10m antenna

As many know, I want to erect a new external antenna for 10m soon. Ideally my Homebase-10 antenna would be a good choice, but my skills are not so good these days, so I probably need to rule this out. A vertical might be a good choice although a vertical could be more noisy. In the end it will probably be a dipole or inverted vee. I probably still need help erecting it.

By next year, 10m should be much better.

Dipoles for 10m are quite small. Inverted vees take up even less space.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_vee_antenna

UK pound creeping up? - NOT amateur radio

Although it is hard to be sure, the UK pound has appreciated against the euro, US dollar, and yen in recent weeks. Gains are modest, but they are gains. Time will tell if these are maintained. 

From a very low base, it seems oil prices are rising too.

Reach walk - NOT amateur radio

Since our lockdown in April, we have tried to do walks as often as possible. 

Luckily spring was mainly dry and sunny so we were able to get out often. We have done some lovely local walks, many times on local paths we did not know. It has been great watching the seasons change. Overall, we have had a good lockdown.

There is now an autumn feel in the air and it seems far cooler. This is the blackberry season so we collected some on our walk earlier around Reach along with some apples. It is definitely autumn now. Even though the weather will get cooler and wetter, we hope to continue the walks.

 

6m FT8 (10W and the V2000 omni)

Since about 1025z today, I have been on 6m FT8. So far, no reports on RX, but I have been spotted by 4 G stations.

UPDATE 1430z:  29 spots of me so far today. Some Es in evidence yet again. Although Es is less common than a few months ago, it is still there. On RX just 4 Gs spotted so far.

Elecraft September newsletter

 Elecraft has published its September 2020 newsletter. See the Elecraft website for details. 

Grass cutting - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we got one of our grandsons to cut our front lawn as the photo shows. For a first attempt he did quite well.

Sunspots - Friday September 4th 2020

 Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

Rally changes

This is the latest information I have on rallies. As mentioned before, my apologies if this is hard to read on some screens, but this is how I receive it.

Sunday 6 SEPTEMBER : CANCELLED

ANDOVER RADIO CLUB AUTUMN BOOT SALE. Wildhern.


Sunday 6 SEPTEMBER : ONLINE ONLY

TELFORD HAMFEST & G-QRP CONVENTION 

Harper Adams University, near Telford, TF10 8NB Due to uncertainty about large gatherings being allowed, and in recognition that many radio amateurs may not want to attend physical meetings for some time, the G-QRP Club took the unwelcome decision to cancel their Conventions for 2020. However, following a very successful survey of members, a meeting of the Standing Committee this week confirmed that the G-QRP Convention fisor 2020 will definitely take place as a virtual event over the weekend of the 5th and 6th of September. There will be a series of webinars and possibly a virtual Buildathon. A small working group are now developing the detail and a number of key speakers have already volunteered. Full details will be shared as soon as they are known. More information and e-mail details may be found on the Telford HamFest website www.telfordhamfest.org.uk or by contacting Martyn, G3UKV on 01952 255 416 or John, M0JZH on 07824 737716.


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

Another great IC-705 video

This was a live stream yesterday. It is long video but one of the best I have seen.

 

6m FT8 (10W and the V2000 vertical omni)

For the last few minutes, I have been on 6m FT8. Already spotted by 6 stations including OY1OF (1163km). Just G3RIK (224km) spotted on RX so far.

UPDATE 1952z: 48 stations have spotted my 10W 6m FT8 today. Plenty of Es on 6m today.  See photo to see stations that have spotted me. QRT soon.  37 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 2050z:  QRT.