N-S DX on 10m, but again no USA

Despite the lowish sunspot number and a forecast of "poor" 10m conditions I see that FR1GZ (9724km) spotted my 500mW WSPR beacon late lunchtime. 4X1RF (3519km), EA8/LA3JJ (2870km) and G4IKZ (18km) have all been spotting me but, yet again, absolutely no spots from the USA yet again.

It seems we are moving more towards spring/summer conditions with N-S paths still holding up but far less frequent E-W openings on 10m.

Sunspots and 10m propagation - March 21st 2015

Sunspot number has fallen to 27 and 10m propagation is expected to remain "poor". Best 10m DX with the 500mW WSPR beacon this morning is 4X1RF (3519km) but no other DX at all as yet.

FT817 replacement?

I have mentioned this before, but I am truly amazed that Yaesu has not updated the FT817.  OK, I have heard the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" argument but on simple commercial arguments I think they must be stupid. There is a worldwide market (500000?) ready to upgrade yet I think they have now missed the window of opportunity as sunspot numbers are falling.

I wonder if any sharp eyed, sharp eared readers have heard any rumours of an imminent replacement?

Alibaba

Some weeks ago I bought a small 40m Pixie CW transceiver kit via www.alibaba.com for $10. This arrived by air very quickly and I was very impressed with the kit and the excellent service. Apparently you can buy these even cheaper on eBay. I built mine in a few hours and it works well.

A quick search in Alibaba for other amateur radio products shows a wide range of units are available. Of course, I have no idea if VAT or duty is included.   My little 40m Pixie kit just dropped in my mailbox and cost me just over £7 total including shipping. Buying the individual parts would probably have cost me more!

See http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=amateur+radio .

10m WSPR - no USA again, well not so far today

EA8/LA3JJ (2870km) and 4X1RF (3519km) and a few Europeans, but no stateside stations today yet on 10m WSPR spotting my 500mW WSPR beacon. With 10m conditions expected tp be "poor", it would not surprise me if the band does not open to the USA today at all.

UPDATE 1528z:  Still no sign at all of any spots from stations in the USA. 4X1RF has been spotting me several times.

UPDATE 1825z:  No spots from the USA again today. I'll leave the beacon on for a few more hours just in case the band opens, but I fear this is just another bad day on 10m.

UPDATE 2057z:  With just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me now for ages, it is time to go QRT for today on 10m WSPR. Now QRT on 10m. PC clock reset to internet time on 630m (472kHz): after almost 12 hours it is probably in need of being reset. On 10m the WSPR-AXE-CW beacon from W5OLF seems to need resetting far less often, although I reset this each morning to internet time to be sure. I think it would be accurate enough for weeks without doing this.

UPDATE 2120z:   Looking at WSPRnet, I see many USA WSPR stations being spotted in Australia and New Zealand at around 13000-15000km. Maybe we'll see better conditions tomorrow on 10m?

Will hydrogen be the future fuel?

No-one can really argue that carbon based fuels like petrol, diesel and gas are not good for the environment and a good proportion come from politically sensitive regions like the Middle East. Electric vehicles use expensive batteries and have poor ranges. Possibly efficient hydrogen fuel cells may be the future? Korean car manufacturers think they have now reached the point at which hydrogen fuel celled powered cars are commercially viable. Of course we need the infrastructure such as refueling stations. They claim ranges of 300-400 miles, which are fine. They claim refueling will only take a few minutes.

I remember fuel-cell makers trying to convince me that fuel cells were better than Li-Ion batteries for our TETRA radios. At the time it was hype. Things have moved on quite a lot since then. Of course, the oil industry needs to evolve. They should be heavily investing in technologies for the future.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31926995 .

472kHz WSPR

In the last 2 weeks I have been spotted by 27 unique stations on this band. G3YXM (148km) is, I think, a new reporter earlier today. I shall leave 472kHz running, but don't expect any real DX until this evening. Still, it was good to get a report from G3YXM. I think my 5mW ERP from the earth-electrodes is a good test for stations listening on the band. Generally, if you can copy me at any decent distance, it proves your receive system is probably good enough. I know my RX system is capable of further improvement. On RX my FT817 is a bit deaf on 472kHz and I really should add a decent, high dynamic range preamp. Another 3-4dB sensitivity is possible I think.

Solar eclipse non-event here

As there was quite thick cloud here, the partial solar eclipse was a bit of a non-event here, although it was better elsewhere in the UK. I did a walk at the best time. Although the clouds were dark and it looked like it was about to rain, the sun was not visible here sadly. This was a partial eclipse but at 95-98% in the UK still pretty full. I remember the full eclipse in 1999 as we were on holiday in Gloucestershire and got good views. The next chance is in 2026.

I have no idea of the impact of this on propagation, but I imagine the effect is marginal.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31965456 .

Sunspots and 10m - Friday March 20th 2015

Sunspot number has gone up to 71 today, but 10m conditions are still expected to remain "poor".

My 10m beacon is still stabilising:  it takes about 20 minutes for the PA to warm up and the box to reach equilibrium and only local G4IKZ (18km) is spotting me currently. I re-synced both the 10m beacon and the 472kHz kit to internet time shortly after breakfast.

UPDATE 1116z:  G4IKZ (18km) has been the only station spotting me so far today.

472kHz WSPR this evening

G8LCO tipped me off that my PC clock looked out of sync with internet time, so I reset it.  It was last synced before 0700z and it had clearly drifted.  I have just done another sync and will check again at bedtime before leaving things running overnight.

Best DX reception of my 5mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" on 472kHz WSPR this evening is a spot by F1AFJ (607km) at 2014z.  I have been received much further (over 1000km) but not this evening so far.