. I am very sorry. It is back today, so I hope to post more later, if the internet carries on working!

29 Aug 2016

10m JT65 - South America yet again

PU2TWU (9572km) spotted me a little while ago on 10m JT65. I spotted EA8 (Canaries) about an hour ago. The latter could have been Es or F2. This is in the same direction as the South American station who spotted me. I am amazed how regularly I get spotted on 10m JT65 in South America with just 2W.  My antenna is low and nothing special, so I hope my results encourage others to try 10m QRP.

Fenland Country Fair - NOT amateur radio

We have grandchildren here this week. Today, we went to the Fenland Country Fair at nearby Stow-cum-Quy, where we have been for several years.

Sadly, the toy Land Rovers (electric cars) were not there. Our grandson enjoys driving these.

They went on lots of rides and enjoyed their ice creams!

QRP and QRPclub

More from Oleg:

"Dear Club 72 members and friends,
Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (August 22 to 28, 2016)
Visitors  of  the  week: R2FAE, UR0ET, Z35M/p, OH6NPV, RV3GM, IU4HGH, US3EN,  DL1YAY,  RU3NJC,  R1CAF, OK1KW, EA2DT, IZ8FNY, UA1ASB, G3XJS, UR5EFD,  EW1CY,  UA1CEG,  OK1ITK,  DK5TM,  HB9FAB/p, OE5EIN/p, RD3DN, OH5LP, US5ERQ
OE5EIN became Frequenter of the QRP Rendez-Vous round tables
See full report with comments/pictures on the blog page -
http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
Thanks to all for activity and comments! See all QRP stations in next week  Tuesday,  Thursday,  Saturday  at  9.00  UTC on 14060 (10116 if contest). Results, comments, reports, pictures are welcome.

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72" "

Sunspots and 10m - Monday August 29th 2016

Solar flux is 87 today. Sunspot number is 64. K=2 . Yet again, the forecast for 10m F2 propagation is "poor".