See Remove Katie Hopkins as a Sun newspaper columnist.
This woman is writing total rubbish about poor and very desperate people
trying to reach Europe in flimsy boats from Libya. Many are fleeing wars or strife. Many have payed
thousands for the trip and thousands have drowned. The sooner this woman is
stopped the better, press freedom or not. If she reported the facts, all well and good. As it is, she is writing to make money on the back of these poor desperate people. This is so very wrong.
The petition is being signed by very many people - in fact I have never seen one signed so fast!
The Sun is a popular UK daily newspaper. Some recommend it to wrap fish and chips.
Please sign and share on your social media.
19 Apr 2015
No 10m USA spots of me today
I was both surprised and disappointed that, as of now at least, I have received no USA 10m WSPR spots today. With high sunspot numbers, not very disturbed conditions and a "good" forecast for 10m, I thought I might have some success today. Although using a better antenna, G4IKZ was spotting Brazilians on 10m WSPR earlier. At present I need a separate RX to listen on 10m as I tend to TX 100% but randomise TX frequency.
UPDATE 1926z: Still no USA stations, so I think I may have lost their reports until the autumn, although some might be able to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon by multi-hop Es over the summer. If the USA stations were going to spot me (as they did daily for months and months) today was probably the best chance in several weeks. It is several hours since G4IKZ has spotted me. I think Nick must be pointing his Moxon beam south?
UPDATE 2018z: Still no spots by USA 10m stations. In fact no DX at all all day long on 10m! Soon be time to go QRT on 10m . I have already gone QRT on 630m (472kHz) as I have connected the earth-electrodes to my VLF beacon in readiness for the test tomorrow.
UPDATE 2155z: I decided to leave my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon running through the night. Judging by results today, I am only likely to get G spots off aircraft or locally.
UPDATE 1926z: Still no USA stations, so I think I may have lost their reports until the autumn, although some might be able to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon by multi-hop Es over the summer. If the USA stations were going to spot me (as they did daily for months and months) today was probably the best chance in several weeks. It is several hours since G4IKZ has spotted me. I think Nick must be pointing his Moxon beam south?
UPDATE 2018z: Still no spots by USA 10m stations. In fact no DX at all all day long on 10m! Soon be time to go QRT on 10m . I have already gone QRT on 630m (472kHz) as I have connected the earth-electrodes to my VLF beacon in readiness for the test tomorrow.
UPDATE 2155z: I decided to leave my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon running through the night. Judging by results today, I am only likely to get G spots off aircraft or locally.
VLF field test tomorrow
Today I adjusted the turns ratio on my 8.976kHz VLF QRSS3 and 10wpm CW 5W beacon to better match my earth electrodes. At this QTH they look much greater than 50 ohms, which I measured at the "old" QTH and optimised for.
On the way I managed to blow up a TDA2003 IC, which I had to replace. The whole exercise was far more exhausting than I was expecting. It seems that after about 10-15 minutes of physical or mental effort I am done in. Before my cerebellum brain bleed everything today would have been trivial. Now trivial tasks feel like climbing mountains! Although I can see progress in my recovery there is still a long way to go. One of my aims (among many) is to be able to resume field tests as before, but time will tell if I am really up to this: it is quite hard when your brain is still foggy a lot of the time. Oddly, when sitting down at home or when driving things are fine. It is when I do something requiring real physical or mental effort that I get tired. I guess the radio work today was hard as I had not done this sort of thing for some time.
Anyway, the good news is that I hope to do a VLF field test tomorrow. Everything is ready and tested. It will not be until late afternoon as both my wife and I are busy before then. The XYL will be there at the test site if I get really tired. Setting up the gear will be especially tiring in my current state. The test site is not too far from home. I have soak tested the TX and it should be fine on QRSS3 using my loop and Spectran at the RX end. I shall report results tomorrow. This will be my first VLF field test in over 18 months. How I have looked forward to this. If the loop is successful I may try the E-field probe.
On the way I managed to blow up a TDA2003 IC, which I had to replace. The whole exercise was far more exhausting than I was expecting. It seems that after about 10-15 minutes of physical or mental effort I am done in. Before my cerebellum brain bleed everything today would have been trivial. Now trivial tasks feel like climbing mountains! Although I can see progress in my recovery there is still a long way to go. One of my aims (among many) is to be able to resume field tests as before, but time will tell if I am really up to this: it is quite hard when your brain is still foggy a lot of the time. Oddly, when sitting down at home or when driving things are fine. It is when I do something requiring real physical or mental effort that I get tired. I guess the radio work today was hard as I had not done this sort of thing for some time.
