Sunspots - Tuesday October 8th 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=2.

Metaphysics - NOT amateur radio

As we get older, I guess it is natural to think of our finality. My own death could be later today or in 30 years' time. It is hard to think of simply not being.

If we look on ourselves as just evolved and successful animals why should we have anything after we die? The simple truth is not one of us knows.

There seems little doubt that the religions of the world are all struggles to find meaning in our lives. As I have said many times, there is so very much that we do not, indeed cannot, understand.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics

Norwich Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

We love Norwich and go there quite often on the train from Ely.

Norwich Cathedral is one of the finest in England. It is Norman (nearly 1000 years old) and many of the stones used to build it came all the way from Normandy in France by boat. The photo shows one of the fine windows.

HF conditions

At the moment the higher HF bands are not in good shape. There is DX there sometimes, but it is not as easy to find as at the sunspot maximum. At the moment we are at solar minimum and it will be a few years before bands like 10m really spring back into life.

The video shows how good 10m can be in case you have forgotten! This was recorded in 2012.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hfcondx

Walk around the village - NOT amateur radio

Most days we try to do a short walk.

According to my phone, we have walked 2.68 miles today. On the walk we bumped in to several friends and the rain held of.

We are home again.

Good session on 472kHz WSPR

Overnight was a good session for me on 472kHz WSPR. Running (at most) 10mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground, I was spotted by quite a few stations (see photo). Notice that LA3EQ (769km) copied me multiple times!

472kHz WSPR TX last evening 

and overnight (10mW ERP)

472kHz WSPR RX last evening and overnight

UPDATE 1928z: A couple of spots by stations in the Netherlands this evening, but nothing yet from Norway. I am not sure if LA3EQ is on tonight. As last night, as many stations are spotting me (actually more) than I am spotting others. It suggests my ERP is a bit higher, but measurements suggest not. Perhaps more stations have better RX set-ups?

Sunspots - Monday October 7th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1.

472kHz WSPR

I seem to have better optimised my matching transformer with the S/N being 1dB better on G1GKN who is like a beacon with me. I have been spotted by a couple of new UK stations in the last few hours and it is still daylight.

UPDATE 1843z: Already my 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP, maybe less!) has been spotted in Norway 3 times and once in The Netherlands.

Miracle Antennas

It is some years since I last used my Miracle Whip. In fact, I am not even sure where it is! These days there are commercial alternatives as the original inventor became a SK in 2012. Now, please do not expect miracles from any of these. As I have said many times, a 56 inch whip can only be as good as a 56 inch whip, but with a counterpoise or ground they can work reasonably well on the higher HF bands. In their favour, they are small and convenient.

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

472kHz ERP

Despite having redone the calculations, I still cannot get a sensible figure.

All my sums seem to give me figures well below 10mW ERP, even if I assume the effective loop area is much bigger than I expected.

Now, it is entirely possible that I have made an error, but if the ERP is greater than 10mW I shall be very surprised. Perhaps I should take another look tomorrow.