472kHz transverter

Over the winter I have been using my simple, small transverter for the 630m band on WSPR with my earth-electrode "antenna". It has been widely copied with best DX on TX being over 1000km. 630m is an interesting band.

See my website for more details: http://www.g3xbm.co.uk  (lots of QRP stuff) and specifically  https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/mflf/472khz_tvtr.

Sunspots and 10m - May 5th 2015

Sunspot number has rebounded to 85 (K=1) and the forecast for 10m is "fair".  Things just might be a little better on 10m today? Well will know later.

UPDATE 0900z:  So far only locals G4IKZ (18km) and G4KPX (14km) spotting my 10m beacon, but it is still very early.

UPDATE 1316z:   Some 10m Es in evidence with  OE6PWD  (1232km) spotting me around lunchtime. No sign of any real DX yet.

UPDATE 1442z:   EA8BVP (2986km) has yet again started to spot me.   I have totally lost count how many days he has spotted me on 10m, but it is a lot.

UPDATE 1552z:   EA8BVP continues to spot me lots of times, but still no sign of any "real" DX today on 10m WSPR.  No North or South Americans.

UPDATE 2150z:  No sign of any spots from the USA.

Cuckoo - NOT amateur radio

We visited West Stow today with 2 of our young grandchildren. This is a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon village. We heard a goldcrest and the first cuckoo whilst there, but saw neither. A cuckoo is a sign if the return of spring. I have yet to see house martins or swifts and have only seen 2 swallows so far this spring.

6m - only just gone on

I have not been on 6m WSPR most of the day.   In fact I have only just gone on after our regular 2m sked in East Cambridgeshire on 144.575MHz FM.

At this late time I only expect to get spotted (or to spot) GDX stations off aircraft, or locals. I have been on 10m all day TX only. On 6m I expect I will have missed any Es that may have been around. It was my error that the 6m kit was off. I had not planned to be off 6m.

UPDATE 1938z:  No spots given or received on 6m so far this evening.

USA 10m WSPR spots - none today,so far

Mainly locals and EA8BVP (2986km) spotting me today on 10m WSPR. A slight Es opening to Italy but, so far at least, no sign of  any 10m WSPR spots from the USA yet again today.

Fredbox - 2m transceiver

Many years ago I designed and made the 2m AM Fredbox 2m AM transceiver. At the time it was the smallest 2m transceiver I'd ever seen or used.  Several close copies were made.  It worked some impressive DX including several 60 mile handheld contacts and one over 100 miles to Brittany from the South Devon coast.  All these were with whip antennas on the rig and not beams. Most QSOs were with locals. The power was only 10mW AM. It was ideal for contacts around Cambridge where I lived at that time.

Some years ago, I rebuilt the transceiver and had some decent QSOs yet again.

As with the Sixbox, I would suggest the design is taken as a springboard for your own version. It is certainly ripe for further development.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/fredbox .

Sunspots and 10m - May 4th 2015

With a sunspot number of 25 (K=3) and 10m expected to be "poor" we cannot expect great things on 10m today.

6m Es

GM4FVM (428km) spotted me on 6m Es at 1112z this morning. He must be monitoring several bands as this was the same time as the Es spot on 10m.  This is the first Es I have experienced on 6m this season. Apart from the GM, M0MVB (30km) spotted me a few times this morning. Otherwise very quiet on the 6m band, at least as far as WSPR was concerned. Last Es season 4X1RF and a CN8LI appeared in the logs several times. Not yet this season! I am hoping that the Atlantic will be spanned on WSPR this season on 6m. I've done it on CW before with the same ERP, so WSPR should be easier as long as there are active stations on WSPR. Last Es season there were far too few stations active on 6m WSPR.

GM by 10m Es

GM4FVM (428km) was perhaps the most interesting spot of me today at 1112z. This was quite short skip and almost certainly Es. Apart from EA8BVP (29886km) who spots me just about every day on 10m WSPR it has been very quiet with no other F2 in evidence. Certainly no signs, so far, of USA stations spotting me.

Over the months I notice that my nominal 10m  frequency has lowered. I guess this is the reference aging. It means some of the randomised transmissions are just LF of the WSPR window.  At some point I need to reset the 10m slightly higher. Not a major issue.

Sunspots and 10m - May 3rd 2015

Sunspot number is 25 today (K=3) and 10m propagation is forecast to be "fair". Not quite sure what 10m will be like today. So far just locals spotting me today, although Es will no doubt liven things up a bit.