Brain fog - NOT amateur radio

In the last year we have heard a lot about "Long Covid" and brain fog.

I have a lot of sympathy for sufferers as I have had brain fog for 7.5 years following my stroke. Every day, along with the near constant tiredness and giddiness, I have brain fog. 

It is like doing things in a near constant state of exhaustion and drunkenness. Things mental and physical that would have been easy years ago are now hard. Doing any amateur radio design and building is now incredibly taxing.

My best description is like being drunk all the time: it is hard to do even the simplest task. With willpower jobs gets done, eventually. As an example, I am trying to find an intermittent fault on my son's electric lawnmower. I have had this all winter, but have not felt the energy to undo the screws and take a look.

I have great sympathy for anyone with a hidden disability. Outwardly we look fine to the world whereas inwardly it is a totally different story: we do all in our power to seem fine, but we struggle.

We do not like to moan, but it is very hard when others think you are fine.

Cowfield NOT amateur radio

This meadow is owned by the village. Years ago there were cows in here that we heard every summer morning. This an ancient meadow with Roman remains (there was a Roman villa here) and the remains of a castle going back to King Stephen nearly 1000 years ago.

Sunspots - Friday March 5th 2021

Solar flux is 81 and the SSN 32. A=11 and K=2.

2m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

At about 2030z I went on 2m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. At 2037z I had been spotted by 9 stations already.

Elecraft K1

Many years ago I had an Elecraft K1 4 band CW transceiver. This was about 5W output. It was sold some time ago.  In its day, it was quite a good rig, but I think Elecraft has stopped doing them. Although simple, FT8 now does a better job for me.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/k1. As this page is very old, I cannot guarantee links work still.

Village walk - NOT amateur radio

We have just returned after a village walk. The BBC weather app said 1% chance of rain, so of course it rained! 

The photo shows our churchyard coming to life with daffodils and birds busy. Spring has sprung.

Low cost crystals

Steve G1KQH recently pointed me to a supplier of crystals in the USA which should be suitable for my latest FT8 RX project. 

I ordered some last night. At $1.50 each they are excellent value and they have already been dispatched. As international shipping costs were high I ordered 4 of them.  It is not clear how these will come, but it gives me plenty of time for building if these come by sea.

Even with shipping they are good value. I hope I don't get stung for duty and VAT.

See https://kc9on.com/product/14mhz-hc49u-tall-crystals/ .

17m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

This morning I am on 17m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop antenna. 

8 stations spotted so far on RX, but nobody has yet spotted my QRP TX.  It is now 1005z and I have been active for about 15 minutes.

UPDATE 1244z:  38 stations spotted on RX and 1 spot of my QRP TX - SV3AQT (2284km).

UPDATE 2026z: 92 stations spotted on RX. 5 stations have spotted my QRP today on TX.

Look what I found! - 136kHz beacon

 

This morning I was looking for the original WISPY receiver. I opened the case and found this! It is the 136kHz beacon I used about 8 years ago. 

I thought it was in the loft. This was a chance find and it has never been used at this QTH. 

At some point I must try it with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

This afternoon I connected it to my earth-electrode antenna and listened on the FT817ND. It still works! 

Local walk - NOT amateur radio

One of our favourite walks is around the village of Dalham near Newmarket. This is the view of the church.