Ducks - NOT amateur radio

When we walked past yesterday there were 4 ducks sleeping on this footbridge. One flew away and I only managed a photo of the 3 that remained.

2m FT8 (2.5W to the big-wheel omni antenna)

Since 0825z I have been on 2m FT8. Nothing yet spotted on RX , but 3 G spots of me so far. No QSOs yet.

UPDATE 0920z:  4 G spots of me so far and nothing spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1022z:  Still just 4 spots of me this morning. The grabber at G0LRD (26km) is useful as it gives me an indication of my signal cleanliness and 2m FT8 activity.  See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/ .

Stations spotted
on RX

Stations spotting
me on TX

UPDATE 1801z: Amazing. Even an FT817ND and a big-wheel omni I manage to get incredible ranges on 2m FT8.

UK Airwave switch-off

Southgate News has a piece about the closure of the Airwave system, used by police and ambulance services with TETRA radios in the UK. It is reported that this will stay operational until at least 2024 because of delays to the system due to replace it. 

When I worked for Sepura (I retired in 2008) the UK police TETRA radios were an important part of our business. I am not sure what system they plan to use going forwards. I have completely lost touch in the last 5 years.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/october/airwave-closure.htm#.X314akjYq00

Oscar 100 (geosynchronous)

Every few weeks I take a peek at the Goonhilly web SDR to check activity on the narrowband transponder. When I last checked (0810z today) it was still very quiet (just 2 European QSOs) with plenty of space.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/

Light wave communication

Yesterday I mentioned that some years ago I bought some Flatlights (very high power LEDs) to allow me to get further over the horizon with light beam communication. Even with quite low powered LEDs I was able to achieve quite decent ranges non-line-of-sight. 

Optical communications is accessible to all and is ideal for homebrewing. All my gear was homemade and all software was free. Also, only very simple test gear is needed. As I recall a multimeter and a bearly lit LED in a dark room is about all you need. This is much simpler than microwaves. 

There is so much to be learned about optical communications. My "thing" was detecting weak signals over the horizon using PC software. What amazed me was there was no sign of the light in the sky, yet the signals were perfectly detectable on the PC as long as the RX was aimed in the right direction. I am sure much further would have been possible.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/optical

Sunspots - Wednesday October 7th 2020

 Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 0. A=7 and K=1.

Salcombe, Devon - NOT amateur radio

This aerial photo of where I come from in South Devon must be very old. Not sure when it was taken. 

8m band in the USA?

The FCC has received a "Petition for Rulemaking" making the case for an 8m amateur allocation. This is just a first step in what could be a long process. 

Midway between 10m and 6m this could be a really interesting allocation for serious experimenters especially with Es and MS. This was first made in June last year. I have no idea what happened. Even a few kHz and a limited power or ERP limit would be useful. If the FCC is as dynamic as OFCOM I expect the children will not understand how useful to radio science this could be.

Personally I would say 10kHz wide, narrow modes only (CW, digital) , secondary allocation, non-interference, 1W ERP to start with. Wouldn't this be a great FT8 or WSPR (or its replacement) allocation?

See the ARRL website for further details.

OFCOM Communications Monthly update

Every month OFCOM updates its Communications Monthly with the latest data it holds. See the OFCOM website for more details.

Walk collage - NOT amateur radio

This collage sums up our walk around the village earlier. We missed the rain. Most trees are still green.