Sputnik across the Atlantic today

The "team" today

This afternoon Andrew G6ALB, Ted G4NUA and I got together to finish building the "Sputnik" transmitter for 15m based on old Russian valves of the same type used in the first Sputnik satellite in 1957. These were given to us by AA1TJ. Andrew G6ALB did all the building work but I was the "air tester" as his CW is, he says, worse even than mine.

After a few false starts with the PSU arrangement we fired up the transmitter into Andrew's inverted-L antenna and had almost immediate success with a QSO (following our CQ) with K1GDH (Ed) near Cambridge USA who was running 5W and gave us 539.

From Andrew:

Our power out was 400mW.  PSU was nominal 24V AC @ 500 mA plug top followed by doubler for about 74V no load and 72 on load.  Grid Block keying uses -36V rail.  In all 3 diodes, 3 caps, 3 bleed Rs.  Very simple, fairly safe also. Filament supply is 5V DC plugtop [stabilised] and 18R resistor which gets warm!

A second Sputnik rig is being built now and all being well we will be on the air on Oct 4th (Sputnik Day) to try for some more QSOs.

Disappointing day on 10m today

Most of today 10m was relatively quiet here with just inter-G WSPR reports. I was about to switch things off when I noted a report from CX2ABP (11127km) just appeared. Maybe tomorrow conditions will be better.

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.