Sherwood tests

See http://www.sherweng.com/table.html .

When it comes to comparing radios, the best place to look is the Sherwood Engineering page. Here, the main parameters of each rig are measured so you can see how they compare. This is the page to look.

See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbgHVwNF9W8&feature=youtu.be&list=PLRSwUN4qr1LpSG3CfFHy_L5z917EJYBKd .

So, 10m WSPR surprised me again!

Really, I was expecting very little on 10m today and I go and spot Australia (again) and get spotted many times in Israel. This seems to happen so often!  Even with low sunspot numbers, lowish solar flux and disturbed conditions, 10m, yet again, surprises. No wonder some also call 10m a "magic band" like 6m. This really is a case where WSPR still shows the band is good for real DX.

10m WSPR so far today

UPDATE 1322z:  LU8EX (11208km) has recently been spotted. So far today, 10m has been pretty good.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat March 19th 2016

Solar flux is 91 today. Sunspot number has dropped to 29 (K=4) and 10m propagation is again forecast to remain "poor".  Unless we get a surprise, 10m is not looking good today. Perhaps the best I should expect are Gs?

UPDATE 1022z:  Not surprisingly, no spots on 10m WSPR as yet.

Return to 10m WSPR

After an evening and night on 630m WSPR (no surprises) I returned to 10m WSPR a few minutes ago. As yet, no spots.

Moving to 472kHz WSPR

Well, what a disappointment 10m WSPR has been today.  Just 2 spots from G4CUI (172km) earlier and nothing else all day. I am about to QSY to 472kHz WSPR where even my 5mW ERP gets spotted and I always spot DX.

I shall stay on 472kHz WSPR overnight until breakfast time.

UPDATE 1705z:  I have now moved to 472kHz WSPR.

UPDATE 1840z:   G4FKK (106km) has spotted me many times so far tonight. As yet, I have not spotted others tonight.

OFCOM added value?

See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/mobile-coverage-enhancers/statement/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mobile-coverage-enhancers-statement.

OFCOM busy again. These people do so much. How do they find the time?

An aging mainly male hobby?

My comment on ours being a hobby mainly of older men has received quite a few comments on amateurradio.com. Not sure of your view, but our hobby will have to change in the coming years or it will fade away. What interested us may not be the same for young people in the 21st century.

There are some ideas here which we should think about.
See http://www.amateurradio.com/hobby-30-years/#comments .

One example from CN8VY:

Roger,
I agree with you 100%.
Ham is missing one after the other all the game-changing opportunities: the wifi-wireless revolution, Drones becoming general consumer goods, solar and alternative energy, the need of a fitter lifestyle (trecking and extreme sports), the global outcry for Solidarity, etc
All the items I have mentioned here are of concern to men, women, kids all over the world. We ham are unable to contribute seriously to them and “surf” the wave and get newbies. Let me make myself clear with one example. If you go to a public park anywhere in North America or Europe, set up a small solar panel or a wind generator, start using a small radio to send GPS data or weather bulletrins, you will get a lot a lot a lot of attention and interest. You will see teens and young active adults come and ask you about the set up. Initially, they don’t care at all about RF. They are attracted by the solar stuff and the resilience to power shortage. This is the good starting point to convert may be 10% of them to ham.

More on that Bristol balloon

Southgate News reports that this balloon has crossed the Pacific Ocean.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/march/uk_student_balloon_crosses_pacific.htm.

Some notes on WSPR 4 from G3UDI

This came from Bob G3UDI:

A few notes on WSPR-4
Downloading software Follow George M1GEO: http://www.george-smart.co.uk/wiki/Compiling_WSPR Linux and Windows. Another useful site is VK2TPM: http://blog.marxy.org/2014/11/wspr-on-ubuntu-1410.html Linux only. I used older instructions as here: http://www.george-smart.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Compiling_WSPR&oldid=5027 I am using Linux Mint-17 and have no direct experience of running WSPR under Windows.
Issues WSPR-4 is a bit flaky, particularly in uploading to the database and maps, in both Linux and Windows. There is a newer version, WSPR-X, and this appears to be even more flaky according to various forums.
Uploading Spots to WSPR database: Spots are held in file ALL_WSPR.TXT. This file is a complete log of all WSPR activity rx and tx. It can be cleared from the gui. The location of the file is not too obvious: ~/.local/share/WSPR/ALL_WSPR.T

XT They are uploaded to the WSPR database. Confusingly there are references to the "old database interface" although this is the working interface. 1. In real time: check "Upload spots" box in WSPR gui; starts from the time when the box is checked. Sometimes data is not shown in interface, but it is always registered. 2. To upload all new spots manually. Open site http://wsprnet.org; click on "Database" in top right- hand corner; scroll to bottom of Database; click on Link to old database interface. Enter callsign and Maidenhead locator. In the box labelled "Location of ALL_MEPT.TXT" enter the location of ALL_WSPR.TXT. Then click on "Upload spots".
3. To upload all new spots automatically.
1. Obtain a copy of curl. In linux : sudo apt-get install curl . This is a general program for transferring data to/from a server, with a huge number of options. 2. The key command is, all on one line: curl -F allmept=@Desktop/ALL_WSPR.TXT -F call=g3udi -F grid=JO02de wsprnet.org/meptspots.php Desktop/ALL_WSPR.TXT is the location of ALL_WSPR.TXT, callsign and Maidenhead locator are obvious, allmept is the receiving file at the wsprnet target. The rest of the mumbo-jumbo are curl options. 3. Under Windows the procedure is similar. 4. See attached for my Linux script and the Windows option of N8FQ, taken from the WSPR site. Also screenshot of operation using HiQSDR + Quisk software.
Bob g3udi 18/3/2016

Dull again - NOT amateur radio

Spring flowers

We have had a mild, wet winter here in East Anglia, UK. There have been more muddy, wet puddles than I can ever recall. I have lived in this part of the UK since 1970.  They were forecasting a very cold winter. Mind you, they said this last year! At some point they will be correct. Most spring flowers came out very early.

It re-enforces my view that the most reliable forecast is to look out of the window! We had rain last night, but I don't think it was forecast.