17m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

At the moment I am on 17m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop antenna.  At 0725z, no spots on RX or TX. It is very early.

UPDATE 0805z:  No spots.

UPDATE 1122z: 42 stations spotted on RX.  I may try TX again later.

Modified
loop

Stations spotted on
17m FT8 RX

UPDATE 1415z:  Replaced the wire used on the loop with copper central heating pipe (see photo). Q is higher suggesting better efficiency. Hope the higher RF voltage will be OK.  Since making the change one Italian has spotted my QRP TX. 100 stations spotted on 17m FT8 RX today. Mostly on RX currently. See map of stations spotted on RX.

HF beacons

Thanks to the blog at EI7GL, this is a list of HF amateur beacons which is regularly updated. 

See http://dl8wx.de/BAKE_KW.HTM .

Sunspots - Sunday April 11th 2021

 Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0.  A=4 and K=2.

160m FT8 QRP (Saturday)

At 1942z, I turned on 160m FT8 using 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Immediately, 13 stations across Europe were spotted on RX and my own QRP was spotted by 10 stations on TX.  All this within about 5 minutes! By contrast, I was on 10m FT8 all day without spotting anyone. 

UPDATE 1951z:  Amazing! 22 stations spotted on RX and 12 stations have spotted my QRP on TX.

UPDATE 2041z:  66 stations spotted on RX and 18 stations have spotted my 160m FT8 QRP on TX.

Pheasant breakfast - NOT amateur radio

My brother has tame pheasants in his garden in Devon as the photo shows. 

Here they are eating breakfast. They eat from his hand.

EI7GL on 10m

At the moment, 10m has not "got going" . The Es season has not properly started and the F2 openings are few. 

Better equipped stations are copying more than me. John in Eire is certainly doing a bit better than me! I am not sure what gear and antenna he uses. It certainly must be better than my indoor loop made with thin wire, HI.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/ .

Sixbox - simple 6m AM rig

It was way back in 2009 that I designed and built the Sixbox rig. Unlike the Fredbox for 2m, the Sixbox did not use a PCB. 

It is not suitable for DX, but could be useful for local natters.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/sixbox .

Cambridge quiet - NOT amateur radio

Don't think this has been on before (as I post on 365project and FaceBook too), but make no apologies if it has. 

Cambridge is usually busy with overseas visitors, but these are absent this year. Hopefully they will be back in 2022. 

The compensation is we have all these sights to enjoy!

10m FT8 RX

As yesterday (ever hopeful!), I am on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop on the windowsill. Yesterday I only copied 2 Gs on 10m. Maybe today will be better? 

On 10m, I get RF feedback on the indoor loop even when on QRP TX. I have tried ferrite beads, but without success, so RX only at the moment. This is with the FT817ND. It works fine on 20m, 17m and 15m TX.

UPDATE 1701z:  No spots. So far today quite dreadful on 10m FT8 RX here. 

UPDATE 1925z:  No Spots!! Even worse than yesterday.

Huge flint - NOT amateur radio

This huge piece of flint was seen on a walk recently. It was probably about 30cm long.