Portable operation

This photo must date from the early 2000s I think, or more probably in the 1990s judging by my hair colour!  

I am operating portable from my mother's garden in Devon on 10m SSB with 1W to a vertical mag-mount on the grass. It worked very well.

2m FT8 yesterday

For about 30 minutes, as usual, I went on the 2m activity contest.  I worked 4 stations with my 10W, poor voice and big-wheel omni antenna. 

Just before finishing, just for fun, I put out a call with 5W 2m FT8. Immediately I was spotted by PA2M (312km). 

It is so much easier on FT8. In all my years with 10W in the 2m activity contest, I don't think I have worked a single station in mainland Europe.  I think the main issues are my low ERP, my short time active and my poor voice.

70cm activity contest last Tuesday

Every second Tuesday in the month I go (briefly) on 70cm SSB with 10W and my 2m omni antenna in the UKAC activity contest. Usually I work a few stations then stop because of my poor voice. Last Tuesday I worked 7 stations including one in Wales. See map.

Nearly forgot!

Just now I sent off my entry for the 70cm activity contest last Tuesday. It would appear that interest in this contest is waning. I managed 1 QSO, then I gave up. 

Looking at the waterfall on my RX, it would appear there were fewer people active. This is a pity, although it is far easier on 70cm FT8.

Much as I enjoy FT8 and WSPR, I am sure these will be partly to blame for the slow death of amateur radio as we knew it.  

As a youngster, I discovered amateur radio by listening to locals on 160m AM and DX on 15m AM. These opportunities no longer exist as people can chat in a multitude of ways for free without a licence using the internet. Talking to friends across the world even by video is commonplace.

It is my view that amateur radio as we knew it will cease in the next 20 years.

70cm activity contest last Tuesday

My entry (never a winning score with just 2 QSOs, 10W, short period on air and a 2m omni antenna!) was submitted this morning. 

It is my view that this 70cm UKAC is on the wane with fewer people active. The 70cm FT8 activity contest on the other hand is "humming". It looks like many people prefer FT8 to SSB these days. FT8 works with far weaker signals, but like so much these days, it has less human interaction. 

We seem to becoming a society with far less human contact sadly.

Am I alone in thinking impersonal AI call centres are a pain?  "Say in your own words what you are calling about". "You want to talk about xxx. Is that correct?".  Say "yes" or "no". Actually I would rather speak with a human being!

2m activity contest (UKAC) - February 6th

Better late than never!  Last time, I was rock bottom of the AL (low power) section of this contest that runs every month for a year. One thing is certain: things can only get better, HI.  In all, 5 stations were worked (see map).

2m activity contest (UKAC)

Tonight is the 2m monthly activity contest (UKAC) organised by the RSGB. After 4 QSOs with my 10W and omni (and poor voice!) I gave up! Conditions seemed up, but with my QRP it was too hard.

2m UKAC

Last evening, I was briefly on 2m SSB in the monthly activity contest. After a couple of QSOs I decided to go QRT: with my poor voice it was hard work. The band seemed a bit "up" as the photo indicates.

10m Simple Sideband

Before my 2013 stroke, I was working on a simple rig for 10m. At the time I was thinking of a dead simple DSB transceiver, but these days a better approach might be an SSB transceiver based around an SI5351 or similar synthesiser.

Whatever the approach, I had in mind a very simple, low cost rig on a single PCB.

10m is very good again and should be good for several years. It is good for Es most summers even in sunspot minimum years. It is also good for local natters. Antennas are small and CB verticals work well.

Such a simple design would make a low cost club project. When built, such a rig could be very useful especially if made as a synthesised SSB rig.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-simple-sideband.

FT8 or SSB?

Amateur radio is changing.

As mentioned a few days ago, it seems far more are now turning to FT8 instead of SSB. This means the bands seem quieter. Although to say so is considered wrong by many, arguably on many, many, bands this means we really do not need the allocations we have. 

In 1 SSB channel at least 25 stations using FT8 can be fitted. FT8 only needs about 50 Hz of spectrum. There is little need to use amateur radio for chatting (the Internet is free and covers the world), and many now chase DX with FT8 instead. FT8 is far more effective than SSB although it is most definitely not a chatting mode. JS8call (which I have not used) is a free form mode of FT8 that does allow chatting. Some like to push the boundaries with things like EME and DATV. Others like to explore radio propagation.

The mantra seems to be to hang on to the bands we have. Personally, I would prefer more, but narrower, bands to encourage experimentation with some wider allocations (probably at VHF or UHF) to encourage experiments such things as DATV and spread spectrum. The military in many countries wants priority access, but rarely uses much of the spectrum.

