Resistors

From our old friend Steve:

You want some Resis? These seem Good VFM! Paypal ordering too!

 

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-New-Best-selling-2500-PCS-50-Values-1-Or-4W-0_25W-1-Pencent-Metal-Film-Resistor-Kit-p-40424.html

 

73 Steve G1KQH

http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/

10m WSPR - a quiet afternoon

Since the Es this morning it has been very quiet on 10m with just G0LRD and M0EMM copied here. I am still hopeful of some more Es (and F2) propagation before the day is over. It has been very quiet this afternoon - quieter than I was expecting.

UPDATE 1953z:  Still just local G0LRD (25km) and no sign of more 10m Es propagation or any 10m F2.

10m WSPR - Es all morning

CT1JTQ (1843m) has been spotting my 10m 2W WSPR almost all morning. 10m Es has been good again today and I suspect that (with WSPR which allows very weak signals to be decoded) there will be Es seen right through the month and beyond. Yes, I expect the frequency of Es openings to decrease as we move into autumn, but I think there will be some openings every week to somewhere in Europe by Es. The moral is never give up on 10m WSPR: in the years ahead we'll learn a lot about fleeting openings thanks to WSPR. This applies to tropo, aircraft reflection, Es and F2. Magic bands 10m and 6m.

Sunspots today

Sunspot count today is 105 and 20-30MHz propagation "fair", so a decent chance of some 10m N-S F2 propagation at some times during the day and evening.  Es is still good on 10m. Plenty of life on the band still.

UPDATE 0930z:  HB4FL (835km) last seen by Es at 0854z.

10m WSPR - breakfast time Es

10m was open early again this morning by Es with DC8SE copied at 0820z and HB4FL copied at 0814z.   M0EMM (192km) has been coming in on tropo several times.

2m UKAC contest this evening

At the moment I am 114th out of 182 stations in the AL (low power) section (annual) of the 2m UKAC contests that take place on the first Tuesday of the month.

Operating SSB is very hard work with my poor voice (because of my brain bleed last September), so I usually stop after about 1 hour. Even that 1 hour is hard work. I am quite pleased with these results considering I have only entered 2 contests so far this year, for well below half the operating time allowed and with just 5W SSB and a 3 el hand-rotated beam up not very high.

All being well, I shall be on 2m SSB for the contest this evening.

UPDATE 2115z:  A good contest this evening with 13 QSOs in just under an hour before my voice gave in. It really was very very hard on my voice. Best DX MM0GPZ/P in IO85AK way up in Scotland. All QSOs were SSB at 5W.  My best contest yet with 5W from the new QTH with the hand rotated 3 el beam. Interestingly not a single QSO with stations in IO92 square . Last time I worked loads.

2m QSOs this evening. 5W and 3el from home

10m WSPR - GDX

With no Es on 10m this afternoon, GDX was the only excitement. M0EMM (192km) was copied by a mix of tropo and aircraft reflections. I spotted him and he spotted me. I am still hopeful of some Es and F2 propagation on 10m before the day is out.

UPDATE 1855z:  G8JNJ/A (184km) was spotted at 1848z on 10m WSPR.

No 10m Es here this afternoon

Since CT1JTQ (1843km) at lunchtime there has been no Es here on 10m, just exchanging spots with G0LRD (25km) who suffers from an intermittent high noise floor.  At this QTH, so far, I have been very lucky with local noise. I know this may not last.

Antennas

At the moment, I can cover 6m, 2m and 70cm vertical with the V2000, 2m omni-horizontal with the 2m halo, 2m and 70cms SSB/CW/digital with the small, hand rotated beam (3el/5ele) and 10m, 20m and 40m with the end-fed PAR wire antenna strung up to a tree. I can get on 630m by loading up the coax cables to various antennas or using the earth electrodes in the ground. I can get on other bands too by tuning various coax feeders.

V2000, 2m halo, and 2m/70cm beam (hand-rotated).
PAR end-fed is not visible but goes to a tree.

I will probably take down the V2000 and 2m halo later and replace them with a 10m halo (Homebase-10) for the months until next spring. I think the 10m halo will be a more effective antenna for 10m than the PAR. It will certainly be higher. Main problem at present is my mobility: climbing ladders is not a good idea in my present state, so antenna work is all but impossible.

Despite the low  power (5W or less) and lowish elevation, I am able to work out to around 200km on 2m and 70cm SSB in contests.

UPDATE WEDS: 449km best DX (Scotland) on 2m in the UKAC last evening with 5W and 3el.

10m WSPR - Sept 2nd 2014

Yet another good morning on 10m with lots of Spanish and Portuguese Es seen and local G0LRD (25km),

10m WSPR this morning

Best spot of my 2W WSPR so far today is by 4X1RF (3519km). I think this is multi-hop Es, but it could be F2.