Sunspots - Thursday December 27th 2018

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=3 and K=2.

Pye PF1 UHF handhelds

If you can find these, they can be converted to the 70cm amateur band, but they are hard to get hold of these days. TX power was 50mW. Perhaps they appear at rallies from time-to-time or on eBay?

My first project at work was converting these to 12.5kHz channel spacing. This was a task set by the late Mike Gotch, M0IMG. 

At the time I had no idea Mike was a keen amateur. Years before he had been a pirate and lost his licence I believe. In later years he was a keen 6m man. He retired early to care of his partner, who had cancer. Mike died as a result of the after-effects of a stroke.

The 12.5kHz version was never introduced commercially, but the exercise was a good one for me. The PF1, a product of the 1960s, transformed communications for the UK police. It was in 2 units, one for RX and one for TX. Even now, it still looks good.

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

160m FT8 RX

At 1510z I decided to QSY from 10m to 160m FT8 RX. As usual on 160m, I am using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. It is now 1517z and nothing spotted yet. Once it gets dark, this will no doubt change!

UPDATE 1556z: Getting dark here now and already 14 stations in 10 countries spotted on 160m FT8 RX. Best DX spotted so far is RZ6LY (2943km).

UPDATE 1840z: Absolutely loads of Europeans spotted on 160m FT8 RX again. Results on this band have far exceeded my expectations with all over Europe and North America spotted every night.

Stations so far spotted here 

this evening on 160m FT8 RX

UPDATE 2006z: WU1ITU (4831km) was first spotted at 1958z. This is the earliest yet.

UPDATE 2310z: With 10 North Americans spotted already on 160m FT8 RX this evening, this could be the best night yet this season. I'll check again at breakfast time.

E-field probe RX antennas

These are RX only antennas, but they can be remarkably successful on VLF, LF and MF. Years ago I made my own, but these days building and erecting is much harder.

A while back I bought an EFP from Roelof PA0RDT, although I have not got it erected yet. Roelof gets good results with his, although they need careful sighting to avoid noise pickup. If you are interested in the lower bands RX only, these antennas may be your answer.

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

Rally

Friday 28 DECEMBER : YEOVIL ARC TABLE-TOP RALLY

Sparkford village hall, Church Rd, Sparkford, Somerset BA22 7JN (on the A303 north of Yeovil). 10 Tables, light refreshments, off road parking, wheelchair friendly. £2 admission.10am till 3pm. Contact Bob Harris, G8UED, 01963 440167, wjh069@gmail.com.

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

Birthday - NOT amateur radio

A couple of days before Christmas I turned 70. To be honest, it only seems 5 minutes since I was 18. This photo shows some of my cards.

Winter Es?

As is my usual pattern, I am monitoring 10m FT8 RX this morning. So far 3 stations spotted in 3 countries, all European. I am wondering if this is winter Es (sporadic-E). It could be aircraft reflection. If it is Es, maybe there will be more southern Europeans later?

UPDATE 1458z:  Now 8 stations spotted in 7 countries so far on 10m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 1510z: As 10m is just average today, I shall probably QSY to 160m FT8 RX shortly.

Miracle antennas

It is some years since I last used my Miracle Whip, but they have their place. If you are after a compact antenna that is easy to tune, these may fit the bill, especially with a counterpoise and on the higher HF bands, when they may be just a few S points down on a "real" antenna. They are no miracle and can only ever be as good as a small whip brought to resonance.

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

Ba Humbug - NOT amateur radio

Christmas is meant to be a jolly and happy time.

At this moment my wife is playing a Christmas CD that is driving me insane!! Yes, I know it is a great time for children and getting together, but somehow things always seem more poignant at this time. Bad things always feel worse and I feel sorry for those in hidden pain (physical or mental) at this time.

To be honest, I am glad when it is all over and things get back to normal.

Overnight on 160m FT8 RX

Quite a decent night with 15 North American stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX, as well as loads of Europeans.