More IC-705 videos

These are now coming think and fast as more dealers around the world are seeing samples. Only today I saw videos today from Finland, Wimo in Germany and the USA.

6m FT8

It is now 0800z. A few moments ago I turned on the 6m FT8 gear (10W and the V2000 vertical). So far, no spots given or received.

UPDATE 0833z:  Still no 6m FT8 spots.

UPDATE 0904z: Nothing on RX but I have been spotted by 1 station in Sweden.

UPDATE 1622z:   So far today, still just the single spot of me and no spots at all on RX.

Sunspots - Saturday August 22nd 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

South Hams video - NOT amateur radio

This video shows some of where I come from from the air.

 

Fen blows - NOT amateur radio

The UK Fens are very flat with some of the best agricultural lands in the country.  Most of the topsoil is peat.

With strong winds we can experience "fen blows" when the strong winds blow this topsoil away. At the moment we are having exceptionally strong winds for August. This morning on our walk, we could see the brown clouds of dust in the sky: evidence of a "fen blow". Although I tried to take photos, the "fen blow" is hard to make out. At the moment, winds are gusting to about 50mph here.

Cycle 25?

From regular visits to my favourite site for solar data, it looks far more likely that we have passed solar minimum. Most days now we see some sunspots and indicators are increasingly good.

As mentioned before, it could be some time before HF conditions get noticeably better. With luck we should see more openings to "real DX" on bands like 10m, 12m and 10m.

This is the first time we will have had FT8 available as a tool on the climb up to solar maximum. It is probably worth monitoring the FT8 frequencies on 10m, as I suspect the band is open far more often than is realised.

2m FT8

Following a poor outing on 6m and 10m FT8, I have returned to 2m FT8. So far, my 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna has been spotted by 23 stations in 3 countries at 1400z includin Northern Irelaand and Germany.

Stations spotting me to 2010z

UPDATE 1607z: Now 29 stations in 5 countries have spotted my 10W 2m FT8 today.

UPDATE 2010z:  36 stations spotted me today on 2m FT8.

UPDATE 2200z : Now QRT. 37 St spotted me today on 2m FT8 using 10W and the big-wheel omni antenna.

Salcombe, Devon, UK - NOT amateur radio

As a child I lived and was brought up in Salcombe, Devon. We took it all for granted, not appreciating just how lucky we were.

I have mentioned before how the light reflected off the water made patterns on the ceiling of the classroom. It was a long time before I realised what it was!

There are several videos on YouTube including these here.

2m progress

When I was first interested in amateur radio AM was king on 2m. Working 10km with a Heathkit HW30 "Twoer" seemed good. Nowadays working 200km with 10W of SSB is commonplace with a big-wheel omni antenna. With FT8 distances of 500km seem possible at any time. We have come a long way.

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

Sunspots - Friday August 21st 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 13.  A=3 and K=1.