2m activity contest (UKAC) last evening

Last evening I took part in the UKAC activity contest organised by the RSGB. Running 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna, I managed 5 QSOs before I had to stop after about 45 minutes because of my poor voice.

There is a 2m FT8 activity contest this evening starting at 1900z for 2 hours. As my voice is not involved, I may try this with 2.5W.

Oscar 100 - activity very low!

Every few weeks I take a very unscientific look at activity levels on this geosynchronous satellite. The last peek was at 1250z on Tuesday. Most activity seems to be from Europe and this was probably not the best time to look as it was in the middle of the working day.

However, activity seemed to be at an all time low with just 1 QSO taking place! My impression is people either find accessing this too hard or they are just not interested. I wonder what activity is like in the evenings in Europe?

Spring coming? - NOT amateur radio

We went for a walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey yesterday. Most of the snowdrops are on the verge of coming out and some daffodils are out. In a few weeks most will be out.  

Spring and hope are around the corner.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 5th 2022

 Solar flux is 86 and the SSN 12.  A=6 and K=1.

70cm FT8 (Tuesday)

 As 10m was dead, I am again on 70cm FT8 QRP with the V2000 vertical omni antenna mainly RX. After about an hour, no spots.

A reminder that there is a 2m digital contest tomorrow evening. I need to check times and rules.

UPDATE 2149z:  No spots on RX and TX. 

Village cottages - NOT amateur radio

We are blessed with a mixture of old and new houses in our village of Burwell. The photo shows some of the older cottages on the High Street. 

10m FT8

At the moment I am on 10m FT8 RX. A brief TX period (2.5W QRP) with just G3UEG (55km) spotting me, I am now RX only. Just one spot of EA4DUA (1423km) so far.

UPDATE 0958z: 10 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost ZS6AF (9156km).

UPDATE 1245z:  32 stations spotted today so far.

UPDATE 1630z:  Just 35 stations spotted today. QRT soon.

2m activity contest tonight?

Later I need to check, but usually the first Tuesday of the month is the 2m UKAC. If it is, I shall go on although because of my poor voice I rarely manage to stay on long. Most times I run low power and my big-wheel omni antenna. 

UPDATE 0906z:   The activity contest is on tonight.

Chocolate box village

Dalham is a real "chocolate box" village not too far from here. It has lots of very attractive thatched cottages which would be ideal on the cover of a box of chocolates. You can imagine that a century ago these were hovels for working folk with no sewers or running water, and probably without a bathroom. These days these are pads for the well heeled with big prices. It is probably the most attractive village in the area.

Network radios

It is becoming an increasing issue that some amateurs can no longer enjoy their hobby as they are not allowed external antennas or because their noise floor is too high. 

For some, the answer may be network radios. These use the internet as the main propagation mechanism rather than the ionosphere. All that is needed is a wifi or mobile connection such as 3G or 4G. 

With these, and systems like Echolink, distant repeaters can be contacted and, via these, handhelds on the far side of the planet. They are often mobile phones with a PTT and antenna, looking much like a VHF handheld.

I find these somehow dissatisfying.  Maybe in 10 years time I shall think differently.  At the moment I get more fun from experimenting with "conventional" radio. I know amateur radio is changing and we should embrace all forms of communications such as DMR and network radio.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/network-radio .