Sunspots - Tuesday January 17th 2023

 Solar flux is 228 and the SSN 186. A=14 and K=1.

PF8 Manual - NOT amateur radio

Many will remember this famous transceiver from the 1980s. It was made famous by featuring in the TV series "The Professionals". A copy of the PF8 service manual is available here.

Magdelene College, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

 

This is the entrance to Magdelene College, Cambridge looking toward the famous Pepys Library.

Cambridge has many fine buildings.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

So far, I have been on 10m QRP (500mW) TX with my W5OLF beacon. 2 unique stations spotting me.

UPDATE 1352z:  8 unique stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1845z:  Now QRT. Today my 500mW 10m WSPR was spotted by 9 stations.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

 For about 30 minutes, I have been on 40.680 MHz (TX first) QRP FT8. No spots.

UPDATE 1850z:  No spots. Now QRT.  An absolutely disappointing day.

That free Scrapbook

This is now at Issue 3. The link is here .

Sunspots - Monday January 16th 2023

 Solar flux is 234 and the SSN 117.  A=30 and K=1.

DATV via Oscar 100

As mentioned yesterday there is a live stream of the (D?)ATV net on Oscar 100 starting at 2000z Thursdays. I must try to remember this as I have never seen live ATV via this geosynchronous satellite.

See https://batc.org.uk/live/oscar100net .

10m Simple Sideband

Before my 2013 stroke, I was working on a simple rig for 10m. At the time I was thinking of a dead simple DSB transceiver, but these days a better approach might be an SSB transceiver based around an SI5351 or similar synthesiser.

Whatever the approach, I had in mind a very simple, low cost rig on a single PCB.

10m is very good again and should be good for several years. It is good for Es most summers even in sunspot minimum years. It is also good for local natters. Antennas are small and CB verticals work well.

Such a simple design would make a low cost club project. When built, such a rig could be very useful especially if made as a synthesised SSB rig.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-simple-sideband.

6m F2?

It would appear that better stations are working into Africa by F2 on 6m. F2 is usually better on N-S paths than E-W. I know of at least 1 serious 6m operator that has 4 x 6 elements on 6m. That is seriously keen!

The sunspot number and solar flux are usually high most days, so the N-S MUF probably goes above 50 MHz briefly.