New Abba recordings - NOT amateur radio

So Abba has recorded some new material. They are a "feel good" group that did much in the 1980s. I hope these new recordings are a great success.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43925749

Miracle antennas and similar

It is a good few years since I last used my Miracle Antenna.

If you are after a simple antenna for HF you may be interested. Certainly, if used with a counterpoise, these are capable of useful (but not great) performance, especially on the higher HF bands.

Like all such antennas, they are compromises. In my experience you must use a good earth or counterpoise, otherwise they will be well down on every reasonable HF antenna. On the higher HF bands they can be quite useful, especially in the Es season when signals can be strong. They are simple to adjust, but they can never be miracles! They work (at best) like a small whip.

In my limited experience loops work better, but loops are narrow band and require frequent retuning if moving far in frequency.

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

VHF AM

It is a number of years since I last used VHF AM. At one time nearly all VHF activity was AM. These days most activity is FM with DX being mainly SSB, with FT8 coming up fast. Ex private mobile radio (PMR) AM kit is often very inexpensive.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/2am

Sainsbury's and Asda merger? - NOT amateur radio

There is no doubt that all over the world, the retail market is changing. More and more of us are buying goods online as it is so convenient and fast: you no longer have to take the car to town and often prices are better.

As an example my wife bought 3 lens caps for her camera. These came with free airmail from Hong Kong at prices way below UK retail prices in town. A few years ago I bought a kit radio transceiver from China. Even with free airmail it was cheaper than just one part in the UK. I built it and it worked first time. It is no wonder stores like Maplin in the UK are suffering.

The big supermarkets are suffering and looking to make economies and yet still trying to get us to come into their stores. This is happening all over the world.

I have no idea how this will end, but the big supermarkets have to adapt or go out of business. It is a very difficult environment and lots of well known brands will die. In 20 years our high streets will be quite different. We live in a time of rapid and great change.

Now we hear Sainsbury's and Asda are in merger talks. These are large UK food stores. A merger is likely followed by store closures and rationalisation.

In our own local town (Newmarket) Waitrose is already struggling and will suffer more when a new Aldi store opens. Although my wife enjoys visiting food stores, I'd be happy to buy on line and I am typical.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43933517

Amateur VLF DX from Italy

A test signal on VLF from Italy has been copied in the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic. Some years ago the refrain was, "you won't get over the garden wall". Oh yeh?

This was from Paul Nicholson (Todmorden, UK) a few days ago:

"A very nice signal this morning,
http://78.46.38.217/fbins3.html#p=1524736800&b=130&s=sp&m=cardioid&w=r&h=62&z1=0.34&z2=0.64&c=1&mb=643,121,724,224,1
Bearing 126.9, great circle is 127.8.

Paul Nicholson"

Sunspots - Sunday April 29th 2018

Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number 11. A=4 and K=1.

10m FT8 today

10m FT8 is off to a good start today with 3 different stations spotted in 3 countries with best DX on RX being EA1AKS (1037km).

Last night, 10m FT8 opened to South America again. At times 10m really surprises. Solar conditions are not good, but still we get N-S openings. I noticed that stations in the Canary Is were working Caribbean and Mexico on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1442z:  Currently 9 different stations spotted in 4 countries, all in Europe so far today.

UPDATE 1805z: Now 12 different stations in 4 countries.

UPDATE 2113z: Time to go QRT. 10 South Americans spotted today on 10m FT8. Best DX spotted was LU8HGI (11258km) in Corduba, Argentina at -23dB S/N.

Network Radios

As HF conditions dive, some are turning to "network radios" instead. As an example, MLS sells the Inrico T320 which works over 3G ,4G or wi-fi networks through systems like Echolink. Essentially this uses the internet as the bearer, often with radio at the ends. The Inrico T320 is actually a handheld with charger. Some repeaters allow internet linking so you could talk through a network radio to mobiles on a distant repeater on the other side of the world.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/amateur-radio-handheld-radio-internet-radio/inrico/inrico-t320-network-radio-transceiver-pd-8674.php

Predictions for the next sunspot maximum

Forecasting the next solar peak is hard, but some have tried. Most experts don't expect much, but two have said they expect cycle 25 to be similar to cycle 24. In reality, we do not know! One thing we do know - unless I am very lucky, the next "peak" is the last I am likely to experience. Even the peak of cycle 25 is not certain for me!

See https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/02/09/forecast-for-solar-cycle-25/
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle_25
See http://solarcyclescience.com/forecasts.html

Sunspots - Saturday April 28th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 11. A=6 and K=2.