Whatever the bands, callsigns and locations should be mandated and the basis should be strictly non- interference. Many allocations could be shared or secondary. Heretical? Probably.

SSB activity lower?

Every month I take part in the 2m and 70cm UKAC activity contests organised by the RSGB. My voice is poor and I only run QRP to my big-wheel omni antenna. I am usually on for less than an hour. I also have a go at the FT8 activity contests.

Although I rarely use SSB and FM outside contests, I gather activity with these modes is down on the past. I guess there are several reasons. Firstly, people can chat for free on the internet by video with anywhere on the planet, so there is less need to use the amateur bands just for chatting. Secondly, the average age of amateurs is increasing, with the hobby appealing to retired people. Some of these are now getting infirm so less active. Thirdly, there are more digital modes not needing much bandwidth. For example, the FT8 slot is often busy, but very little bandwidth is needed.

QSOs on 2m UKAC
last Tuesday

Certainly, SSB UKAC contest QSOs seem harder now on 2m than a few years ago. My average used to be about 10 QSOs whereas now even getting a couple is harder.

Change is inevitable, but you do not just chance upon FT8 as this needs specialist software. People will no longer just chance upon amateur radio. The danger is numbers decline over the next 10-20 years unless we can galvanise the interest of younger people.

Simple SSB

Steve G1KQH just pointed me to this inspiring video. Thinking about simple, low cost SSB rigs for 10m, there must be some great ideas here!

10m Phaser

Because of my poor building skills, a very kind amateur in Scotland has built and tested my 10m Phaser kit. All being well, it should be back this week. 

The Phaser is a QRP SSB transceiver, for FT8 mainly, producing about 3W pep. It is a phasing rig designed by Dave Benson K1SWL. It should allow the "big rig"  to be used for other things.

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

History of SSB

Southgate News has a piece on the history of SSB.

See Southgatearc.org/news/2021/august/the-history-of-single-sideband.htm#.YSEdbfLYrrc  .

2m activity contest (June) published

Every month, if I am free, I go on the UKAC activity contests organised by the RSGB.  Although I submit entries running 10W SSB to a 2m omni antenna I have no chance of ever winning! 

I only enter the 2m and 70cm legs. Mostly I go on for fun and the activity. Without trying at all hard I see I am still about third down the table in the low power section. Activity levels on SSB are very good. I think these sessions are primarily for clubs, although I just go on as me. There is no compulsion to submit a score.

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfresults.pl?Contest=144MHz%20UKAC&Date=&year=2021 .

SSB out-of-band?

There is an interesting piece on Southgate News about transmitting out of band. This is particularly important on 60m where the allocations are very small. The important thing is that the dial frequency may be in band but some of the modulation may not be! 

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/how-far-you-can-turn-the-dial-when-transmitting-ssb.htm#.YCEkAyuTLrc

Early days on VHF SSB

My very first experience of 2m SSB was in the late 1960s when our university club station at Liverpool G3OUL had a sked. As I recall we used 20W from a homebrew transverter designed by Ian Vance G3WMS who later was in charge at STL. He was a modest man, but clearly very clever.

Later, the Liner-2 brought 2m SSB to the masses. For several years SSB 2m DXing was very popular. In the UK this was at the time when G8s were allowed on 2m for the first time. Before that they were only allowed on 70cm and microwave bands.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/liner2

MX-2 - 2m SSB portable

Somewhere, I still have my MX-2 SSB handheld for 2m. The last time it was used must be 7 years ago! I had a lot of fun with mine.

It was used as a handheld on 2m and to drive a homebrew 10m 1W transverter. As I recall, for a while it was the only rig I had. Plenty of DX contacts were had on 10m and some handheld DX with just a whip on 2m SSB. The battery did not last long and by modern standards it would be considered slightly large.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/mx2

2m activity contest (UKAC)

This evening was the 2m activity contest organised by the RSGB. Although the contest runs for 2.5 hours, I managed 48 minutes before my voice shouted "stop!!" In all 10 QSOs were had with best DX G4RUL/P on the south coast. I was running 10W to the big-wheel omni.

Stations worked on 2m SSB this evening

2m SSB

These days 2m SSB is nothing new, but back in the 1970s there was no VHF SSB commercial gear until the Liner-2. After the Liner-2 came the IC202 followed by the IC202S. These were military styled handhelds. The FT290 came later followed by the FT817.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/ic202