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. 

Walk - NOT amateur radio

In recent days we have got out of the habit of doing a walk. Today we did one and saw this fungus. It must be all the rain! 

481THz experiments

Many years ago before my 2013 stroke I bought some Flatlights (very bright LEDs) from the USA to enable me to get further with my optical experiments over the horizon. Even with quite low power LEDs I had got way over the horizon. 

Both my RX and optics could have been improved, so I was expecting much greater ranges. Then I had my stroke and I was unable to continue. To this day the Flatlights remain in the drawer unused.