FT-710 and FT8

As our visitor arrived earlier than expected, I was unable to do the firmware update until Friday AM. I am taking things in easy stages. The CAT now works correctly. FT8 RX works correctly. The PC is doing (yet another!!) Windows update and I will try FT8 TX next.

My brain is like treacle with things that would have been so easy in the past now being unbelievably hard.

Stations spotting my FT8 TX with
10W from the FT-710 on 10m today

UPDATE 1451z: Now working on FT8 on TX and RX. For some reason it refused to work on TX with RTS selected (as they say do), but works when CAT selected in WSJT-X. Odd. 144 stations have already spotted me!

UPDATE 1506z: OK I am lazy!  My TX is currently set to "fix TX frequency" in WSJT-X, meaning I rarely go after others. With 271 stations spotting me, I have not been called by a single station.  ALC is very low and I am running about 10W.

UPDATE 1528z: So far today on 10m FT8  with about 10W spotted by 317 unique stations using the FT-710. May try 12m.

UPDATE  1758z: My 2m big-wheel and coax match on my FT-710, so I am giving 4m a try. I am on 70.154 MHz with about 10W of FT8, although there seems some uncertainty about the 4m FT8 frequency.

UPDATE 1827z:  No spots of me (or others) on 4m FT8. I hope I am on the right spot.

UPDATE 2101z: I gave up on 4m for several reasons: not sure of FT8 frequency, poor antenna, low activity. Now on 6m FT8 and being spotted by quite a few. Furthermost on 6m FT8 is MI0BOT (478km). The convention in the UK is to TX evens, but of course more UK stations will spot you on "odd" periods as they are listening then. Judging by the number of stations on RX (none at all!) I guess most people are just on RX.

Stations spotting me
tonight on 6m FT8 TX

UPDATE 2211z:   QRT now. 14 spots of me on 6m FT8 TX.

Sunspots - Friday March 17th 2023

 Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 84.  A=7 and K=0.

Future projects

These are the projects I want to do in the coming weeks:

• 23cm SSB QSO with G4BAO.
• Local 481 THz QRSS tests bouncing off local things like the windmill and church.
• NLOS optical test at 481 THz with G4HJW.
• FT8 with the FT-710. 
• Continued 8m tests, probably with WSPR near 40.680 MHz USB dial.
• Write another article ( I have an idea).
• Erect a 4m band halo.

I wonder how many I shall actually do? Ask me in 4 weeks!

Total exhaustion - NOT amateur radio

Things are far harder for me nowadays. Although I try to do "normal" things , I get exhausted very quickly after mental or physical things. This must be a combination of getting older and my 2013 stroke. My stroke after-effects cause me to be giddy almost all my waking hours. This is a "hidden disability" that few can see or understand.

As I have said many times, never judge a book by its cover. Many people suffer in silence whilst casual observers can see nothing wrong and mistake exhaustion for laziness.

FT-710 and FT8

As you may recall, I have been struggling to get this working. Later today I have a "window" to update the firmware and try the recommended settings again. Hopefully I can get things going.

Our grandchildren go shortly and our best man (from a long time ago!) arrives late afternoon.

The death of AM on the amateur bands

Although there are still a few AM nets on some bands, the mode has mostly been replaced by FM and SSB. This is a pity as in years gone by people "chanced" on amateur radio by listening on short wave.  I well remember hearing amateurs on 160m AM many years ago. I remember copying G4PJ 4 miles away on a crystal set in the 1960s when he was on AM.

These days, people can no longer just chance on amateur radio. Our hobby has changed and the way newcomers "find" the hobby will be different. Modes like FT8 may be fine for working DX, but it is unlikely to be an introductory route for newcomers. As a person with a poor voice, I quite like FT8 and WSPR. At the same time, I am conscious that these modes cannot be ways in to the hobby.

AM had many advantages: gear was simple, ex-PMR radios were practically being given away and signals could be detected by very simple detectors. The simplest was just a diode detector. As I recall weak signals were better on AM than FM.  Of course AM carriers could be a real nuisance. 

Many today have never experienced AM, which is sad.

Even MW/LW broadcast AM is being phased out.

Several of my designs in the past were for simple AM transceivers. See my website at www.g3xbm.co.uk or my free PDF book for details.

Where I lived as a teenager - NOT amateur radio

This very old engraving shows Kingsbridge, Devon as it was over 200 years ago. 

Although it has changed quite a bit, the main town is still very recognisable. I lived there from 1959-1970. It is at the head of the Kingsbridge Estuary, that is actually a ria or drowned river valley. 

It is still a very beautiful area today.

Sunspots - Thursday March 16th 2023

 Solar flux is 136 and the SSN 96.  A=29 and K=1.

Eddystone EC10 RX

This RX was first introduced in the late 1960s and was the first transistorised communications RX. It sold for £48 when it first appeared, and we all (well quite a few of us) wanted one.

By modern standards it was hopeless. At high HF the image rejection was pathetic because of the low IF. They still appear on sites like eBay for a fortune. They have become collector's pieces. I briefly owned one a long time ago, goodness knows why. They used germanium transistors and these became leaky with time. Many need replacing. Mechanically, these receivers were excellent. Shame about the electronics!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/eddystone-ec10 .

Burston strike school, Norfolk - NOT amateur radio

This evening, we went to our local history society meeting. It was a talk on the Burston Strike School in Norfolk. The speaker did not use a projector and just spoke. It was excellent. 

I had not heard about this before, but interested to hear this was all so near. It was in an age when society was very stratified.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burston_Strike_School .