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| With the grandchildren in London today |
Being late back, I decided not to turn the rigs on tonight.
29 Jun 2014
Non radio day
Today we went on a day return by train to London to be with our son Tim, his wife Jo and our grandchildren. Tim met us and took us back to Kings Cross. Booking in advance and with Senior Rail Cards if works out cheaper than driving. At present I cannot drive because of my brain bleed last year. It was good to spend time in their home again after so long.
Totally by accident, we sat next to Nick G4IKZ on the train back from London. I'd not seen Nick since work days over 6 years ago. Many years ago we worked together in several Cambridge companies. Nick is one of the brightest minds I've had the privilege to know. There are few better RF engineers. We compared notes on 6m WSPR of course. He confirmed his 6m antenna is a horizontal Moxon.
Being late back, I decided not to turn the rigs on tonight.
Being late back, I decided not to turn the rigs on tonight.
28 Jun 2014
6m - no Es today?
I was late getting on to 6m today, not turning the rig on until around 0940z. At around 1300z everything was disconnected because of nearby storms until mid-afternoon. Apparently I missed some early Es to HB9. Here I have not seen any sign of Es all day on 6m.
All I have seen here are locals and GDX on 6m. There is still time for some Es, but I would be surprised to see any.
UPDATE 2042z: Still no 6m Es here today. Going QRT within the hour.
UPDATE 2054z: G8EPA (61km) has been regularly spotted here this evening at up to -15dB S/N on WSPR. When Doppler is " against" him (-3Hz), he has been as low as -27dB S/N. There is definite evidence of planes on his signal (up to 4 traces in single 2 min slots) but at this range I expect to be able to copy by pure tropo in the absence of planes.
UPDATE 2105z: Now QRT on all bands and antennas disconnected.
All I have seen here are locals and GDX on 6m. There is still time for some Es, but I would be surprised to see any.
UPDATE 2042z: Still no 6m Es here today. Going QRT within the hour.
UPDATE 2054z: G8EPA (61km) has been regularly spotted here this evening at up to -15dB S/N on WSPR. When Doppler is " against" him (-3Hz), he has been as low as -27dB S/N. There is definite evidence of planes on his signal (up to 4 traces in single 2 min slots) but at this range I expect to be able to copy by pure tropo in the absence of planes.
UPDATE 2105z: Now QRT on all bands and antennas disconnected.
SSB and AM on CB legal from June 27th in UK
The excellent Southgate News page reports that SSB and AM is now legal on UK CB from June 27th 2014.
I have only briefly operated on CB many years ago and was very disappointed. I suppose 12W pep of SSB will greatly increase the DX potential on CB. AM is also legal.
We need to watch out for more reports of TVI and hi-fi breakthrough as FM, especially at 4W legal limit, is rarely a problem whereas SSB and AM make such issues more probable. Of course, some CBers like to use (illegal) add-on amplifiers making matters worse.
I don't think this move will encourage me onto CB any time soon, but it may result in lower cost 10m rigs.
UPDATE 2015z: Nevada are now selling the President Lincoln 2 (3rd improved version of this model) covering 10m only (as sold - but expandable illegally to cover CB bands) with a £10 discount.
I have only briefly operated on CB many years ago and was very disappointed. I suppose 12W pep of SSB will greatly increase the DX potential on CB. AM is also legal.
We need to watch out for more reports of TVI and hi-fi breakthrough as FM, especially at 4W legal limit, is rarely a problem whereas SSB and AM make such issues more probable. Of course, some CBers like to use (illegal) add-on amplifiers making matters worse.
I don't think this move will encourage me onto CB any time soon, but it may result in lower cost 10m rigs.
UPDATE 2015z: Nevada are now selling the President Lincoln 2 (3rd improved version of this model) covering 10m only (as sold - but expandable illegally to cover CB bands) with a £10 discount.
6m - after the storms
I reconnected the V2000 vertical antenna and rigs just before 1500z today as the storms have passed through and gone for now.
No Es seen yet but G8EPA (61km) is my most distant WSPR spotter in this session. Doppler/drift was low at -1Hz so this is probably direct tropo and not (necessarily) involving planes but I cannot be sure. In the other direction I can check his traces on my WSPR software. With WSPRnet I can see Doppler (or drift) on my signal but cannot tell if the software at the far end is trying to cope with multiple traces as commonly seen with airplanes.
G0OQK (98km) has been spotted a couple of times this late afternoon at around -21dB S/N.
