Just turned on 17m FT8 RX. 15 stations spotted so far.
UPDATE 2245: 59 stations spotted today. BTW, using the 10m end-fed antenna. QRT.
28 Dec 2022
Amazon - NOT amateur radio
Amazon is like Marmite in that some are dead against Amazon and some are for the company.
They should always treat workers well. Yes, they should pay fair taxes. In fact, perhaps all online sales should be taxed so that we are encouraged to use high street shops more?
Personally, I quite like the convenience of Amazon. Things get ordered one day and the goods usually arrive the next day.
One day my wife went to our local chemists to buy some very ordinary nail scissors. They had none and no plans to stock any. She went on Amazon and they came next day. I cannot remember the price we paid. If you are housebound or unable to carry things a long way, the convenience of online delivery is great.
The demise of retail outlets on the high streets is sad, but our shopping habits have changed. I just wonder what our high streets will be like in 2030. We cannot be like Canute. Change always happens. Perhaps the nature of high streets will change with more independent shops and bigger retailers offering free home delivery of goods bought in store. Also, I expect there will be more places to meet and more flats.
UPDATE 1513z: Toilet seat broken. Ordered from Amazon after lunch yesterday. Arrived and fitted just after lunchtime today. Free return not needed.
UPDATE 1515z: Amazon has been used here for years. In all this time, I have never had things delivered to the wrong place. I have had to return things very, very infrequently. Whether from Amazon or other suppliers, my experience of shopping online has been good.
8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)
At the moment (1000z) I am on 40.680 MHz FT8 with 2.5W to the low wire dipole. No spots yet.
UPDATE 1022z: Still no spots. One thing is clear from my experiments: running QRP ERP I do lose out on a lot both on TX and RX. Compared with a station with a modest beam at several metres, I am probably 6-10dB down, possibly more. Running just 2.5W on TX is probably 10dB down on many stations, if not more. This means I could be at least 16dB weaker than many stations. Despite this I have still been copied in 16 countries and 3 continents on TX. Moral? I have learnt something!
UPDATE 1228z: No spots today.
UPDATE 1755z: 2 stations have spotted my 2.5W 8m FT8 to a low wire dipole. Nobody spotted on RX.
10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)
When on 8m I forget that I can still go on 10m WSPR 500mW TX with my beacon. On now.
UPDATE 1010z: So far, spots from SV9 (F2 or Es?).
UPDATE 1052z: 3 unique stations have spotted me today so far. I think this is mid-winter Es.
UPDATE 1230z: 4 unique stations have spotted my QRP 10m WSPR so far today.
UPDATE 1735z: 8 unique stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR TX beacon today.
Break? - NOT amateur radio
We love seeing our grandchildren, but at our age we get more tired, sooner. We have a break of about 7 days before they come again for a few days. It is a chance to "recharge batteries".
Maybe it is a chance to try some new amateur radio stuff? Maybe that SDR or 23cms?
At one time our elder grandson contacted us most nights. He has now got more friends his age who share his interests, so we are less of a crutch. All part of growing up, and totally natural.
Plans for today
Today I have 2 aims.
Firstly I want to concentrate on 8m QRP FT8. It is the winter Es season and the F2 MUF is increasing. Yesterday the USA was spotted in Australia on 8m. There are more countries monitoring 8m.
Secondly I want to test my SDR for the first time.
UPDATE 1807z: My SDR tests will have to wait until tomorrow.
Wisdom - NOT amateur radio
Many years ago I was taught that wisdom is quite different from being clever. Often the most profound things come from someone with wisdom, as these words that are supposed to have come from a woman of 92.
2m FT8 RX near Cambridge
When I go on 2m FT8, a very useful resource is the monitor a G0LRD. It is situated not far from Cambridge and my signal is usually about +5dB S/N. With it, I can look at 2m FT8 activity received locally, and check my own 2.5W is clean.
An example of David's page is attached. I think David also uses a Wimo big-wheel omni antenna. It is a great local (to me) resource.
27 Dec 2022
When will my assembled QDX transceiver arrive?
My built QDX transceiver covering 10m has been ordered. According to Hans the waiting time is currently about 1 month, so it might be ready at the end of January. As FT8 and WSPR are the main modes used because of my poor voice, I can see this transceiver being well used. It covers 20m,17m,15m,12m and 10m. My antenna is a good match on all bands except 20m. Even there it could be used on RX.
See http://qrp-labs.com/qcxmini/assembled.html .
See http://qrp-labs.com/ .
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