Health Update

I have now been out of hospital for almost a month following my stroke, so thought I'd better update you on progress.

Well the good news is my walking is coming along quite well. Although I still need a stick, the Zimmer frame is now almost unused.  My wife and I do a 10 minute walk around the Close daily.  A couple of weeks ago I managed a 1 mile walk at Anglesey Abbey (NT). My main issue when  walking is giddiness. This is I believe improving. Another issue is feeling sick inside at certain times of the day. I sleep (usually) very well and for a long time at night. Getting around the home, even a stick is more for psychological support. I can get around OK apart from feeling giddy.

The BAD news is Community Stroke Support. I was told 1-2 week visits would be the norm, but I was, this week, told the waiting list is 13 weeks and I was 13th on the list! The CST refuse to leave messages on the phone and had I not chased them up, I would  never have known my status! This part of my post hospital recovery is PATHETIC.

My experience is NHS clinical care is usually excellent but simple communications around the NHS is appalling. If this was the private sector and MY company several people would be SACKED without delay. Really, communications in the NHS is APPALLINGLY bad generally. This is my experience, my wife's and my daughter-in-law's. It HAS to improve. The sad thing is so little needs to change to make it good and save money and give patients and families a better experience.

I have written to the DVLA but don't yet know how long they will withdraw my driving licence, but I assume for 12 months. I now have a blue disabled badge which allows easier parking when my wife drives us to the shops and National Trust properties.

Swallow is slowly improving. I eat a Weetabix and banana at breakfast and pureed food lunch and tea. I am also on an 8 hour liquid feed.

Overall, I am making progress steadily on all fronts, still doing my exercises more despite the NHS than thanks to the NHS. My own doctor and local surgery have been excellent. At the current rate I can expect to be back to near normal health in the late summer.

Today, Thursday, I wrote  an email of complant to the local NHS ,copied  my MP, James Paice MP. I am pleased to report the NHS listened and I got some positive action this afternoon (speech and language lady coming to my home this coming Monday).  It should not be necessary to do this to be heard. What if I was 85 and suffering from dementia?

Excellent amateur VLF reception

OK2BVG has been having very good results on 8.270kHz picking up Uwe DJ8WX. Note timescales of the plot are in many hours. The wideband noise blocks are nighttime when reception is more challenging.

OK2BVG's reception of DJ8WX on 8.270kHz

Bye 6m, hello 20m

After over a day on 6m with just G8EPA and G4IRZ in the log on 6m, I have QSYed to 20m WSPR. I have not tried 20m for a few weeks. Already transatlantic spots are in the log and best DX spot of me is at 8307km in DM09 square (KI7CI) so far with 2W.  Not sure what happens on 20m in the evenings, but plenty of transatlantic traffic still at 2112z, which is hours later than on 10m. Overnight and Thursday were handicapped by WSPRnet being down , or very flaky.

PA1SDB on VLF

PA1ASB has been active recently on VLF and on his site he has a grabber showing what signals he has/is copying around 8.270kHz  which is the new favoured spot. This is below 8.3kHz and so falls in the unallocated part of the spectrum as 8.970kHz is now within the  spectrum reserved for sferics research.  Most amateur VLF TX stations are now operating around 8.270kHz. Here in the UK I believe it is legal for ANYONE to TX below 8.300kHz  as long as no harmful interference is caused to allocated services above 8.300kHz. This is my view, not a legal statement. I have asked OFCOM to clarify.

Also of note on these pages are the .SDR configuration files for Spectrum Lab software. It is ESSENTIAL to use Spectrun Lab or very similar software to detect anything at any range. See http://www.qsl.net/pa1sdb/index.htm . I suggest that, if you want to build a VLF amateur RX, to base your configuration files on those given on these pages.

My own experience is that 420uHz or less bandwidth is essential to see any trace of amateur VLF signals integrated over many hours. 42uHz is better. In both cases you have to lock to a VLF MSK signal, Russian Alpha beacons or GPS for excellent stability. This is all sorted out with the .SDR file automatically. You may be surprised  how stable a RX you can make very simply.

Our windmill in action

As you may recall, last summer we moved to a bungalow right next to Burwell's 200 year old windmill, which is being fully restored thanks to a National Lottery grant. The video shows the 4 (new) sails being tested earlier today as seen from our lounge window. It is very impressive.

Right next door is the local museum (excellent) which is open Thursday and Sunday afternoons from Easter until late October and WELL worth a visit.

The windmill appears to wobble because Google removed the video's shakiness -in reality it is very stable.

6m - no good today

After a full day on 6m WSPR not a single entry in the log.Even the spots by G4IKZ,were last evening!  Even othersmdid not seem to be doing very well either.

Meanwhile, 10m was in good shape yet again with lots of transatlantic stations copied and worked by G4NUA, a friend in Cambridge.

I'll keep 6m WSPRing for another day, and hope for better solar conditions tomorrow.

73kHz UK access?

According to my interpretation of the latest UK frequency allocation table, one can use the old 73kHz band without a license as long as the output is less than 72dBuA/m at 10m under inductive devices rules. Perhaps someone can tell me if I am wrong. A very low ERP is not a handicap as amateur antennas tend to be VERY inefficient.

See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/spectrum/spectrum-information/UKFAT_2013.pdf

6m F2 DX

Unless it was a band error, yesterday early morning G4IKZ 18km west of me was spotted on 6m WSPR in Australia over 17000km away by rare 6m F2 propagation. Nick uses about 6dB more power than me and a Moxon beam whereas I use a V2000 vertocal with near unity gain on 6m. I am currently on 6m and living in hope! Solar activity does NOT look promising though.

FT817ND - the perfect QRP radio?

For some time I wondered why Yaesu had not replaced the FT817ND with a more recent model. Then, of course, the penny dropped. This radio, although not perfect, is a good buy at around £500 in the UK.   Basically this is still a very good little radio. Expect a further price drop with the latest £:yen exchange rates.

All it needs are better batteries, auto-ATU and a speech processor, all which can be easily added to the FT817. The KX3 is twice the price of the FT817 and this does NOT include 2m and 70cms all mode. No, for me it will be a second FT817, this time the ND version plus another auto-ATU.

At some point a newer version may appear, but the current version regularly scores well in the eHam reviews (4.8/5) because those who own the radios know just how good they are. Of all the radios I have ever owned and used, the FT817 is the very best, without doubt. Someone called it the "Swiss army knife" of radios.

See the Yaesu brochure at : http://www.yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=618&FileCatID=154&FileName=FT%2D817.pdf&FileContentType=application%2Fpdf

G4KPX

If you get a chance, look at the WSPR spots for Richard G4KPX. Unless he has made recent changes Richard uses QRP with indoor loop antennas and achieves excellent results on every band he uses. For example, his 0.5W 10m log includes a couple of VKs and a good array of stateside stations.  Even on 472kHz he achieves good results.