Sunspots - Monday May 25th 2020

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

4m

4m transverter 

One of the (many) things I promise to do is get active again on 4m. Now that there are many European countries on the band and it has become more popular with some commercial rigs covering the band this makes sense.

Some years ago I got active on the band with a home designed and made transverter, I had a few G contacts, but this was way out of the Es season and I just had a wire dipole. Power was just over 1W.

Years ago I recall working ZB2VHF with 4W of AM from university. I guess that was 1969.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/4m_tvtr

Moulton Church - NOT amateur radio

On our walk earlier, we went past Moulton church with its famous fish weathervane.  Like many churches in East Anglia, this dates back almost 1000 years.

See https://eachurches.blogspot.com/2015/11/moulton-st-peters.html

Moulton - NOT amateur radio

This morning we did a nice walk around the village of Moulton near Newmarket. It is one of our favourite villages. This collage shows some of the lovely cottages.  Sadly the pub where we normally eat is closed at the moment.

Dominic Cummings - NOT amateur radio

The facts in this case are hard to make out in this political storm. Basically the UK Prime Minister's special adviser is being accused of going against the spirit of the lockdown rules by driving 250 miles to ensure his 4 year old child could be cared for. This may be legally OK but seems stupid in the circumstances at that time.

Personally I think he should resign as he is doing the UK government little good by diverting attention from the core issue at the present time, which is controlling the Covid-19 virus. If you cannot trust people close to the heart of government who can you trust? It is imperative that people in whom we trust are following the spirit of the law. Many of us have not seen our grandchildren in the flesh for many months. If he had been ill, he of all people would have found people close by who could have cared for his 4 year old. It smacks of one rule for you, but not for those in power.

6m FT8

This morning I decided to go on 6m FT8 again with 10W and V2000 omni antenna. Although no QSOs, my signal has been widely spotted. On 6m FT8 RX best DX are a couple of stations in Kazakhstan with best being UN3GX (5535km) near the Chinese border.

UPDATE 1347z:  395 stations have, so far, spotted my 6m 10W FT8 TX and I have spotted 322 stations. At the moment this is shaping up to be the best Es day this season here on 6m.  Still hoping for some transatlantic spots, although nothing yet.

Stations spotting my
10W TX to 1927z today 

UPDATE 1928z:  461 stations have spotted me today but nothing from the Caribbean or Americas.

Sunspots - Sunday May 24th 2020

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

Table restoration - NOT amateur radio

Today, I worked on the last of three small tables sanding the tops down, cleaning and rubbing Danish wood oil in to feed it.

The photo shows me working on the third table earlier. I think this was after the first sanding. I am cleaning it with white spirit.

"So" - NOT amateur radio

Have you noticed how many people say, "so" at the start of sentences? It seems this is quite common these days. As for "like" it would seem this is the new, "um".

AM operation

These days many on the air have never used AM (amplitude modulation). Many prefer FM or SSB for chats.

Certainly, I get the impression that our national society, the RSGB, is anti-AM. They have continued not to put 144.55 as the AM frequency of choice in 2m bandplans. They continue to have the fatuous remark about AM users being mindful of bandwidth, when well set-up AM often occupies less bandwidth than FM. I also found out that one RSGB official had no idea there was a preferred slot for AM on 10m! I get the impression that they haven't a clue!

AM has its place on less busy bands. It also lends itself to easy homebrewing. To me, it seems a shame that AM is hidden away. It is not the best mode for many reasons, but well modulated AM on 10m is a real joy to hear.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/2am