Feeling Unwell - NOT amateur radio

Since my stroke, nearly 3 years ago now, I have felt giddy when on my feet. I tire easily but I am not sure if this is a separate issue or as a result of feeling giddy. To be honest, I have not felt well now for almost 3 years. My health has prevented me doing so much. Yes, compared with many, I know I have come off lightly. But, I know how I was and the frustration is so great.  All my field work is on hold and most antenna work is impossible without the help of others. I am very grateful for the help that has been so generously given, but I would prefer to be able to do this myself. Life can be cruel, but my energy is better focused on making the best of what I have and not hoping to be fully mended and as I once was.

QSYed to 10m WSPR and 6m JT65

I have now moved to 6m JT65 (FT817 and PC) and gone onto 10m WSPR using the stand-alone W5OLF WSPR beacon on 10m.

UPDATE 0952z:  All quiet so far on both 10m and 6m here. No spots as yet on either band.

UPDATED 1212z: No Es seen here on either band so far today. A few G spots of me on 6m JT65 and I have spotted G0LFF in IO90 square on 6m JT65. If my theory about 10m propagation to South America is right (see yesterday) then it is unlikely I'll reach South America today on 10m JT65. I shall probably stop 10m WSPR in the next hour and QSY from 6m JT65 to 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1240z: I have now gone QRT on 6m and am transmitting and receiving 10m JT65 rather than WSPR. I noticed a few ONs and an LX calling CQ on 6m JT65 according to my PC, but these stations were not uploaded to PSKreporter - I probably briefly lost internet connectivity. These were probably received by aircraft reflections or tropo. Our internet connection is flaky today. It recently disappeared then reappeared.

UPDATE 1542z: Just G4CJC (73km) spotted on 10m JT65 so far since the EA6 much earlier.

UPDATE 1856z:  No Es today. No South America today either. OK, the sunspot number was much lower but I am sure that, at this time year, I need Es to link with F layer propagation further south to reach central or lower South America on 10m JT65.

10m Es

EA6FG (1415km) in the Balearic Is was spotted not long ago on 10m JT65. As there is early Es, I may QSY to 6m JT65 until mid-afternoon. As yet, no-one has seen my 10m JT65 although I am QRP.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday August 21st 2016

Solar flux is 78 today. Sunspot number is 12 (falling). K= 1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

23cms the inexpensive way

A very very long time ago I went on 23cms RX with a homemade 4el yagi (tiny, indoors) and borrowed RX converter. This must have been about 1976 or 1977.

There is an relatively inexpensive way of getting on the band (transceive) if you have an FT817 or FT290 to drive it using an SG-LAB transverter. The transverter is about £140 and is made in Bulgaria. Output on TX is a useful 2W. This set-up could be ideal for portable use.

See http://gm1sxx.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/that-elusive-23cms-beacon-gb3csb.html .
See http://www.sg-lab.com/TR1300/tr1300.html .

Yaesu at the Tokyo Ham Fair

It looks like there are no nice surprises from Yaesu, sadly. I think all these radios are ones we have seen before.

South America (again) on 10m

With good Es in Europe I am beginning to think my 10m JT65 South American spots (I have just been spotted in Paraguay again and have spotted a station in Sao Paulo, Brazil) is a mix of Es and some variety of F layer propagation. I am no propagation expert but think equatorial spread-F may be a factor? It seems more than coincidental that all my South American JT65 spots on 10m have been on days with good European Es. I am thinking that Es is linking with some sort of F layer propagation nearer the equator.  Equatorial spread-F is meant to occur after sunset.

There are several papers on equatorial spread-F, so I suggest you Google these if you are interested.

UPDATE 1728z: No further South American spots this evening on 10m JT65, well not so far. No further Es either.

Beacons - some useful data

You may not have seen this comment, so I have reproduced it here:

Hi Roger,

GB3VHF (2m), GB3UHF (70cm), GB3BAA (6m) & GB3SEE (10GHz) are always good signals into the SUWS WEB SDR, so you can check their on-air status anytime.

http://websdr.suws.org.uk/

Many other UK and European beacons are also audible when conditions are good.
 
Regards,

Martin - G8JNJ

SUWS is Southampton University, where I nearly did a PhD in 1971. This would have been with Dr Ryecroft in VLF space physics. Still, I did get to lunch with Josselyn Bell who first discovered pulsars. In the end I stayed in industry, but often wonder how life would have been had I done the PhD.

Dragonflies - NOT amateur radio

Black-tailed Skimmer?

This must be the season for dragonflies as we saw loads at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge today. Most were flying, so hard to photograph. This one was very obliging! The dahlia garden there is now open.

10m Es today

The Belarus station EU7FBB (1931km) was spotted very early (and he spotted me) and there has been widespread Es on 10m JT65 already. This is encouraging.  Best DX on receive JT65 is a station in Finland and it is only 0908z!