Dayton Hamvention

Mid may sees the Dayton Hamvention in the USA. This is probably the biggest amateur radio gathering on the planet. Often, the big manufacturers use it to announce new products, even if they are still in development.

I really hope Yaesu announces a real successor to the FT817/818, both of which are no longer in production because of component shortages. This is their very last chance. Otherwise I fear they will leave the amateur market. The impression you get is of a floundering market strategy in which they cannot tell their a*e from their elbow. 

What do we want?

• SDR based RX
• Better battery pack
• Auto ATU
• More bands
• Speech processor
• etc.

None of this is rocket science. Yaesu - pull your finger out!! Do it NOW!

UK licence changes?

OFCOM is looking at licences to improve efficiency. I have no idea what the changes will be. OFCOM is seeking opinions. Look on the OFCOM website for details.

Sunspots - Sunday April 16th 2023

Solar flux is 176 and the SSN 151. A=9 and K=1.

Not me guv, honest!! - NOT amateur radio

The lawns were cut.... then we had hail and thunder! 

10m QRP FT8

Just now I looked on 4m FT8 spots in the last 12 hours and decided it was not worth the effort. Instead, I am on 10m QRP FT8 with the tiny QDX transceiver.

So far, on RX spots from all over the world and 11 spots of me on TX with the furthermost 3C3CA (5482km) in Equatorial Guinea. At the moment 10m really is good.

UPDATE 1502z: As we had hail and thunder, I went QRT. Up to then (about 20 minutes ago) I have had reports from 35 stations despite the QRP.

Stations spotting my
10m QRP FT8 so far today

UPDATE 1744z:  Storms have passed and the QDX turned on again. 57 stations have spotted my 10m QRP FT8 so far. It seems amazing that such a tiny, multi-band, QRP transceiver works so very well.

UPDATE  1754z:  Although no USA stations have spotted me yet, I hope they do so before the propagation closes. This was quite late on 12m yesterday. On 10m, we can expect the band to close earlier. Currently 58 spots of me today. 

Saturday plans

Yesterday, I tried 12m QRP FT8 as an experiment. It was not as busy as 10m, but I was still spotted widely. More stations spotted me than I expected especially with QRP. 

Today I may give 4m FT8 another go. At some point I must install SPECTRAN on my PC and sort out the optical interface. 

Want a laugh? - NOT amateur radio

I saw this yesterday but I have no idea where it originated. 

Sunspots - Saturday April 15th 2023

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 157. A=7 and K=1.

Kindness

To avoid embarrassing him, I shall not reveal name or callsign. 

Completely out of the blue, someone sent me a 3 element PCB antenna for 23cm. It was a TOTAL surprise!  Thank you so much.  The antenna will get well used.

In my experience, radio amateurs are a kind, thoughtful and warm-hearted bunch. The spirit of amateur radio is alive and well.   If you can make somebody happy by an act of random kindness, please do so. This is what life is truly about.  In my time I have been at the receiving end of such kindness several times and it means so very much.

Thank you again!

In my experience there are far more kind people in the world than bad ones, it is just that kindness is not newsworthy!

Our village museum - NOT amateur radio

OK, I am biased! 

We live next door to one of the best local museums in the UK. It is vast and there is a huge variety of things to explore over many buildings including our 200 year old, fully restored, windmill which is just a tiny bit of it.

See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .