High office - NOT amateur radio

There has been a lot in the UK media about people in high office "falling from grace". 

Now, we all have faults and are all far from perfect. After all, we are just humans. 

However, those in high office are bound to come under close scrutiny. It is important that those in high office (e.g. in government) are of the highest standards. It is not wrong for folk to be good business people. If they get rich because of their own business acumen I have no issues as long as nobody was "trodden on" on their journey. 

What I deeply have a problem with is people who are not honourable and not honest. People who govern us must be of the highest moral standards and above reproach. If they are not, they will be judged. 

Recently we have had several in the UK government that have not been above reproach. They have only themselves to blame.

I am not after perfection, just honesty.

'Our windmill' - NOT amateur radio

This was the windmill next door at 4.50pm today. This is the view from the lounge window. 

Robin - NOT amateur radio

This afternoon we went for lovely winter walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey. As well as seeing an old work colleague who volunteers there, we saw this robin. They are such photogenic birds.

QDX diodes

As mentioned before, I have an assembled QDX transceiver on order from QRP Labs. 

Running from my standard 13.8V PSU, there is a risk of over dissipation in the PA devices, so I intend to drop the supply to the QDX with a number of silicon diodes. I can add up to 10, but will probably add 6. The diodes have arrived. This solution is noise free and the diodes are well rated.

Early start on 8m QRP FT8

 At 0902z, my QRP 8m FT8 was turned on. No spots yet today. 

It has been surprising just how many spots I have had on 8m, considering the few monitors and the time of the year.  Many of the nearer reports look like aircraft reflection, but my 2.5W and dipole have made it across the Atlantic at least twice. 

I do hope my 8m permit is granted for this year as there is so much still to research.  

If it is not granted, there will definitely be times when I shall be on the ISM bands with 10mW ERP WSPR without a licence. The latter is, I believe, a course that anyone in the UK could take. Not being a legal expert you will have to judge your own legal position, although I very much doubt OFCOM would come knocking! In nearly 50 years I have never been inspected. When the man last came, he was more interested in a cup of tea!

My personal view is that OFCOM should have allocated a tiny, digital only, amateur band at 8m by NoV on a strict no interference basis. This would have meant full traceability whether on-air or off. 

Both OFCOM and the RSGB seem dead against even a tiny 8m amateur band even by NoV. Personally I find this stance hard to understand. More public statements on this might help us to understand their reasoning. In the absence of data, we can only assume the military is against this. Personally, I think not making their reasons public is short-sighted and unhelpful. We should have full confidence in both the RSGB (that depends heavily on committed volunteers) and OFCOM.  There must be good reasons for their position, so please share these!!

UPDATE 1042z: Spotted by WESSEXSDR probably via aircraft reflection. This mode seems more common than I thought at 8m and could well account for the frequent spots of my 2.5W by EI9KP (649km). It could be random MS, but I somehow doubt this.

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

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.

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.

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!!

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/ .

10 GHz wideband FM

One of my regrets since my 2013 stroke is not experimenting with 10 GHz WBFM. 

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.