As I am on 8m FT8, my 10m antenna is free, so I have gone on 10m 500mW WSPR TX with my W5OLF beacon. Yes, I remembered!
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| Spots of me at 1346z |
UPDATE 1346z: So far, spotted by 9 unique stations.
UPDATE 1537z: Spotted by 16 unique stations today.
8 Nov 2022
8m QRP FT8 TX (first) and RX
As 10m was looking good, I have QSYed to 8m (40.680) FT8 TX and RX.
UPDATE 1430z: It looks like today is going to be disappointing for me on 8m. No spots of me or of others today. I am still on, but will probably go QRT later. I think conditions have to be really good for me to be copied in the USA on 8m.
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| 8m monitors active this afternoon |
10m FT8 RX
I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 20 minutes (it is now 1045z) and, so far, 129 stations have been spotted.
At this rate, I shall definitely be trying 8m QRP FT8 later.
UPDATE 1127z: 234 stations spotted today.
AA7EE's blog
Dave has some excellent stuff. He is really into simple, low powered beacons and makes some magnificent assemblies using Me-Pads and Me-Squares.
Amateur radio kits
It is very hard to make money selling amateur radio kits. Some try and then fail quietly to disappear for ever.
Some (especially from China) appear very low cost. Some of these are fine, but some are poor with unclear instructions and errors. If buying these, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). My advice is look at what others have said first. If you are not sure do not spend money!
One of the very best has been QRP-Labs, by Hans Summers. His kits have been around for many years and are of high quality. They sell fast. Hans is a bright man. Unlike many, he really understands.
If you are considering getting a kit, think about what you are buying. Will they be here next year? Will the quality be what you expect? What if there are issues? Do they understand English? Can you communicate with them?
Plans for today (Tuesday)
This morning I intend to go on 10m FT8 RX. At lunch time I will QSY to 8m QRP FT8 TX on 40.680 if things are promising.
7 Nov 2022
Not on the radio today (Monday)
As I was out most of the day at my Cosmology lecture at the University of the Third Age in Cambridge (given by an ex Cambridge mathematician), I decided not to go on the radio at all today. My overriding thought is, "this cannot be the whole story". We really understand so little.
Following Murphy's Law, there were several transatlantic 8m FT8 QSOs today! Hopefully, I shall be on tomorrow and conditions might support 8m FT8 QSOs. Compared with better equipped stations, I am probably at least 10dB down. To achieve a transatlantic FT8 QSO, I probably need conditions to be very good. At least I know my signal can reach the USA judging by results last week.
The Earth as a living organism? - NOT amateur radio
At first this seems a crazy idea. In some ways it is less so. Certainly it is worthy of some thought.
For a long time I have been puzzled by scale. The world of sub-atomic particles and the sheer vastness of the universe seem so remote from each other. I have often wondered if our concepts of space and time are wrong. Perhaps the universe (or some universes) are actually in what we perceive as the micro world? What if every cell and atom in our body is a whole universe? We are used to thinking of things on the scale that we know.
A quote from the article:
"Earth seems to be stuck at a stage called an “immature technosphere.” This is a scenario where technological activity has fully developed and taken root — yet it’s not yet harmoniously integrated with other systems, such as the physical environment. It is important to integrate these two spheres, for only when the biological and technological processes are in sync can we ensure productivity and human’s future on this planet."
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