40m WSPR - instant success to Australia

Keeping at 1W from the FT817 into the Par end-fed I got instantly spotted in Australia at over 17200km this early evening. WSPR really is amazing. Reports from VK now both on 40m and 20m with the low wire antenna. Lots of other spots followed. More spots from VK7BO followed. Nearest station was G4IKZ just 18km away.

First 40m WSPR results with 1W to my Par end-fed

20m WSPR - too easy

Late this afternoon I have been on 20m WSPR with 1W RF to my compact Par end-fed antenna. Best received signal was from the USA west coast but all the reports of my signals, so far, have been from this side of the pond.

Really 20m is too easy on WSPR at this level of QRP power. I should  be running 50mW or less.

20m 1W reports late this afternoon

Home at last

This morning, Jan 3rd, I was discharged from hospital after 3.5 months due to to a bleed on the brain.I am far from well  still and have lots of work (exercises)  to do to to regain  my health,  which I hope to do in the coming months. I know it will be a hard slog.

My 2W 10m WSPR session over New Year was very successful with plenty of USA spots in the log. I hope to get back in the shack again soon.

Logging into a Windows PC and 10m WSPR

When I came to log in on my old (lab) Windows XP PC today it was a nightmare. Firstly it had not been used for almost 4 months and refused to bring up the log-in page. Then I'd forgotten my log-in details: even my old hint did not help. In the end after many attempts all was sorted but what a struggle with my poor addled brain currently. I've even made a small start on the tax return online. At the moment I am making lots of typos on the PC and everything takes twice as long as it did.

 I've started WSPRing on 10m for the first time since September! My old life is slowly returning, thank God. Not bad reports too.

Initial 10m WSPR reports with 2W out

Release Date

The latest news from Addenbrooke's Hospital is I should be  home for good by Jan 6th. After that, apart from continuing to get better, I hope to buy a new rig and do my on-line tax return! Expect blogging proper again within a week or so. I continue to slowly improve on all fronts but find I am making lots of errors typing on the PC still.

Currently on 2 days' home leave over New Year (1 night at home) but have to return to hospital by 5pm Wednesday.

IC7100 from Icom

When it comes to new 100W HF rigs the new IC7100 looks to be relatively good value at just under £1300 in the UK. This includes 4m and 70 cm coverage and DSTAR. I am a little skeptical about the clarity of the LCD touchscreen display.  Other good rigs don't cover 4m or bands above 6m.I am still tempted when I get " released" from my hospital prison. My heart is still in QRP but the Elecraft KX3 is a similar price with  just 8-10W,fewer bands and arguably less well suited to base station digital use. We'll have to see when I get out of my hospital  "prison". I may just buy a second FT817 and another auto ATU. 

Books

The last few weeks has seen me devouring a number of novels to kill the monotony of being in hospital still. Latest estimates are mid January for going home ,when I hope to be able to swallow some soft foods. Books read include:

"Oranges are not the only fruit" by Janice Winterton
"Night Fire" by Ken Follett
"Eye of the Needle "
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo " by Stieg Larsson

At the moment it takes about 3 days for a 560 page book. I am REALLY looking forward to going home when the ham radio blogging can resume.

Interestingly, I have read very few amateur radio books apart from  1 QST and a few RadComs and PWs. So far I have had visits  from around 45 people including a few local hams. My brother has raised over £1000 for the charity "Headway" as a result of my bleed on the brain.

Latest Health News

All being well, I should get home from hospital for brief home visit within the next 3 weeks. Thereafter, the is a good chance of getting home for good, probably in January. I still cannot eat or drink normally but I can do the excercises to improve my swallow as well at home as in hospital. My walking is wobbly on a walking frame, but getting better, and my writing and speech are a mess still, but also heading in the right direction. Being at home will be so much better after around 4 months in hospital wards. Physically I can see and hear well, my  memory seems to be maily intact, so  I have lots to be grateful for. The facilities lacking should work eventually. A good chance of more "normal service" on the amateur radio blog  from mid-January.

In the meantime my brother John  has raised almost £1000 for the brain injury charity Headway. I cannot thank hi  enough. My continued thanks for all donations including some very large donations from my American friends. This has been a very long haul personally and a big reminder how precious normal, everyday life is. We take everything for granted whereas we need to remind ourselves just  how wonderful everything is.

Health "progress"

Got told today that my swallow response is not progressing and it is possible I may NEVER be able to eat normally. I have been given a series of exercises aimed at helping to correctly position the larynx.Only lots of time will tell.

My return home full time is likely to be in the new year after more therapy on my walking and writing.All the hard word on speech would be at home.

8 plus weeks and still in hospital

Sorry that my stroke is still making the hardest job near impossible. This has taken 10 minutes.