One of my wife's Christmas presents was a rain gauge. We record the rain that has fallen each day and total up the month. February was very dry and, so far, in March, we have already had more than the whole of February!
9 Apr 2023
2m Fredbox QSO
This was in 2011 and shows me in QSO with the 10mW 2m AM Fredbox. Many years ago I had a cross channel QSO with it handheld. These days it is hard enough having an FM QSO on 2m!
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/fredbox.
Grand master? - NOT amateur radio
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| Playing chess with one of my grandsons |
There is no way I am good at chess!
A very useful app is https://www.chess.com/ where you can play against others online or against the computer.
The more successful chess players think well ahead - unlike me!
8m band
This is midway between 10m and 6m. It is only allocated to the Amateur Radio Service and in a few countries it has been allocated for experiments only to a handful of stations. In some cases this is very reluctantly.
It is my view that others could gain access without a licence in the ISM band from 40.66-40.70 MHz as long as local conditions are fully met. You need to convince yourself of the legality. In the UK this means 10mW ERP. On WSPR, this can go a very long way. In Australia 5mW of 8m WSPR has spanned 5000km!
In the next few months in the Es season 10mW ERP will definitely allow UK stations to be copied across Europe on 8m WSPR.
With sunspot numbers high at the moment, the F2 MUF exceeds 42MHz on occasions so very long distances are possible at times with FT8 or WSPR even with QRP.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/8m-band .
8 Apr 2023
Soon to be obscured - NOT amateur radio
Yesterday, some of the hedge on the south side of our garden was cut back. The view of the village church about 300m away is now very good. In a few weeks' time this will be obscured by leaves on the trees.
Now this foliage is cut back I want to replace my earth-electrode "antenna". In a few weeks this will be much harder.
10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
My 10m FT8 with the tiny QDX transceiver was turned on at 0835z.
UPDATE 1140z: 149 stations spotted and 42 stations have spotted my 10m FT8 QRP today with the QDX.
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| Stations that spotted my QRP today with the tiny QDX |
UPDATE 1909z: 216 spots of my 10m FT8 QRP today with the QDX.
Plans for today
One of my aims for today is to reinstall my earth-electrode antenna in the ground and try it out on MF with the FT-710. I shall probably go on 12m or 10m FT8 with the tiny QDX.
Absent friends?
It is odd how you do not see postings from people you know about for a while and then realise they are not there. Many times there is a good reason and they pop up again. For some time I have not heard from Mike Rainey W1TJ or Jay Wilson W5OLF. Just wondering if they are OK? If you have any news please let me know. They're kind and generous people.
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