Bank Holiday Rally

This Monday is a national holiday in the UK - May Bank Holiday. There is a west country rally as detailed below.

MAY 1st 2017 (Bank Holiday Monday) : 33rd DARTMOOR RADIO RALLY

Tavistock College, Crowndale Road, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8DD Doors open at 10:30am with disabled visitors gaining access at 10:15am. Admission is £2 with under 14s free accompanied by an adult. There is ample free car parking on site with catering available too. There will be trade & club stands and the usual Bring & Buy. Details from: Viv Watson, G7AWG on 01752 823 427 or by email to vivwatsondrc@aol.com

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

Crystal set DXing

This is not as easy as it once was as there are fewer English language AM broadcast stations left on the traditional shortwave broadcast bands. Nonetheless, you may be surprised by what you hear.

My best DX on a simple crystal set is Radio Australia (broadcasting from Australia, not via a relay), All India Radio, Cuba and the VOA from Liberia years ago. You can even envelope detect amateur SSB signals although IDing these can be tricky. Remember, all the power is provided by the TX with none required at the RX end.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/crystalset

10m and 6m WSPR yet again

At the moment I am on 10m WSPR (100% TX, 500mW) and 6m WSPR (1W ERP 20% TX,  80% RX). I am seeing some UK spots on 6m, but no Es yet on either band.

UPDATE 1312z: G0LUJ (278km) is the best copied on 6m WSPR this morning. EA1FAQ (1249km) spotted me on 10m WSPR. I think the latter was Es. There is some Es about. G4APB (88km) has also been spotted on 6m WSPR.

UPDATE 1324z: I see that G4KPX (14km) has spotted my 500mW beacon on 10m WSPR. No doubt Richard is looking a bit further afield!

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday April 29th 2017

Solar flux is 77 today. Sunspot number is 35. A=6 and K=2.

Drivers - NOT amateur radio

Some of the most courteous drivers on UK roads are women.

I also note the high numbers of young women drivers who seem to take risks. This is by no means "getting at" women drivers but, in my judgment, women often seem to take more risks than men.

Certainly, this is not a proper statistical survey. Perhaps I am used to bad male drivers! Maybe I just notice this as I am looking, but I can't begin to tell you how often I see bad driving and say to myself, "that was impulsive and poor" and it turns out to be a young woman at the wheel. Call me a male chauvinist pig if you like, although I am not. I am only saying what I notice.

UK Rallies this Sunday

APRIL 30th 2017 : CAMBRIDGE REPEATER GROUP RALLY

Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge, Cambs CB22 6RN. Doors open at 9.30am with traders gaining access from 7.30am. Entry is £2. There will be a talk in station and car parking is free on site. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy, car boot area and RSGB bookstall. The usual burger van will be in attendance. Contact Lawrence M0LCM on 0794 197 2724, email rally2017@cambridgerepeaters.net. www.cambridgerepeaters.net


APRIL 30th 2017 : WEST LONDON RADIO & ELECTRONICS SHOW (Kempton Rally)

Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road East, Sunbury on Thames, TW16 5AQ. There will be a talk in station and on site car parking is free. Doors open at 10am with disable d visitors gaining access 10 minutes earlier. There will be trade stations, a Bring & Buy and special interest groups. Other attractions are lectures, a raffle and catering on site. Details from Paul, M0CJX on 0845 165 0351, info@radiofairs.co.uk. www.radiofairs.co.uk.

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

Sunspots and 10m - Friday April 28th 2017

Solar flux is 78 today. Sunspot number is 23.  A= 7 and K=1.

60m band

According to Southgate News, Malta has just released its new frequency plan that includes the WRC15 5MHz amateur band. This is only 15kHz wide, so we must hope for more later.

See http://www.mca.org.mt/sites/default/files/pageattachments/
NFP_edition%205-4.pdf

10m and 6m WSPR again

Once again I am trying 10m WSPR (100% TX, 500mW) and 6m WSPR (20% TX 1W ERP, 80 % RX). Yesterday was hopeless, so I hope today is better! It cannot be any worse, HI. As we approach May there should be more Es.

UPDATE 1034z:  A 10m WSPR spot by DK6UG (633km), so there is some Es about on 10m today.

UPDATE 1835z: EA1FAQ (1249km) spotted me at lunchtime on 10m WSPR. No 6m WSPR spots all day.

Pye PF8 on 70cm FM

The Pye Telecom PF8 was, in its time, a very futuristic handheld UHF transceiver. They are very rare. I was fortunate to be part of the design team a very long time ago. I was responsible for the TX audio and the antenna which was quite novel. At the time Sir Clive Sinclair asked me for advice!

The PF8 was made famous in the UK TV series "The Professionals". If you can find one, they can be made to work on 70cms. Finding one is very hard. Before you ask, no, I do not have any. TX power was 500mW.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf8 .