No Es seen yet but G8EPA (61km) is my most distant WSPR spotter in this session. Doppler/drift was low at -1Hz so this is probably direct tropo and not (necessarily) involving planes but I cannot be sure. In the other direction I can check his traces on my WSPR software. With WSPRnet I can see Doppler (or drift) on my signal but cannot tell if the software at the far end is trying to cope with multiple traces as commonly seen with airplanes.
G0OQK (98km) has been spotted a couple of times this late afternoon at around -21dB S/N.
Solar decline
There is little doubt now that we have passed the solar peak and we are now on the way to the minimum. This is still years away mind you. This graph (located at http://www.solen.info/solar/images/solar.png) illustrates this well. As I said before, it is too early to say just how poor HF conditions will get.
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| http://www.solen.info/solar/images/solar.png |
6m - G0OQK (98km) Saturday WSPR
G0OQK (98km) was on 6m TX again this morning. This is the first transmission I copied from Nick, with clear evidence of aircraft Doppler (see at least 2 traces).
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| 6m - G0OQK with aircraft Doppler - June 28th 20014 |
In the shack
This is a photo of me in the shack just before lunch today. Since lunch, I have had to disconnect everything because of an approaching lightning storm. At the last count (flashes to thunder) it was about 2km away but I think the storm is now moving away.
For storm maps see http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en . The storm seems to have moved off: I can still hear thunder (to the east) but no nearby lightning. We have heavy rain, which will do the garden good.
Just a moment ago there was a flash and thunder almost overhead. This showed up on the lightning map. Storms still rolling around. I shall not reconnect the antennas and radio gear for a while yet.
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| G3XBM in the shack today |
Just a moment ago there was a flash and thunder almost overhead. This showed up on the lightning map. Storms still rolling around. I shall not reconnect the antennas and radio gear for a while yet.
27 Jun 2014
Maplin sold
That font of all knowledge :-) Steve G1KQH has just informed me that Maplin has changed hands for £85M. Although not a frequent customer, I do use their shop in the Beehive Centre, Cambridge.
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Not sure what it will mean for the business. One of the two stores in Cambridge is always busy, the other less so. Maybe less profitable shops will close? A bit like Jessops?
Not sure if they still sell them,but I used to buy their small aluminium boxes for QRP projects.
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Not sure what it will mean for the business. One of the two stores in Cambridge is always busy, the other less so. Maybe less profitable shops will close? A bit like Jessops?
Not sure if they still sell them,but I used to buy their small aluminium boxes for QRP projects.
Storms stop play, again
As of mid-afternoon I have gone QRT on all bands, disconnected antennas and turned off all rigs because of the threat of storms. These are also forecast tomorrow. It is a pity, but I believe a wise precaution.
There will be plenty of opportunities to chase Es and GDX on 6m and 10m.
On 2m I was again beacon hunting: there is one heading that allows me to hear (by ear) the GB3VHF, ON0VHF and PI7CIS beacons. I need to look again for the Cornish 2m beacon. Last time I searched I could not find it even on MS pings and I was wondering it was off the air? This search will have to wait until the threat of storms has passed.
For lightning maps: http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en . This shows storms steadily crossing this region.
UPDATE 1910z: It looks like the storms have bypassed our area today.
UPDATE 2030z: Another storm moving this way. May be here during the night? Will leave things disconnected.
There will be plenty of opportunities to chase Es and GDX on 6m and 10m.
On 2m I was again beacon hunting: there is one heading that allows me to hear (by ear) the GB3VHF, ON0VHF and PI7CIS beacons. I need to look again for the Cornish 2m beacon. Last time I searched I could not find it even on MS pings and I was wondering it was off the air? This search will have to wait until the threat of storms has passed.
For lightning maps: http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en . This shows storms steadily crossing this region.
UPDATE 1910z: It looks like the storms have bypassed our area today.
UPDATE 2030z: Another storm moving this way. May be here during the night? Will leave things disconnected.
A contigious 60m band?
OFCOM is consulting on the agenda items for the World Radio Conference WRC2015 which takes place November 2015. See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/wrc15/ .
The proposal is to support moves to allocate 5250-5450kHz to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis. This would replace the messy channels currently available. I recommend you write to OFCOM to support this move, which would give us a new ham band at 60m - ideal as the current sunspot cycle declines.
If allocated, it could be a few years before available.
The proposal is to support moves to allocate 5250-5450kHz to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis. This would replace the messy channels currently available. I recommend you write to OFCOM to support this move, which would give us a new ham band at 60m - ideal as the current sunspot cycle declines.
If allocated, it could be a few years before available.
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