The power of the media - NOT amateur radio

It is hard to appreciate just how much the media influences us all. 

In Russia, folks are told that the war in Ukraine is a "special operation" to liberate oppressed people. In the west we are told the Ukrainians are without fault. In the 1970s we were always told the USA was perfect in Vietnam and the Vietcong was evil.

We rarely hear a truly balanced view. All sides want to slant things their way. 

The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. The west is not perfect, Russia is not perfect, Ukraine is not perfect, and the Vietcong was not the evil it was portrayed.

In all wars and in peacetime, the media influences us all. My plea is to get your data from multiple sources and make up your own mind. Don't always believe what you are fed.

Pear cake - NOT amateur radio

Our "harvest" this year has been pathetic and it would have been less costly to get the food from the local supermarket down the road!  

Nonetheless, nothing will be wasted. Take for example of the pear cake, made by my wife yesterday. 

EI1KNH/B 8m beacon last chance

I have been monitoring this Irish beacon for several days and with various modes. So far, I have had no luck. 

After today, I shall stop and try again with MSK144 in an MS shower. 

UPDATE 1815z:  Still nothing. Disappointing as G0RQQ, Keith, is able to get it in Lincoln. I am getting the distinct impression this is not going to work.

UPDATE 1943z:  Nothing. I shall go QRT soon on 8m FT8 RX on the beacon frequency. Failure!

Q900 all band, all mode ,transceiver

This version 3 Q900 transceiver from China looks like the FT817 replacement we never had. It is also much less expensive and is SDR based.  It is also much smaller than it looks.

Yaesu, you have had your chances, but never took them in the run up to solar peak 24 and now 25. Instead, Yaesu messes around with a 100W SDR radio that looks like the one they only recently introduced!! 

Yaesu, have you really lost the plot? 

We could all be forgiven for thinking this.  I used to like Yaesu radios. In recent years, I am really not so impressed.

Like all things from China my feeling is the quality control and support are still not proven. They will get there soon and this may be it.

Lower cost amateur radio products are coming and the big Japanese manufacturers are in for a large shock. The writing is on the wall. I give it a few years only. Certainly when we are in cycle 26 things will look very different indeed. Some of the companies we have known for decades will be gone and there will be new names.

Sunspots - Sunday September 18th 2022

Solar flux is 132 and the SSN 76.  A=5 and K=2.

Es season well and truly over

Although Es can occur at any time, the late spring and early summer are the best times. Often bands up 4m can bring DX to up to 1500km, sometimes more. Rarely, Es occurs at 2m.

Today, for example I saw no evidence of Es propagation on 10m WSPR. The only stations spotting me were probably via F2 propagation or local. The nature of Es is it is sporadic, so the bands can suddenly come alive, which is why FT8 especially can be so useful.

When DX is not around, bands like 10m and 6m can be seriously under-used. This is a pity as they make good bands for club nets and local chats. Antennas are small and local noise is often much better than 160m or 80m, where antennas can be big.

Summer visitors - NOT amateur radio

In the spring and summer, we get bird migrants from Africa. 

In recent years there have been far fewer swallows, although here, surprisingly, swift numbers are not too bad. Swifts mostly go in August to central Africa, whereas many swallows end up in South Africa. 

Most swallows go about now, although a very few may try to over-winter.  As our climate gets milder, some may succeed. It will be next spring before the swifts and swallows, hopefully, return. They have being doing this journey for thousands of years.

Bee-eaters

We are seeing some birds that would have been rare here 50 years ago like little egrets. Even bee-eaters have bred here this year. I have only seen these near the Mediterranean Sea.  

Over the winter we see birds from the far north, who think our climate is mild! Don't tell them otherwise! In this part of the UK we get swans from Iceland and Siberia over the winter.

Shadows - NOT amateur radio

Today is a lovely sunny day here. It feels much colder than a few weeks ago. Inside our church, there were long shadows, as the photo shows.

Amateur beacon on the moon?

 Amateur Radio Weekly reports that the Japanese hope to put a UHF beacon on the moon.

See https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/omotenashi/JHRCweb/jhrc.html .

If successfully deployed, this could be a good test for receivers. I am not sure what it will send or when the launch is planned.

23cm transverter

This was ordered this weekend. Hopefully it will arrive early November. Not sure what import duty or VAT is payable. I am sure someone will tell me!