OFCOM Communications Weekly

Every week OFCOM updates the data it holds about licences etc.. See the OFCOM website for the latest. 

10m QRP WSPR TX (Friday)

The 10m WSPR beacon was turned on about 1555z. My 500mW was immediately spotted in the Canary Is..

UPDATE 1658z:  4 unique stations have spotted me in the last hour.

8m QRP FT8 (Friday)

 At about 1555z, I turned on my QRP 8m FT8 on 40.680 MHz (TX first). At 1605z, no spots.

UPDATE 1635z: Phil EI9KP (649km) has spotted me again. The propagation puzzles me as it is too close for Es and I would have expected the Doppler on aircraft scatter to be too great to decode. He spots me regularly and I am always grateful. Nothing on 8m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1922z: S50B (1220km) has also spotted me. This is probably winter Es.

Amaryllis - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned a few days ago, we have 3 of these on the go. This one is in flower. 

They are magnificent house plants and great fun. 

This one will be past its best next week, but the second one is coming out!

23cm FT8 test

Only one local can TX on 23cms apparently. My best hope of a 2-way SSB QSO looks like G4BAO, but I get the impression John is away. Several locals can listen, but not TX.

So, my plan currently is to TX FT8, probably at an agreed time on Sunday and monitor PSKreporter. I am not expecting QSOs! Even to get a spot would be pleasing, HI.

Sunspots - Friday January 20th 2023

Solar flux is 219 and the SSN 166.  A=7 and K=0. The sunspot count and solar flux have been very good this month and the F2 MUF above 40 MHz on several times towards the USA.

70cm activity contest results

The results of the first 70cm activity contest of the year have just been released. I came near the bottom of the lower power section, so things can only improve, I hope!

Anglesey Abbey Mill Leat - NOT amateur radio

This is quite close to us by car. At the moment, it is dry, cold and sunny. 

WSJT-X or JTDX?

Up to now, I have always used WSJT-X for FT8. There have been some reports that JTDX decodes more stations. 

Do you have view please? I try to use the latest released version.

Ukraine war - NOT amateur radio

 At the height of the cold war I had many SSB contacts with stations all over the world including stations in the USSR. Sadly these days I go on SSB infrequently because of my poor voice. Amateur radio was a way of breaking down barriers.

A report in The Atlantic says there was a Ukrainian drone strike in early December on a Russian airbase some 500 miles south of Moscow. This airbase is supposed to house nuclear weapons. As far as I know, we heard little about this.

Sadly, we live in dangerous times.

In my view, most, if not all, conflicts are based on insecurity. It is much better to talk to avoid conflict than have wars. One of the dangers of wars is that all parties tend to hide the truth.

I very much hope the stupid conflict in Ukraine can be brought to an end quickly. Jaw, jaw, not war war ..... please.