Nostaglia - listen again to famous shortwave interval signals

If, like me, your first experience of short-wave radio was listening to DX broadcast stations back in the 1950s or 1960s on a simple home built radio you may want to take a nostalgic listen to the recordings of a large number of the interval signals from those far-off days. Even now, those evocative tunes send a shiver of excitement down my spine.  Some browsers may not like the link which is to my public Dropbox folder, but I assure you it is safe.

Superb HF conditions - sunspot count is high

Yet again, 28MHz is buzzing with signals right across the whole band with stations simultaneously coming through from the Far East and the USA. The sunspot number today is 166 which is very high. If the sunspot count and flux levels remain at this level or increase further in the next 12 months I think it is highly likely the peak will be a pretty good one, despite many predicting this would be a weak peak.

What I am hoping for now are some 6m transatlantic openings this winter. I well recall previous good peaks when 50-50.2MHz was filled with Ws and VE stations booming in at 59 on just a small wire dipole.

The Voice of the Common Man/Woman

This picture appeared on my Facebook pages today. It shows someone on one of the marches across the world protesting at bankers and the mess they have caused.  I think it is excellent and speaks volumes about the concerns of good, decent and ordinary people. Stupid bankers have gambled away OUR pensions and OUR livelihoods for the sake of THEIR short-term gain. Power to the people!!

29MHz AM Signals

For the first time in several years I am hearing 10m AM signals coming through from across the Atlantic between 29 - 29.1MHz. Good signals from N1GKX and KA1CU amongst several others including UA and G. For me, 10m AM is like a time warp, reminding me of how the HF bands used to sound in my youth back in the early 1960s. Yet to work any DX AM this season.

Wonder why the economy is in a mess?

"Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office. By and large, the key executive-branch policymakers on trade and economic policy also come from the top 1 percent."

This is a quote from a recent article in Vanity Fair.

A similar situation exists here in the UK. In my view this is a situation which cannot be sustained and we need to wake up and do something about it.

A VHF/UHF DX mode waiting to be discovered?

There is some indication that the long Europe to Japan path on 50MHz in the summer months is due to Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes, or PMSE for short. Echoes of 224MHz radar in Norway suggest strong reflections, so I wonder why more radio amateurs are not trying for 2m DX using these mesospheric clouds?

See http://www.eiscat.se/raw/pmse.html. It is very likely these clouds and noctilucent clouds are the same phenomenon.

More success on 28.060MHz QRP

In the last few days I've been putting out more CQ calls on the 10m CW QRP frequency. This tactic is working as I've managed several decent QRP-QRP QSOs across the Atlantic including 8P6BX,  W3PO,  K1YAN and N0UR. HF conditions are certainly very good of late and 10m is back to its old ways when a few watts are all that is needed.

Steve Jobs - RIP

Today is a sad day for the electronics and computing world with the death of Steve Jobs of Apple. Not too many years ago Apple looked like simply fading into obscurity. Then Jobs came back and turned it all around. All my family have Apple products - PCs, iPads and, in my case an iPod Touch 4g. All work perfectly and are a credit to an innovative and creative company led by people with inspiration and vision. We need a few more people like this in the UK rather than giving credit to idiots in the banking and "investment" world who simply gamble our pensions and reap huge bonuses as a result.

RIP Steve.

Crossing the Atlantic again with Sputnik TX

My CQ call today on 21.060MHz (using G6ALB's 400mW Sputnik valve TX) resulted in a reply from Jim W1PID who was 549 initially but he faded out before I copied my report.

Sputnik valve TXs on air this week

All being well, for a few days starting October 4th I shall be on 21.060kHz using G6ALB's "Sputnik" valve TX which puts out 400mW. Several other stations around the world will be running similar rigs and with luck we will manage a few Sputnik-Sputnik QSOs. DL2BQD will certainly be on and also, with luck, some transatlantic propagation will be possible.