6m F2?

When sunspot numbers and solar flux numbers are high, there is always a chance of the F2 MUF reaching 6m or even higher.  I remember some years ago hearing 6m SSB stations from South Africa and the USA just like locals. At the time I just had a wire dipole.

Shrinkflation - NOT amateur radio

 Instead of putting prices up just make things smaller and hope the consumer does not notice. Yesterday I bought a chocolate bar. In 1996 it was 62.5g. Now it is 51g. This happens with so many things.

Bristol footbridge - NOT amateur radio

This footbridge was erected in 2017. It is in Bristol,UK and is very elegant curving as it crosses the water. 

Sunspots - Friday April 26th

  Solar flux is 167 and the SSN 199. A=3 and K=2.

Clifton Suspension Bridge - NOT amateur radio

 This was one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s greatest projects.

Wells Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

 

Wells is one of the finest cathedrals in England.

Sunspots - Thursday April 25th

  Solar flux is 199 and the SSN 283. A=4 and K=1.

HF propagation

At the moment, we are meant to be on the downward slope of cycle 25, although in the last few days, the solar flux and sunspot number have been very high. Even if sunspot numbers are declining, solar conditions will be good for several years. 

One useful tool is https://prop.kc2g.com/ (see map) which shows how good the MUF is across the world.

Echolink

Many times I have tried this, but found distant repeaters  as quiet as the local ones. With access from a PC or phone, I guess it is a way to still enjoy the hobby ....as long as someone is there to talk with! There are "non-ionosphere" alternatives like Hamsphere and CQ100. I personally have found these unsatisfying, but you may think differently.

See https://www.echolink.org/ .

8m monitors?

With my 8m station using only a low dipole, I suspect that stations need to be quite strong to be spotted here on FT8. Compared with the better stations with beams and more height, I guess I am probably 10dB down. On FT8 this means they will often spot stations I cannot.

Also, with the same power on 6m (2.5W), I can usually be spotted across England on 6m, whereas I struggle on 8m. One of the issues is there are too few people monitoring on 8m compared with 6m.

Nonetheless, I intend to experiment with 10mW ERP 8m WSPR this Es season as this will (hopefully!) show what is possible with a very simple system. 

10mW ERP could be generated by a Raspberry PI, I think.  It probably needs additional low pass filters to ensure compliance with IR2030.  At this power everyone in the UK could have a go without a TX permit as long as ISM rules are followed. I cannot comment on the rules within the EU or elsewhere.