Away - NOT amateur radio

There have been no blog updates since Friday as we were away at my brother-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary in Cheshire. It was an occasion for my wife to meet up with her cousins and relatives at an occasion other than a funeral! Luckily the sun shone and everyone had a good time.

Wasting my time?

Most of this Es season, I have been on 10m WSPR TX running 500mW from my little W5OLF WSPR beacon. It is on the same antenna that I used a few years ago on 10m WSPR when I was spotted in every continent.

Although I have been widely spotted across Europe and once in South America, I feel I am wasting my time. Although I know HF conditions are far worse than a few years ago on 10m, there seems to be a general lack of activity on 10m WSPR: I get far better results on 6m JT65. So, I shall probably stop 10m WSPR soon.

More Ely Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we went to Ely with one of my wife's college friends. The photo shows Ely Cathedral across the fields in winter. It is stunning at all times of the year.

Es past its best?

Although there has been Es about on 10m and 6m in recent days in Europe, it does not seem quite as good as a few weeks ago: openings seem later and smaller. This may be just a blip. In the past, I have seen 6m Es as late as September. In past years, I seem to get more northern spots later in the season.

It would be interesting to know what others think.

Certainly the earlier weeks were very good, although I remain to be convinced the longer distance openings were "sporadic" E. E layer maybe, but I am unconvinced by the conventional wisdom these are multi-hop Es. Some maybe, but the USA, South America, Japan and the Caribbean I feel sure are a different mechanism.

More from OFCOM

This time, I did get an email from OFCOM.

They are updating their policy on DECT guard bands. Not of direct interest to radio amateurs.

See http://ofcom.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/i/4A22066B841A4D852540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Rally on Sunday July 2nd

2 JULY 2017 : BARFORD NORFOLK RADIO RALLY


Barford Village Hall & Green, Barford, Norwich NR9 4AB Doors open 9am (traders from 8am) with Talk in on S22. There will be trade stands, car boot sales, a Bring & Buy, raffle, repeater groups, catering and free car parking. Entry £2 per person / under 16s free. Pitches £8, indoor tables £10 Contact radio@dcpmicro.com www.norfolkamateurradio.org

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

10m WSPR

As this uses a separate rig and antenna, I am currently on 10m WSPR TX (500mW), but so far just local spots from G4KPX (14km).

6m JT65

At breakfast time, I returned to 6m JT65 transceive (1W ERP). So far just G spots given and received.

UPDATE 0946z:  Still just G spots. No Es seen here yet.

UPDATE 1058z: EA7DUD (1767km) working G0PQO coming through strongly on 6m JT65, presumably Es.

UPDATE 1206z:  Best DX on 6m JT65 RX is UX4UA (2082km).

New Digital Mode from K1JT

Just got this from Bob G3WKW:
Steve (K9AN) and I have developed a potential new mode for WSJT-X. We're calling the mode "FT8" (Franke-Taylor design, 8-FSK modulation). FT8 is designed for situations like multi-hop Es where signals may be weak and fading, openings may be short, and you want fast completion of reliable, confirmable QSOs.

Important characteristics of FT8:

  - T/R sequence length: 15 s

  - Message length: 75 bits + 12-bit CRC

  - FEC code: LDPC(174,87)

  - Modulation: 8-FSK, keying rate = tone spacing = 5.86 Hz

  - Waveform: Continuous phase, constant envelope

  - Occupied bandwidth: 47 Hz

  - Synchronization: three 7x7 Costas arrays (start, middle, end of Tx)

  - Transmission duration: 79*2048/12000 = 13.48 s

  - Decoding threshold: -20 dB (perhaps -24 dB with AP decoding, TBD)

  - Operational behavior: similar to HF usage of JT9, JT65

  - Multi-decoder: finds and decodes all FT8 signals in passband

  - Auto-sequencing after manual start of QSO

*Comparison with slow modes JT9, JT65, QRA64:*  FT8 is a few dB less sensitive but allows completion of QSOs four times faster.  Bandwidth is greater than JT9, but about 1/4 of JT65A and less than 1/2 QRA64.

*Comparison with fast modes JT9E-H:*  FT8 is significantly more sensitive, has much smaller bandwidth, uses the vertical waterfall, and offers multi-decoding over the full displayed passband.

*Still to come, not yet implemented:*  We plan to implement signal subtraction, two-pass decoding, and use of "a priori" (already known) information as it accumulates during a QSO.

Three extra bits are available in the message payload, with uses yet tobe defined.  We  have in mind special message formats that might be used in contests, and the like.  Your considered suggestions for use of these bits are very welcome!

K1JT, K9AN, and G4WJS have conducted on-the-air tests of FT8 with excellent results.  We're now at a stage where tests under a wider range of conditions are desirable.  If you can build WSJT-X from source code revision r7750 or later, and would like to help, please do so and report your results to us!  Pre-built installation packages will be made available after further testing is completed.

Suggestions for FT8 setup and examples of use can be found in a screen shot posted here: http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/ft8.png

We look forward to receiving your feedback.

   -- 73, Joe, K1JT

It will help to have some initial frequency coordination among those
testing the new FT8 mode in WSJT-X v1.7.1.

To help get things started, we suggest using the following frequencies:

Band    MHz
-------------
 160   1.841
  80   3.579
  40   7.079
  30  10.141
  20  14.079
  17  18.105
  15  21.079
  12  24.920
  10  28.079
   6  50.313
   4  70.094
-------------

Most of these suggestions follow a simple guideline: add 3 kHz to the
commonly used JT65 dial frequency.

For 6 meters we suggest using 50.313, which should be consistent with
band plans in all IARU Regions.  (Six meter activity that's now on
50.276, world-wide, might be moved to 50.310.)

We are very much open to suggestions for changes in the above table.

   -- 73, Joe, K1JT

Friedrichshafen

This large German rally is really an international affair attracting visitors from all over Europe and beyond. As little new was announced at Dayton, USA by the big Japanese companies, it is unlikely we'll see anything new announced in Europe, but I have been wrong. It would be nice to be surprised.

As far as I know, it is the biggest rally in Europe. It is too far for me.

The rally is just a few weeks away.

See http://www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de/ham-en/