Sunspots and 10m - Sat May 23rd 2015

Sunspot number has risen to 81 today (K=1) but forecasts for 10m remain "poor".  It is too early really to judge here but apart from EA8BVP (2986km - single hop F2) there is no evidence yet here at 0920z of any long distance spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. Others running more power may get spots from further afield?

UPDATE 0947z:   CT1JTQ (1843km) now spotting me several times, I assume by Es.

UPDATE 2200z:  EA8BVP (2986km) was spotting me as late as 2120z this evening, but no USA spots again.

EA8BVP (2986km) - early 10m WSPR spots today

EA8BVP (2986km) was spotting me by F2 as early as 0724z this morning on 10m WSPR.  No other spots apart from G4IKZ (18km) and G4KPX who I think is reporting the wrong QTH locator unless he is on holiday somewhere.

Pixie kit prices - truly incredible prices

Since my post earlier on this blog about low cost 40m Pixie kits from the Far East, I have been told that Bangood was selling these kits today for a staggeringly low price! This information is thanks to Spence M0STO. Earlier they were for sale at an incredible £2.67. 

At this price you might just buy the crystal here in the UK!  The kit comes with ALL parts (apart from battery, key and headphones) and a very nice silk-screened PCB. Don't forget this is with FREE shipping.  Unbelievable.

My kit from them worked first time. It was the first time I'd built anything in a LONG time because of my stroke. At this price it is an offer too good to turn down. AM breakthrough was perfectly usable (i.e. low) and RX sensitivity fine. I got over 400mW out too. Don't forget, this is a complete 40m CW transceiver.

Sorry for the double post but the kits are here and the Customer Service is second to none. Beware the prices change daily inline with currency. http://www.banggood.com/DIY-Radio-40M-CW-Shortwave-Transmitter-Kit-Receiver-7_023-7_026MHz-p-973111.html

6m WSPR update

A few people have noticed that 6m WSPR is quiet when the band is open and there is Es about. This is understandable as working all over Europe is possible with QRP SSB in a decent Es opening. I still hope there will be more DX (USA, Canada, South America, Africa, Caribbean, etc) on 6m WSPR this spring/summer. It requires people to stick with the 6m band and the WSPR mode.

Today on 6m my best DX (spots exchanged in both directions) is G4BRK (134km). I suspect this is tropo enhanced by the presence of aircraft in favorable positions. This was certainly the case with G8EPQ earlier. Eddie G3ZJO was tracking where planes would be to give enhancements. No sign of Es today on 6m WSPR, well not so far.

I am pretty sure some paths are only possible when planes are near the path and the reflections off the aircraft result in favorably low Doppler shift. It is quite common to see strong aircraft reflections but no WSPR decodes. I have seen this on both 6m and 2m. There is some drift as my rig goes from TX to RX, so often the Doppler I report is not Doppler, but drift in my rig. With aircraft reflection it is quite common to see multiple reflections with different amounts of Doppler. On some transmissions I have seen up to 6 different signals from a single TX as a result, presumably, of planes in a stack.

6m WSPR unique spots so far today.

UK Earthquakes - NOT amateur radio

Earthquakes are far less common in the UK than in some other countries, but they do occur.  Last night one occurred in Kent shaking homes and waking people in the middle of the night. This one was 4.2 on the Richter scale. This one was felt by my son near Canterbury and they think some tiles came off their cottage roof.  They live in Sturry, which is just a few miles east of Canterbury.

Some UK earthquakes have caused real disruption and damage. This one must have been quite a shock to those that were aware of it. Being in the middle of the night, many may have been totally unaware that it happened at all.   Even though this one lasted several seconds it was nowhere near the force of the recent ones in Nepal which were many orders of magnitude stronger.

The strongest earthquake in the UK in recent times was in Colchester in 1884. It measured 4.6 on the Richter scale. Some reports claim up to 5 people died.

FT817 replacement at last?

It may be on its way, late, but on its way at last:

K3NG reported on www.amateurradio.com on his visit to Dayton:

"Yaesu did not announce an FT-817 replacement, which salespeople in the booth sheepishly acknowledged."

I wonder if they plan to launch this by Christmas? I expect it will push C4FM. As Yaesu has missed the last solar peak, I wonder if this one will include 1296MHz and omit the lower HF bands? One covering all bands from 12m-23cms with auto-ATU on HF would be good. I have already said the features I'd expect in earlier blog posts.

Sunspots and 10m - May 22nd 2015

Sunspot number has dropped to 36 (K=1) and 10m propagation is expected to be "poor". I am not expecting great things on 10m today.

UPDATE 1757z:  Same old culprits on 10m WSPR today!  CT1JTQ (1843km) via Es,  EA8BVP (2986km)  via F2 and G4IKZ (18km) local.  No real DX seen, well not so far. I shall be on the band probably all night, so should catch any late opening to the USA although I am not expecting the band to open, but I am often wrong!

UPDATE 2017z:  Still no stateside DX on 10m this evening.

10m - disappointing today

With the best of the day now gone, it was a disappointing day on 10m WSPR.  In all, just 4 stations spotted my 500mW WSPR beacon. EA8BVP was again the best DX spot at 2986km. He has spotted me most days now for months by single-hop F2. Other Europeans were probably Es.

I am still on the lookout for a really big Es opening to places outside Europe, maybe South America or Japan.

Unique station spots on 10m WSPR today.

DST 100 receiver

My very first communications receiver weighed a ton (it took 2 people to move it!) and was a DST100. I believe it was made by Murphy during WW2. This receiver, I have since learnt, was designed for intercept listening. It was built like a tank with a huge rotary turret tuning unit. The radio cost £7 from a local garage and it was overhauled (new valves?) by (the now late) G3CHN. It covered from around 50kHz to over 30MHz and heard some impressive DX. I was always puzzled why signals were so broad on the lowest range, not realising at the time that it covered 50 to about 150 kilohertz!  This was in 1962.

At that time there was little amateur band gear available (none from Japan) and lots of us used WW2 surplus gear which was available at low cost from many suppliers. Popular receivers were the AR88 and CR100. Transmitter-receivers included the WS19, WS38 and 52 sets.

Amateur radio in the 1950s and 1960s was quite different with lots of HF AM still and most people building their own transmitters. SSB was in its infancy. In many ways it was the high point of the hobby, although today we are blessed with low cost gear, free software,  more modes and more bands. The hobby means different things to different people. Long may it continue.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/dst100 .

6m WSPR update

So far on 6m, just the usual spots exchange with G8EPQ (77km). No Es seen here on 6m today yet. I shall stay on the band all day to check though.

UPDATE 1818z:  G4AYT (114km) has been spotting me this teatime on 6m WSPR. Very low Doppler, so I am wondering if this is pure tropo?