Julian G4ILO's blog

Julian died 5 years ago from a brain tumour. He was a great amateur who was well liked. Even now, I still get people coming here having read his blog! His blog is still there and it is a fitting tribute to a brave man.

472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Although I have not got "split" working currently on the FT817ND, I am on TX again, with the antenna current back to what I expect on DIG. I am still awaiting spots to confirm TX is working correctly.

UPDATE 1807z: Although everything seems OK, I have got no spots so far. Antenna current looks normal, the transverter PA is running cool as normal. Time has just been resynced. Anything else wrong? Is the WSPRnet website not working properly?

UPDATE 1927z: At last some spots! When I did the reset I had to select DIG as USB-U. Before it was something else, so I was probably on the wrong frequency, which probably explains why I was getting no spots. Split still does not work on the FT817ND, so I am just on WSPR TX this evening and overnight. So far, 5 stations have spotted my 472kHz 10mW ERP WSPR. Best DX was a spot by 2E0ILY (209km). With brain fog it has been very hard getting to the bottom of why things were not working.

UPDATE 2015z: 7 stations have spotted me so far this evening with the best being in The Netherlands. I am really pleased I found out why I was getting no spots.

UPDATE 2207z: Now 11 stations have spotted me this evening with best DX being a spot by PA0LSB (326km).

2m FT8

On TX several spots again with best DX The Netherlands and the Isle of Man. On 2m FT8 RX 6 spots so far (to 1611z).

UPDATE 1636z: Now 7 stations spotted with best DX spotted PD3FRA (408km).

Repairs

I soldered several joints on my 472kHz ATU but still nothing in DIG mode from the FT817ND. On AM, it works. So, either I have some "finger trouble" with the FT817ND in digital mode or there is fault. I tried both front and rear connections and both seem the same (works on AM but not on DIG). I also tried "split" mode, making sure both RX and TX were on DIG. Still it insisted on 474.2kHz TX whereas TX should be on 80m. At the moment I still hope this is me rather than the rig. My brain is so fuzzy. For now I have left it.

UPDATE 1552z: Well I think one fault has been found. When I moved the lead from my SignaLink USB to different rig the plug would not go in. After bending the lead, it inserted fine. I suspect this is why the DIG was not working. I shall try on 472kHz WSPR TX tonight. It is quite hard when you have brain fog.

Ely - NOT amateur radio

It was not raining, so we decided to do a walk around Ely this morning. This is a delightful city (as it has a magnificent cathedral) with some lovely walks by the river and up to the cathedral. The first photo shows the view from near the Maltings towards the city. The River Ouse is just behind us.

The second photo shows the cathedral from a nearby meadow.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely,_Cambridgeshire

The next solar peak (cycle 25)

At the moment the indications are for the next solar peak to be the same or slightly larger than cycle 24. Of course it is still too early to be sure, but I hope the signs that we are not going to experience another Maunder Minimum are correct.

Compared with several years ago the solar peaks are much smaller, but at least 10m was pretty good for several years around even the last peak.

See https://solen.info/solar/polarfields/polar.html

FT817ND split

Someone has reminded me that the "split" mode on the FT817ND only works if VFOa and VFOb are on the same modes. It is just possible that after the resets I forgot to put the TX frequency on to DIG. Later I will try again. It is far more likely to be "finger trouble" than a fault. I do hope so.

UPDATE 1608z: Split still not working!

Sunspots - Sunday November 3rd 2019

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 13. A=2 and K=2.

Brain fog - NOT amateur radio

This may be old age creeping up, but I think it is another artefact of my 2013 stroke.

I am nearly always tired and my brain feels foggy, as if living in a bit of a daze. Of course, others are unaware, but I find physical or mental tasks much harder. Years ago, with a clear head, I would apply logical thinking to problems. It is much harder now.

Intermittent?

When fiddling with the split mode on my FT817ND I noticed no antenna current on 472kHz from my transverter. When I went back some hours later I checked the 3.2MHz oscillator was running by listening on another rig - it was. To my relief the antenna current was normal. Then it disappeared again. My brain was too foggy to investigate, but it looks like an intermittent in the antenna matching. I shall investigate tomorrow and make a few soldered connections.