Stroke update

I had my cerebellum brain bleed (stroke) in Sept 2013 and in all honesty I was expecting to be fully fit again by now. I think my wife and I had no idea how serious this was and just how long recovery was going to take. Nearly 15 months on it is a mixed picture.

All my limbs, my eyes and ears and my cognitive functions seem to work OK. But I still have poor liquid swallow, poor speech, giddiness when walking and I tire on the least physical exertion such as washing dishes or gardening. My stamina is better than it was but it is still far from right.

I am still clumsy and amateur radio construction is still out of the question, which I find very hard to accept. This, and my speaking problem, is why I currently use WSPR so much.

I am told a full recovery is probable, but this will take time. This last year as been very hard. I sincerely hope 2015 will be a better year.

In summary, I have felt old suddenly. Until last year I felt as if I would last forever. Now I feel far more vulnerable.

Sunspots - Friday Nov 21st 2014

Sunspot number today is 83, almost the same as yesterday, but 10m daytime propagation is again expected to remain "good".

So far, no exotic DX with the little 500mW WSPR-AXE 10m beacon with best spot so far from 4X1RF (3519km) plus LZ1OI and UR/SWL56.  No Australians spotting me, well yet anyway.

DL-SWL on 472kHz

Overnight DL-SWL (701km) spotted me no less than 7 times on 472kHz. I was using my short baseline earth-electrode "antenna" with a maximum 5mW ERP. Not my best DX but very pleasing. With no real antenna, no loading coils, ANYONE could join the fun on 472kHz!

WSPR

As regular readers of this blog will know, I just love WSPR. It amazes me that such weak signals can be detected so well at such great distances using this mode. I am even more impressed that such a simple "stand alone" (no PC needed) beacon can be constructed.  My very simple, TINY little 10m W5OLF WSPR-AXE beacon has been copied all over the world now. It is truly TINY.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_%28amateur_radio_software%29 .

Landing on a comet

One cannot help but be impressed by the space probe Rosetta to a comet and the subsequent landing of the Philae probe on the comet's surface.

This week I learned that one our friends was the Project Manager for this at Astrium back in the late 1990s. He is now retired but he was invited back for the landing. I hope they manage to get the lander moved to a better illuminated spot.

I was very impressed.

Arizona on 10m

Best 10m DX today,well so far, with the little 500mW WSPR-AXE beacon was WA7HL (8508km).  There is still a chance that I might get spotted in South America later, but somehow I doubt it.

Sunspots - Thursday Nov 20th 2014

Sunspot number has dropped back to 72 today. 10m propagation is forecast to be "good".  The 10m band has been open to the USA yet again this afternoon, but no great DX seen on the band for my little 500mW WSPR-AXE beacon today.

10m WSPR analysis by Bert PA1B

Bert PA1B has analysed my 500mW WSPR spots today, ignoring the many spots by local G4IKZ.   It shows the signal strengths (uV/m) implied by the S/N figures.  In many cases, much lower powers would have been enough to get "spotted".  Thank you Bert.  Of course, for some people, the noise floor limits the minimum signal that can be detected.

UPDATE 2200z:  The last USA spot of my 500mW was WG2Z (5600km) at 1724z. Just local G4IKZ (18km) since then.  Now QRT on 10m until after breakfast, but will stay on 472kHz overnight.

G4HUP kits

See http://g4hup.com/Orders.html.

John Mullin, G0TEV has pointed me to these kits, which include an add-on panoramic adaptor kit, suitable to tap into the IF output of many popular rigs like the FT817, IC706 and IC703. I had not seen these kits before John pointed me in their direction.

Sunspots - Nov 19th 2014

Conditions on 10m remain good here.

Sunspot number today had dropped back a bit to 92, but 10m conditions remain "good". Certainly the 10m DX WSPR spots from Australia confirm this. I am already being spotted in the USA very early today.