70cm UKAC

This evening was the May leg of the 70cm activity contest organised by the RSGB. With my QRP and poor voice, 4 QSOs were had using the 2m big-wheel omni. I only stayed on for 37 minutes.

OFCOM Communications Monthly - May

As usual, OFCOM has updated its "Communications Monthly" with the latest statistics it holds. See the OFCOM website for details.

15m FT8

It is now 0750z. At the moment, I am on 15m FT8 RX using the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop. 

Yesterday, on 10m FT8 I did not have both pre-amps on. This may have reduced sensitivity and may have resulted in fewer 10m FT8 spots being obtained.

UPDATE 0717z:   No 15m spots yet.

UPDATE 1247z: 17 15m FT8 stations spotted on RX. I am back on the FT817 at the moment. I am suffering horrendous local noise for the first time too. The USB lead from the PC to the IC-705 was introducing noise, although I think it was the external noise that was the real culprit. NN4X (7001km) is the furthermost.

UPDATE 1438z: 30 stations in 4 continents spotted today on 15m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop.

UPDATE 1735z: 47 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX. 

160m FT8 last evening

 

Yesterday evening (not overnight) I went on 160m FT8 with QRP using the IC-705 and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Although no QSOs, I was widely spotted across Europe (see map).

Tame pheasant - NOT amateur radio

My brother lives in the country and has tame pheasants eating out of his hands. He was surprised to see this visitor in his kitchen yesterday! 

Obviously not feeding it enough. 

Sunspots - Tuesday May 11th 2021

 Solar flux is 77 and the SSN 36. A=6 and K=2.

Californian lilac - NOT amateur radio

This comes into flower about now and looks great against the sky. 

Changing times

When I was in my 20s I wanted an Eddystone EC10 receiver. In the end I got one via a friend whose dad worked there. 

Mechanically, they were lovely with a great case and a dial with silky smooth tuning. 

Electrically, they were dreadful. As I recall, the whole 10m band occupied about 1.5cm of dial. With a low IF the image rejection on 10m was appalling. It used OC171 germanium transistors. 

By comparison with modern receivers it was bad, really bad. It is some time since I looked, but at one time the second hand price was about twice the retail price when they were first launched, which was £48. I have no idea why I wanted one looking back.

There is a page about these receivers on my website. See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ec10 .  Please be aware this will change when the "new" site is released. If in doubt use www.g3xbm.co.uk as this will always point to the right pages.

The photo shows the Mk II version with an S meter. I had the Mk I version.

UPDATE 0845z:  A quick look on eBay showed a Mk II at £78. No doubt the transistors would have become leaky and in need of replacement, unless this has been done. I suspect most are bought as collectors items these days.

Odds and bobs shop - NOT amateur radio

We have a shop in the village called "Tina's" that seems to sell everything. It also does dry cleaning. 

They always manage to have an interesting window display as the photo shows. 

10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna

Since before breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop on the shack windowsill. It is now 0815z. No spots yet.

UPDATE 1540z:  No spots so far today. On the local WSJT-X screen there are a few stations showing, but these were not loaded to PSKreporter maps. This could be problem at their end or the internet was off here. I have restarted WSJT-X "just in case".

UPDATE 1630z: 2 stations spotted. I am suspicious that when I restarted WSJT-X I started to see my spots on PSKreporter. G0LRD has had 155 spots today on his dipole. Even assuming my loop is several dB poorer than David's dipole, I would still have expected better here.

UPDATE 1655z: Now 9 stations spotted, most in the last hour. Odd. Must try to get my dipole up this week!