Repeaters quiet

As I am away from home for a few days, I was taking a peak at repeaters via Echolink. 

What amazes me is just how quiet repeaters are these days. After trying several around the world, I gave up. 

Family history - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the place where my ancestors lived the year after my father was born. 

However, we can trace our family history without break to the mid 1500s in this Devon village. In all probability my ancestors lived here thousands of years ago too. 

Mizuho MX2

 This is a 2m SSB handheld that I have owned for years. I am pretty sure you can no longer buy them new. There are more details on a my main www.g3xbm.co.uk web page. 

Bird table - NOT amateur radio

These days most birds here are the larger ones, but we occasionally see smaller ones like these long tailed tits. They usually flit from tree to tree in flocks. They are often heard before being seen. 

Sunspots - Wednesday August 18th 2021

Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 13. A=5 and K=2. 

DST100 RX

My first commercial RX was a DST100 receiver that I think was an ex WW2 tank receiver by Murphy. It cost my dad £7 from a local garage. It was built like a tank and was VERY heavy!! At first it was deaf but G3CHN gave it a service and it came back sensitive. It served me well for several years when I was a teenager. It was so heavy that it took two people to lift it. There are more details on my www.g3xbm.co.uk website. 

What a view! - NOT amateur radio

My grandson went up to the very top of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool today. The view from the top is spectacular. The photo shows the Catholic Cathedral at the far end of Hope Street. 

Grandson - NOT amateur radio

 

A photo of our elder grandson yesterday. 

VLF Earth-mode

 Amateur VLF is different. As antennas for TX are usually large and powers high to get a signal radiated, very stable and long signals are needed that are often integrated over hours or days in very narrow bandwidths. For RX only tiny E-field probe antennas can be very effective. 

On my website www.g3xbm.co.uk you will find links to my earth-mode blog which gives details of my experiments below 10kHz with 5W and simple gear up to 6km. Big antennas are NOT needed for this. Signals are visible on a PC screen in seconds.  This is a very accessible way of getting on amateur VLF. 

Who me? - NOT amateur radio

Red-legged partridges on our lawn. These handsome birds were introduced in the UK in the 1800s and can be quite tame.