For about 30 minutes (it is now 0828z) I have been on 2m FT8 with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. So far 7 spots of me and 1 spot of others. No QSOs.
6 Oct 2020
5 Oct 2020
OFCOM licences
OFCOM has announced that it is imposing some new conditions when it grants licences to ensure holders know they have to obey international EMF guidelines. See the OFCOM website for more details.
It would be good if OFCOM had a few people enforcing the law rather than just talking. Oh, silly me, that means people who understand RF.
FCC and 3.4GHz in the USA
According to Southgate News, the FCC has withdrawn the 3.4GHz amateur allocation in the USA. It would appear the FCC has as many brains as OFCOM in the UK.
Walk - NOT amateur radio
Back in the spring we had some great days with plenty of sunshine.
It seems they are building new houses on every available scrap of land.
The UK's world beating "Track and Trace" system - NOT amateur radio
The UK Prime Minister said that our Covid-19 "track and trace" system would be world beating. Yesterday we were told that 16000 people had been missed due to a technical glitch. The overwhelming impression is of utter chaos.
Our windmill in the 1980s - NOT amateur radio
Because of Covid-19 people have not been able to go up to higher floors this year sadly. Let us hope 2021 is better. The windmill is 200 years old.
6m FT8 (2.5W to the V2000 vertical omni)
Although the Es season is well behind us, I again decided to try 6m FT8.
Although I have only been on for about 15 minutes, I have been spotted by a couple of Gs but no DX. On RX, just M0MVB (31km) has spotted me strongly. He is a serious 6m operator who worked some impressive DX this year on the band. By comparison, I am just playing.
UPDATE 1220z: Still just the 2 spots of me. On RX best DX is OZ3K (703km).
UPDATE 1402z: Even well outside of the Es season I am spotting signals from Spain and Denmark on 6m FT8. I think these are Es, but they could be aircraft.
Chinese transceivers
Steve G1KQH has reminded me about a new Chinese amateur radio HF transceiver.
Many of the things we buy are made in China. It is now hard to find things not made in China. All this is because we demand lower and lower prices. We exported our UK manufacturing base to China. When China gets too expensive, we will look elsewhere. Like King Canute, we cannot stop the tides, but in the end we have to question this on many levels: we are exporting our pollution for example.
Sadly, we live in a consumer driven economy that cannot last for ever. Things are designed not to last too long so we are encouraged to replace items and so fuel our "throw away" mentality. We are all guilty.
Not sure why, but I still have issues with Chinese quality control. In the end the Chinese will get better and their quality control will be as good as the Japanese. The real question is will the Chinese be attracted by the (relatively small) amateur radio market? There are a few players, but no-one has seriously taken on the Kenwoods, Yaesus and ICOMs of this world yet. If they do, I could see some leaving the amateur radio market.
Family collage - NOT amateur radio
This collage of members of our family summarises last week. Some photos have been on before but together they show our week.
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