5 Jan 2020
Crackers - NOT amateur radio
4 Jan 2020
Mildenhall, Suffolk - NOT amateur radio
We went to Mildenhall today, hoping to visit the little museum with our grandchildren. Sadly the museum was closed until March, but we visited the church and river.
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| 15th century market square in Mildenhall with our grandchildren |
160m FT8 RX this evening
So far 94 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX with best DX spotted RY9C (3706km) at 1735z.
UPDATE 1855z: 174 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX this evening.
UPDATE 2007z: Now 220 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX. Best DX spotted is RW0AR (5585km).
UPDATE 2116z: 32 stations in Europe spotted my 10W to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. On RX 322 stations spotted so far.
UPDATE 2210z: The first North Americans appeared at 2129z. The very first was VY2NA (4445km). So far this evening 370 stations copied including 3 North Americans. Now it appears my 160m FT8 CQ was spotted by 36 stations.
UPDATE 1855z: 174 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX this evening.
UPDATE 2007z: Now 220 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX. Best DX spotted is RW0AR (5585km).
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| Stations spotting my 160m FT8 10W CQ earlier |
UPDATE 2210z: The first North Americans appeared at 2129z. The very first was VY2NA (4445km). So far this evening 370 stations copied including 3 North Americans. Now it appears my 160m FT8 CQ was spotted by 36 stations.
Daytime 160m FT8
In the daytime, 160m is a very different band. In the last 3 hours just 1 station spotted in northern France. When dark and the absorption drops, real DX comes through.
Alibris UK sales - NOT amateur radio
Years ago I created a filter to delete Alibris emails. It seems this company has regular sales, so I used to ignore these. Thank goodness for Gmail filters.
Alibris is a good place to look for secondhand books, although with their regular sales, it is doubtful paying the full price makes sense.
Alibris is a good place to look for secondhand books, although with their regular sales, it is doubtful paying the full price makes sense.
SPAM - NOT amateur radio
Quite a few of my friends, supposedly, are still sending me SPAM links. Thankfully, Gmail filters these so they appear in my SPAM folder.
It is entirely possible that these people do not know their email addresses are being used to send SPAM. My policy is always to delete these without opening. I strongly urge you to do the same. Many of these links install viruses or malware and can be very dangerous.
If in any doubt, you may have to change your email addresses, change passwords frequently and use a virus/malware program.
It is entirely possible that these people do not know their email addresses are being used to send SPAM. My policy is always to delete these without opening. I strongly urge you to do the same. Many of these links install viruses or malware and can be very dangerous.
If in any doubt, you may have to change your email addresses, change passwords frequently and use a virus/malware program.
160m FT8 RX overnight
Last evening and night were good here on 160m FT8 RX.
I lost count of the North Americans copied. In all, over 40 North Americans, 10 Caribbeans,2 South Americans as well as Asians and Africans copied. As for European stations there were hundreds.
As before, using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This is proving remarkably effective. 160m operation has been a total surprise!
Overall, 672 stations in 5 continents spotted on 160m FT8 RX in the last day (see map).
I lost count of the North Americans copied. In all, over 40 North Americans, 10 Caribbeans,2 South Americans as well as Asians and Africans copied. As for European stations there were hundreds.
As before, using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This is proving remarkably effective. 160m operation has been a total surprise!
Overall, 672 stations in 5 continents spotted on 160m FT8 RX in the last day (see map).
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Stations spotted here in the last 24 hours on 160m
FT8 RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground
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Chromebooks - NOT amateur radio
It is about 6 weeks since I bought a Chromebook. I am a convert!
What amazes me is that I can do everything it seems I could do on a Windows PC, but this is instantly there - no waiting for Windose to boot up, the battery lasts well over a day on a single charge, and I can use it as a tablet if I want to, not that I have.
It is lightweight, small and perfectly suited to my needs. I do not regret buying it one bit.
What amazes me is that I can do everything it seems I could do on a Windows PC, but this is instantly there - no waiting for Windose to boot up, the battery lasts well over a day on a single charge, and I can use it as a tablet if I want to, not that I have.
It is lightweight, small and perfectly suited to my needs. I do not regret buying it one bit.
Finbar EI0CF's experimental 160m magnetic loop antenna
For fixed frequency operation (these loops are very sharply tuned if working efficiently) these antennas can be remarkably effective. With high powers, the RF voltages at the high impedance points can be very high (less of an issue with QRP) which is one reason people use capacitors rated for very high voltages in some cases.
It is some years since I used a loop on 10m WSPR, but recall being amazed how well these small antennas worked. The photo shows Finbar's experimental 160m loop.
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