Next autumn

This autumn has been strange. With luck we should see a Covid-19 vaccine widely available and the health implications of our pandemic crisis should be largely behind us. It will take years for the economies of the world to re-adjust, but they will.

On the amateur radio front, we should be climbing up sunspot cycle 25 and North Americans should be reliably coming through on 10m. In the last peak there were VE and W stations on 10m AM coming though just above 29MHz. I even copied some well on a super-regen RX mobile! If the solar predictions are to be believed, the next solar cycle will be much like the last. Compared with the 1950s, this was a poor affair, but 10m was once again a good DX band.

Dr John Campbell - NOT amateur radio

This has been a strange year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. For open, clear and good summaries of the pandemic I turn to the videos produced by Dr John Campbell. These were recommended to me by a doctor many months ago.

 

Halloween 2020 - NOT amateur radio

This year is strange in so many ways. Children are being encouraged not to go "trick or treating" this year and instead enjoy Halloween at home. The collage shows some of the pumpkins seen on our walk earlier. 

10m FT8 QRP

At about 0830z my 10m FT8 was turned on. As usual I am running 2.5W to the indoor loop antenna. 

UPDATE 1121z: 2 spots of me on TX with the best -7dB S/N by SV1AVD (2410km). With this tiny poorer loop (see photo), I find this incredible.  22 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost being UA4IU (3290km).

UPDATE 1310z: 11 stations have spotted me and 59 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1415z: 12 stations have now spotted my 2.5W 10m FT8 from the indoor loop antenna.

Sunspots - Saturday October 31st 2020

 Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 32.  A=5 and K=1.

New Yaesu radio

Steve G1KQH has informed me about a new Yaesu radio that will be sold by Martin Lynch. At the moment they will be taking deposits. It is called the FTDX10 and will be an SDR transceiver covering HF, 6m and 4m with 100W. Check the Martin Lynch website for more details.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/amateur-radio-base-station-radio-yaesu-base-station-radio/yaesu/ftdx10-compact-hf-50mhz-100w-sdr-transceiver-deposit-free-delivery-pd-12059.php

It will also available from Wimo in Germany at 1798 euros.

See https://www.wimo.com/de/ft-dx10

Fantasy land? - NOT amateur radio

Don't ask me why, but I keep a watch on the currency markets on the BBC website. At the moment, the UK pound is maintaining its value against the US dollar, the euro and the Japanese yen. Some would argue the currency market is just another form of gambling, bearing little resemblance to the real world. This is probably true.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cx250jmk4e7t/pound-sterling-gbp

10m FT8

Since just before 1500z this afternoon, I QSYed to 10m FT8 using the poorer indoor loop and 2.5W.  Every time I have tried 10m FT8 recently there have been South Americans spotted.  Today was no exception.  I am not sure if this is just F layer all the way or TEP linking with E layer further north. Interestingly, I was spotting EA1 (Northern Spain) at the same time. On TX briefly no spots of me.

Stations spotted today
on 10m FT8 RX

UPDATE 1928z:  73 stations spotted in 3 continents on 10m FT8 RX today so far including 5 in South America. I was going to QSY to 2m, but left 10m FT8 RX running as it was still open. Most stations were in Spain and Portugal.

With the Koniks - NOT amateur radio

Earlier this week we went to a nearby nature reserve with some of our grandchildren. It was very muddy. They keep Konik ponies to help keep the grass under control naturally.

EIRP calculations coming?

Steve G1KQH has told me of a link that I was not aware about. According to a video on the Essex Ham website OFCOM has held consultations which could mean in future radio amateurs may have to know their EIRP either by calculating or measuring it. 

As a dedicated QRP man this does not bother me, but if OFCOM ever investigated an interference complaint they could ask for a risk assessment. Imagine if you ran full legal power and a big HF beam.

See https://youtu.be/Zm0sUhkk6VY .