Swallows (migrant birds) - NOT amateur radio

Normally I see my first swallows by mid April.  It is now May 4th and I have still seen none!! Last year there were not as many, but this year is appalling. Usually swifts start to arrive about now. There are some swallows in Devon, but I get the feeling fewer.

Woodland walk - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, we did a nice walk partly through woodland at Landwade, near Newmarket.  It was very quiet - in fact we met no-one at all!

40MHz (8m)

It is some time since I caught up on who has access to the 8m band (40MHz). Southgate News reports on an FT8 QSO between EI and LY. I did not realise LY had access to the band!

Apparently LY does not have general access and this station had special permission to use certain spot frequencies. Others might like to try for similar access permits.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/may/first-contact-made-on-40-mhz-between-ireland-and-lithuania.htm#.XrALqmjYq00

6m FT8

V2000

As yesterday, I am on 6m FT8 with 10W and the V2000 omni vertical. At 0828z no RX spots yet, but 3 Gs have spotted me so far.

UPDATE 1036z:  45 stations have spotted me so far this morning. Most of the time I was running about 6W only to the V2000 omni vertical. With Es you don't need much power most of the time and simple antennas work well. This may well not be so for long paths when ERP can be critical to success.

Stations spotting me on
6m FT8 today to  1230z

UPDATE 1252z:  Now 79 stations have spotted me today on 6m FT8. Es is easy!

UPDATE 1337z:  Now 81 stations spotting me today on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1758z:  Now 98 stations have spotted my 6m FT8 today.

UPDATE 1843z: I have to go QRT on 6m shortly, but today has been the most successful this Es season.

2m FT8

After finishing on 6m FT8 yesterday, I went on to 2m FT8 with my 10W and the big-wheel omni. As usual, stations spotted in England, Netherlands, Channel Islands and Germany. My own signal was spotted by 10 stations in England and Wales. I was not on that long.

ARRL website - high sensitivity crystal set

The ARRL website has much to commend it, including this article that was in QST some years ago on a high sensitivity crystal set using a zero bias MOSFET.

There is more about crystal sets on my main website. They are capable of some quite remarkable results.

See http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/culter.pdf

Sunspots - Monday May 3rd 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number 0.  A=5 and K=2.

QRPver

Looking on this site (in the Ukraine) they have some interesting stuff. Never having bought any, I don't know about quality, warranties etc..

See https://qrpver.com/

75 years ago - NOT amateur radio

Already I have mentioned that my dad was an RAF Pathfinder. These were elite flyers, many of whom died.  75 years ago, at the end of the war, he was getting prisoners of war back home and dropping food on the starving people of Holland.

When he went on the Lubeck trip he requisitioned all the newspapers in the mess destined for officers and gave them out to the PoWs. Of course, some had not seen UK newspapers for years!

See https://raf-pathfinders.com/pows-brought-back-from-lubeck-may-1945/

10m FT8 again

On 10m FT8 (2.5W to the indoor loop) and being spotted in Spain and Scotland, presumably by Es.

UPDATE 1327z: 141 10m FT8 stations spotted, 10 stations have spotted me and 1 QSO with France so far today.

UPDATE 1338z:  My 10m band indoor loop is surprising me. Without a full-sized outside antenna it is hard to know what I am missing, but my impression is not much. Already this morning it is copying Es from all over Europe and a few days ago was spotting South Americans. For FT8, the sharp tuning is not a problem and might even be a bonus keeping strong signals and noise off frequency down in level. My impression is it is very little down on a full sized outside antenna. There should be some directionality, although I seem to copy, and be copied, in all directions. Perhaps if it was external this might be more obvious.

UPDATE 1458z:  184 stations spotted so far today and I have been spotted by 16 Europeans.

Stations spotting
me today on 10m FT8

UPDATE 1730z: Now 237 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX as well as 26 stations spotting my 2.5W to the indoor loop.