Rally this weekend

The following rally has been notified to me. It is always advisable to check first.

Sunday June 4th - Spalding Radio Rally,  Holbeach, Lincs, PE12 7PR.  Contact Graham on rally2023@sdars.org.uk

Sunspots - Friday June 2nd 2023

Solar flux is 164 and the SSN 143.  A=13 and K=2.

Invasions - NOT amateur radio

In the last year, we have all seen the invasion of a sovereign nation by its bigger neighbour. 

In the past this has occurred on many occasions.  In my view, invading another country is wholly wrong.  In the past, Great Britain has been guilty too. 

We have to try to understand the context of a dispute. Often we are fed a line which is only partially correct or not the whole story.

In no way is this an excuse for any country to walk into, or terrorise, another. 

In my view the Russian "special operation" in Ukraine is despicable in the 21st century.

8m 2W WSPR (Thursday)

 Currently, I am on 40.680 MHz WSPR (TX 20%, DF 1560 Hz, 2W). It is now 0958z. No spots.

UPDATE 1133z:  Just 2 spots by HC02 (1808km) in southern Portugal.

UPDATE 1100z: Another (weaker) spot by HC02. 

Spots of my 8m QRP WSPR today by HC02

UPDATE 1904z: Plenty of spots of me by HC02 (1808km) today. Some suggest even ISM power levels (10mW ERP in the UK) would have been copied.

The next solar peak

According to the latest update to my favourite site for solar data, the next sunspot maximum is still shown as December 2023 with a smoothed number of 142.5. This makes it a very short time since the minimum. The information was updated today.

See  https://www.solen.info/solar/ .

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

It is only now 0930z and already I have been spotted by 41 unique stations!  Incredible Es conditions today.

UPDATE 1003z: Already an incredible 57 spots of my QRP 10m WSPR. At the moment, this looks like the best day this Es season.

UPDATE 1936z: An incredible 65 unique station spots of me. I think today I have received more spots on 10m than I can ever recall. QRT now.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

This morning, I turned on my 2.5W 8m FT8 earlier than usual at about 0650z. It is now 0819z and already there are spots from 4 countries. A very good start to the day. 

Sunspots - Thursday June 1st 2023

Solar flux is 161 and the SSN 147.  A=10 and K=2.

10mW ERP on 8m WSPR without a licence?

Today alone, I have had several reports on 10m WSPR that suggest 10mW ERP at ranges around 3000km would be copied.  

I am convinced following emails from OFCOM that, as long as ISM rules are carefully followed, a licence is NOT needed to run a beacon in the 40.66-40.70 MHz ISM band in the UK. This could well be true in other countries too. In the UK this means 10mW ERP.   It is my firm belief that such beacons, would be received at great range. It is a great pity more people are not trying this.

This is NOT the Amateur Radio Service. It is ISM.

10m FT8 RX on the cheap

This has definitely been on before, but as we approach sunspot maximum (and beyond) a timely reminder is in order. 

This works remarkably well and can be made very inexpensively, yet will bring in stations across the world most days. It may be built "dead bug" or, if you are really keen, as a simple PCB. As I have said before, it would make a great club project on a PCB.  The circuit is simple, so a single sided PCB should be straightforward. It means the "big rig" is free yet 10m FT8 may be monitored.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10ft8r-rx .