70cm UKAC tonight

I have just received a contest reminder from the RSGB contest committee:

This contest takes place on Tue 11-Aug-2015 19:00 UTC
The rules for the contest can be found here
http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?contest=70cmsukac
Regards,
CC

As I really have no suitable horizontally polarised antennas now on 70cm, I shall try with my 2m halo and V2000 triband vertical. I am only expecting to hear and work locals on 70cm tonight. I shall not stop on too long. It will be interesting to see how these "compromise" antennas perform on 70cm.

UPDATE 1945z:  In the end I only stopped on 70cms for just over 30 minutes but worked 3 of the locals on the 2m halo, which matched well on 70cm SSB. My 2m halo and V2000 are fed with lossy RG58 coax. I decided I had enough with my poor voice and poor antennas. I have now returned to 6m JT6M RX only.

10m Es

So the kit was working after all. IU1DZZ (973km) has been spotting me over lunchtime quite well by Es. No other Es spots received yet on 10m WSPR.

On 10m WSPR I am 100% TX (frequency randomised every 2 mins) but on 6m WSPR I am looking 80% of the time on RX and sending all spots to WSPRnet.

UPDATE 1315z:   F1TZG (876km) is also spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. 10m is livening up now. He was also spotted on 6m WSPR much earlier in the day.

UPDATE 2140z:   Well there has been 10m Es on WSPR just about all day. This must rank as one of the best days for 10m Es all summer.

CN8LI again on 6m WSPR

This lunchtime I have again been exchanging 6m WSPR spots with CN8LI (2113km) in Morocco.He must be the most consistent DX signal on 6m this summer and last. Still no Es seen on 10m WSPR. I will need to recheck the kit as I am surprised to get no 10m spots at all, but see later post.

UPDATE 1318z: I am now spotting IK1WVQ (1076km) on 6m WSPR very well. He is running 2W.

Google restructuring - NOT amateur radio

Google s doing a major restructuring according to the BBC. Apparently this was a surprise move creating a new parent company called Alphabet Inc..

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33857412 .

Sunspots and 10m - Tues Aug 11th 2015

Sunspot number is falling again and now stands at 67 (K=2). 10m propagation is again expected to be "poor". Es will be the main hope on 10m and 6m.

I have done a hard reset of my 10m WSPR-AXE-CW beacon and a resync to internet time. Hopefully this will see it through the day now. The 6m WSPR kit uses the FT817 and the PC and is locked to internet time every 5 minutes.

6m JT6M

In the end I looked on 50.230MHz last night, but only copied G4BAO who was working an OZ. I suspect I was copying John directly and not off MS pings. Tonight I'll try the newer JT6M frequency further up the band. Now back on 6m WSPR during the day and early evening.

UPDATE 0915z:  Plenty of 6m WSPR spots of G0OQK (98km) by tropo and aircraft reflection. He has also spotted me lots of times again.

UPDATE 0938z:  There were no overnight 10m WSPR spots. I thought I might have been spotted in Europe via the Perseids by MS but guess the 2 minute TX period, low power and Doppler were all against me. MS pings are much longer on 10m. In the past I have worked QRP SSB DX by 10m aurora but never tried 10m MS. Maybe I should. It is a pity there is not a 30sec WSPR mode!

JT6M on 6m in Perseid MS shower?

I may take a look on 6m JT6M mode for the next few nights but I am confused about what frequency to look on here in Europe. This will be strictly RX only as my ERP will be too low.

What frequency is best for 6m JT6M in Europe please?

Distant distant memories - NOT amateur radio

It is funny what lurks deep in the crevices of the mind.

This afternoon we visited some old friends, who live quite near us, for afternoon tea. On their hearth was a brass object of globular shape. Seeing it I remembered an old bell owned by Jack White and his wife who lived in Slapton, Devon. The Whites had an outside toilet.

I swear I had not thought of that little bell in nearly 60 years but in my mind it was crystal clear again. This very very distant memory was there waiting to be triggered.

They were a lovely couple. I remember us playing the card game "Newmarket" at their table. One wonders what other memories are buried which will one day surface again.

6m Es on WSPR

CT1PT (1685km) was spotted here at lunchtime on 6m WSPR. There is not much 6m Es about, at least not here yet!

UPDATE 1845z:  I see that CN8LI (2113km) and I exchanged spots on 6m WSPR at teatime and that 10m WSPR is thick with Es stations this evening.

136kHz QRSS3 test

Well, I have found most of the bits needed for my 136kHz QRSS3 test including the E-field probe (EFP) to mount on the car roof. I need to solder 1 short BNC to free end coax in the E-field probe and charge up a PP3 battery (for the EFP) and the FT817.  I also need to match the beacon to the earth electrode "antenna" at 136kHz.  I shall start copying the beacon in the lounge first before venturing out in the field.

Although I now have a preamp for the (deaf) FT817 thanks to a very very kind person, I'll not use this as I did not use one on the last test 2 years ago from the old QTH.

A few years ago this would have been so easy to do. Now it is a major exercise! Life is so much harder now since the stroke, but I remain determined to get better. Given time (maybe a lot more time) I hope things get back to more as they once were.