At 0902z, my 500mW TX beacon was turned on. Already spots from the Canary Isles and a local.
UPDATE 1052z: 3 unique stations have spotted my QRP 10m WSPR today.
UPDATE 1540z: 14 unique stations spotting me today.
30 Jan 2023
Sunspots - Monday January 30th 2023
Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 80. A=5 and K=0. It is interesting that when the most active regions are pointing away from us, the sunspot count is still pretty good.
29 Jan 2023
6m incredible DX
First we had reports of a short path 6m opening for Europe to New Zealand. Now we have news of this DX via the long path (22100km). Totally amazing. No wonder they call it "the magic band"!
I get exited by seeing NZ on 10m, but this is 6m!!
10 GHz wideband FM
At one time Gunnplexers were popular, but there is a modern equivalent available at low cost (HB100). These can be bought on eBay for example.
Although I have not looked recently, I expect someone (or many?) have made 10 GHz WBFM transceivers with them.
Similar modules are also available for 24 GHz.
Wideband FM 10 GHz transceivers could be made with the 10 and 24 GHz modules without any microwave engineering at all. At the focus of a dish the 10 GHz ones have been used for ATV contacts over 100km.
If you know of WBFM transceivers designed around these, I'd love to take a look.
A quick look on eBay showed the 10 GHz units were available for just over £2.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/10ghz .
UPDATE 1535z: The link Jan has put in the comment below (in French) looks interesting and is just the sort of thing I had in mind.
8m FT8 QRP (Sunday)
No spots yet at 0947z.
I have heard of one 8m T&I permit being issued in the UK last week, so I remain hopeful that I shall be granted one this year.
Personally, I think it would have been far easier for OFCOM to have just granted a tiny, digital only, amateur allocation by NoV at 8m, with strictly no interference.
C'est la vie.
UPDATE 1200z: No spots today.
UPDATE 1343z: G8BCG (394km) spotted. He is located in central Cornwall and was very strong at 0dB S/N. This suggests aircraft reflection.
UPDATE 1444z: Just had news that an Australian 8m WSPR ISM beacon at just 5mW has been decoded in the Cook Is over 5900km away. I am convinced that ISM WSPR beacons could be operated by anyone in the UK without a licence and could certainly be copied in Europe by Es. They would probably reach the USA.The rules on ISM beacons vary with the country. In the UK we can operate on the 8m ISM band with 10mW ERP as long as the technical requirements and IR 2030 are met. In other countries there are different limits.
UPDATE 1850z: QRT.
Early start on 10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)
My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on early today. Already at 0943z I have been spotted by 3 unique stations.
UPDATE 1322z: USA stations now spotting me.
Ends of the spectrum
This was a Facebook memory from 2012 and shows my 481 THz optical beacon from then. I always enjoyed experimenting at the ends of the spectrum!!
28 Jan 2023
10m QRP WSPR (Saturday)
5 stations have spotted my 500mW QRP WSPR today. I was on from about 1600z. Now QRT.
8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
Despite being in for several hours late this afternoon, no spots on RX or QRP TX today.
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