IC-705 software bug?

Until this evening my IC-705 has been superb. It has firmware 1.12 and needs upgrading to the latest version. 

This evening it went on DV and seemed to freeze. I have no idea what I did. I recently bought a copy of the "Radio Today Guide to the IC-705" which went through how to do a reset if the rig "froze". In the end I did a full hardware reset which seems to have done the trick. Luckily, nothing of mine was yet stored in memories.

I have ordered a micro SD card and hope to upgrade the firmware as soon as I can. I hope this fixes the software bug. I think the latest firmware also adds some new features too.

As a professional RF engineer, I was used to software bugs especially with early releases. Often later releases fixed these. Often bug cures were hidden alongside new features. Most punters did not realise that these releases were primarily to fix the bugs!

Granddaughter, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows one of our granddaughters yesterday in Cambridge. I think that swan looks puzzled!

10m FT8 RX with the improved indoor loop

At about 0800z, I went on 10m FT8 RX with the indoor loop antenna. Unsurprisingly, no spots at 0810z.

70cm activity contest (April)

Last evening, I went on the 70cm UKAC activity contest organised by the RSGB. I was on for 1 hour with 10W and the 144MHz big-wheel omni. It is great fun, but more than an hour is impossible with my voice.

Sunspots - Wednesday April 14th 2021

 Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 16. A=5 and K=1.

Anglesey Abbey walk - NOT amateur radio

We are lucky to live just a few miles away from Anglesey Abbey, which is a great place for a walk. We went there after lunch with one of our grandchildren. 

Even though it was meant to be cold we actually felt quite warm. It was very sunny with clear blues sky.

Pedestrian portable?

With the better weather and the easing of UK lockdowns, you may want to think about pedestrian portable operations once again. 

Especially in the Es season, lots of Europe may be worked from the UK with just a whip, a counterpoise and low power on the higher HF bands and 6m SSB. 

One advantage of pedestrian portable operation is the angle of the antenna may be easily adjusted to get the strongest signal.

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

Bishop's Palace, Ely - NOT amateur radio

Right next to Ely Cathedral is the Bishop's Palace, used as such until the early 1940s. For a while it was a hospital (my dad who was a Pathfinder in Lancasters had his appendix removed here as a precaution). Later it was a Sue Ryder home. Now it is the 6th form centre for the King's School, Ely. It was built in the 1400s.

40m FT8 RX overnight with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Overnight I was on 40m FT8 RX. So far, 942 stations have been spotted in 5 continents. It is now 0700z. 

UPDATE 1154z: 1060 stations spotted on 40m FT8 RX. At one point last evening I counted 42 stations in 2.7kHz!!

UPDATE 1435z: 1107 stations spotted so far in the last 24 hours on 40m FT8 RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

UPDATE 1848z: 1346 stations spotted on 40m FT8 RX in the last day with an antenna that nobody realises is even there!

N. Devon cottage - NOT amateur radio

This delightful cottage is where we stayed in N. Devon some years ago.