Rally this Sunday

13 AUGUST 2017 : FLIGHT REFUELLING ARS HAMFEST
Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, near Wimborne, Dorset. BH21 3DA There will be a talk in station on S22 and the venue has free car parking. Doors open at 10am and admission is £3.50. There will be trade stands, a car boot areas and indoor and field pitches for traders. Lectures will take place during the day. there is catering and a licensed bar on site. Camping is available on Saturday night only in an adjacent field. More information from hamfest@frars.org.uk
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Eddystone receivers

When I first entered the hobby in the early 1960s, many here in the UK aspired to Eddystone receivers, made in Birmingham, UK. They were beautifully made with velvet touch drives.

I wanted an 840C, but never had one. When I started work a friend had a dad who worked for Eddystone. I was lucky enough to get an EC10 in the early 1970s. These were the first transistorised  receivers that they made. They sold for £48 when they first came out. 10m bandspread was appalling and in all honesty, by modern standards, they were not very good. I think the IF was very low. They still had lovely mechanical construction and velvet smooth drives, but the receivers were really average.

For quite a while I used mine on the lower HF bands and as a tuneable IF for VHF and UHF RX converters. As an IF they were fine.

They used germanium transistors and they occasionally turn up on eBay and similar. These days, I would not bother apart from nostalgia.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ec10 .

Sunspots - Friday August 11th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number is 11. A=5 and K=1.

Overnight and this morning on 6m MSK144 RX

As we are near the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, I have been on 6m MSK144 RX overnight and this morning. I decided to look around 50.280MHz rather than the "new" frequency recommended in WSJT-X v1.8. So far, 9 countries spotted on 6m, although not all of these will have been via meteor scatter as there is still Es on 6m.

UPDATE 1520z: 16 countries spotted on 6m MSK144 RX so far today.

UPDATE 2122z: "Just in case", I have just done a manual time sync in readiness for the overnight period on 50.280MHz MSK144.

Now on 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz

At about 1830z I turned off the 10m WSPR TX beacon (no spots all day) and moved from FT8 RX on 50.313MHz to 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz. I'll check the logs later and tomorrow to see if I see spots as a result of the Perseid shower. At this time of year it is sometimes hard to tell which is Es and which meteor trail reflections. If during the early hours, it is more likely to be meteor scatter.

UPDATE 1938z: No 6m MSK144 spots yet.

6m FT8 RX

Since mid-morning I have been on 6m FT8 RX. So far, 8 countries spotted. Although I have also been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW), no 10m spots today at all.

Perseid Meteor Shower

Tonight, I will try MSK144 on 50.280MHz RX. The Perseid meteor shower peaks, so there is a good chance of copying many European stations by this mode. This frequency is still better liked in Europe than the 50.260MHz recommended in WSJT-X v1.8 and the new band plan. Not sure why this is.

See https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html .

North Korea - NOT amateur radio

There is a crisis brewing.

The North Koreans are treading dangerously. The USA is being provoked and Trump is a loose cannon. If the USA fires a pre-emptive strike all hell would be let loose with unpredictable outcomes. Talk is always better.

70cm Moxon Beam

This has been posted before, but it is to show amateur radio need not be expensive or hard. I built this antenna in minutes and it worked remarkably well.

Moxon beams have a useful gain, a broad main lobe, and they work. They are ideal for portable work. As this example shows they are low cost to make, especially if you scavenge bits.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/70cm_moxon

Sunspots - Thursday August 10th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 11. A=4 and K=1.