History

I have been involved in amateur radio for over 50 years and in that time quite a few things have changed. On my main website there is a potted history of G3XBM in amateur radio.

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

15m FT8

It is now 0916z and I have been on 15m FT8 for about an hour with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop antenna on the shack windowsill.  So far, just 1 station spotted on RX and no-one has spotted me.

UPDATE 0950z:  12 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX and nobody has spotted me yet.

UPDATE 1040z: 1 station in Germany near the Danish border DJ3LE (666km) has spotted my QRP and I have spotted 21 stations so far today on 15m FT8.

UPDATE 1235z:  3 stations have spotted me so far today.

UPDATE 1340z:   So far today, 81 stations spotted on RX and 4 stations have spotted me with the furthermost being UA3D (2519km). With QRP and the tiny tiny loop indoors I am amazed that anyone spots me!

UPDATE 1512z:  4 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 107 stations today on 15m FT8  RX.

Connectedness - NOT amateur radio

Ever wondered if you are related to royalty? Well, certainly in Europe, you probably are. 

I can trace my father's line back to the 1500s. Everybody has 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents and so on. Going back to the 1500s that means I needed over 8000 people to marry and have children. Going back just 10 more generations, way after Magna Carta, and I have over 16M ancestors, which is far greater than the whole UK population at that time! 

Now I am sure some of my ancestors married distant relatives, so the number will be a bit less, but you get my point: if you go back far enough we are connected. If we go back to the time the Romans came to England certainly one of those is in my family tree.

This is humbling. Just think, we are only here now because those people had children. If just one had not, we would not be here now.

Sunspots - Monday November 9th 2020

Solar flux is 90 and the SSN 40. A=5 and K=0.  

Humming again! Not sure what the latest forecasts for cycle 25 are, but we are off to a promising start.

Remembrance Sunday - NOT amateur radio

Like many, we went out on our doorstep this year at 11am on Remembrance Sunday. We stood in silence for 2 minutes.

All those that fought in those dreadful WW1 trenches are now dust. How futile this slaughter was. 

One of my wife's relatives (see photo) fought and survived WW1, although the experiences haunted him all his life.

2m FT8

Since 1900z I have been on 2m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. So far just 2 stations have spotted me with furthermost PA2M (311km). On RX nothing yet spotted.

UPDATE 2034z:  Just 1 station spotted on RX this evening F4HRD (182km), whereas 10 stations have spotted me with the furthermost being G7RAU (461km) in Cornwall many times.

Time and memories - illusions? - NOT amateur radio

In the last century, our views of physics were radically changed by Einstein and then quantum physics. Things we had believed in for centuries required new ways of thinking. One wonders what our world view will be like in the next century. You can almost hear them saying,"did they really believe that?".

I wonder about time and memory. In our minds we wake up each day with our understanding of the passage of time and the assumption that our (fading) memories are as old as us. It is entirely possible that this is an illusion and each day is unique and the memories we think we have are illusions too. I have already discussed the mystery of human consciousness.

No, in 100 years' time our whole world view could be totally different.

15m FT8

At about 1515z, I switched to 15m FT8 using 2.5W and the poorer indoor loop. Several USA stations already spotted, although they did not appear on PSKreporter for some reason.

UPDATE 1548z: 1 station has spotted me and I have spotted 4 so far with the furthermost being KB8BIP (6266km) in West Virginia.

WSJT-X bug?

Several times I have noticed a bug with WSJT-X with FT8. 

When I use my Windows 10 machine, it seems not to recognise my SignaLink USB interface until a few minutes after I have switched on. After a while it recognises it and starts to decode OK. Before then, signals on the waterfall look smeared and there are no decodes.  

At first I thought it was RF feedback, but it seems to be any band and any antenna. I have still to try the new release candidate version 2.3  to see if this has been corrected.

East Cambs net

Not all locals are interested or can make it. 8pm Mondays 144.575 vertical FM - East Cambs net.