QRP club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

See QRP Rendez-Vous weekly report on the Club 72 blog -
http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
Thanks all for activity and for comments.
This week visitors:
UA1CEX,  UR7VT,  DL1EIG,  UR5EFD,  PA0WDW,  UA1CEG/p,  RV3GM, OH6NPV, UA1ADF, OE6GUG, RU3NJC, OK2LA, UA4NU, DL6UNF, SM5MEK, DF9QV, RA1M/mm, DL7MA,  S57TX,  IK5IIS,  ON4MB,  RN4NAA,  ON6KZ, OM6TC, RW3AA, HA2NK, IV3DGY, RX9CBS, G6HUI
See you all on the next week QRP Rendez-Vous, schedule -
www.club72.su

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

472kHz WSPR

At 1750z I QSYed to MF (5mW ERP TX 20%, RX 80% with no preamp).  As yet, no spots but it is early evening and the crystal in the transverter is probably still settling on TX. On RX the transverter simply passes the signal directly to the FT817.

UPDATE 1815z:  I see local Jenny  G0VQH (15km) was the first spotter on 472kHz WSPR this evening.

UPDATE 1835z:  These are the 472kHz WSPR spots so far this evening.

UPDATE  1935z:  Currently I use WSJT V1.6 for WSPR and JT modes. At 1916z I spotted PA3ABK/2 (306km) for the second time this evening but the spot did not appear on WSPRnet. I checked my clock was synced (it was) and I have internet connectivity. Maybe there is a bug with  V1.6 or WSPRnet was down at the time this would have been uploaded?

UPDATE 2016z:   I am now RX only on 472kHz WSPR with the preamp.

A nice mix on 10m today

This afternoon, there was a nice mix on 10m WSPR. KA3JIJ (6680km) was spotted mid-afternoon by F2 and later G4CUI (172km) was spotted as GDX by tropo and aircraft. No-one spotted me this afternoon.

UPDATE 1745z:  Time to QSY to 472kHz (630m) WSPR for the evening and overnight.

10m - still quiet

Apart from 4X1RF (3519km) earlier this morning, 10m WSPR has been very quiet. I may QSY to JT9-1 on 20m later for some 2-way QSOs. We plan to go out shortly, so this would be later in the afternoon.

Stroke - NOT amateur radio

A nurse who worked in neurology at Addenbrookes hospital today described me as, "a walking miracle", but I'd settle for my old self please!  Although I still feel I'm living "on the edge" each day,  I am thankful to be here, but I wish I had no problems with my voice, swallow, felt less giddy, and got less tired.  My fine motor skills are still far from right.

In many ways I am lucky and I could have been left much worse. Today I have to adapt to the new "me" and hope things still improve, albeit slowly.  Everyone says that I look so well. This, in many ways, makes it worse as they all assume I am well, when I really am not at all well inside. I have mentioned this before, but in some ways a visible form of disability might be easier. At least people would know one is not well.

Imagine you are living in a fog: this is how I have felt for over 2 years. It gets you down, no matter how hard you try. When I drive it takes all my concentration. Life is hard and I wish this on no-one.

Hawkedon - NOT amateur radio

The East Anglian Churches blog has been updated to include Hawkedon, Suffolk. This is a fine old church now in a very rural setting. See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/ . I may add more photos later.

UPDATE 1230z:  I have now added photos of the bench ends.

Sunspots and 10m - Sun Jan 17th 2016

Solar flux today is 101 and the sunspot number 38 (K=2). 10m propagation is again expected to be "poor". I have been on 10m WSPR at 2W for about 10 minutes and am on 10m WSPR RX 80% of the time.  I was not active on any band overnight. It is still very early, but no spots given or received as yet.

UPDATE 1045z:   I see that I was spotted by 4X1RF (3519km) at -22dB S/N at 1022z. I assume this is single hop F2 on 10m.

Milky Way and Aurora - NOT amateur radio

See https://www.facebook.com/greenpeace.canada/videos/10153577012364961/ .

If you have a Facebook account you may be very impressed by this time-lapse photo. It certainly impressed me!  I am unsure you can see it without a Facebook account.  If not, try the Greenpeace Canada site.

QSYed to 10m WSPR

Rather later than planned, at around 1600z, I have QSYed to 10m WSPR from 20m. I think I left this rather too late. Earlier, I was spotted in the USA on 20m WSPR.  On 10m, I am using the FT817 and more power (2W) and on RX 80% of the time.

UPDATE 2230z:  I have now gone QRT on all bands.  Only G8VDQ (93km) spotted on 10m WSPR early evening, although I was late getting in 10m today.

Heathkit comeback?

There is a very mixed review of the new Heathkit kit (the GR-150) on http://www.amateurradio.com/ today. Although I admire the attempts to resurrect Heathkit, they have to have excellent quality control, competitive prices and good kits. Selling anything else is not a recipe for success. The amateur kit market is a cut-throat business and second class is not good enough. Heathkit has to be first class or they will fail.