OFCOM

They have issued a statement about commercial multi-user gateways. Don't get too excited: it is not good for your heart!

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/A7E73F6AB9A1B7EB2540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Thunder - QRT!

There is some thunder about, so I have gone QRT and disconnected everything.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=sat;r=0;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;n=0;y=53.9231;x=-12.5879;z=5;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

Rallies this weekend

8 JULY 2017 : LAMFEST in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance
Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8HJ Doors open from 10am to 4.30pm and admission is £2. Tables are free. Contact Clair Marsh on 226 361 700.

8 JULY 2017 : STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY RALLY
Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6QS Doors open from 10am to 3pm. Admission is £2 and there will be catering on site. There will be trade stands, special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. There will be a raffle held on the day. Contact: Heather Stanley, M6HNS on 07506 904 422 or by email to info@g8srs.co.uk

8/9 JULY 2017 : 2017 uWAVE ROUND TABLE
Finningley ARS, The Hurst Communications Centre, Belton Road, Sandtoft, Doncaster DN8 5SX A 2 day event with presentations, demos, test lab, and buildathon of a nanowave optical transceiver. Updates are on www.g0ghk.com and www.facebook.com/g0ghk

And STILL they wait....zzzzz

In the USA the FCC has still not released 137 and 472kHz to radio amateurs!! Frankly this is almost unbelievable. The FCC seems so unbelievably S L O W. At this rate many potential users will be dead i.e. those over 30 years old before these bands are released.😟 

I suspect most at the FCC know absolutely nothing about radio. This is demonstrable by the time taken to make radio related decisions. Come on FCC - get a grip!!!

I am losing all faith in the USA. First you elect Donald, seen by many in the world as a bad joke, and your main radio regulator appears useless to many of us in the rest of the world.

See http://www.arrl.org/news/band-plan-proposed-for-eventual-472-479-khz-use .

Sunspots - Thursday July 6th 2017

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number 11. A=3 and K=1.

10m WSPR TX

Although I have been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) since before breakfast, no spots so far.

Yesterday on 10m WSPR I was spotted 117 times by 12 unique stations, all Es around Europe.

UPDATE 1140z: Before going QRT about 30 minutes ago (storms) I had been spotted by no-one all day! Still thundering.

6m JT65 RX

At present, I am on 6m JT65 receive only. Best DX is Morocco. Storm risk may cause me to go QRT later.

Less 6m JT65 "beaconing"

As I have had a few comments about my 6m JT65 "beaconing" mode, I have decided to RX more and "beacon" less.  During the Es season, when just 1W ERP can span a very long way, occupying a JT65 channel (around 150Hz wide) can be seen as anti-social. When the band is quiet, I think sending "B G3XBM JO02" is fair, especially if well away from 50.286MHz but still within the JT65 window. PSK Reporter Maps show where my signal is being received.

For now, I shall continue with 10m WSPR TX (500mW) as this takes up far less bandwidth and the TX frequency is randomised within the 200Hz WSPR window.

Spotting pirates and false decodes on 6m JT65

When you are supposed to have received an exotic DX call on 6m JT65 it is worth looking to see who else copied the call and in what area. Some of the calls supposedly were seen only by me, suggesting false decodes. When several others spot the same DX call it is often a pirate nowhere near where the DX is supposed to be.

Some really long 6m JT65 DX is genuine: for example the 13 (thirteen) Japanese stations spotted a few weeks ago were genuine, but one has to be careful. Some exotic calls are actually pirates just down the road.

UK 60m band(s)

At present in the UK, we have a number of secondary bandlets at 60m, but not the WRC 15kHz wide allocation. Our primary user is the military who seem to be in no hurry to change things.

Purely personally, I'd like to see the WRC allocation available in the UK as I find multiple bandlets very confusing. I know we have more power and plenty of choice, but I am a QRPer and having a common allocation would be better in my personal view. I fully accept my views may not be widely accepted.

In the quiet years ahead the 60m band will become more and more important. I have said many times before, it would be good if CEPT countries allocated a wider 60m band. I think we are happy to be secondary users.