Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks I take a look at activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. My last unscientific peek was Tuesday at about 2115z.  Activity levels remain low. 

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Sunspots - Wednesday September 1st 2021

 Solar flux is 84 and the SSN 37. A=7 and K=2. 

Simple regen RX

 There is little to beat the sheer thrill of copying stations on a very simple homebrew RX. 

The one on my website is one example, but there are plenty on the net. I was surprised just how well something so simple works. Yes, SDRs and complex rigs may be better, but you too may be surprised how well such simple circuits can work.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/80m-or-40m-regen-rx .

I even made mine into a simple 80m transceiver!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/feter-80m-qrpp-cw-transceiver .

With the grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken on a walk about the sleepy village of Reach earlier today. It drizzled! We explored some new paths.

It shows my wife with two of the grandchildren 

10m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

As usual, I did a brief TX slot with 2.5W (spotted by 2 stations including EA6) , but now RX only. Es evident with 16 stations spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1453z:  35 stations (all in Europe) spotted on 10m FT8 so far today.

UPDATE 1914z:  Just 37 Europeans spotted so far with no sign of stations in South America. 

UPDATE 2052z:  Just one South American spotted on 10m FT8 RX and he was only just spotted.

UPDATE 2114z: Now 6 South Americans spotted. I think they seem to be coming through later now. QRT soon.

Ship Wreck - NOT amateur radio

Way back in 1936 one of the most famous clipper ships was shipwrecked in South Devon. My dad saw them getting people ashore. In the distance is the Queen Mary. 

They used a breaches buoy to get the crew ashore.  Later it was towed to the outskirts of Salcombe. In the end it sank.Very sad.

It was on Pathe News and quite famous at the time.

Sunspots - Tuesday August 31st 2021

Solar flux is 91 and the SSN 41. A=7 and K=3. 

Bells - NOT amateur radio

 

Our elder grandson is fascinated by bells and churches even though he is not at all religious This afternoon we spent 20 minutes waiting for the hour bell to chime on this church in Newmarket. It did not chime!! 

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

In a few moments I intend to go on 10m FT8 with 2.5W. My usual pattern is transmit for a few minutes, then go RX only most of the day. If things follow as normal I will spot Europeans during the day with some South Americans in the early evening. Anything else is a bonus.

UPDATE 1237z: The gear was turned on at 0815z. I was on TX of maybe for 3 minutes, then RX only. On RX 153 stations spotted so far with the furthermost R4PCO (3363km).

UPDATE 1801z:   155 stations spotted on RX so far today.

UPDATE 2130z: QRT. Lots of South America stations spotted. 

Yesterday (Sunday) on 10m FT8 RX

We are now "over the top" in the Es season in the Northern Hemisphere.  

As FT8 and dedicated people prove, Es is not over, just even more sporadic! Yesterday was a case in point: there were still stations coming in from right across Europe, but fewer than in the peak season. There were also South Americans coming in. 

As the sunspot number climbs, I would expect more worldwide DX to come through. I think North Americans will consistently come through this autumn. So far, most have been, I think, due to E layer propagation. 

Come October, I would expect USA and Canadian stations to be appearing in droves via F2. In the better years of the last cycle even AM stations around 29MHz could be easily copied. As much (because of my poor voice these days) as I am a fan of FT8, I hope there is still SSB, FM and AM activity. When good, transatlantic stations can be worked indoors on a whip antenna with QRP SSB!!

In my view, 10m is one of our very best HF bands. For the next 4-5 years 10m should be good.