8m experiments (Saturday)

It is now 0857z. I have been on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 TX.  No spots on RX or TX.

UPDATE 0941z:  Currently RX only. As far as I know the following countries have granted limited access to TX on 8m:

  USA (a limited number of special permits issued by the FCC)

  Canada (1 special permit)

  South Africa (special permission?)

  UK (a limited number of special T&I licences)

  Slovenia (allocated 40.66-40.70 to amateurs on a secondary basis)

  Croatia (special permission?)

  Eire (full allocation to the amateur service)

  Denmark (beacon only).

Others may be active, but I am unsure of their legality. I am unsure of the legal position of operating with very low ERP in the ISM band in almost any country.

UPDATE 1220z:  Still no spots today.  Will be on FT8 TX at about 1240z.

UPDATE 1243z: Now on 8m FT8 TX (40.680 MHz USB dial). Reports welcomed.

Shetland sunshine - NOT amateur radio

There cannot be many perfect days on the Shetland Islands. Often it is cold and windy. This photo was on 365project yesterday. 

Yesterday on 10m WSPR TX

Yesterday, I was spotted by 15 stations on 10m WSPR TX when running 500mW. The Es season really has started. 

Sunspots - Saturday April 30th 2022

Solar flux is 124 and the SSN 90. A=15 and K=5.

G3XBM video channel

This is my usual reminder that I have a G3XBM video channel which has more data on many of my projects. Many of these videos are years old, certainly before my 2013 stroke.

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

Ely cathedral - NOT amateur radio

They call this "the ship of the fens" and you can see why. It can be seen from miles away standing high on the Isle of Ely. There has been a church here for well over 1000 years. 

It is the only medieval wonder in England. It truly is a splendid piece of architecture, built way before our times with lots of tools and machines.

Mill leat - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the view looking down the mill leat at Anglesey Abbey earlier. 

Local museum - NOT amateur radio

We are very lucky to live right next door to a windmill and local museum. These are open Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter until the end of October.

Recently, the vehicle shed has been redone. There are plenty of old vehicles in here!

The photo shows me volunteering at the museum cafe yesterday.

See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .

10m Es

For about an hour, I have been on 10m WSPR QRP TX with 500mW from my W5OLF beacon. Already, there have been 9 unique people spotting me. The Es season is underway!

UPDATE 1130z:   12 unique stations have spotted me so far. Definitely mostly, if not all,  Es.

Low cost modules for experimenters

My Facebook memories for today showed the low cost 70cm AM modules that you can buy on eBay. Others have used the HB100 10 GHz Doppler radar modules. Others have used 5.6GHz modules for TV. I am sure there are others. 

Since my 2013 stroke, I have been unable to do much building work. For serious experimenters there is a lot of choice.

These modules could form the heart of many projects and are well worth a look.