BREXIT - NOT amateur radio

It is still too early to tell how this is going to pan out.

The euro, yen and  dollar exchange rates have moved in favour of UK exporters and making imports from these nations more expensive.

I have the feeling that the euro will collapse in value in the next 18 months as the remaining EU nations wake up to Greek debt (there is no way they can repay this) and the likelihood of the Greeks defaulting and leaving the EU. This would really hit Germany.  In the end I think the UK will be fine. The UK was a net contributor to the EU and we voted to leave. This puts an even greater burden on the richer EU members.

It would not surprise me if we had a snap General Election here in the UK, especially if the Labour party commits self-imposed suicide and splits in two. Our current Prime Minister, Teresa May,  did not vote for Brexit and neither did any in my family. If a General Election was to be called then the Conservative Party is likely to get a huge majority.

I am currently reading a book on the history of Europe 1789-1989. I had little idea how the borders and alliances changed so much in the 1800s. Clearly Europe is still evolving.

Big Masts

Southgate News carries the story from Stroud of an amateur who has applied for planning permission to erect a 13.5m high mast. Some of the neighbours have lodged complaints.  Now, each to his own but I certainly would not like an antenna monster in next door's garden.

Having managed to span the globe with small wire antennas you can barely see and with QRP SSB I question whether such large structures are really needed. Each to their own and at least he has done the application through the formal channels.

All I am saying is this is not how I would want to enjoy our hobby. I appreciate this is a personal choice and each of us is different.

Basically I am not a great believer in "cheque book amateur radio". Some choose to spend £10k plus on rigs, linears, masts, beams and rotators. Not me. If one just wants to talk (and by video) around the world all one needs is a £180 laptop with Skype. I well recall the video conferences with my son on the other side of the planet - it was just like he was next door, and all for free with a PC.

Return to 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

This morning, early, I reverted to 10m WSPR and 6m JT65. There was early Es on both bands. On 6m JT65 there is more G activity as I am getting spots on 6m whereas I was copied by no Gs on 10m JT65. Best DX spot so far on 6m JT65 is EA7HJ (1833km) in southern Spain who got my QRP very strongly.

Early 10m WSPR spots (500mW)

UPDATE 1538z:  Best DX on 6m JT65 RX is EA8AQV (2988km).

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday Aug 11th 2016

Solar flux is 93 today and the sunspot number 69. K=2. The 10m F2 propagation forecast remains "poor".

Excellent Es on 10m

The Es on 10m was excellent this evening. G3WKW (Bob, an old work colleague) tells me that 6m was open to the USA yesterday. Just my luck to decide to be on 10m!  So, I shall definitely be on 6m JT65 tomorrow and 10m WSPR at the same time.

UPDATE 2006z:  Yet again, I was spotted in South America on 10m this time by ZP4KFX (10277km) by JT65. He is in Paraguay.

PW Datacard, and AM

My Sept 2016 edition of Practical Wireless arrived today in the post. In it, was a data-card showing the HF beacons and on the reverse the latest HF band plans. Although I do not blame PW who just reproduced the band plans for our convenience I am again appalled that AM gets no mention apart from 5MHz.

BTW, am I alone in finding the 5MHz channels totally confusing?

For as long as I can remember just above 29MHz has been the home of 10m AM. Most users use old AM rigs and they sound superb. FM, with wider bandwidths, gets a mention, but not poor old AM. On 10m there is plenty of space for all modes. Why, oh why, does AM get treated like a nasty disease?? As 10m becomes more like a VHF band for much of the year there is a place for AM. Even in the best years, there is space. For much of the next 10 years 10m will be seen by many as a wasteland.

As readers will know, I like narrow-band digital modes like WSPR, JT65 and JT9-1. I also like AM which takes less space than FM, but is treated badly today.

More success on the ULF 101km (2.97kHz) band

Today I heard that Stefan DK7FC's 100nW ERP signal on 2.97kHz VLF was received in a 212uHz bandwidth at 16.8km. He will soon be trying to receive this radiated signal at 30km. I wish him every success.

Hi ULF friends,
This is the summary of my portable RX experiment in 16.8 km distance to my transmit site. It is into the far field of the 101 km RF wave.
A 100 nW ERP signal was sent and recorded for nearly 2 days.
The recording was started on Saturday, 30th of July (14:58 UTC) and was finished on Monday, 01st of August (12:25 UTC). The transmission was a carrier sent on 2970.000 Hz, it was shifted by +2.5 mHz at 8 UTC on Sunday and again shifted by -5 mHz on Monday, 8 UTC.
In the post processing of nearly 30 GB wav files the signal was successfully detected.
Due to the exceptionally high QRN levels (even for the summer time), the SNR was lower than expected, however the traces and frequency shifts are clearly visible.
Spectrogram of the signal in 212 uHz FFT bin width: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/17km212.jpg
Spectrogram of the signal in 47 uHz FFT bin width: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/17km47.jpg
A wideband spectrogram giving an idea about the natural and man made noise conditions as well as the frequency response of the tuned loop antenna: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/17kmwide.jpg
Wideband spectrogram zoomed to the spectrum of interest: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/17kmwide3.jpg
The best SNR shown is 12 dB in 212 uHz and 17 dB in 47 uHz.
During the post-processing procedure it happened that SpecLab has plotted a few pixel twice. I don't know the reason.
It looks like i am now seeing the natural background noise on 2970 Hz even in quiet periods (the faint vertical traces). However the man made noise is still playing a role in this QTH.
Further informations can be found in the older emails below.
73, Stefan
PS: A next experiment is planned in a few weeks. The goal is 30 km distance. With lower QRN levels, a better tuned antenna and higher power (already running!) this should give even better results.

Tokyo Ham Fair

I wonder if we will see any new products at the Tokyo Ham Fair on August 20/21st? My ideal rig would be a QRP version of the IC7300 but available in Europe. I know they make versions with lower power for Japan only.

Rally

Friday 12 AUGUST : 23rd ANNUAL MINI-RALLY NIGHT
 
Community Centre, Main Hall, Port Seton, East Lothian EH32 0BQ.  Bring along your own 'junk' and sell it yourself. Tables on a first come first served basis. Entrance fee £2 for everyone. Refreshments will be available. Doors open from 6pm to 9pm. The venue has disabled access.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Remember to contact the organisers to check details if travelling far. I'm sorry but there was no phone number given.

Early 10m Es

At the moment I remain on 10m JT65 but may return to 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 tomorrow. This morning there was early Es on 10m with my signal spotted in Germany 4 hours ago.

UPDATE 1248z: No shortage of 10m Es spots today on JT65 with my QRP being widely copied across southern Europe.