80m ferrite rod TX antenna

Jay W5OLF has kindly said keep the antenna. So, later in the week I shall try to resonate it on the correct WSPR and FT8 frequencies and try some NVIS and other TX tests.

Nearly every American I have dealt with has been kind and generous. Jay, thank you!

Football money - NOT amateur radio

Writing in The Times newspaper today, Matthew Syed argues that owners and not clubs should be banned. Recently, a famous UK soccer team was banned from a European competition for 2 years for breaking rules. Syad states (allegedly) that one of Manchester City's owners, a wealthy middle east sheikh, has not attended a club game since 2010!

This is the trouble with some sports these days: it is more about profits than gamesmanship. Owners can be detached and have little knowledge of, or interest in, the game.

Personally, I would like to see limits on ownership and caps on wages for players. If this results in smaller profits so what? Surely there is enough untapped talent around.

I would like to see a ban on owners purely interested in personal gain. No idea on policing, but I have a hatred of people in it for personal gain. Soccer is a game, not a business.

Angry sky - NOT amateur radio

This morning, the sun was shining. Now it is changeable with some sun then angry clouds. A few moments ago the sky behind "our" windmill looked very dark and threatening. Now we have blue sky again!

Giddiness - NOT amateur radio

Whilst at Chippenham Park to see the snowdrops before lunch I was able to compare how I felt last year with this.

Driving there and back feels much more stressful than it was. 45mph feels to me like 60mph! I feel more tired and giddy than I remember a year ago. It is hard to tell whether these things are just old age or as a result of my 2013 stroke.

I feel older than I did. Now that is a daft thing to say! What I mean is I feel older in myself. Yes, I know we all get older all the time!  😀

Snowdrops - NOT amateur radio

Today we went to Chippenham Park near us to see the snowdrops. There were plenty out as well as daffodils, but they will soon be past their best.

2m FT8

At about 0920z I QSYed to 2m FT8. My initial CQ was spotted by 6 stations including 2 in Cornwall.

As usual running 10W to the big-wheel.

UPDATE 1453z:  Recent 2m FT8 CQs (10W) were spotted by 16 stations in 5 countries. On 2m FT8 RX quite quiet with just 11 stations in 4 countries spotted so far. I guess some people are at work.

UPDATE 1606z: G0LRD has a very useful real-time FT8 grabber allowing me to see my 2m FT8 signal in real time. It looks relatively clean, although it is hard to be sure when it is very strong.

See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/

Stations spotting my 10W
2m FT8 today to 1705z

UPDATE 1705z: Now 21 spots of my 10W 2m FT8 signal today. I have been called several times in the last hour, but sadly no 2-way QSOs.

UPDATE 2043z:  Now 30 stations in 6 countries spotted my 10W 2m FT8 today.

160m FT8 overnight

Overnight was another good session on 160m FT8 RX. Plenty of stations spotted in North America and South America as well as elsewhere. Overall 408 stations were spotted.

160m FT8 RX overnight
- stations spotted here

G3XBM history

Although this has been on before, some may be interested in how I got into the hobby. Even now, nearly 60 years later I still get fun from it.

Amateur radio means different things to different people. Some just like chatting, some ATV, others repeaters, others satellites, others QRP, others moonbounce and so on.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/history

Evolving language - NOT amateur radio

At one time the over-use of "like" and going up at the end of sentences really grated on me. Then I realised that speech and language have always been evolving and that I should just shut up. I guess as we become more global, language will be increasingly evolving. Oh, I really am a grumpy old man!

60m beacon

Southgate News reports that the 5MHz Westmorland beacon is to close, leaving just GB3RAL active in the UK on that band. I guess these days people can use FT8 or WSPR to check propagation. Personally I prefer FT8 to beacons. WSPR would be better still, but there is less activity.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/february/uk-5-mhz-beacon-to-close.htm#.XkmeiI6TK00