10m - real DX

10m is a truly surprising band.  Although the solar forecast for 10m is just "fair" I see that VK5MR (16144km) spotted my 500mW WSPR at 1148z this morning.

First USA spot of my 500mW WSPR beacon today was by WG2Z (5600km) at 1230z.

Sunspots and 10m - Dec 23rd 2014

Today is my 66th birthday.  There were times in the last year or so when I thought I would never see this day or this Christmas, but slowly my body is recovering.

Sunspot number today is 113 and 10m propagation "fair". Today, 10m conditions are anyone's guess.

Longwave AM TX closing in Germany

Stefan DK7FC recently posted this to the RSGB LF group:

Hi LF,

Obviously there was a decision that DLF (Deutschlandfunk) will go QRT on LF 153 kHz on 31:12.2014!

Here is a German article about this decision: http://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/dlf_stellt_langwelle_ein.html

This makes me a bit sad on one side since i like the good old AM radio stuff. But on the other side, i know that i'm getting QRM from that transmitter which runs 500kW on a 350m high vertical antenna in 40 km distance. Probably there is a significant noise spectrum beeing radiated which i can see in that short distance. I can see it just a second before 20 o clock in the evening, when they switch from 500 kW to 250 kW. For 1...2 seconds, the AM carrier is off air, which lowers the noise background significantly. So maybe LF reception will be much better next year, i hope.

So maybe it is worth for some to listen for the last minutes of DLF LF transmissions on 31.12. this year :-(

73, Stefan/DK7FC

10m first and last USA WSPR spots today

The first station in the USA to copy my 10m 500mW WSPR signal today was WG2Z (5600km) at 1224z.

At present, the latest USA spot is by K9AN (6505km) at 1654z, although I expect to be spotted in the USA again later this evening.

Local G8KNN has been active on 10m WSPR today.  Interesting that stations in the USA copy me better than a local 12km away! I think Jon must have a week off work at Christmas.

UPDATE 2010z:   The last USA station to spot my 500mW on 10m WSPR was W3CSW at 1824z.

472kHz today

M0EMM (192km) has been spotting me on 472kHz WSPR today along with spots from other stations. Overnight, PA0A (417km) was copying me.

These are the 472kHz WSPR spots using 5mW ERP and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the last 24 hours. Even using my "deaf" FT817 barefoot on RX and with this crude antenna system, I seem to copy plenty of stations.

Unique 472kHz spots - last 24 hours

Australian IR tests

VK4EBP reported that he has carried out successful tests over a 10km NLOS (non line of sight) path using infra red.

See Australian Optical DX   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Optical_DX/info .

One of my aims for 2015, assuming I am fit enough, is more NLOS tests including IR over greater ranges. To maximise my chances I shall probably use QRSS3 again rather than rely on aural reception. My previous tests, using clear air scatter, was over a 8.5km distance.   Much further should be possible.

Sunspots and 10m

Sunspot number today has climbed to 159 but 10m propagation is forecast to be only "fair", so 10m propagation may not be as good as yesterday. So far this morning 4Z5SM (3523km) is the best DX spot of my 500mW 10m beacon.

UPDATE 1550z:  Martin G8JNJ reports 10m AM signals coming in well around 29.050MHz. I am getting plenty of USA WSPR reports of my 500mW beacon again today. Conditions on 10m certainly seem better than "fair".

First and last USA 10m WSPR spots today

The first USA station to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon today was KD6A (6285km) at 1244z and the last was W3CSW (5886km) at 1822z. Best DX spot today was by ZS6BNE (9075km) at 2616z.

Apple - Panorama documentary

Last week, BBC's Panorama programme did a frightening documentary on factories used by Apple in China and on their tin supply chain in Indonesia. If such poor conditions are used by Apple, many other products will be produced in even worse conditions. As a user of Apple products I am appalled.

See Panorama, Apple's Broken Promises .

Of course, we in the West milk the low costs that such poor working procedures/conditions permit. With time, conditions will improve and the West will look to other low cost manufacturing areas for our low cost products. Sadly, our greed feeds this process.

Frighteningly, other products we buy are probably made in places that are far worse.

Andrew G6ALB tells me of a friend in the automotive industry who visited a Chinese supplier where he found workers using ordinary sun glasses to protect eyes from welding gear. After 6 months  the workers were totally blind. So they just got fresh workers to replace them!

Thanks to Steven G7VFY for most of this information.

UPDATE 1740z:  Sadly many (most?) of our electronics components will be made in sweat shops in the Far East. It is very hard to get away from this problem.

Sunspots

Sunspot number has fallen back to 120 (still pretty respectable) and 10m daytime propagation is expected to be "good".