Growing fast - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our grandchildren growing fast. 

Sunspots - Saturday June 5th 2021

Solar flux is 77 and the SSN 30. A=40 and K=0.

Website issues?

 Although I have tried successfully with Chrome and Windows 10, I have had a report that the drop-down menus cannot be seen. In the past I have had some issues where I can see things OK but others cannot.

On the www.g3xbm.co.uk new webpages (please make sure your browser cache is empty so you see the new pages) can you see the drop-down menus OK? If not, please  tell me.

24GHz wideband FM

Quite a few people have got active on 10GHz WBFM using very low cost HB100 Doppler radar modules. 

I see that similar units are available for 24GHz. although I am not sure if these are suitable for WBFM or how they can be moved in frequency, if necessary.  

They are available from Amazon, but suspect they would be  even lower cost on eBay.

See https://www.amazon.co.uk/CDM324-Induction-Channel-Microwave-Intelligent/dp/B07G152FDC/ref=psdc_1338197031_t3_B075QCPNBP .

E layer openings

We are familiar with the spring and summer Es (sporadic E) openings, especially on bands like 10m and 6m. These are usually about 1500km. Occasionally multi-hop openings occur. Some of the long distance contacts may be multi-hop. 

However, I have long suspected that some very long paths are due to some other form of E layer propagation. Every June 6m opens up to Japan, which is a very long way. This regular propagation seems to be linked with mesospheric clouds that seem to form at this time of year. 

EI7GL reports on his blog that there have been at least 2 openings from Australia to Europe on 6m this spring. The probability of this being multi-hop Es seems extremely low. My theory (totally unproved) is this is due to some sort of chordal hop E layer propagation. This could also account for some of the transatlantic openings.

We have a lot to learn about E layer propagation. This is one reason 6m is called the "magic band".

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/50-mhz.html .

Walk horse

 

We saw this horse on our walk yesterday in the village of Reach.

Latest modern gear

 

This photo appeared as a Facebook memory today. Who needs all this new fangled gear anyway? Memories? Synthesizers?

This morning's walk - NOT amateur radio

This morning we went for a walk early. It was just under 3 miles. We call it the "Muntjac Walk" as we often see these on this walk. 

We needn't go far as one has already decided some of our garden flowers make a good snack! I have no idea how they get in.

The flowers in the photo were seen on the walk. By the way it is now raining, so we chose the best time.

10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R and tiny loop

So far today (1105z), 159 stations have already been spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the 4 transistor RX and tiny (50cm) indoor loop antenna. The setup is shown in the photo. The little 10FT8R RX is on the left of the photo.

UPDATE 1454z:  188 stations spotted so far today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1710z: 245 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 1922z: 278 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today. Best DX was UA6YW (3076km). No doubt I would copy far more with a decent outside antenna, but I am not complaining!

sBITX update?

Some months ago I blogged that the Indian designer was working on an SDR version of the uBITX. Since then I have heard nothing further and was wondering if there is an more news? 

The uBITX is an interesting design and an SDR version could well be lower cost than the uBITX which is only $209 for the complete kit. 

As there is hardly any wiring to do, this is probably one of the lowest cost and easiest ways to access the HF bands. Using an Si5351 synthesiser means it will be very stable on all HF bands. An SDR approach might be even better.