160m FT8 RX overnight

Overnight I was on 160m FT8 RX with the untuned 10m antenna. 232 stations spotted on RX including a few in the USA. 

TETRA decoder

In my days of work, I ran the hardware teams designing TETRA hand portables. I actually knew quite little about TETRA as most was implemented in software. What I knew I have forgotten!

These days, you can get freely available software that can decode modes like P25, DMR and TETRA.

TETRA was very popular with security systems as it was hard to intercept. Not any longer.

See https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/tetra/ .

Sunspots - Sunday March 20th 2022

Solar flux is 94 and the SSN 29. A=5 and K=3. 

160m FT8 RX (Saturday)

Even though 10m is still wide open, I have QSYed to 160m FT8 RX with the untuned 10m antenna. So far this evening 30 stations have been spotted. 

UPDATE 2136z:   133 stations spotted. I think I shall remain on overnight.

OFCOM updates

Every month OFCOM updates the data it holds. See the OFCOM website for more details.

Pye PF8 - NOT amateur radio

Back in the 1970s, I was on the design team for this revolutionary product. In its day, it was "ahead of the curve". 

It had an internal antenna, 1.2V rechargeable batteries and a multilayer PCB. From bitter experience we found that the things that got broken were things like antennas, rotary controls etc. So we avoided these in this design. In its day, it was iconic. Some went on 70cm. These days, they are very hard to find.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/vhfuhf-commercial-rigs/pye-pf8 . There is a PDF copy of the handbook linked on the site. Any issues, contact me and I shall send it to you.

The DC-DC converter it used was a nightmare.

More Wymondham, Norfolk - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned yesterday, we went to Wymondham on the train. The photo is a collage of some of the things and places we saw. 

Wymondham is a delightful place. 

It is a few miles from Norwich. 

Component supplier

This supplier used to attend rallies, but can no longer travel from their home in Cumbria. They are retiring. They still have some components left.

See http://www.harrisonelectronics.co.uk/ . 

10m FT8 RX

It is now 0804z and I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 30 minutes. So far 35 stations have been spotted. The band seems wide open. 

UPDATE 1204z:   344 spots so far today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1606z:   815 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. A great day on 10m.

UPDATE 1830z:   1066 stations spotted today.  A great day on 10m FT8 RX. QRT soon.

Red-legged partridges - NOT amateur radio

We used to see these handsome birds regularly in our garden, but I have not seen them for a while. They were introduced over a century ago to this country.