Luckily I was able to go on for the last 28 minutes working the stations shown on the map with 10W and the big-wheel omni antenna.
8 Oct 2020
2m activity contest - nearly forgot!
7 Oct 2020
Covid-19 vaccines - NOT amateur radio
There is a worldwide race on to find vaccines that overcome Covid-19. In most countries of the world this disease is causing widespread issues and an effective and safe vaccine is urgently needed. Most expect a vaccine to be widely available my mid 2021. It is possible there may be limited vaccine availability late this year.
USA presidents - NOT amateur radio
Although I have no intention of getting involved with the USA presidential election in a few weeks time, I feel obliged to point out a couple of things. In the last few years I have spoken with many people about US politics. The following observations have been made:
- How come the best you can find is old men to lead you? Trump is 74 and Biden 77 I believe. Is there no-one younger who can do the job?
- Everyone, and I mean everyone, I have spoken with thinks Trump is thick and cannot understand how he was chosen as the US president. In the rest of the world he is the butt of many jokes.
Ducks - NOT amateur radio
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 |
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.
Light wave communication
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.
6 Oct 2020
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.
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