Anyway, the good news is that I hope to do a VLF field test tomorrow. Everything is ready and tested. It will not be until late afternoon as both my wife and I are busy before then. The XYL will be there at the test site if I get really tired. Setting up the gear will be especially tiring in my current state. The test site is not too far from home. I have soak tested the TX and it should be fine on QRSS3 using my loop and Spectran at the RX end. I shall report results tomorrow. This will be my first VLF field test in over 18 months. How I have looked forward to this. If the loop is successful I may try the E-field probe.
Heathkit
My first introduction to radio was an "Electronics Workshop" kit by Heathkit. If memory serves me correctly this was my Christmas present in Dec 1961. It used a few transistors and othttps://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8her parts with spring contacts and wires to configure each circuit. No soldering was needed.
That Christmas I did my first Medium Wave DXing with one of the circuits and I was very exited to receive stations in the Middle East and Russia. Other circuits included a very low power transmitter for MW. This used the crystal earpiece as the microphone. As I recall, it got to the next room in the house. This was the kick-off I needed.
Years later I owned a Heathkit HW8 QRP HF CW rig. It worked very well indeed and I worked some decent DX with it. It is such a pity Heathkit is no more as they made some really good kits.
I guess the nearest these days is Elecraft. Sadly Elecraft products are expensive in the UK: good radios, but far too much. As an example for the price of one KX3 kit (better RX I know, but covering fewer bands) one can buy 2 FT817NDs ready built with a 2 year warranty. And I think we are paying too much for the FT817ND here in the UK! If the KX3 is fully loaded with mic, ATU, 2m etc, then it is very expensive. The prices are as they are because punters are prepared to pay.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8 .
That Christmas I did my first Medium Wave DXing with one of the circuits and I was very exited to receive stations in the Middle East and Russia. Other circuits included a very low power transmitter for MW. This used the crystal earpiece as the microphone. As I recall, it got to the next room in the house. This was the kick-off I needed.
I guess the nearest these days is Elecraft. Sadly Elecraft products are expensive in the UK: good radios, but far too much. As an example for the price of one KX3 kit (better RX I know, but covering fewer bands) one can buy 2 FT817NDs ready built with a 2 year warranty. And I think we are paying too much for the FT817ND here in the UK! If the KX3 is fully loaded with mic, ATU, 2m etc, then it is very expensive. The prices are as they are because punters are prepared to pay.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8 .
Sunspots and 10m propagation - Sunday April 19th 2015
Sunspot number has climbed to 114 (K=2) and 10m propagation is expected to be "good" which is the first time for weeks.
This morning my 500mW 10m WSPR is being copied by locals G4IKZ (18km) and G4KPX (14km) but no DX stations yet. I am very hopeful that USA stations will spot me later on 10m WSPR and was hopeful of some decent 10m DX reports this morning too.
UPDATE 1227z: I was surprised and disappointed to get no DX spots at all on 10m WSPR this morning. Although I still hope for some USA spot later, I am beginning to doubt this. Is it just getting too late in the spring, or have people gone down a few bands?
UPDATE 1320z: Still only locals spotting me on 10m WSPR - very disappointing
This morning my 500mW 10m WSPR is being copied by locals G4IKZ (18km) and G4KPX (14km) but no DX stations yet. I am very hopeful that USA stations will spot me later on 10m WSPR and was hopeful of some decent 10m DX reports this morning too.
UPDATE 1227z: I was surprised and disappointed to get no DX spots at all on 10m WSPR this morning. Although I still hope for some USA spot later, I am beginning to doubt this. Is it just getting too late in the spring, or have people gone down a few bands?
UPDATE 1320z: Still only locals spotting me on 10m WSPR - very disappointing
18 Apr 2015
Churches blog - NOT amateur radio
A few weeks ago we visited St Botolph's church in Cambridge. I have just updated the East Anglian Church blog.
See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/ .
See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/ .
USA 10m WSPR spots
As I write this at 1835z, there is still no sign of any USA spots.
EA8BVP (2986km) has spotted me 34 times so far today but, so far at least, very quiet across the Atlantic.
The band may still open briefly allowing my 500mW WSPR to be spotted over there, but the later it gets the less the chances are of my signal being heard.
UPDATE 2024z: Well, yet again, I was wrong! No USA stations spotted me on 10m WSPR today.
EA8BVP (2986km) has spotted me 34 times so far today but, so far at least, very quiet across the Atlantic.
The band may still open briefly allowing my 500mW WSPR to be spotted over there, but the later it gets the less the chances are of my signal being heard.
