6 Sept 2019
Canal du Midi - NOT amateur radio
GQRP Club
For very many years now I have been a member of the GQRP Club. This is an excellent organisation that produces a quarterly magazine called SPRAT. If push came to shove, this is the one magazine I should keep. Back issues of SPRAT are available on a club DVD. It is worth joining just for this as members get a discount. SPRAT is filled with simple projects to build and members' news. If you like QRP radio, you will enjoy SPRAT.
See http://www.gqrp.com/
See http://www.gqrp.com/
5 Sept 2019
Boat trip - NOT amateur radio
Same swifts? - NOT amateur radio
At home swifts flew south many weeks ago apart maybe for the odd stragglers. Today in NE Spain we have seen quite a few. It is odd to think that some of these could be the very ones overhead in the UK just a few weeks ago, but now taking on fuel.
Oscar 100
Periodically, I take a look at the Goonhilly SDR to check activity on the narrowband section of this geosynchronous amateur satellite. The last time I looked was Sept 3rd 2019.
Although it is hard to judge with casual looks, my feeling is that activity levels have not increased. My sense is that new people enjoy the challenge of getting a signal through the satellite, but many thereafter lose interest. They know they can then work stations day after day within the footprint of the satellite, just like any repeater. The difference is this one is 22000 miles up and uses microwave frequencies and fixed dishes.
It is important to keep uplink powers such that the output levels are no stronger than the beacons. If you get an alarm then reduce power! Use just enough power and never too much.
This is the first time that half the amateur world can be connected day and night without QSB with small antennas.
See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/
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| Oscar 100 bandplan from Oscar-DL |
It is important to keep uplink powers such that the output levels are no stronger than the beacons. If you get an alarm then reduce power! Use just enough power and never too much.
This is the first time that half the amateur world can be connected day and night without QSB with small antennas.
See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/
ARRL
The ARRL is the national organisation in the USA for radio amateurs. It is a bit like the RSGB in the UK.
For a while I joined and received their monthly magazine QST. QST is quite a big magazine, but I decided not to renew as the RSGB's RadCom seemed to be enough for me with PW and SPRAT.
See http://www.arrl.org/
For a while I joined and received their monthly magazine QST. QST is quite a big magazine, but I decided not to renew as the RSGB's RadCom seemed to be enough for me with PW and SPRAT.
See http://www.arrl.org/
4 Sept 2019
10m Simple Sideband
Before my 2013 stroke I started a project to design a very simple sideband transceiver for 10m. At that time we were several years from the solar peak. Sadly, since my stroke this has not been progressed.
10m is an ideal QRP band as antennas are small and only low power is often needed. In my mind, I see a small, easily copied, design that can be built by almost anyone for not much outlay. I'd be really happy if someone else took on this challenge and finished it off.
We are soon to be on the climb to the next sunspot peak. 10m will be good again for F2 DX, although with Es it is great most summers. There are some ideas on my website linked below. If you can do better, no worries.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10msimple_sb
10m is an ideal QRP band as antennas are small and only low power is often needed. In my mind, I see a small, easily copied, design that can be built by almost anyone for not much outlay. I'd be really happy if someone else took on this challenge and finished it off.
We are soon to be on the climb to the next sunspot peak. 10m will be good again for F2 DX, although with Es it is great most summers. There are some ideas on my website linked below. If you can do better, no worries.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10msimple_sb
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