Sunspots - Saturday May 9th 2020

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0.  A=4 and K=1. Pretty poor!

Dayton cancelled

This may be old news, but the RSGB news service GB2RS confirms what we all suspected that the Dayton Hamvention has been cancelled.

Many were expecting the IC-705 to be on sale there.  It is often the place where new products are launched. I wonder how Yaesu is planning to counter the IC-705? They have had a year to think about it. If it is like the FT818, we may be deeply disappointed. It would not surprise me if this pandemic made some manufacturers reconsider their involvement in the amateur radio market: is it really worth it?

It would not surprise me if Friedrichshafen was also cancelled, although I have not yet seen this. There are few planes flying so numbers would be well down anyway.

FT4 - not tried

Although I love FT8, I have a confession to make: I have never tried FT4!

At some point, I must do so. It is much faster than FT8, but probably not as good on very weak signals. I don't know about Doppler, but I suspect it might be better on very brief Es openings.

10m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop antenna

At about 0720z the 10m FT8 gear was turned on. As usual, 2.5W to the indoor loop.

UPDATE 1130z:  A couple of spots of my 2.5W so far today. One local and one by Es from Spain.

UPDATE 1253z:  Just the 2 spots above and 1 QSO with an EA3.

Stations spotting me today 

UPDATE 2111z:  QRT now. In all, spots by 15 stations of my 2.5W. On 10m FT8 RX 161 stations spotted including 4 South Americans.

Earliest recordings - NOT amateur radio

A common view is that Edison made the first recordings, but this seems to be incorrect. A Frenchman may have made recordings far earlier.

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

Exhaustion - NOT amateur radio

I am now 71.5 years old. Cutting the grass this year seems far more tiring than last year. This could be another artifact of my 2013 stroke or just old age. Driving now is much harder too. Ever since my stroke, I have got exhausted and am giddy, but this feels worse. Walks, that I enjoy in lockdown, really knock me out. Years ago I could walk miles and miles.

Swifts (birds) - NOT amateur radio

What a difference a few days make! Earlier this week I was pleasantly pleased to see a single swift. Now they are one of the commonest birds in the sky. First you hear the screams, you look overhead and there is a flock of swifts. They only stay a few months, but what a joy!

VLF earth-mode blog.

Years ago one of my favourite activities was experimenting with VLF earth-mode communications through the ground.

I would put a beacon on at home and go out to see where it could be copied.  Ranges surprised me and far further would be possible. Sadly, I can no longer do these experiments, but this is a rich seam ripe for others to carry on. Certainly higher power and bigger baselines would help. At some point signals that are radiated would be detectable at great range. Very stable (GPS locked?) signals would allow very long integration times.

My blog is still there on my original website. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas.  This old website is not maintained, so please do not follow the links on the left as they may not work!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp/Home/earthmode

Sunspots - Friday May 8th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

Grandson's art - NOT amateur radio

Our grandson is just 11. Since he was very young he has demonstrated a real talent for art. A year and a half ago he did 2 wonderful paintings of our old house and the windmill next door for my wife and my 70th birthdays. He has won several prizes. Even several years ago he showed his talent. He is far more gifted than his grandparents.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/home/art