UPDATE 2024z: Well, yet again, I was wrong! No USA stations spotted me on 10m WSPR today.
Soldering iron mended - and NON amateur radio DIY
I am quite pleased with myself, for once.
Although I still get tired, I seem to be less profoundly tired than I was. Today I managed to remove the plug on a spare 24V Weller soldering iron tool that I found and attach it to the base/24V supply. I checked it works - it does. So I currently have 2 working soldering irons.
Also, I managed my first (minor) DIY job by repairing a trellis support on our bungalow front wall. I also raked out some dead moss from the front lawn ready to re-seed the patches. In the past, these would have been trivial tasks, but now they are major steps on my oh so slow road to recovery.
Recovery from my cerebellum brain bleed (Sept 2013) is very slow, but I am slowly getting a little better.
Although I still get tired, I seem to be less profoundly tired than I was. Today I managed to remove the plug on a spare 24V Weller soldering iron tool that I found and attach it to the base/24V supply. I checked it works - it does. So I currently have 2 working soldering irons.
Also, I managed my first (minor) DIY job by repairing a trellis support on our bungalow front wall. I also raked out some dead moss from the front lawn ready to re-seed the patches. In the past, these would have been trivial tasks, but now they are major steps on my oh so slow road to recovery.
Recovery from my cerebellum brain bleed (Sept 2013) is very slow, but I am slowly getting a little better.
Hendricks Kits
These days, with dirt cheap kits from China often with free airmail, it is sometimes a wonder that any USA or UK kit companies exit at all. One of these I have mentioned before is Hendrick Kits, which always has a good selection on their website. These are best value if you live in the USA. Several kits are shown as "retired" which I guess means they did not sell well or they had problems with reproducibility. One favourite is the derivative of the BitX SSB design from Ashlan Farhan in India. This uses easily obtainable parts and has been a well proven design. Hendricks sell versions for 20m or 17m.
See http://www.qrpkits.com/bitx20a.html .
It looks like they have just moved so there might we a little delay until early May.
The power out, around 10W, should ensure plenty of contacts. These 2 bands are usually good even when the sun is quiet, so make a good choice. You have to choose either 20m or 17m SSB. I am sure Western kit companies would really value our business. "Use it or lose it", is a phrase often used about bands. In this case it apples to amateur radio kit suppliers. If we don't buy from them they will close their doors and cease trading. I am as guilty as anyone having recently bought a 40m Pixie kit from China.
From the Hendricks Kit website:
See http://www.qrpkits.com/bitx20a.html .
It looks like they have just moved so there might we a little delay until early May.
The power out, around 10W, should ensure plenty of contacts. These 2 bands are usually good even when the sun is quiet, so make a good choice. You have to choose either 20m or 17m SSB. I am sure Western kit companies would really value our business. "Use it or lose it", is a phrase often used about bands. In this case it apples to amateur radio kit suppliers. If we don't buy from them they will close their doors and cease trading. I am as guilty as anyone having recently bought a 40m Pixie kit from China.
From the Hendricks Kit website:
"The BitX20A and BitX17A are complete SSB kits with board, all parts, digital display and custom powder coated and punched case that is based on the BitX20 that was designed by Ashlan Farhan. The original version was built ugly construction, and you had to source all the parts. I discovered the BitX20 site on Yahoo in 2007, and decided that the BitX20 would be a neat kit for Hendricks QRP Kits. The problem was that it did not have a pcb. A team of Dan Tayloe, Jim Kortge and Arv Evans have worked countless hours making sure that the pcb version was stable and would meet United States F.C.C. Specs. We had to go through several revisions to get it right, and we are happy with the result, even though it took a long time. Some things just take time. The kit includes a commercial quality plated through, silkscreened, solder masked board, and all board mounted parts, plus the polyvaricon tuning capacitor, digital dial, custom powder coated and punched case, knobs and controls. Everything you need to build the kit is provided.The BitX looks a nice, useful radio. For a beginner it is just about all you need to get started.
I encourage you to check out the BitX20 users group on Yahoo. They have agreed to provide support for the kits. There are hundreds of messages on there about the history and development of this kit. Our kit puts out about 10 watts, features dual IRF510's as finals in a push-pull arrangement. The schematic is available at the Bitx20 site on Yahoo. Cost of the kit is $180.00 plus shipping and handling."
472kHz daytime
G3WCB (101km) has been spotting my 5mW ERP from the earth-electrodes most of the morning. My last spot from The Netherlands was at 0528z by PA0RDT although I was spotting PA3ABK/2 at 0552z. When conditions are better I can usually be copied by Dutch stations at almost at any time night or day.
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