Sunspots - Saturday October 2nd 2021

Solar flux is 91 and the SSN 28.  A=14 and K=0.

472kHz (630m) WSPR RX

At 0700z I went QRT on 10m FT8 RX and QSYed to 630m (472kHz) WSPR RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Furthermost is SM6NOC (1056km).

Phaser II - 10m FT8

A few days ago, I received back my built 10m FT8 Phaser II SSB transceiver complete with case and leads from a very kind amateur in Scotland who assembled and tested it for me. 

On RX it is excellent copying 10m FT8 the world over. It does not (yet) work on TX, but I am sure this is "finger trouble" with the PC that I have to get to grips with. I am doing something wrong I suspect.

See https://midnightdesignsolutions.com/phaser/ .

USDR - HF SSB transceiver for £115 anyone?

Steve G1KQH has just sent me an eBay link to yet another multi-band HF SSB SDR transceiver from China. This retails for about £115! How do they do it and make money?

14.037MHz crystals for the 10FT8R

Jason M0NYW has just forwarded me some 14.037MHz crystals that came originally from Jay W5OLF. These are for use in my ultra simple 10FT8R receiver for 10m FT8. This should simplify the oscillator and allow me to remove a toroid inductor. I hope to try this shortly.

The most stupid product yet?

I have just received the latest newsletter from a major UK dealer. It included 2 products that seem pointless to me! For over £115 you can have a box that disconnects the antenna. For £190 you can automatically disconnect and ground 2 antennas.  Surely you can just unplug antennas? Am I missing something here?

Sorry, but this seems to be another way for the manufacturer and dealer to make money from gullible people or people with deep pockets. I for one will not be rushing...

8m NoV application

Early next week I propose to send the final version of my application online to OFCOM. If you have any views on how it could be improved, please tell me over the weekend. The latest draft can be viewed via my website at https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/8m-band .  I hope this will be successful and that next Es season we can see more countries active on 8m.   

FT8 looks the best mode as there are plenty of potential monitors, FT8 works with weak signals (although Es is often strong) and it is already supported by PSKreporter. All one has to do is park your RX on the right 8m frequency and wait. With luck, we can all be on FT8 within the same small chunk of the band so just a single FT8 frequency can be monitored.

UPDATE 0904z:  My widebanded FT817ND does TX on 8m. Just tried it with a dummy load. At first I tuned up from 10m, but it went to 100kHz after I reached 33MHz. Then I tuned down from 6m and all was well.

UPDATE 1645z:  NoVs can be applied for online.  As is to be expected, OFCOM is very keen to see that the general public, including neighbours, are safe. They require a sketch of the proposed antenna location and an EMF assessment. Running 10W or less to a dipole with a duty cycle on a 50% , I cannot imagine this being an issue. See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/51198/ofw306.pdf for their form.

10m FT8 RX (Friday)

Since just before breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX. It is now 0813z. So far 3 stations have been spotted with the furthermost  4Z4WD (3561km). I suspect this is via F2 propagation.

UPDATE 0845z:  22 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. It looks like F2 and tropo propagation modes this morning.

UPDATE 1233z: Stations widely spotted by F2 on 10m FT8 RX.  So far today, 68 stations spotted. The furthermost is YB6MIX (10252km).

Windmill renovation - NOT amateur radio

They are repainting the windmill next door, so it is currently closed. 

They have put a working model in the museum entrance. 

Sunspots - Friday October 1st 2021

 Solar flux is 95 and the SSN 46. A=9 and K=2.