Sunspots - Saturday July 17th 2021

Solar flux is 75 and the SSN 35. A=4 and K=1.

IC-705 firmware upgrade

ICOM has announced that the firmware for the IC-705 has been upgraded to v1.26.

See https://www.icomjapan.com/support/firmware_driver/3343/

Yaesu cashback

The latest MLS "Something for the weekend" video has news of the Yaesu cashback offers. They have some great deals and a free PSU on some models.

10GHz homebrew

Confession time: I have done very little on microwaves.  My excuse is that, in such a diverse hobby, one cannot do everything. 

Instead, I did some work at 481THz optical with results far exceeding expectations. Test gear was easy to make as was all the actual operating kit.

Many have accessed microwaves with very low cost modules obtainable online. With many of these, the microwave engineering is minimal or non-existent. Many have experimented with ATV at 5.6GHz and 10GHz this way. Several have made wideband FM transceivers at 10GHz this way.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/10ghz .

OFCOM annual 2.1GHz licences

OFCOM has made proposals for annual licences for 2.1GHz spectrum. See the OFCOM website for details.

Summer of love 1968 - NOT amateur radio

As this month we celebrate 50 years of marriage, I thought I'd share this photo of my wife in 1968. 

This photo was taken in Liverpool when I was at university. I think it is on the steps of the Anglican Cathedral.

End of the Es season?

Yesterday, I spotted far fewer stations across Europe on 6m FT8 RX and I had fewer stations spotting me on 10m WSPR TX. Now, this may just be a blip and there might be Es openings for some while to come. I have had 6m QRP SSB QSOs with Sweden in September.  Es openings can happen at any time, but are most common in late spring and early summer.

If this follows the usual pattern, we can expect fewer openings in the months ahead. When good, signals can be strong, but we can expect fewer openings. This is why WSPR and FT8 are so good: there are lots of people monitoring all day long and people are looking in a fairly narrow chunk of the band. 

In the peak months Es can transform 10m and 6m with the bands wide open for hours on end.

I suspect 10m and 6m openings by Es are far more common. Maybe with FT8 and WSPR will make such openings more obvious.

UPDATE 0750z:  Just 3 stations spotted so far today on 10m FT8 RX and only 1 outside the UK.

Shetland Isles - NOT amateur radio

This image appeared on 365project yesterday posted by a friend. It is a scene from the Shetland Isles. 

These islands are the furthermost northerly part of Scotland. They are often bleak and windswept with few trees.

10m FT8 (Friday)

After a very brief period on 10m FT8 TX, I am on 10m FT8 RX. So far today, 1 spot at 0550z on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1115z:  230 stations spotted. 

Stations spotted today
on 10m FT8 to 1450z

UPDATE 1450z: 345 stations spotted including several in the USA and Canada. See map

Sunspots - Friday July 16th 2021

 Solar flux is 74 and the SSN 22. A=10 and K=2.