Cape Verde (D4) on 4m?

EI7GL reports  on his blog that the team in Cape Verde intend to try 4m operation in the coming Es season. There is some doubt that they will reach much of Europe as this may depend on multiple hop Es. At this lowish VHF frequency marine tropo ducts may be harder.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/01/d4vhf-on-cape-verde-plans-to-be-on-70.html

2m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

At about 0950z, my 2m FT8 gear was turned on. Running , as usual, 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. It is now 0956z and I have been spotted by 6 stations already.

UPDATE 1000z: Already a spot of my QRP 2m FT8 by EI2FG (565km).

UPDATE 1445z: 17 stations have, so far, spotted my 2.5W 2m FT8 QRP on TX. These include spots in Eire, N.Ireland and Germany. Considering no beams here, quite credible, although this seems possible with 2m FT8 QRP at almost any time. As the times seem so frequent and random, I am not convinced this is aircraft reflection. I am still wondering if FT8 allows some other sort of scattering to be possible with QRP?

UPDATE 1844z: 23 stations have spotted my 2m FT8 QRP today (see map). On SSB these sort of distances would only be possible with lots of power and a big yagi high up. And remember, I see this every day with just 2.5W and a big-wheel omni.

No Comment - NOT amateur radio

This photo arrived earlier. No comment.  I have no idea where it came from.

In the USA many voted for him. Outside the USA I have yet to speak with anyone (not one) who has a good word for him. In 4 whole years I have spoken with, or met, many people. The number must be in the hundreds now. 

Odd, he must have done something right domestically, yet abroad he is the butt of jokes.

Sunspots - Sunday January 24th 2021

 Solar flux is 78 and the SSN 34. A=4 and K=2.

Network radios

A few years ago, I bought a network radio. This looks like a 2m handheld but uses the internet to connect to distant stations using systems like Echolink. It works over WiFi or mobile phone networks. 

Since I bought it, I hardly use it. For me, network radios are just not satisfying. It has a PTT and is very similar to a VHF or UHF handheld. One of the fun things is working stations via distant repeaters e.g. in the USA or Australia.

Personally, I prefer "real" radio, although for some these are a good substitute.

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

Salcombe Devon - NOT amateur radio

As a child, I was brought up in Salcombe, Devon. The video below was filmed in summer 2020. It is a virtual tour in 4K (ultra high definition) through the town. Not much social distancing evident!

2020 was one of the rare years when I did not go back to my roots. Hopefully in 2021 at a time when it is less busy I shall get back there.

IC-705 UK dealer prices

In Europe, with a free 3 year warranty and VAT the ICOM IC-705 sells for 1317.6 Euros. In the UK the list price is £1299.95 (with VAT) with the 5 year warranty on top as an extra.  Just saying....

Even with any carriage and import duties, why the difference?

Clearly, there is comfort from buying from a UK dealer who speaks English, but.....???

See https://www.xbstelecom.eu/shop/en/non-aff-icom/2004-icom-ic-705-hf50144430mhz-5w-10w.html?search_query=ic-705&results=30

2m FT8 QRP (Saturday)

In a short while I hope to go on 2m FT8 with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni. Yesterday I had 1 QSO, but was widely spotted despite my low ERP signal. 

Although the conventional wisdom is this is due to aircraft reflection, I am still puzzled: these DX spots seem to occur at almost any time, so I am wondering if FT8 is allowing QRP stations to access some scatter modes that would not be possible with CW or SSB at these ERPs?

I expect my 2m FT8 reports are a mix of tropo, aircraft and other scatter, possibly with some random MS. Not quite sure how long an MS burst has to get a successful FT8 decode. I suspect far less than the 15 seconds a TX FT8 burst lasts.

My ERP is probably less than 5W.  The big-wheel has a little horizontal gain, but the coax has some loss.

UPDATE 1034z:  My 2m FT8 QRP was turned on at 0955z. So far, 10 spots of my QRP TX including (again) EI2FG (565km) and 5 spots on RX.

UPDATE 1105z: 13 stations have so far spotted my QRP 2m FT8 TX.

UPDATE 1508z:  16 spots of my 2m FT8 QRP TX today including EI and GI as the map shows.

UPDATE 1931z: 18 stations have spotted my 2m FT8 QRP TX today.

Cambridge 2012 - NOT amateur radio

This photo from 2012 shows my wife and grandson near the Bridge of Sighs in St John's College. 

Normally the colleges are very busy with visitors from overseas, especially the Far East. Not in the last 12 months!

CDARC AGM via Zoom

Last night, the Cambridge radio club (CDARC) held it AGM via Zoom. With 25 "attendees", it was very successful. Next year, assuming the Covid-19 pandemic has ended, I expect we will meet in person again. Once again this proves to me that we can always find a way.

The Cambridge club has held lots of talks using Zoom, and they have all be great.