2m FT8

At about 1325z I switched to 2m FT8 (10W and the big-wheel omni antenna). So far, 12 stations in 4 countries have spotted me with best DX DF6PW  today on 2m FT8(562km).  It is currently 1343z.

UPDATE 1455z: Currently 16 stations in 5 countries spotting me with 1 QSO. Just 3 stations spotted here on 2m FT8 RX so far today.

UPDATE 2118z:  19 stations spotted me today on 2m FT8.  Now QRT.  2 QSOs.

Dead fox cub - NOT amateur radio

Every month my brother does part of the bird count on the Kingsbridge Estuary in Devon. On this month's count he spotted this dead fox cub.

Rallies

The following rally announcements came to me earlier. The Ballygilbert one does not say cancelled which I find odd. Definitely worth checking before travel.

As before, this is how I received the messages and the background may make these hard to read on some screens

Saturday 20 JUNE : BANGOR & DISTRICT ARS RALLY

Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church Hall, Ballyrobert, Co Down BT19 1UM. Doors open 11am to 3.30pm. Entrance fee is £3. More from Norman Newell by email to normannewellgi3ymy@hotmail.com.


Sunday 21 JUNE : CANCELLED next date 20th June 2021

17th WEST OF ENGLAND RADIO RALLY. Cheese & Grain venue, Market Yard, Bridge Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BE. Doors open from 10am to 2pm. Adult admission £3, accompanied children under 14 are free. There will be inside and outside trade stalls and an RSGB bookstall. A cafe serving hot & cold food will be available. Shaun, G8VPG on 01225 873 098 or by email to rallymanager@westrally.org.uk www.westrally.org.uk


A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Pixie and Micro-80 transceivers

Some years ago I built a Micro-80 transceiver for 80m CW.

More recently I got a Pixie kit for 40m, which was very inexpensive and came with free airmail from China. It went together easily and enabled me to have a QSO with a local ham. It got put away thereafter as it was really an exercise to check out my building skills after my stroke in 2013.

On all these simple, compromise, rigs it is the receiver which is often the weakest link. They often have little selectivity and can easily be overloaded. These days there is far more FT8 activity and both SSB and  CW have suffered. Typical Pixie powers are 300-500mW. This power is more than enough to work plenty assuming you can copy the other station!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/pixie

10m WSPR TX (500mW to the indoor loop)

Since about 0800z, my 500mW WSPR beacon has been on. Nobody has spotted me yet.

UPDATE 2133z:  6 stations spotted my 10m WSPR today. Now QRT.

6m FT8

At about 0800z I turned on my 10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna. Spotted all over Europe by 15 stations. On 6m FT8 RX, 18 stations spotted. Although several Japanese stations were being called by Europeans on 6m FT8, these were not spotted here. No QSOs yet.

UPDATE 1025z: Now 1 QSO on 6m FT8, 45 spots of me and 107 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX with best DX A45XR (5843km) in Oman.

UPDATE 1232z:  Best spot of my signal was by VE1PZ (4501km). In all, 65 stations have spotted me.  On 6m FT8 RX 130 stations have spotted me today on 6m FT8 with best DX W7JW (6805km).

Sunspots - Thursday June 18th 2020

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

6m FT8

As the storms seem to have moved on, I have turned on 6m FT8. So far, 27 spots of my 10W to nhe V2000 omni vertical.

10m WSPR TX (500mW to the indoor loop)

At about 1335z my 10m WSPR beacon has just been turned on. I waited for the thundery weather to pass. For now, all seems quiet.

Earlier, I took a look for my friend Ted G4NUA's 20m WSPR beacon based on the Raspberry Pi.  Even though he is quite close (15km?) there was no sign of his 100mW 20m WSPR beacon, even though he has been copied far and wide. I was using my indoor loop which works pretty well on 20m.  Lots of signals copied, but not Ted.

UPDATE 1350z:  3 spots of my 10m WSPR beacon by OZ7IT (853km). My drift is still quite large as the beacon is still settling. Drift has gone down quite a lot already.

UPDATE 1525z: Thunder and lightning so all disconnected. Quite a few spots when I went QRT.

UPDATE 1735z: As the storms appear to have moved away, I have reconnected everything. No spots since reconnecting.

Gecophone 1920s crystal set

When I retired in 2008 my leaving gift was a 1920s crystal set called the Gecophone. It works well considering it is almost 100 years old. On mine, it received BBC Radio 5. It is some time since I last tried it.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/gecophone