Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks I try to give my impression of activity on the narrow-band transponder of this geosynchronous satellite.  I do this by looking at the web SDR at Goonhilly in Cornwall. This is very unscientific.

My impression is activity levels are slightly up. I looked at mid-afternoon in Europe on a weekday. There are more people at home at the moment because of various lockdowns due to Covid-19.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/.

Primroses - NOT amateur radio

Over winter we always plant primroses for colour in an otherwise dull time of the year before the daffodils appear to brighten things up. In the spring these are replaced by summer annuals. 

We bought these from our village nursery. They were healthy plants and we will definitely use them again.

Normal times - NOT amateur radio

In normal times Cambridge has lots of bikes. Of course we are not in normal times. 

15m FT8 QRP (Wednesday)

It is now 0822z. A few moments ago my 15m FT8 QRP was turned on with 2.5W to the tiny indoor loop. So far, 11 stations spotted on RX and nobody has spotted me on TX.

UPDATE 1048z:  8 stations have so far spotted my QRP on TX and 126 stations have been spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1458z:  188 stations spotted so far on 15m FT8 RX and 9 stations spotted me so far on TX. 2 QSOs. The map shows the stations spotted here so far on the loop: I am impressed that something so small works so well.

Elecraft virtual K4

 The latest Elecraft newsletter has details of the virtual K4 to allow remote control of the K4 e. g. over the Internet. See the Elecraft website. 

Sunspots - Wednesday January 27th 2021

Solar flux is 76 and the SSN 23.  A=12 and K=3.

2m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

A few moments ago, I QSYed to 2m FT8 QRP using 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna.

UPDATE 1900z: Just a single spot of my QRP so far, from DF0MU (475km).  Nothing yet on RX.

15m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

This morning I am on 15m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop on the shack windowsill. Already spotted by SV8JNL (2485km) on TX and 19 stations already spotted on 15m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1425z:  230 stations spotted so far on 15m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop and 4 people have so far spotted my QRP TX. The furthermost on RX is LU1FJP (11306km) in Argentina. On TX QRP the furthermost is RK4FF (2964km).

Stations spotted
on 15m FT8 today

UPDATE 1655z:  370 stations spotted so far on 15m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 1845z:  405 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX today. Soon to QSY to 2m FT8.

Mill Leat - NOT amateur radio

This photo was on a few days ago as part of a collage. It was taken at nearby Anglesey Abbey. 

Yaesu FT7 transceiver

My first commercial HF rig was a 10W Yaesu FT7. It was used mainly on 10m SSB and enabled me to work all over the world with simple, low, wire dipoles. 

It was later sold to a friend, who still has it. 

It only covered part of 10m, used no synthesisers and had a modular design. It was very quiet on RX and was one of the best rigs I have ever owned.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft7 .

The video shows the FT7B which is the 50W version.