7 Mar 2023

Good looking fellow? - NOT amateur radio


This photo shows me when I was young. Not much change on the top!! I have been bald since my early 20s. It did not last long! 

E-field probes (EFP)


These are very small RX antennas that can be very effective at VLF, LF and MF.  As you move HF, they get less effective. The main issue is that at lower frequencies external noise dominates.  

There are several designs around. Important factors are dynamic range (they can be hit with some very strong signals) and positioning away from buildings to minimise noise pick-up.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/e-field-probe-efp .

80m FETer transceiver

One of the challenges in amateur radio is how simple can you make a rig that really communicates? Some years ago I designed and built this unit for 80m CW that appeared in GQRP SPRAT. It is one of the simplest transceivers you can make. It really works!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/80m-feter-transceiver .



Sunspots - Tuesday March 7th 2023

 Solar flux is 188 and the SSN 173. A=15 and K=3.

6 Mar 2023

446 radios - NOT amateur radio

It amazes me that these are so inexpensive!  I have seen them as low as £22.99 for 2 on Amazon!! There are probably units that are even less expensive.

How do they makes profits?

See https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0967M841N

Too small - NOT amateur radio

For many years I was a Christian.  These days I am perhaps better described as agnostic.  I am not sure what I believe.

Christianity seems too small for me in a world of many faiths. Then you have the probable existence of trillions of planets in the universe. There are probably billions of planets in our galaxy alone and billions of galaxies!!

My view currently is that all religions are hints towards the truth. Christianity seems too parochial these days. I cannot believe that all the religions in the world other than Christianity are wrong.

My own view is that we are all capable of evil given the right triggers. We would rather this was not true, but history proves us wrong. Just shortly before I was born, millions were put to death in gas chambers by the people of a civilised country. I can imagine us being just as evil had circumstances been different.

Throughout history, religions of all sorts have been the trigger for evil against fellow men.

In many ways I envy people with strong religious beliefs, but to me, this is not enough. 

I am a strong believer of the existence of good and evil. There is clearly evil in the world, but often (always?) this has its roots in evil done to the perpetrator. It is my firm belief that there is far more good in the world than evil. Sadly, good deeds are rarely newsworthy.

All we can hope is we leave this world having worked for some good within it.

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

As Monday morning is housework time here, I might put my WSPR 500mW W5OLF beacon on for a while.

UPDATE 1310z: 10 stations have spotted me today.

Upcoming optical tests on 481 THz

It is years since I did optical experiments. My current plan is to do some local tests with QRSS bouncing off buildings. If these are successful, I want to try an "over the horizon" test with G4HJW. 

My first task will be to install Spectran 2 software as this will be needed to decode QRSS and to check the signal margins.

Muntjac deer poo - NOT amateur radio


Bet you never expected this! 

In recent weeks we have had a lot of these small deer in our garden. They have eaten some plants. When I cut the grass for the first time this year recently I noticed they left me a small "gift". 

Club 72?

Some years ago there was a Russian QRP club that was quite active on 20m CW. 

At the moment Russia is not in our good books over Ukraine, but I personally have no issues with the Russian people. Indeed, at the height of the "cold war" many Russians were worked and, via the medium of amateur radio, barriers were broken down. All were human beings just like us! 

In my view we have to keep politics out of amateur radio. One of the great things about our hobby is we are all equal whether we come for Russia, the USA, Ghana or wherever. If will be a sad day if barriers are ever erected.

Does Club-72 still exist?