Well I, for one, would welcome the chance to experiment on the 73kHz band. I can, I believe, legally (even without a licence) do so with earth-mode but I'd like to see how effective earth-electrode antennas work as radiating structures on this band. With modem digital techniques there are so many experiments to do.
Sadly, like much of our spectrum, this is now managed by "the military" in the UK so it is very unlikely we'll get access to this band again. When originally available in the UK, I was not active on LF.
16 Nov 2014
10m - stateside
The first spot of my 500mW 10m beacon was at 1248z today by WB1FIG (5304km). Since then, several USA stations have spotted me, although I have not been spotted outside of Europe and the USA so far today.
Conditions seem "OK" on 10m, but certainly not what I'd call brilliant. For example, no spots from Asia, Africa or South America yet. I am still waiting for a first first spot of my little beacon from Australia.
UPDATE 1500z: So far today reports of my little 500mW 10m beacon have been received from 28 different stations, so far. The majority of these are located in the USA and Canada. Lots of hours left still today too!
UPDATE 1540z: Best DX report today is still from K9AN (6505km).
UPDATE 1640z: Best DX report today is from WA5NGP (7878km). Still no reports today from further afield. Time is running out today.
Conditions seem "OK" on 10m, but certainly not what I'd call brilliant. For example, no spots from Asia, Africa or South America yet. I am still waiting for a first first spot of my little beacon from Australia.
UPDATE 1500z: So far today reports of my little 500mW 10m beacon have been received from 28 different stations, so far. The majority of these are located in the USA and Canada. Lots of hours left still today too!
UPDATE 1540z: Best DX report today is still from K9AN (6505km).
UPDATE 1640z: Best DX report today is from WA5NGP (7878km). Still no reports today from further afield. Time is running out today.
Sunspots - Sunday Nov 16th
Sunspot number today has declined to 100, but 10m daytime conditions are still forecast to be "good". The forecasts suggest decent 10m F2 propagation. We'll see.
15 Nov 2014
Moonraker
Ever since the spring when Moonraker supplied me with rubbish patch leads that just fell apart because the crimping was so poor, and a dual band VHF/UHF yagi antenna that had to be glued to fix one of the loose elements, Moonraker has not been my favourite supplier. They clearly did zero quality checks on the goods sold. I hope they have improved.
However they have some nice 10m radios at sensible prices including a 20W FM/AM unit for under £100 and a multi-mode 10m rig for under £150.
See http://www.moonraker.eu/ .
UPDATE 2200z: Moonraker also supply PMR446 and LPD433 dual band transceivers. The latter band is within the 70cm amateur band, which is perfectly legal at 10mW with no amateur licence, here in the UK. On UHF, 10mW goes a long way from a local high spot. See http://www.moonraker.eu/professional-radio-and-446/pmr-446 . There are several to choose from.
However they have some nice 10m radios at sensible prices including a 20W FM/AM unit for under £100 and a multi-mode 10m rig for under £150.
See http://www.moonraker.eu/ .
UPDATE 2200z: Moonraker also supply PMR446 and LPD433 dual band transceivers. The latter band is within the 70cm amateur band, which is perfectly legal at 10mW with no amateur licence, here in the UK. On UHF, 10mW goes a long way from a local high spot. See http://www.moonraker.eu/professional-radio-and-446/pmr-446 . There are several to choose from.
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Last stateside 10m spot today
The last USA spot of my WSPR-AXE 500mW 10m beacon, thanks to Jay W5OLF, was W3CSW (5886km) at 1850z. Since then just local G4IKZ.
The little 10m WSPR beacon still impresses me greatly. It is tiny yet seems to produce the magic of good reports from across the planet, and no PC is needed.
UPDATE 2053z: The little 10m beacon was switched off just now at 2050z. Although plenty of USA stations received me, I was quite surprised not to be spotted further away today. There is no doubt in my mind that world-wide 10m spots will be achieved with this little unit. It is the best investment I have ever made in our hobby. I can't praise it highly enough. It proves size and cost do not matter!
The little 10m WSPR beacon still impresses me greatly. It is tiny yet seems to produce the magic of good reports from across the planet, and no PC is needed.
UPDATE 2053z: The little 10m beacon was switched off just now at 2050z. Although plenty of USA stations received me, I was quite surprised not to be spotted further away today. There is no doubt in my mind that world-wide 10m spots will be achieved with this little unit. It is the best investment I have ever made in our hobby. I can't praise it highly enough. It proves size and cost do not matter!
