Sunspots - Wednesday September 8th 2021

Solar flux is 101 and the SSN 85. A=8 and K=4.

Visit - NOT amateur radio

We had a visit for lunch from my wife's cousin and his wife. We had to take a photo with the windmill in the background! She had not seen them for several years. 

They are doing a tour around the country visiting friends and and family.

10m WISPY TX WSPR beacon TX

Many years ago I designed and made this TX beacon for 10m WSPR. You might like to try it as a winter project. 

If you want more power, just add more 2N3904s in the PA. This is far cheaper than a dedicated PA device. Even with QRPP you can expect plenty of spots when 10m is good. It is getting better again now the sunspots and solar flux are climbing.

The photo shows the first breadboard. 

It is a DSB design using low cost 14.060MHz crystals. I was surprised by the vast amount of 10m WSPR this summer.

As I recall, I used matched germanium diodes in the balanced mixer, but I am sure Schottky diodes would be fine. Do not be afraid to experiment! As with all my circuits, use these designs as a starting point. If you can make them better, great.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-wispy for more details and a clearer schematic.

Windmill - NOT amateur radio

Many time before, I have mentioned that we live next door to a windmill (see photo). Since this photo was taken all the sails and slats have been repainted and replaced and the whole mill re-tarred. 

Sadly, starlings stop on the sails before flying off to their roost. They do make a mess! 😒

10m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

It is now 0755z. I have been on 10m FT8 for about 1 hour. 

So far, despite 2 TX sessions with 2.5W for a few minutes (2.5W), and RX all the rest of the time, no spots at all on PSKreporter. Being suspicisious of an internet blackout and loss of accurate timing, I re-synced the PC clock again - still no spots! I am beginning to wonder if the issue is at the PSKreporter end?

On 10m FT8 RX for now .

UPDATE 0821z: Just one spot of me by G0FWX (160km) near Birmingham. 2 spots on RX - OK1UU (1009km) and IK0FKE (1467km).

UPDATE 0903z: 7 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX . 

UPDATE 1526z: 15 stations spotted today, all within Europe.

Sunspots - Tuesday Sept 7th 2021

 Solar flux is 100 (the first time for many years I think) and the SSN 80.  A=6 and K=1. Things are getting respectable again - promising.

WSPR Snake

Jay, W5OLF has produced a new version of his WSPR beacon (see photo). It is simpler than his earlier version, the WSPR-AXE-CW.

He writes:

 "I have finished my WSPR-Snake stand-alone transmitter. The snake name is because it is programmed in the ‘Python’ language and, as with the WSPR-AXE-CW, the repeated random 2min intervals on the spectral display to me look like the trail of a snake.  Differences between it and your‘s are that it only puts out 375mW (on 10M) but runs off of USB 5V sources. One can plug it into the common wall cell phone charger or into the cell phone recharge batteries they sell. It uses the Adafruit Trinket micro board which has a 3.3V regulator on it for the VCO.  Like yours you turn the PA off when not actively checking propagation and you can even put in a switch to turn the VCO off (reducing standby current to 10mA). That allows transport (say backpacking) without loosing the precise time you set back at the shack. Speaking of the precise clock, this version uses the clock circuit for both WSPR symbol timing (exactly) as well as 2min interval timing; expected drift when set - and the crystal aged - is about 0.5sec per month. Otherwise, I use the same single 2N7000 for the final in a class-E, high efficiency, design. "

Crab Apples - NOT amateur radio

We have one small crabapple tree. Every other year it gives a decent crop. 

Last year we had 15 crabapples. This year we probably have over 500, so some nice crabapple jelly!

Over a century ago - NOT amateur radio

In my teenage years I lived in Kingsbridge, Devon. This photo was taken well over 100 years ago. There are no cars visible! 

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

Before breakfast, I was briefly on 10m FT8 TX with 2.5W, but was spotted by nobody. It is now 0722z and I am RX only. Unsurprisingly, no spots yet!

UPDATE 0750z:   Just 2 Gs spotted so far in the Birmingham area at 160km.

UPDATE 1300z:  Just before lunch I had a very brief period on TX with 2.5W. No QSOs  resulted, but I was spotted by G0FWX (160km).  On 10m FT8 RX 28 stations have been spotted with the furthermost  ZS6NJ (9115km).

UPDATE 1916z:  34 stations spotted on RX today.  A brief TX period (2.5W) resulted in 3 Es spots of me from Southern Europe, but no QSOs.

UPDATE 2023z:  43 stations spotted today with the furthermost PY2VCS (9593km).