Sub-9kHz amateur radio on TV

How good is your German?

A recent ARD TV program had a bit on sub-9kHz amateur radio. Even though my German is almost non-existent it was good to put some real faces to people I had previously only known as callsigns. Even without any German language skills you can look at the pictures!

See https://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/player/Y3JpZDovL2JyLmRlL3ZpZGVvLzJlYWUzYWMxLWVhZDAtNDI2Ni05YjY2LWQ1NWQ1MDE3ODk5Ng/?fbclid=IwAR1SCzy2H_dqRGZwg1eEG60bDYAaIJvoKFI05cO0SgL1JGkD-uZlD2qJpA4

MX-2 - 2m SSB portable

Somewhere, I still have my MX-2 SSB handheld for 2m. The last time it was used must be 7 years ago! I had a lot of fun with mine.

It was used as a handheld on 2m and to drive a homebrew 10m 1W transverter. As I recall, for a while it was the only rig I had. Plenty of DX contacts were had on 10m and some handheld DX with just a whip on 2m SSB. The battery did not last long and by modern standards it would be considered slightly large.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/mx2

The end of winter is in sight - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we visited nearby Anglesey Abbey. Although we are in the middle of winter, there are already signs of new life appearing, as the collage shows.

2m FT8 with the vertical antenna

Overnight I remained on 2m FT8 RX with the vertical omni antenna. The height of the big-wheel and V2000 are similar as are the gains on 2m for the big-wheel and V2000.

In all, 34 stations in 4 countries were spotted in the last 6 hours on 2m FT8 RX. This is very similar to the results with the big-wheel, suggesting many stations come in via aircraft scatter, where the polarisation is randomised. Staying on overnight is a waste of time as most stations were spotted in the last few hours.

Conclusions? I agree with Martin that much of my "real DX" on 2m is via aircraft scatter.

6m FT8

At about 0930z, I swapped to 6m FT8.  Initially I called CQ (10W to the vertical V2000). As yet, no spots given or received.

UPDATE 1146z: Just a couple of Gs spotted so far this morning.

UPDATE 1340z: A recent 6m FT8 CQ (10W) was spotted by just a single G: G0GGG (211km). It would appear that he is the only G able to copy me. He has now spotted my CQs twice, although no QSO.

UPDATE 1520z: Just 4 G spots today only.  My CQs have been spotted by a couple of Gs, but nothing from continental Europe.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 22nd 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K =2.

Antennas

One possibility I have is to erect a BuddyPole or similar multi-band /P antenna in the garden when needed. This cannot be as effective as a larger antenna, but would give me multi-band capability. I imagine on 10m, 12m and 15m they could be quite effective.

Certainly on FT8, they should work. This might solve my antenna erection issues. I could put it out when required and put it away when not needed.

If you have any views, please let me know.

UK earthquakes - NOT amateur radio

Thankfully, we get few serious earthquakes in the UK. Big ones are rare. The website below keeps records of those that have occurred recently.

See https://earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/recent_uk_events.html

Homeless in Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

In recent years we seem to have seen an increase in rough sleepers on the streets of Cambridge. For a fact, some are "on the make", tapping in to the many tourists we see here. Some are mentally ill people who seem to have fallen through the cracks and are rough sleeping.

With so many jobs locally, people should not need to rough sleep. "Can you spare a few pennies please?", is the call. Rather than give directly to people who may spend the money on drugs, I prefer to regularly donate to a homeless charity. This way you know the money is really helping. There is little doubt that, for whatever reason, there are some genuine people who need help.

2m FT8 RX - aircraft scatter?

At the moment I am on 2m FT8 RX using the vertical antenna (V2000 omni).  My theory is that if signals are coming in mainly by aircraft scatter polarisation won't matter, so I should see as many stations in the log as with the big-wheel horizontal omni.

At the moment (0947z) I have spotted 59 stations in 8 countries. Yes, I appreciate conditions could be different on a different day, but this would suggest many stations are being received by aircraft reflection. I know this is not definite proof.

UPDATE 1020z: A recent 2m FT8 CQ (10W to the vertical omni V2000) was spotted by 25 stations. 2 QSOs resulted with the best QSO being PD4KK (287km). It would appear results with the vertical omni match those of the horizontal big-wheel for "real DX".

Stations so far spotted today on
2m FT8 RX with the vertical omni

UPDATE 1640z: So far today with the vertical omni antenna 138 stations in 9 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX. I think the K6 (supposedly in New York) was a pirate in the UK as all his calls were spotted in the UK.  I think these spots confirm that a good proportion of the spots I receive are via aircraft. With 15 second transmissions, Doppler was not visible on my waterfall, even with stations on for several minutes.

UPDATE 1926z: 160 stations in 9 countries so far spotted in the last 12 hours on 2m FT8 RX using the vertical omni.

Stations spotting my 10W FT8 CQ 

on 2m on the vertical omni this evening

UPDATE 2034z: I recently called CQ (10W to the vertical omni) and was rewarded with 34 spots of my signal and several QSOs. Sadly my old work colleague Bob G3WKW called me, but did not hear me calling him 4 times!