Android WSPR beacon

To say I am a WSPR fan is an understatement! Nothing compares with the ability to span the globe with QRP, perhaps excepting OPERA. I see there is a WSPR app (Android) which allows a tablet to be hooked up to a rig to form a WSPR beacon. The app costs £1.58.

See https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iu4apc.wsprbeacon

Busy eating curry - NOT amateur radio

They all look miserable, but actually they are a friendly and happy bunch! 

Every month I go for a meal (different pubs in the area) with ex-work colleagues and this time it was a curry night at the pub (buffet) and everyone is tucking in! The curry was great.

ICOM IC7300 - time for a price drop?

Much to my surprise the price has still to fall, although there are "cracks": some are now offering the rig with free gifts.

Personally, I can wait. It is a good rig, but to my mind, the dealers have had a very good time and very good profits. Now is the time to drop the price. Sub £1000 please - soon.

BREXIT next stages - NOT amateur radio

Apparently the EU has agreed to move to the next stage in talks with the UK on its wish to leave. No doubt these talks will be hard, especially as Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister, is leader of a government only propped up by a group of Ulster MPs who don't like gays and abortions allegedly. I am not clear of my facts here.

Personally, I think the EU is fearful of other leavers and is concerned the EU could fall apart. There was much good in this "club", but much wrong too. In the end I hope we all strike a good deal in the best interests of all.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42368096 .

Desperately tired - NOT amateur radio

It is nearly 4 years since I was discharged from hospital, where I had been for 3.5 months following my stroke. In many ways I am lucky. However 15-20 minutes of physical or mental effort leaves me desperately tired. Others just do not "get it". My tiredness is utterly draining and then I am fine again. My voice is poor too.

Although I am still hopeful of further small improvements, I suspect how I am is how I am going to be. In the meantime, I still enjoy life. We are dealt a card in life and have to make the best of it.

Risks to under-sea cables? - NOT amateur radio

Much of our internet, banking and commercial traffic is carried on undersea cables and fibre. Apparently the military is worried by the vulnerability of such cables to rogue nations intent on disruptive warfare. The internet is a distributed system, so unless lots of lines are cut, it is unlikely to break completely, although traffic could be slowed.

I am not quite sure how you can protect these cables. It needs a nation with submarines to be a real threat.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42362500 .

Remaining on 6m MSK144

OK, it was the Geminids MS shower, but I was surprised by the level of activity on 50.280MHz MSK144. I was half expecting stations to have migrated to FT8. I am not sure if MSK144 works with much lower signal levels, but most MSK144 signals have been strong.

UPDATE 1214z: So far, 6 stations in 3 countries spotted on 6m MSK144 today. No great DX with the best being F4VPC (518km) in Brittany spotted.

Sunspots - Friday December 15th 2017

Solar flux is 72 and the sunspot number remains zero. A=4 and K=1.

Dreamer's Band (sub 9kHz amateur radio)

This is the new frontier. As Paul Nicholson pointed out, it is inexpensive and fun. It is much easier than many think.

"Perhaps the perception is that it is difficult?  Surely not.
Don't believe all those stories you hear about how hard it is
to radiate, or how difficult it is to find a location to
receive from!

Let's see -

- Low cost. You don't need expensive SDRs or test equipment.
  Your PC soundcard is signal generator, spectrum analyser,
  and SDR, all in one.  Transmitter is just an audio amplifier,
  even a low quality one.  The most expensive thing you'll buy
  is a load of wire for a loading coil.

- GPS timing?  £18 quid for a NEO-7 module and you know your
  frequency to the micro Hertz.  Buy two, you'll use them!

- Easy to build.  Just audio frequency signals, nothing critical
  about layout.   VLF is great for the homebrew enthusiast.

- You don't need a huge ERP.  10uW and you're on the air.  Your
  LF antenna will probably do better than you think at VLF.

- UK Notice of Variation?  No problem, a simple application form,
  and if enough apply, maybe the regulators will make that easier.

- Where else can you operate at the cutting edge with such
  simple equipment?

In case you think my location here is specially good, it certainly
isn't.  The mains here at the top of the Calder Valley is very
rough, terrible sidebands.  All the properties around here get
their power by overhead lines at 12kV and one of the two 33kV
lines feeding Todmorden is only a km away.  The nearest 12kV
line is just 120m from the E-field antenna. 140mV RMS of 50Hz
on the E-field probe and a lot of harmonics.  Reception here is
bad!   You can probably do better in the suburbs.

How many times per century does amateur radio find a green field
to explore?  Not just a new band but a whole new frequency range.

Don't miss out on this one!

--
Paul Nicholson"

ARRL 10m contest

This was last weekend, but guess who forgot? Apparently conditions were not good, so I probably missed very little.