Windy - NOT amateur radio

At the moment here in East Anglia it is windy, but dry. I know there is rain coming later. Although our brown lawns have recovered somewhat, we still need rain. It was interesting seeing how the flowers perked up with rainwater rather than tap water.

10m FT8 RX

The sunspot count and the solar flux are high, so I am on 10m FT8 RX for signs that is it worth me trying 8m FT8 later for the USA with my QRP FT8. So far, after about 30 minutes, 32 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. 

UPDATE 0949z:  55 stations spotted including China and Mongolia.

UPDATE 1027z:  90 stations spotted today.

UPDATE 1217z:  173 stations spotted.

UPDATE 1715z:  659 stations spotted so far today.

Sunspots - Wednesday October 5th 2022

Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 153. A=16 and K=2.

UK politics - NOT amateur radio

The ruling Conservative party is holding its annual conference this week in Birmingham. 

The prime minister, elected about 4 weeks ago, is having a very hard time along with her chancellor of the exchequer, who is in charge of the money. 

She has gone for a policy to stimulate the economy, and reduce energy bills and inflation. However, she is borrowing money to pay for this and markets don't like this. She is taking a gamble. In the past, these gambles have not worked. 

She also looks to be turning her back on those in our society who are the most vulnerable.

At this rate she could be ousted as party leader quite soon, along with her chancellor.  Unless things rapidly change, I suspect the Conservative party will lose the next general election due in 2024.

8m QRP FT8 TX (Tuesday)

Judging by results on 10m FT8 today, I think it is unlikely I shall try on 8m QRP FT8 today on 40.680 MHz. 

Of course Murphy's law will say, "you should have seen 8m on Tuesday - it was amazing".

Getting ready for winter - NOT amateur radio

It is surprising how quickly the nights get longer and we switch to "winter mode" with the curtains drawn and nights by the fire (assuming we can afford one!). 

In the next few weeks we dig up the bedding plants and put in daffodil bulbs and winter flowering plants like primroses.

This year we may put in some pansies, as our local nursery had some good, colourful ones (see photo). If these flower over winter, we may get some.

E-field probe antennas

 

At VLF, LF and MF, external noise usually is the limiting factor.  Making the RX antenna bigger also increases the noise picked up, meaning that tiny RX antennas can be as effective as huge ones. This is the case with E-field probe antennas, that can be tiny.

Many years ago I made one on a mag-mount for 136 kHz so I could drive around trying to pick up my QRSS 6uW beacon. There are several designs around, some which are untuned. Much to my surprise, I could easily pick up my little beacon at 24km.

As the frequency is increased, external noise ceases to dominate and they become less effective.

You may find one useful for LF or MF bands.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/137khz-efp-rx-antenna .

Signs of autumn - NOT amateur radio

 

It is getting cooler!  Autumn is here. 

We'll blink and it will be Christmas again and days will be getting longer once again.

10m FT8 (Tuesday)

Just before lunch, I went on 10m FT8. I transmitted for a few goes (spotted locally and in Turkey) with QRP, but most of the time I have been RX only.

UPDATE 1405z:  Spotted by 173 stations on RX.

UPDATE 1456z:  239 stations spotted. I think 10m FT8 yesterday was better at this time.

Simple regen RX

This is probably one of the simplest receivers you will find. It is really effective and has copied lots of QRP signals from across Europe.  

It is unbelievably simple. If you can think of a simpler RX that is as effective I would like to know! It is on my main website and in my free PDF book. 

By changing the tuned circuit it would work on other bands like 160m or 60m. Not sure where it originated, but you can find lots of similar circuits.