6 Mar 2016

Tuning In - a history of radio

My thanks again to the Southgate News for finding this on the BBC.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nnw8t .

Shortage of biscuits? - NOT amateur radio

Sorry, but I had not even noticed that we are supposed to have a shortage of biscuits on the shelves of UK shops as a result of floods in Cumbria. Perhaps we don't buy that many.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-35696027 .

Greenland on 10m WSPR

XP3A (3206km) has recently been spotted on 10m WSPR. This bodes well for the USA and Canada shortly. Although I have worked Greenland with 2.5W SSB handheld on 15m in the past, I was pleased to see these 10m WSPR spots today. I think this was F2 propagation.

UPDATE 1410z:  I have recently been spotted on 10m WSPR strongly by KD0VWO (7412km) who is monitoring in Brazil. In this case 500mW would have been quite enough power.

UPDATE 1534z:  Plenty of USA spots given and received on 10m WSPR this afternoon. Best DX currently is a spot by WB2TQE (7097km) in EL96vh square. W1VR (6965km) has been incredibly strong at times.

UPDATE 2238z:  The last DX spot on 10m WSPR seems to have been OH1KK (1848km) at 1950z. No other spots since then. I shall stay on the 10m band overnight hoping to catch some DX in the early hours.

UPDATE 1735z:  Still plenty of 10m WSPR spots with best report (greatest DX) from KD6RF (7571km). It has been a good day on 10m today.

UPDATE 1915z:  At the moment W1VR (6965km) was the latest 10m spot here at 1904z. This is very late.

Calais migrants - NOT amateur radio

See https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/sophie-besse-bus?utm_campaign=20160229_66903&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ExactTarget .

The migrant crisis in Europe is a real headache. The only viable long-term solution is a fair and just peace in Syria plus fairness and peace in other countries. As I write, the ceasefire in Syria is largely holding.

In the meantime, some continue to try to make life bearable for these poor people, many of whom have left everything in their bid for peace. The link shows an example of practical help on the ground.

No, no-one chooses to uproot everything and live/walk in harsh and dangerous conditions unless there is little hope left. Most of these people are truly desperate people, true refugees in need of our help.

See also http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35731325 .

Belgium 60m and 4m

Southgate News reports that Belgium has access to the 5MHz allocation and extended access to the 70MHz band. It is a pity they only allocated the 15kHz and not a wider allocation at 5MHz. I very much hope CEPT allocates a contiguous 100kHz band across Europe at 5MHz.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/march/belgium_gets_wrc15_5mhz_allocation_and_4m_extension.htm.

Our son turns 40 - NOT amateur radio

It is hard to believe our elder son is 40 this week. Our other son is 2 years younger. This weekend the whole family came up and we all enjoyed a meal out. The photo shows our elder son, with us, with all our little grandchildren about to share in a cake in our kitchen.

Mortality - NOT amateur radio

This has been mentioned here before.  As we get older, I guess we think of mortality more and more. With not having been well for 2.5 years I guess you think about this even more, knowing that it is likely you will die before too long. It could be next week or it could be in 30 years. Currently I am 67.

It comes to us all. No-one really knows what happens. Maybe it is just to dust that we turn, even though most religions talk of an afterlife. We knew nothing of before we were born so would nothingness matter?

I guess no good is done by worrying about this. It all depends on individual consciousness. Does anything exist after our bodies turn to dust? What is the nature of that thing we call the mind? One thing is certain, we have small brains and the mysteries of life are great and mostly beyond our understanding.

Life after death? Honestly, I think no-one knows.

10m WSPR to Australia yet again

Yet again there were early spots on 10m WSPR from Australia with VK2KRR (16789km) spotting me at 0810z. VK6XT (14719km) was spotted here at 0934z.

My old work colleague G3TFX in Cambridge worked a string of USA and Canadians on 40m SSB around breakfast with 30W.

UPDATE 1154z:  Mostly short skip on 10m WSPR with nearer Europeans, plus Gs. Spots exchanged with SV1DAR (2414km). No other real DX other than the Australians earlier.

Sunspots and 10m - Sun March 6th 2016

Solar flux is 96 today and sunspot number 68 (K=2). The forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor", although I had been spotted in Australia on 10m WSPR just after 0800z.

5 Mar 2016

Not bad on 10m WSPR today

With spots both given and received today from the USA and Australia and received from South America with 2W, today must go down as a pretty good day on 10m WSPR. In a year from now these conditions will seem exceptional, so I am enjoying 10m whilst I still can. As I have said before, even with very low solar activity, 10m can still be decent on N-S paths. We now have a new tool: WSPR. I am convinced the band is "open" far more often than people realise and with low activity they leave the band. It is important that we stick around 10m WSPR even in the quiet times ahead. There is much to be learnt.