10m - AMAZING propagation again today

Starting with reports of my QRP WSPR signal from VK6BN at 0640z, the day on 10m has been simply amazing. The band has been WIDE open to all continents today and sounded (almost) as good as I ever remember it. Several USA stations worked (with 59 reports) on QRP SSB. One report on WSPR from VK4 suggested just 50mW would have been enough to get me reports from Australia!

I just hope this upsurge in conditions lasts a while. Just maybe, the peak of cycle 24 could yet be a good one. An indication of conditions is how far above 28.5MHz stations spread out. Stations were spreading out to at least 28.6MHz on SSB and this is a weekday with no contests.

10m WIDE open - best for me in MANY years

Having just got back from France I switched on the FT817 on 10m to find the band wide open. Not that much on SSB (W4, 5B4 etc) but on WSPR with just 5W to my halo I was getting reports right away from the southern USA (-12dB S/N from W4DJW at 6537km and KB9AMG at 6300km). K9AN was giving me reports of +5dB S/N suggesting 5mW would be enough to cross the pond. Sounds like this autumn conditions are going to be excellent in 10m and possibly 6m.

UPDATE at 1845z: band still open to the USA, S.America and Europe. Just like the "good old days"!

Earth Mode VLF article in October RadCom

If things go to plan, there should be a 3 page article of mine in the October RadCom. As I am away in France I've no idea if this appeared or not.

IC7000, FT450D or KX3?

After many years I am thinking of upgrading my "main" HF/6m rig and these are my main options. Any views on which one to go for? I shall only use the rig for QRP mainly but a bit more power could be useful at times. VHF and UHF could be a nice addition with the IC7000 but the FT450D has better reviews. Of course the KX3 is some months away from production, especially in a CE approved European version. Ideally I'd like an FT817 successor, but this doesn't look likely before I die.

France

Enjoying a few days in the Perigord region of France with excellent scenery, history, food and wine. Rural France remains very unspoilt and beautiful. No ham gear with me at all though - too busy relaxing.

Nuclear Fusion - our energy needs met soon?

Nuclear fusion plant of the future

Are we getting close, at last, to making clean nuclear fusion, as opposed to dirty nuclear fission currently used in power generation, a reality? The BBC reports that the UK has joined a project with a US laser lab to work on the creation of powerful lasers to compress atomic nuclei to the point fusion occurs. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14842720. If this breakthrough can be achieved commercially it could radically change the outlook for the world. Growing energy costs prohibit widespread creation of water desalination plants, desert irrigation, electric cars and the like, but think what would be possible if energy costs became inexpensive and plentiful for ever. Global warming is only too real, but I have faith that with strong investment and push we will make nuclear fusion a reality in the next 30 years. This could well save the planet. The main dangers on the way are the vested interests of the US petrochemical companies who will do everything possible to bias US government policy in their favour, denying vital fusion research the funding it needs.

Success on 137kHz QRPp

 My 137kHz 0.2mW ERP signal by M0BMU at 69km

Today has seen some very encouraging results achieved on 137kHz with the QRSS30 0.2mW ERP beacon. Firstly copy from G4AYT in Whitstable Kent at 118km (in the null of my TX loop antenna) and excellent reception by M0BMU using his ferrite rod antenna at 69km - see screen shot. Several more stations are looking out for the signal which will remain on overnight.

LF kit improvements

24W 137kHz QRSS30 beacon TX (ERP 0.2mW)

137.5kHz 24W transverter (for WSPR) 0.2mW ERP

Today I completed the first stage of my ERP improvement programme on 137kHz completing the rebuild of the QRSS30 beacon and the transverter used for WSPR on the band. Photos attached show both of these. My ERP has now increased to around 0.2mW with both rigs. The output from the PA stage in both rigs is around 23-24W. More power will be easily possible by raising the PA supply voltage later.

Sputnik valve TX tests

This afternoon G6ALB and I got together to build a 2 valve 21MHz transmitter using a couple of Russian valves of the same types used in the original Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957. Surprisingly I've never built a valve transmitter before. Even today, Andrew did most of the building. My input was to wind a toroid and to help sort out the wire ends of the two valves. The valves were kindly supplied by Mike AA1TJ.  The breadboarded TX is shown in the picture. On a test this evening over the 3km path between our QTHs the 400mW TX was copied fine on my IC703 and 10m halo antenna.  Even at the lowest HT voltage (around 30V) his signal was still solid copy on the "Sputnik". Our aim is to have a pair of these units ready for Sputnik Day (Oct 4th) and to work each other and other more distant stations who are using similar rigs.  See also http://aa1tj.blogspot.com/2011/07/sputnik-qso-party-transmitter-prototype.html

Higher power on 137kHz

Today I did some work on increasing the output power of my 137kHz transverter used for WSPR, with mixed results. When driving the IRF540 PA with a decent square wave I can get around 24W out (was around 5-8W) from a 13.8V supply with decent efficiency. When using the drive from the mixed-down transverted signal I am having less success. The issue is driving the MOSFET gate from a really low impedance and ensuring it is as square as possible with the right mark-space ratio. Most 137kHz transmitters do this by driving at 274kHz with ICs designed to drive a pair of MOSFETs whereas I want to go in at 137kHz using discrete parts. This is a solvable challenge and I'll have this up and running in a few weeks. 25-30W would give me 6-8dB ERP improvement and more should be possible from a higher PA supply voltage. This would take my ERP up to around 0.5mW  ....heck that's high power for me!