Yaesu FT 991 - all mode, all band transceiver
This rig does look like it will be popular, although at a stated UK price of £999 I have my doubts. This seems VERY high to me when the FT840D now sells for £619 before negotiation for a cash deal. UK exchange rates with Japan (£-Yen) have greatly improved, so rig prices should be falling dramatically. At £699, rather than £999 I can see it doing very well. Far less well at £999. In the USA expect to pay $999.
See http://qrznow.com/yaesu-ft-991/ for pictures and a video. I see the rig has now passed FCC testing . I have no news of CE approvals in Europe. Don't expect we'll see it in Europe before spring 2015.
I do hope dealers in the UK offer it at a sensible price. Get the price right and you deserve to sell lots of these units. Personally, I'd like to see a 10W or 30W version but doubt this will come in Europe or the USA. Of course, an FT817 replacement might be on the cards? We live in eternal hope.
See http://qrznow.com/yaesu-ft-991/ for pictures and a video. I see the rig has now passed FCC testing . I have no news of CE approvals in Europe. Don't expect we'll see it in Europe before spring 2015.
I do hope dealers in the UK offer it at a sensible price. Get the price right and you deserve to sell lots of these units. Personally, I'd like to see a 10W or 30W version but doubt this will come in Europe or the USA. Of course, an FT817 replacement might be on the cards? We live in eternal hope.
Unique reports with the 500mW WSPR-AXE 10m beacon today
My little W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon - it really is TINY - has been going great guns again. These were the unique 10m WSPR spots today, so far. Of course, several stations spotted me many times. As previously, plenty of 10m USA spots in the log.
Sunspots today
The sunspot number today has risen to 117 and 10m propagation was forecast to be "good". F2 propagation on 10m looks promising.
UPDATE 2120z: Although the band was open (again) to the USA, my little 500mW beacon was not spotted further away. Maybe tomorrow.
UPDATE 2120z: Although the band was open (again) to the USA, my little 500mW beacon was not spotted further away. Maybe tomorrow.
14 Nov 2014
Going backwards?
After many many years of good service our HP "all in one" low cost printer, scanner and copier has finally died: it would probably cost far more to mend than replace. So, a few days ago I bought the nearest equivalent. It was delivered today. An HP Deskjet 2540, bought as I was so impressed with the original HP machine.
Why is it that things seem to go backwards? OK, the new machine also supports wireless printing, but I found the set-up more difficult and far less intuitive. The "easy start" guide which was purely diagrammatic was confusing. Even installing the cartridges seemed more tricky. In one of my 2 laptops the CD failed to read.
They call it progress.
Why is it that things seem to go backwards? OK, the new machine also supports wireless printing, but I found the set-up more difficult and far less intuitive. The "easy start" guide which was purely diagrammatic was confusing. Even installing the cartridges seemed more tricky. In one of my 2 laptops the CD failed to read.
They call it progress.
10m USA - again
Yet again, 10m is open to the USA even with my 500mW WSPR-AXE beacon. Not sure when it first opened but several USA stations were spotting me around tea time including KB9AMG, KF4FX and WA0JYF, all over 6300km.
For most of the day UR/SWL56 was spotting my 500mW beacon (76 spots!) at strengths up to an amazing +2dB S/N. For most of the afternoon, the USA stations were not spotting me. I did a re-sync at tea time and since then they have been copying me. This may be purely co-incidental and just "conditions". If I had not been spotted so consistently by UR/SWL56 I would suspect a small buglet in the WSPR-AXE software, but somehow this seems unlikely.
Anyway, now I am getting plenty of USA reports.
UPDATE 1910z: WG2Z (5600km) was still spotting me at 1850z, but since then just local G4IKZ (18km). We'll soon see if there are later USA spots, but I suspect that is it.
UPDATE 2045z: The last spots from the USA of my 500mW beacon were KC2GMM, N2NOM and WG2Z all at 1850z. 10m has opened to the USA every afternoon for weeks and weeks now.
For most of the day UR/SWL56 was spotting my 500mW beacon (76 spots!) at strengths up to an amazing +2dB S/N. For most of the afternoon, the USA stations were not spotting me. I did a re-sync at tea time and since then they have been copying me. This may be purely co-incidental and just "conditions". If I had not been spotted so consistently by UR/SWL56 I would suspect a small buglet in the WSPR-AXE software, but somehow this seems unlikely.
Anyway, now I am getting plenty of USA reports.
UPDATE 1910z: WG2Z (5600km) was still spotting me at 1850z, but since then just local G4IKZ (18km). We'll soon see if there are later USA spots, but I suspect that is it.
UPDATE 2045z: The last spots from the USA of my 500mW beacon were KC2GMM, N2NOM and WG2Z all at 1850z. 10m has opened to the USA every afternoon for weeks and weeks now.
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