PF8

Over the years, several people have asked me about this radio. Back in the 1970s I was involved in the design team.

It was made famous in a TV series called "The Professionals".

The PF8 manual is also available as a downloadable file at the bottom of my page on my main website.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf8

10m FT8

As yesterday, I decided to give 10m FT8 another go. So far today, 6 stations spotted in 3 countries with best DX on FT8 RX CS7AOM (1422km).

UPDATE 1254z:  Now 7 stations in 3 countries spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1752z: VP8LP (12773km) was spotted as the best DX.

UPDATE 1840z: ZD7JC (7606km) on St Helena spotted. Sunspot minimum? 10m? No problems!

UPDATE 1953z: I had to move to 2m FM for the East Cambs net. On my return to 10m FT8  CA3JBD (11760km) in Chile was spotted. Great mode this FT8! What did I miss, I wonder?

Ferrite loaded antennas

15m antenna

Giorgio I2GSI has been experimenting with ferrite loaded and compressed antennas for 20 years and has some good success with 20W CW or less. He sent me a few photos and has written some articles. The true spirit of amateur radio!

6m antenna

20m antenna

Sunspots - Monday September 3rd 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number zero. A=5 and K=2.

Another UK rally too late

Not sure who is to blame but I am getting rally reminders far too late! Yet again, this is included for completeness as it is totally useless. Let's hope future reminders come much sooner.

2 SEPTEMBER 2018 : TELFORD HAMFEST

Enginuity Centre, Coalbrookdale, Telford, TF8 7DQ. Numerous trader and exhibitor stands booked for visitors to enjoy and also a variety of presentations from guest speakers in the adjacent historic Darby Boardroom. New improved car parking facilities. Admission £4.50 (accompanied under 16s free) from 10am. RSGB Bookstand. On-site catering. Martyn, G3UKV, 01952 255416 (hamfest@ukv.me.uk). www.telfordhamfest.org.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

FT8call

This is a variant of FT8 that allows longer messages. Usual frequencies are a few kHz up from the usual FT8 window. I have not tried this yet.

WSPR or FT8?

As you know, I usually go on 10m WSPR TX, but today I am on 10m FT8 instead. OK, on 10m WSPR I usually TX with my WSPR beacon at 500mW. On FT8, I am mostly RX, but CQs go out at 2.5W. In both cases I use the same antenna, which could be several dBs better.

My impression is there is far more activity on 10m FT8 than 10m WSPR, although I have not really done a fair test. In theory WSPR should be better than FT8, but I am sure the 15 second TX periods in FT8 help to "smoke out" some brief openings. In WSPR the TX periods are 2 minutes.

If today is anything to go by, 10m FT8 is keeping 10m going for longer than many expected with good Es still into September.

Egyptian Goose - NOT amateur radio

This goose was spotted in Norwich yesterday. I think it is an Egyptian goose, which is an introduced bird. They are now spreading and quite common in Norfolk.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/egyptian-goose

More Norwich - NOT amateur radio

This is another picture of Norwich taken yesterday. It shows the market reflected in sunglasses.

On many levels, Norwich is a great city. By road it is about 1 hour 15 minutes away. By train from Ely it takes about 1 hour.

Solar cycle 25 predictions

This quote is from http://www.solen.info/solar/polarfields/polar.html

"As of July 2018 the strength of the polar fields hints at a cycle 25 with a magnitude slightly stronger than that of cycle 24."

In a few years we will have a better idea. I hope they are right!

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle_25 . At the moment this doesn't say a lot, but I expect it will soon say a lot more.