Sunspots - Monday March 7th 2022

Solar flux is 116 and the SSN 82. A=18 and K=3.

Low pass filter design

With my upcoming permit to test on 8m, I may need to add external low pass filtering to ensure my TX is totally clean. There are several circuit calculators on the Internet. The one below is an example. It seems daft to buy one when a simple one can so easily be made.

See https://rf-tools.com/lc-filter/ .

Radio amateurs in Ukraine

Since the recent troubles began, radio amateurs in Ukraine have been asked to keep off the air on TX. This has largely been observed. 

Whatever your views, innocent civilians are being killed or displaced. I hope a peaceful way can be found to stop the bloodshed.

Even at the height of the Cold War, radio amateur chats with stations behind the Iron Curtain continued. In a small way, we all tried to break down barriers.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2022/march/ukraine-maintains-ham-radio-silence-in-state-of-emergency.htm#.YiTBi4rP3rc .

East Anglian Churches Blog - NOT amateur radio

For many years I wrote a blog about the East Anglian churches we had visited. For several years we have been unable to visit new ones, but I hope to visit more this year. 

Our grandson has rung bells in 11 different towers now. He rung in the one in the photo (Isleham) this morning. 

See http://eachurches.blogspot.com/ 

Elecraft

Over the years I have owned a couple of Elecraft kits. One was the T1 auto-ATU and one was the K1 QRP CW transceiver. The latter is now discontinued. 

These days, they sell the KX2 and KX3 rigs as well as the K4 transceiver. Elecraft transceivers are usually very high specification products. 

Some years ago I did a webpage on the K1.

See https://elecraft.com/ for the main Elecraft site.

Needlework exhibition - NOT amateur radio

Ely Cathedral currently has a needlework exhibition on. I didn't go, but my wife did.  The photo does not do it justice.

See https://www.elycathedral.org/ .

6m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

At about 1030z, I turned on 6m FT8 with 2.5W and the V2000 vertical omni. After a brief period on TX (2 G spots)  I am now RX only (just 2 G spots).

UPDATE 1313z:  8 stations spotted with the furthermost CT2HXM (1422km) .

UPDATE 1604z: 11 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today. The latest DX is IU3MDI (1137km). I am not sure of the propagation mode.

UPDATE 2100z:   13 stations spotted. QRT.

Salcombe NOT amateur radio

This photo shows where I come from in South Devon yesterday. I spent my childhood years here. 

DX crystal set

This is a circuit I have never built. It was in QST some years ago and uses a zero bias MOSFET to give better sensitivity. You may want to have a go. Please read the ARRL article below.

See http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/culter.pdf

Reassuring? - NOT amateur radio

Next time you fly in a large passenger jet this sign may reassure you that you are in safe hands. 😉😉