70cm contest results

Stations worked on 70cm from home with 5W/5el

Last evening I took part in the 70cm UKAC contest for the first 90 minutes, by which time my voice was well past it because of my stroke, so I stopped operating.

I was using 5W (FT817ND) to the little (lowish) 5 el yagi on the pole on the back of the bungalow at home (hand rotated). Conditions appeared flat with no lifts apparent.

Best DX was G8XVJ/P in the Peak District at 181km but I missed out on M0GHZ in IO81 square (he got part of my callsign but then lost me!) at 195km.  I was pleased to work M0CES/P in JO03AE (rare square) at 103km.

All QSOs were SSB.  I did hear PA and DL.  In all it was good fun. A pity my voice was so poor.

10m - early start today

Sunspot count is 138 and 20-30MHz conditions are forecast to be "good" today. 4X1RF was spotting me regularly from 0554z this morning (14 times so far to 1114z) and I even spotted OZ7IT as early as 02204z!  It certainly promises to be a good day on 10m. Let us see.

10m WSPR - no more DX seen (yet!)

Since mid-afternoon 10m seems to have fallen back and the DX (such as it was) has disappeared. 4X1RF and DK6UG have spotted me but no more South Americans, Central Americans or North Americans. Being 10m, everything can change in a few minutes!  If it does, you will find out here - I intend to remain WSPRing on 10m into the early evening, at least and whilst on 70cms.

UPDATE 1900z:  CX2ABP just spotted again, so 10m is still open to South America.

Critical Communications World (was TETRA World Congress) - Singapore May 20-22nd

Next week, 175 speakers will be in Singapore for Critical Communications World.

In my day, this was called the TETRA World Congress and it was a real chance for users to meet manufacturers and for manufacturers to showcase new products coming to market. These days I am rather out of touch and have little idea what is new in TETRA. Things don't seem to have developed dramatically since I stopped work 6 years ago.

70cm UKAC contest this evening

From 1900-2130z (from 8pm UK clock time) the 70cm UKAC contest is running.

Although I am not a great contest person, these are usually good sessions with plenty of activity, mostly SSB. It will be a good opportunity to try the little 5 element beam to see what I can work from home using it. Conditions should be close to "normal" which will be ideal.

So far I have only heard the PI7CIS 70cm beacon - no other stations or beacons. I missed the recent UHF contest at the weekend.  I was struggling with my voice in the 2m session last Tuesday, so may not stay on too long.  Let's hope I manage to work some reasonable distances.

10m quiet today - so far

10m WSPR is very quiet currently, with just 4X1RF (3519km) and 4X1DA (3597km) spotting me so far today. No South Americans  so far, even though the sunspot count is 164 and 20-30MHz propagation is forecast to be "good".  The band may well open up later to the Americas. It would be nice to see the 10m long path to Australia open up later (~20000km) as it did a few days ago. That was a total surprise.

UPDATE 1455z: Just  been spotted by EB3EPR (1248km) on 10pm WSPR. No great DX - another station probably via Es.

UPDATE 1500z: Just spotted WP4JT (6849km) in Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. He claims to be using 10mW and I gave him -12dB S/N report which is remarkable . I suspect this power level is an error and his actual power is much higher. Otherwise I'd expect to see many more stations from that general direction.  At 1536z he spotted my 2W at -6dB S/N.

UPDATE 1520z :  CX2ABP (11127km) was spotted, by me, nearly an hour ago. I missed that one. Classic 10m N-S propagation.

Things are warming up!

Lack of youngsters in the hobby and the growing RF engineer shortage

See  http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2014/may/where_are_the_under_25s.htm#.U3Ey1rGZiSo
for an interesting piece about the lack of young people in our hobby.

The original article appeared in Essex Ham.

See also http://youtu.be/6UFP158SJbY .

Having given talks to several East Anglian radio clubs I can agree this is a serious issue.  Most in amateur radio in the UK are in the older generation. It is right these people should be enjoying our hobby, but youth and youngsters are essential for its healthy future. We need to find new ways to bring them in and keep them interested.

Years ago, an amateur radio "ticket" was the only passport to a means of talking around the world. Today, with smart phones and the internet, talking world-wide no longer holds the same fascination for young people as it once did. To me, radio is still magic, but this is not the case for most young people.

Also note how many radio magazines there are on shop shelves compared with those about computers. We are in danger of facing a future without RF engineers in the UK. This is even more serious than the lack of youngsters in our hobby. The two are very much linked: if we want future RF engineers we need to grow young, keen, radio amateurs - the future is ours to influence! I never did understand why radio seems to be (mainly) a male interest.  Odd.

mcHF transceiver

Graham G8NWC has brought this QRP transceiver (the mcHF) to my attention.

See http://www.m0nka.co.uk/ .  It is described as a small and inexpensive homebrew HF transceiver.  Features (as listed on Chris M0NKA's website):

• Standalone and compact embedded transceiver
• Operates on USB, LSB, AM and CW
• Large 2.8 inch color LCD
• Four encoders and 17 buttons for easier operation
• Fast and fully electronic RX/TX switching
• Two USB ports – for PC control and external keyboard
• Two temperature compensated oscillators/clocks makes it ideal for digital modes
• Four digital filters – 1.8kHz, 2.6kHz, 3.6kHz and 10kHz
• Built in Iambic Keyer that supports Mode A and Mode B
• Large 48kHz spectrum display

Ten-Tec and Alpha Amplifiers merge (RF Concepts)

Apparently Alpha Amplifiers and Ten-Tec have merged creating a multi-million-dollar company with products that span QRP transceivers to full-legal-limit amplifiers.

Alpha Amplifiers has been building amplifiers since the early 1970s. Alpha Amplifiers are considered "the finest line of linear amplifiers in the world" (their words). Ten-Tec started in 1968 and mainly design and make transceivers. Both are world famous.

Sounds to me like the merger was needed to keep both companies afloat? Of course I may be totally wrong and both companies may be financially secure.

But, times are hard for manufacturers in the amateur radio world. This will become even more critical when the Chinese start really addressing the amateur market. Up to now, the Chinese have been "playing around in the wings".

QRP rigs

See http://www.vanyi.net/homemade/homebrew-hf-ssb-transceivers/ .

This page has a nice collection of links to a range of (mainly) homebrew QRP transceivers for various bands. Well worth a visit and good browse.