8m TX permit - a reminder to self!

Well before the next Es season, I intend to apply for an NoV to allow me to TX experimentally on 8m.  I have no idea whether or not this will be successful. 

At the moment, I want to be able to TX FT8, WSPR or CW between the months of March 2022 and the end of October 2022.   All these are narrowband modes, which helps.  The most I can run is 10W, so I shall apply for this. With Es I am sure 2.5W would be enough to be copied all over Europe.  All this depends on my FT817ND being able to TX on 8m!  I have not tried this yet. 

DraftD (not yet submitted) is linked. I propose to send the final version to OFCOM and the RSGB. If you can think of ways to improve it, please let me know as soon as possible.

Anyone care to join me? You may want to amend it as identical submissions might look odd! Hopefully some of us will be successful.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/8m-band .

10m propagation improving

John, EI7GL's blog notes some good E-W F2 openings on 10m in recent days. 10m is getting good again.

As John says, if we get good propagation in September, it should be even better in October and November. I am predicting that we will see good 10m openings to the USA in late October.  It has already been possible, but when 10m is  really open, you will know! Expect S9 SSB signals from the eastern USA. 

With luck, we will also see AM signals just above 29MHz. In the past I have worked USA stations on AM when I was using QRP AM.

When good, 10m really is good. May the good days ahead be enjoyed. With luck, 10m could be good for many years.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/ .

Chromebooks - NOT amateur radio

My Asus Chromebook has been owned for almost 2 years and I have never once regretted it. It has a 3 year "at home" warranty, although I have never had to use it. It will run Linux apps, although I've never bothered. 

If I eventually replace it, I see the new version has twice the RAM and SDD size and is about one third of the price of a Windows machine. It boots in seconds and never once do you have to wait when Windoze is doing yet another update.

Mine can be used as a tablet too and the battery still lasts all day.

Geosynchronous Oscar 100

As many will know, I take a peek at activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite that has been going for about 18 months. I do this by looking at the Goonhilly based web SDR.

My conclusion is still that this satellite is very underused. 

In a way this is surprising as, once set up, you can work half the world with ease with no QSB at any time. No beams, no towers, no linears are needed. Once aimed, the small dish is fixed for ever.  There is no local noise to fight.  All very neighbour friendly!  I guess the lack of commercial offerings puts off "black box" operators. To get active requires a brain, not a purse. I am sure that if one of the Japanese manufacturers made a "black box" solution, things would rapidly change. I guess the risk of it failing and the lack of volumes puts them off.

As mentioned before, it seems keen people enjoy the challenge of getting active, then lose interest. Most activity seems to be from Europe although I have spotted Thailand, South Africa and Brazil. It is odd spotting all of these just like a local!

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/. 

Plaque - NOT amateur radio

 

This was on the back of a seat seen on a seat in Brighton a few weeks ago. It meant a lot to me.

10m FT8 RX (Wednesday)

Since about 0825z, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. So far, 4 stations spotted with the furthermost OD5SK (3433km). The rest are Gs.

UPDATE 1020z:  10 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost 4X5DF (3582km). I suspect the OD5 and 4X are single hop F2 propagation. See logbook.

UPDATE 1311z:   18 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1550z:  23 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 2135z: Now QRT.  50 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost VP8LP (12773km) in the Falkland Is..

365project

The photo shows Corfu some years ago. It was a Facebook memory from several years ago. We do 365project every day and have done since 2013. Great fun looking back. 

Sunspots - Wednesday September 29th 2021

Solar flux is 89 and the SSN is 57.  A=10 and K=1 . 

24GHz WBFM

This is a band I have never tried. Some people take it very seriously and employ narrowband techniques. Others "play" at the band using wideband FM (WBFM), much as is done with 10GHz. 

There are Doppler radar modules available which look as if they could be used at 24GHz. With such units there is almost no need for microwave engineering. 

With such units at the focus of dishes, ranges could be surprising. I have never seen designs for 24GHz WBFM units. If you find any, please send me links. 

Ranges of a few kilometres might be possible with just the modules alone.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/24ghz .

UK fuel shortages - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago someone leaked a memo saying a few (5?) garages had run out of fuel but do not panic as there is lots of fuel in the country. So what happens? Lots of people panic so most garages have very long queues and run out of fuel! This is stupid!!! Let's hope things get back to normal soon.

Even in our rural Cambridgeshire village the queue was huge (miles long) and the village garage was soon dry.  The photo show part of the queue yesterday. They had a new delivery earlier, but there was no diesel.

You can now understand why an Orson Wells radio play of 1938 about Martians caused widespread panic in the USA.