4m (70MHz) allocations

It is some years since I last tried 4m using my homebrew transverter and a wire dipole in the loft. Since those days many more countries are on the band. I imagine working Es DX in the summer is quite fun on the band.  The IC7300 even has 4m coverage.

I am not up to date with which countries have 4m, but I seem to recall a CEPT move to allow national organisations like OFCOM to allocate (part of) 4m to amateurs.

With the lower VHF bands being less popular with commercial users (big antennas on portables and Es interference), the chances of more countries allocating 4m to amateurs must increase.

In the USA the FCC might even allocate the band - well, by the 22nd century!

See http://www.70mhz.org/ .

QSY to 630m WSPR transceive (10mW ERP)

A few moments ago I QSYed from 10m FT8 RX to 630m WSPR transceive. My first transmission got spots from 4 unique stations even though the transverter crystal was still drifting. Encouraging. Best DX was F5WK (364km).

UPDATE 1954z: LA3EQ is active and has spotted me before this autumn. Let's hope he stops on until the middle of the night and spots me again. With the earth-electrode "antenna" my best DX on TX was over 1000km. It would be good to better this this season.

UPDATE 2045z: Now 6 unique stations have spotted me and I have spotted 12 unique stations so far this evening on 630m WSPR. EA5DOM was regularly spotted here on 630m WSPR earlier this season and was always a good signal with me, although I have not spotted him recently. Either he is using a different mode or a different band.

Parkin making - NOT amateur radio

The picture shows our younger grandson (8) in our kitchen making parkin with my wife. He was really keen, eating much of the first lot.

See https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1940684/parkin .

CQWW Contest and 10m FT8

Looking this afternoon on 10m SSB, I heard nothing at all, whereas 20m was very busy with contest stations. I'll look again tomorrow.

Sorry, but I have no interest in contest exchanges on 20m SSB. In the meantime, I have gone back to 10m FT8 RX.  Perhaps all the keen 10m operators have moved to FT8?

UPDATE 1534z: So, most think 10m is dead and have moved to lower bands for the CQWW SSB contest. Meanwhile, plenty of DX on 10m FT8 as the photo shows.

UPDATE 1558z: More South Americans and best 10m FT8 DX (currently) LU7DAF (11197km).

Gove - NOT amateur radio

He is a satirist's dream. This UK politician has (allegedly) put his foot in it again.

For some reason, I always think of him with a school cap and school satchel. I am sure he is really an astute politician.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41787710

Dad's seat - NOT amateur radio

My dad died in 1987. In his last years, he worked for the National Trust running a job creation scheme with young people maintaining the South West Coastal Path.

He loved this part of Devon and when he died they erected a couple of seats in his honour.

This picture was taken a few years ago and shows me sitting on one of them on Bolberry Down.

10m FT8 RX

Although I am on 10m FT8 RX at present with best DX RA6HN (3245km), I intend to go on 10m SSB later in the CQWW contest. As my voice is poor, this will probably just be short periods today and tomorrow.

UPDATE 1348z:  Best DX on 10m FT8 RX today is ZS2I (9845km) in South Africa. A 5 minute TX period by me at 2.5W got no spots!

Sunspots - Saturday October 28th 2017

Solar flux is 75 today and the sunspot number 23. A=5 and K=2.

QSY to 10m FT8 RX

After a day on 6m, I have switched to 10m FT8 and will be on overnight. If there is any early 10m FT8 DX, I have a chance of spotting it.

6m produced just a single DX spot from northern Spain, although several Gs were spotted on 6m FT8 at quite decent ranges.

CQWW SSB

Just in case you missed my earlier reminder, this weekend is the CQWW SSB contest. Although I am unable to join in as I once could, this is always a chance to work some new countries, even if you do not submit a score - I never have. Funny how bands which seemed "dead" come alive.