Crystal set DXing

Many years ago I tried this. Most reception was of HF broadcast stations, but, surprisingly, some amateur stations too. I am sure, with some serious designs, plenty could be copied from VLF to VHF with a crystal set. 

As signals have to be very strong, low level interference is unlikely to be a limitation. It was all fun and a different sort of challenge.

Remember, all the power comes from the broadcaster, unless you find a way of harvesting power from other broadcasters. Certainly, nothing comes from the receiving end!

These days there are far fewer English language broadcast stations on HF.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/crystal-set-dxing .

Garden Centre - NOT amateur radio

Like many places, the garden centre in the next village had to adapt to be Covid-19 safe. 

We went recently for some bedding plants. 

As you can see, it was not crowded.

Google sites webspace limits?

Last week I redirected my www.g3xbm.co.uk domain to my new Google Sites web pages. Maybe I am being dense, but I could not find out what limits apply to webspace. If it is there, it was not obvious to me. If you know, please let me know.

Hypocrisy - NOT amateur radio

From the outset may I say that we all are less than perfect and we all have things about ourselves we are not proud of and that we would rather not tell people about. We are human.

What really annoys me though are people who publicly pretend to be honest and upright folk, who clearly are not.

In the UK we have had the BBC and the BBC person who lied and covered up the devious means to get an interview with Princess Diana in 1995. 

We also had the case of the sub-postmasters accused of fraud when the fault was with the software. Some even went to prison or lost homes - basically lives ruined. All the while those in charge were in denial. One is even an ordained minister!! Gross hypocrisy!

In my view those involved in both these scandals should face custodial sentences and be made to pay for their gross misdemeanours. This includes those who did the deeds and those who covered them up knowingly.

Both the BBC and the UK Post Office must uphold the law at all times and be above reproach. We deserve nothing less.

10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R and the tiny indoor loop

At about 0900z I turned on the 10m FT8 RX. No spots yet. The 10FT8R is a 4 transistor direct conversion RX for 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1220z:  So far today, 23 stations spotted on RX, mostly in Spain with 1 in Slovakia and 1 in the UK. 

UPDATE 1435z:  36 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. Best DX is EA9ABC (1873km) in Ceuta, N, Africa.

UPDATE 1945z:  QRT. In total today 4 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R and the tiny indoor loop.

That hair didn't last long! - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows me when I was very young. Much of my hair had gone by my early 20s.

Sunspots - Saturday May 22nd 2021

 Solar flux is 74 and the SSN 13. A=7 and K=1.

Dayton, Ohio, USA Hamvention

The Dayton Hamvention is usually one of the biggest amateur events on the planet. People usually travel there from all over the world. This year, like last, it is a virtual event sadly. These days will end.

Often, the big manufacturers announce new products here. It is an important date in the diary. If you want to attend virtually, there is a link below.

See https://hamvention.org .

They are already selling tickets for 2022, which hopefully will not be virtual.

Royalty, the BBC and their "religious" correspondent - NOT amateur radio

In the last few days the BBC has come under a lot of criticism for the underhand methods used to get the 1995 interview with Princess Diana. My understanding is they forged bank statements to show that people in whom she trusted were spying on her. I may have my facts slightly wrong, so please check the sources yourselves. What is not at doubt is that Diana was deceived to get the interview and some at the BBC apparently knew about this.

In my view the UK royalty will be history within 50 years unless great changes are made. I think the UK queen has done a pretty good job in difficult circumstances. The whole royal family could have done an even better job if it "came of age".

Many royal couples have divorced and some of the royal traditions are plain wrong. I am not a great royalist, but fear the person we could choose as a president if we ever became a republic.  Can you think of anyone?

My vote is for a continued royal family, but with great changes. Hangers on would have to earn a living, and many of the privileges would go. Many look up to the royal family as pillars of society. It is a delicate balance between "otherness" and us. 

Microwaves

This is one area of our hobby I have not done much with. 

I once borrowed a 23cm RX converter and did some tests one night with a homemade 4 el yagi in the room. I also, many years ago, made a 10GHz Gunn oscillator. I had the wrong sort of waveguide and, apart from some very short range tests, did not take it further. These days you can buy some very low cost wideband FM modules that all but eliminate the hard microwave bits. See https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aihasd-Wireless-Microwave-microwave-detector/dp/B00VVDFOHO/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3AXH2GP3143S0&dchild=1&keywords=hb100&qid=1621586561&sprefix=hb100%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-8

One of the things that put me off was the test gear.  I know some have fabricated homebrew measuring gear, but I found optical gear much easier to design, build and test.

The above link allows you to buy the HB100 units from Amazon within days for under £5 each. I am sure you will be able to get them cheaper.

Maybe I should have a go at 10GHz wideband FM?

UPDATE 0852z: A very quick look on eBay found these HB100 units on sale for £1.72 each with quite modest postal charges. See https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143788841984?hash=item217a7b9c00:g:VPEAAOSwY31a1FE~. If you buy more than 1 they are even cheaper!

UPDATE 1214z:   I have created a 10GHz webpage. See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/10ghz .