Before you ask, NO I am not pregnant and don't you be so darn cheeky! 😀😀
24 Nov 2024
Faroes - NOT amateur radio
Some places are much hotter whereas some (like the photo posted by a friend in the Faroe Is) are much colder.
There was snow on the hills and temperatures of 4 degrees C in September! I expect they see the northern lights far more often up there.
Exceptional E-W F2 MUF
In the last few weeks the F2 MUF has exceeded 50MHz "across the pond" on a few occasions. I would expect this at times at the height of a good(ish) solar cycle. It would reach 8m far more often. Indeed my 8m 2.5W FT8 to a dipole was regularly spotted in Canada, the USA and Caribbean in autumn 2023 as well as this autumn.
In my view this is where 8m FT8 could score. Just occasionally for a short period, the MUF will be high enough. These openings are far less likely to be spotted on CW or SSB, whereas with 8m FT8 and PSKreporter it is far more likely these brief openings will be noticed.
As the sunspots decline the N-S MUF may support 8m FT8 to South Africa more often than we might think.
70cm activity contest
It is a dead certainty that I have never even come close to winning the AL section of this contest! Why? 10W to a 2m big-wheel omni antenna and well less than an hour of operating.
The results were published earlier and I remain 51st out of 92 stations in the low power (AL) section. I am certain that if my voice allowed me to stop on longer, a much better score would be possible. I only really take part because of the activity. It is also good for my voice.
6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
My QMX+ has been on since about 1035z. So far, 5 English stations have spotted me. The QMX+ initialised after a few minutes!
10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)
My 500mW WSPR has been on since about 1015z. So far spotted by 10 stations.
UPDATE 1706z: 37 stations have spotted me with the furthermost ND7M (8568km).
23 Nov 2024
Climate change - NOT amateur radio
It is a very odd person (probably living on Planet Zog) that cannot see that our climate is changing. We may argue if this is cyclical or as a result of man, but changing it is.
In some countries it is of minor significance, whereas for some it is becoming an existential crisis. In some places there have been devastating floods, or droughts or very powerful hurricanes. If sea levels rise whole nations could disappear beneath the waves.
A fact of life is that poor countries suffer the most. Many of these we depend on for food. In the long run we will all suffer if we are selfish as nations.
Digital modes compared
This is a link I came across when looking at videos about LongChat (see previous post). I think it was done before FT8 appeared. I think FT8 works down to about -21dB S/N although I have had some decodes at -24dB S/N.
LongChat
This is a mode of message transmission I had not heard about before. It is claimed messages can be sent using extremely low power using chirped signals. I am no expert at all on digital communications!
Sneezing and speed - NOT amateur radio
Two things I have put down to my 2013 stroke may seem bizarre to others. They are my perception of speed (as mentioned before) and sneezing.
For some time I have been aware that my perception of speed is "different" in that I feel I am going 20mph faster than I am. I was not aware of this in a coach until this week. On the way to London in a coach we seemed to be going very fast. In a car this is noticeable when I think I am going over 60mph and look at the speedometer and see I am doing less than 50mph and there is a queue of cars behind me!
The second thing seems trivial, but when I feel a sneeze coming on I always sneeze. I am sure this is different.
These are only mentioned as they are subtle artefacts I think of my stroke. Probably others affected by strokes have noticed other things affecting them.
London sights - NOT amateur radio
Some of the old buildings are known the world over.
We went there on Thursday with our village theatre group by coach.
6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
Once my QMX+ initiates, I intend to try 6m QRP FT8 again. Yet again, it has not yet initiated. I hope there is a fix for this in later software or hardware as I am suffering this bug most times I switch the transceiver on. It otherwise is a very good rig that I enjoy using. On early production, I suppose this is to be expected.
UPDATE 1006z: The QMX+ has initiated, but I do not know how long it took. So far just 4 English stations have spotted me.
UPDATE 1347z: Spotted by 21 stations including 1 in Germany.
UPDATE 1645z: Spotted by 25 stations (in Europe) and on RX VO1AW (3801km) spotted.
10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)
Since about 0945z I have been on 10m QRP WSPR TX with my beacon. No spots yet.
UPDATE 1009z: Just 2 Finnish stations spotting me.
UPDATE 2039z: 23 stations have spotted me. QRT shortly.
The Shard: London - NOT amateur radio
The photo shows a view from outside Southwark Cathedral last Thursday.
Oscar 100 narrrowband activity
Every few weeks I take a peak at the activity of the narrowband transponder of this satellite. The last time was on a Friday early evening in Europe.
Activity continues to disappoint me. Whilst for some this has been an introduction to microwaves, I was expecting far more DXers to make use of this.
As I have said before, I think it is just too hard for many. The main markets of the USA and Japan do not come within the satellite footprint. This means there are no mass market "black boxes".
22 Nov 2024
Over the solar peak?
In my opinion we have just passed the solar peak. We can expect a few years of good conditions, but I expect the trajectory to be slowly downwards.
Web archive - NOT amateur radio
Some of my time after lunch was spent browsing the Internet Archive. This is an absolute treasure trove of old material. Some time back I found a snapshot of my very first website dated 1996. If you want to look at old material about anything it is worth looking here. I am pretty sure much old stuff is on this archive.
There is a radio archive at https://archive.org/details/dlarc .
It would appear most things from the past may be found if you look hard. I have only scratched the surface.
Mudlarking - NOT amateur radio
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