EME

As pointed out in his earlier comment, John Regnualt, G4SWX, who is the RSGB's VHF manager, has directed us to a truly excellent website all about EME (earth-moon-earth) communication. 

John is an expert on EME communication and got his 2m DXCC some years ago. As far as I am concerned this is really good experimental work, no doubt having spent some time optimising his EME station.

To have success in EME requires hard work and dedication.  By comparison, I am a "fireside fusilier" in that I am gunner do this and gunner do that. It looks like John is not!!

See https://www.ok2kkw.com/eme1960/eme1960eng.htm .

QRSS or WSPR?

Although WSPR comes in several guises and speeds, I have no idea how QRSS (slow CW) compares with WSPR. Maybe Googling will tell me the answer.

For very low power (QRPP), one of these modes is probably better. WSPR has the advantage of being widely reported via WSPRnet.  Certainly very slow WSPR is probably better than QRSS at reasonable speeds.

The answer is probably the same as, "how long is a piece of string?", but any pointers would be appreciated.

ISM rules?

Although I am pretty sure that in the UK people can use the ISM bands for research without a licence, as long as they personally ensure conformity to any technical requirements and IR2030, I have asked OFCOM to confirm this. I am awaiting a response.  My thoughts are it is easier for OFCOM just to confirm this than ask, "is this legal?".

At 8m this means a beacon can not be more than 10mW ERP. We already know this can cover a local area well on WSPR and could probably be copied in Europe by Es.

What happens in your country is not known.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My FT8 on 40.680 MHz was turned on at 1003z. No spots. Running 2.5W to the low wire dipole.

10m WSPR QRP (Thursday)

 My 500mW beacon was turned on at 1000z. No spots yet at 1006z.

UPDATE 1043z:  Lots of spots from the Canary Isles of me again.

UPDATE 1235z: 3 stations now spotting me. No USA yet.

2m FT8 activity contest

Stations on 2m FT8 RX last evening

Yesterday evening was the 2m FT8 activity contest. I worked 2 stations, but over 50 were received here including EI, GI, ON and PA (see map). 

The other map shows where I was spotted with 2.5W FT8 and the big-wheel omni antenna.

Stations spotting my 2.5W FT8 on 2m with the omni antenna

Poster - NOT amateur radio

Every year my wife creates a kitchen poster. This is the 11th. 

It usually has pictures of friends, grandchildren, sons etc. She has been doing these since 2012. 

It is amazing to see how people change.

There are several companies we could use. You do the layout and upload digital images. 

Arecibo dish

Back in 1964 (corrected - thanks John!), the amateur community benefited from 2m and 70cm EME QSOs using the huge dish in Puerto Rico usually used for astronomy research. At the time it was the biggest radio telescope in the world. Many people managed EME QSOs that would have been impossible with smaller antennas.

Sadly the antenna collapsed and will not be rebuilt.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory.

Sunspots - Thursday December 8th 2022

Solar flux is 148 and the SSN 107. A=18 and K=3.

Geminids meteor shower

This normally peaks in mid December. Usually, the ionised trails result in enhanced VHF propagation during short bursts. MSK144 is often a good mode as signals may be strong, but short lived. Better equipped stations experience better bursts for longer. 

This time, I may try 8m MSK144 during the shower.

See https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-geminid-meteor-shower/ .