Shack

The photo, which has been on before, shows the shack as it is currently. The 10m magnetic loop is on the left. It has been on 10m WSPR TX all day (500mW) , but has not been spotted yet. Hopefully there will be some spots before I go QRT later.  It works far better than expected. 

Operating is from the desk on the right and what building I do (little these days sadly) is on the work surface straight ahead. 

Local bakers - NOT amateur radio

Every Tuesday at 7am I do a trip to the local bakers. At that time it is very quiet. I usually buy rolls and pasties. The photo shows the shop just as it opened.

OFCOM and trains

OFCOM is trying to improve broadband on trains and is considering releasing some more microwave frequencies (sorry, airwaves) to enable this. See the OFCOM website for more details.

I see they always have this in Welsh too. Why not Urdu or some African languages too? Or Gaelic maybe? Translating from English to some strange language would keep someone busy and beat real RF work any day.  Oh, make sure the person has a different colour skin and one leg and is non-binary. This gives you even more browny points for diversity.

Cynical? Me?

Chinese lanterns - NOT amateur radio

These plants are usually associated with autumn, but we saw these on our walk on Sunday, which is pretty early in the year.

They are very colourful and attractive plants.

DXCC news

Many years ago I ceased chasing DX. If I work DX then great, but I am not prepared to invest in high power rigs, towers, linears and beams as well as hours and hours calling. Life is just too short. If this "floats your boat" that is fine. Each to their own. Just count me out.

A useful list of current DXCC entities is shown on the Southgate News website.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/july/dxcc-report-26-07.htm#.Xx8dQIjYq00

Sunspots - Tuesday July 28th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the sunspot number 11. A=4 and K=1.

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

Whilst on the East Cambs 2m net,  I had the 10m WSPR beacon running. I was getting spots from Denmark.  It is now 1945z and it is still on.

UPDATE 2030z:  5 unique stations spotting my 10m WSPR tonight. I have only been on for about 90 minutes.

Fungus - NOT amateur radio

We saw the fungus in the photo on our walk yesterday. It was on an old tree stump.

Swifts (birds) - NOT amateur radio

Swifts are migratory birds that spend a lot of time in Africa. They breed in the UK. These birds sleep on the wing and are a common sight in UK skies in early summer. These stay for only a few months. For several weeks these birds can be seen screaming in the skies above our heads. Quite suddenly we realise they are not there any more. The skies are quiet. They usually arrive here in late April and early May.  The arrival of the first swift is always significant for me.

The only time they land is to breed.  Numbers have fallen as their nest sites are disappearing. The RSPB is trying to encourage us to erect swift nestboxes to reverse this. I hope it succeeds.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swift/

New radio?

About a year ago I bought a Yaesu FT991A.  At the right price I may, at a later date, trade this in for an ICOM IC-705. I am a QRP man and only use the FT991A at low power.

With simple antennas, the FT991A has worked some impressive DX on the VHF bands especially.

Often with new rigs there are teething troubles that are fixed with firmware or hardware improvements. I am in no hurry. Certainly my advice is avoid early models if buying new.

I like the features and coverage of the IC-705 and the fact it has no fan and can run at 5W off the attached battery which can be charged via the USB lead. It has D-STAR, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. I wish it had 4m and an internal auto-ATU.

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