Oscar 100 - SO quiet!

Yesterday lunchtime I took a listen on the geosynchronous Oscar 100 satellite. When I listened to the narrowband transponder on the web SDR at Goonhilly I was amazed how quiet it was. The only QSO was one between a G and an F.

Especially with so many at home, I was expecting it to be quite busy by now. I think people lose interest after they make their first QSOs.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/

Yesterday's walk - NOT amateur radio

Sugar beet (I think) 

Most days since Covid-19 forced us to stay at home, we have tried to do a walk.

Yesterday was no exception so we walked up to the Devil's Dyke, an ancient man made structure in Cambridgeshire built about 1400 years ago. It is about 7 miles long and is a defensive earthwork. How did they get the manpower?

There is another earthwork with the same name near the south coast of the UK.

On our way we saw fields of sugar beet (I think) and sweetcorn. Years ago you would not have seen sweetcorn. Nowadays you see fields of sunflowers and sweetcorn. These are crops that grow well here due to the climate warming.

Because of my giddiness, each walk seems a lot longer. All the time I feel as if I am about to fall so I have to watch each step. This is particularly hard on pavements (sidewalks) as it seems as if I am about to fall into the path of cars. When cars are coming up from behind it is particularly unnerving.

70cm activity contest results

The results of the RSGB organised activity contest have published.

It shows my position in the low power section has improved.

I am only using 10W and my 2m big-wheel omni antenna. Because of my voice I stay on for less than an hour.

Sunspots - Thursday July 30th 2020

Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 22. A=5 and K=1.

Zoom meetings - NOT amateur radio

Since the lockdown many of us have had to rely on Zoom to see friends and family.  I have been impressed. The photo shows a Zoom meeting earlier.

What a difference a day makes!

As yesterday, my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on with the tiny indoor loop antenna. Yesterday no spots all day yet already several from Norway even though it is only 0742z.

UPDATE 1110z:  10 unique stations have spotted me so far.

UPDATE 1857z: Today is the best day this season on 10m WSPR TX with 34 unique stations spotting me so far. Nothing yesterday at all, then today!!

UPDATE 2140z:  QRT.

6m FT8

This morning I made a very early start on 6m FT8 turning on the gear at 0644z. At 0605z 5 stations had already spotted my 10W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna. There is already some Es.

UPDATE 0720z:  Plenty of Es spots of me today already on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1200z:  Several QSOs had, mainly with stations in Spain. 55 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 90 stations including transatlantic VO1HP (3744km).

UPDATE 1907z:  432 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX and 151 stations have spotted my 10W to the V2000 omni vertical.

UPDATE 2150z:  QRT.

Elecraft July newsletter

Elecraft has released its latest newsletter which mentions a virtual expo and the latest news on the K4 transceiver. See their website.

Growing up fast - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our "London" grandchildren next to a yew tree almost 1000 years old. Quite humbling to think it has stood here that long. It puts their age in context.

Pye Telecom PF8 transceiver

This radio, that I helped to design, has gathered a cult status over the years. It was the radio used on the UK TV series called "The Professionals".

Some have been converted to use on 70cm. Before anyone asks, no, I cannot help you find one!  They are rare these days. I do not possess one and neither do my old colleagues.  My best advice is keep your eyes skimmed in case any appear on eBay or at rallies. Looking back, we did not sell that many. We made more pagers in one night, than the total number of PF8 units sold.

That was the trouble with PMR radios. Once we faced significant price competition, we just could not compete. These days you can buy UHF PMR transceivers for a fraction of the price 40 years ago.

On my website is a .pdf version of the manual.

In its day, way before cellular radios, it was quite ground breaking.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf8