Simple pleasures - NOT amateur radio

As we awoke early we decided to go on an early walk.

We picked some apples and blackberries as the photo shows.

8m activity

The 40 and 60MHz Facebook group has news of more activity on 8m. Some countries have an allocation and some stations have sought special access.

South Devon - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows where I come from in South Devon. This is the Kingsbridge Estuary in Devon in an area known as the South Hams.

Cycle 25

There is little doubt that cycle 25 has now started. We seem to be seeing a few sunspots most days now although it could be some time before HF conditions on bands like 10m are noticeably better. By the autumn of 2021 openings to the USA should be much more frequent on 10m.

Sepura - NOT amateur radio

It seems amazing that I retired from Sepura 12 years ago!

For almost 40 years I worked in the Pye/Philips/Simoco/Sepura empire. As a design engineer, I worked on some interesting products including a few years working on pagers including a brief spell in California.

See https://www.sepura.com/

Sunspots - Wednesday August 19th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 12. A=6 and K=3.

QSY to 2m FT8

As 10m seemed dead here today, I have QSYed to 2m FT8. Almost immediately my 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna was spotted by 11 stations including GI6ATZ (479km) in Northern Ireland and DF6PW (562km) in Germany. It never fails!

UPDATE 1858z:  42 stations in 10 countries have spotted me today so far on 2m with 10W and the big-wheel omni antenna. As this sort of DX seems to be available at any time, I do not think all of these are aircraft scatter or tropo. Some may be, but not all I think. Personally, I suspect some other sort of scatter that weak signals such as FT8 signals can access.

Stations spotting me
on 2m FT8 TX (10W) today

UPDATE 2039z:  47 spots of my 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna today. Even with my low power and simple antenna, it appears that these sort of ranges are possible on 2m FT8 at any time. On SSB with the same power and antenna, I am pleased to work stations 200km away!

Granddaughter - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our 9  year old granddaughter on holiday in Norfolk.

Cartoon - NOT amateur radio

This cartoon appeared as a Facebook memory from several years ago. 

It seems appropriate in the UK at the moment.

Ultra-simple RX

Some years ago, I wanted to see just how simple a receiver could be made with a decent performance. Later, this was converted into a full transceiver.  For so few parts, it is remarkable.

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