630m WSPR overnight

Although no great DX, there were more stations spotting my 10mW ERP 630m WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground last night. In the UK we are between storms and yesterday was much calmer, certainly here. One thing is I do not have to worry about antennas and towers in storms!

Sunspots - Tuesday January 23rd

Solar flux is 196 and the SSN 139. A=9 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

 My 630m QRP WSPR (10mW ERP) was turned on at about 1820z. So far,  9 stations have spotted me. The furthermost is EI4HQ (588km).

70cm FT8 (Monday)

As 8m (2.5W FT8) and 10m (500uW WSPR) resulted in no spots today, I am trying my luck with 2.5W 70cm FT8 to the vertical omni V2000 antenna. After about 10 minutes, no spots.

Outside of contests, I have no idea of activity levels. I might be better the 2m horizontal omni antenna.I shall swap antennas at 1700z.

2200m (137 kHz)

 

This photo was in the back of the garage in 2013. It was a Facebook memory.

Punting on the River Cam last week - NOT amateur radio

As long as you wrap up well, I guess this time of year is a good time to go punting. The photo shows last Tuesday when it was cold and bright. In the summer the river can be busy.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

Conditions look a bit more promising than yesterday (in places the MUF is above 40 MHz) so I am trying 8m FT8. No spots. At the moment I am on my dipole, but may try the loop which has a better match.

8m CEPT allocation proposal

As I could not immediately see on the RSGB website to whom it should be sent , I sent my 8m CEPT proposal to the RSGB General Manager with a request that it is forwarded to the right people.  Apparently these are the VHF Manager and the Spectrum Forum Chair.

I hope my request is looked at favourably as there is a great deal of propagation research that could be done by radio amateurs at 8m. There are countries within CEPT that have already granted amateurs access to this spectrum. Just 5 kHz within the 8m ISM band with very limited modes and power, by application, no interference, should encourage experimentation and avoid "chatting".

Maybe others would care to support this?

I am mindful that the real purpose of our hobby is self-training and research.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

There were fewer stations spotting me overnight. There could be several reasons. In the UK we had a severe storm with high winds (Storm Isha) so there may have been fewer stations on.  If my theory of the earth-electrode "antenna" forming a loop in the ground is correct the effective loop size will be smaller in wet weather. It is now bright and sunny with much lighter winds

Sunspots - Monday January 22nd

 Solar flux is 179 and the SSN 150. A=6 and K=0.