Lunch out - NOT amateur radio

We ate a 3 course lunch today at Cote Brasserie in Cambridge. £13.50 each, and they add the gratuity to the bill (much better than tipping in my view). If the service was poor you can remove this gratuity. Service and food were very good. We will go there again.

See www.cote.co.uk

Dead bodies - NOT amateur radio

On two occasions I have seen dead bodies.

The first time was when I was an engineering student at university. I was "smuggled in" to the room in the medical school where they dissected corpses. I wore my white lab coat. This was the first time I had ever seen a dead human body. Reaction? The corpses looked like meat. It was hard to believe these were once real people with emotions, happiness, sadness, good times and bad times.

The other time was in 1987 when my dad died. I saw his body in the mortuary. He was cold and lifeless. My overriding memory was that the essential "him" was no longer there. It was like a chrysalis shell. Now, those who have a faith will say he lives on in another form. I just do not know. I wish this was true.

Death remains a mystery to us. It is a taboo subject.

6m FT8 RX on 50.313MHz

Today, I have moved to 6m FT8. The last time I tried this band, activity was way down on 2m FT8. Already, in just a few minutes, 4 Gs have been spotted plus an ON. Things look promising as if there are now more stations active. As the Es season progresses, I expect a lot more will get on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1346z: 9 unique UK stations spotted so far on 6m FT8 today.

UPDATE 1444z: So far today 17 different UK stations spotted on 6m FT8. Best DX spotted is M0AIA (204km).

UPDATE 1600z:  Es? EA1AF (1263km) spotted on 6m FT8 earlier. As the Es season develops, I expect we'll see lots of 6m FT8 from Europe and further.

UPDATE 1958z:  Soon be time to go QRT.  In the end 23 uniques in 3 countries spotted with the V2000 vertical omni antenna on 6m FT8 RX today.   Activity on 6m FT8 is rising, probably the promise of Es.

Sunspots - Wednesday April 25th 2018

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number 19. A=5 and K=2.

Dandelions - NOT amateur radio

These yellow flowers, common in UK grass in the spring and summer, are often classed as weeds, but they are actually quite beautiful.

E-field probe RX antennas

It is a common misconception that big antennas are needed for MF, LF and VLF reception. This not true!! Some very small antennas work very well indeed. One of these is the E-field probe (EFP) which makes an excellent antenna on receive. Years ago, I made one and was very impressed. Siting is important with placement as far from houses as possible recommended. EFP antennas are available from several sources, although you can make your own.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/efp

Coincidences - NOT amateur radio

Years ago, I was at university with people who since became famous. I was idly looking on Wikipedia at one of these - Mark Hedley - when who should be on BBC Radio 4 "World at One" but Sir Mark Hedley! Talk about coincidences!  I also knew Robin Field-Smith who became Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and an MBE. When I first came to Cambridge I slept on his floor, little knowing how famous he would become later.

Flowers - NOT amateur radio

The collage shows some of the spring flowers seen recently on walks. Although it is dull today, one feels spring has finally arrived after a long, wet, winter.

2m FT8

After a brief period on TX before breakfast in which my best DX was being spotted (again) by G4RRA (334km) in Devon, which is good (for me) with 2.5W and my big-wheel omnidirectional antenna. Since then I have been RX only on 2m FT8 with 13 unique stations in 6 countries with best RX DX being DK3MZ (472km).

UPDATE 1016z: Now 20 uniques in 6 countries spotted on 2m FT8 so far today.

UPDATE 1238z: Now 28 uniques in 6 countries.

UPDATE 1459z:  Now 42 uniques in 8 countries. Best RX DX DL3DQL (897km).

UPDATE 2016z:   With 55 uniques in the log, it will soon be time to go QRT on 2m FT8 RX. I eventually went QRT at 2040z.

Pye Telecom PF1

My very first job at Pye Telecom was to convert a PF1 RX to 12.5kHz channel spacing. Looking back, this was a test by Mike Gotch (later G0IMG, now SK) to find out what I could do. Mike was an assistant chief engineer back then. When he left he was a keen 6m man.

The PF1 was a UHF transceiver pair that was adopted by the UK police in the 1960s. It had a separate TX and RX unit. The TX was quite low power and had a pop-up antenna. The RX had a plate antenna.

Later, I worked on several Pye Telecom/Philips/Simoco/Sepura portables and pagers. I worked on several intrinsically safe units. Overall, it was a fun career. These days radio is still my main hobby and I am not involved professionally.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf1