According to Southgate News some new regulations come into force for amateurs in Sweden on November 1st. Apparently the free licence will drop the maximum power from 1000W to 200W, although higher power permits are possible, presumably for money!
As a confirmed QRPer who sees 200W as an awful lot of power, this seems fine to me. If you cannot work the world with 200W you should give up amateur radio and play golf or go fishing instead.
See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/september/swedish-amateur-radio-regulation-changes.htm#.W6pMUPZFzIU
25 Sept 2018
Beluga whale in River Thames - NOT amateur radio
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| Photo by Greg Hume from Wikipedia |
See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-45642590 .
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beluga_whale .
The photo is from Wikipedia and is by Greg Hume.
10m WSPR TX (500mW)
Everything needed is here. No PC needed and it is about the size of a pack of cards yet has been spotted in every continent including Australasia and Antarctica on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 1458z: Still no 10m WSPR spots today.
UPDATE 1938z: No spots all day!
How do they do it?
The price? £1.10 total including airmail delivery!! This price is unbelievable and they make a profit!
UPDATE 1326z: I have tried these on a couple of tablets and they work well. I have yet to try these with my Inrico network radio. This has a small touch screen, so they should prove very useful.
Solar Cycle 25
Let me start by saying I have not seen any very recent predictions.
The last I saw suggested the next minimum would be next year (2019) and cycle 25 would be similar to cycle 24. If you are aware of later, credible forecasts, please let us know.
Predicting how the sun will behave in the future is getting better, but the truth is no-one really knows. At best, these are educated guesses. For example, see the link below, which is full of journalistic hyperbolae and even managed to mix up the minimum between the last 2 cycles! Written by a student?
See https://www.universetoday.com/139833/are-we-witnessing-the-start-of-solar-cycle-25/
The last I saw suggested the next minimum would be next year (2019) and cycle 25 would be similar to cycle 24. If you are aware of later, credible forecasts, please let us know.
Predicting how the sun will behave in the future is getting better, but the truth is no-one really knows. At best, these are educated guesses. For example, see the link below, which is full of journalistic hyperbolae and even managed to mix up the minimum between the last 2 cycles! Written by a student?
See https://www.universetoday.com/139833/are-we-witnessing-the-start-of-solar-cycle-25/
UK Pound versus Euro - NOT amateur radio
We live in uncertain times in the UK. I guess the markets are waiting to see how BREXIT pans out.
If we end with a reasonable "divorce" I guess the UK Pound could appreciate in value. If we leave on bad terms, the Pound could fall.
At the moment the EU and UK are both playing hard, although expect last minute bargaining: it is in nobody's interest to part badly.
If only the EU had detected the signs that little UK is full up and did not want freedom of movement I expect we would still be in the club.
If we end with a reasonable "divorce" I guess the UK Pound could appreciate in value. If we leave on bad terms, the Pound could fall.
At the moment the EU and UK are both playing hard, although expect last minute bargaining: it is in nobody's interest to part badly.
If only the EU had detected the signs that little UK is full up and did not want freedom of movement I expect we would still be in the club.
2m FT8
So far 7 unique stations in 2 countries spotted so far on 2m FT8 RX.
Yet again my 2.5W QRP to my big-wheel omni CQ was widely spotted including by G7RAU (461km) on the Lizard in Cornwall. Just a QSO with G8ALS again.
UPDATE 1045z: Now 16 different stations in 4 countries on 2m FT8 RX with best DX DF7IW (612km). Omni antenna still.
UPDATE 1245z: 19 different stations in 4 countries today so far on 2m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1509z: Now 28 different stations in 4 countries spotted here today so far on 2m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1920z: EA1UR (1195km) in the north of Spain is currently the best DX on 2m FT8 RX. Pretty sure he is genuine as he is getting strong reports from relatively near Spanish stations. He is being widely received. Not sure if this is tropo, aircraft reflection, or a combination of both. Anyway, I am pretty sure this is among the best DX on 2m ever, excluding Es.
Yet again my 2.5W QRP to my big-wheel omni CQ was widely spotted including by G7RAU (461km) on the Lizard in Cornwall. Just a QSO with G8ALS again.
UPDATE 1045z: Now 16 different stations in 4 countries on 2m FT8 RX with best DX DF7IW (612km). Omni antenna still.
UPDATE 1245z: 19 different stations in 4 countries today so far on 2m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1509z: Now 28 different stations in 4 countries spotted here today so far on 2m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1920z: EA1UR (1195km) in the north of Spain is currently the best DX on 2m FT8 RX. Pretty sure he is genuine as he is getting strong reports from relatively near Spanish stations. He is being widely received. Not sure if this is tropo, aircraft reflection, or a combination of both. Anyway, I am pretty sure this is among the best DX on 2m ever, excluding Es.
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| Today's stations spotted on 2m FT8 RX |
472kHz WSPR last night
Using my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground I was spotted by 8 different stations with the furthermost being PA0EHG (296km).
Sunspots - Tuesday September 25th 2018
Solar flux is 67 today and the sunspot number remains 0. A=7 and K=3.
24 Sept 2018
472kHz WSPR
As a test, I am trying 472kHz WSPR using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with WSJT-X V2.0 rc1 and 10mW ERP. On TX it seems to work with a spot from G8LCO (58km), although I have yet to spot anyone on RX.
UPDATE 2100z: F1AFJ (607km) now spotted on RX. G4ZFQ (203km) also spotting me on TX.
UPDATE 2124z: Several spots now.
UPDATE 2100z: F1AFJ (607km) now spotted on RX. G4ZFQ (203km) also spotting me on TX.
UPDATE 2124z: Several spots now.
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