26 Feb 2024
Almonry, Ely - NOT amateur radio
The place in the photo has been serving food since the 1200s. Luckily the cheese scones are not that old 😉😉.
630m QRP WSPR overnight
In the last day and night, 26 stations have spotted my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. No astounding DX.
25 Feb 2024
630m QRP WSPR (Sunday)
My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on just after 2000z.
Early spring? - NOT amateur radio
RSP1B SDR RX
It was connected up briefly yesterday after downloading the software, which was very straightforward. It is good being able to cover 1kHz to 2GHz with the SDR.
I think there may be some noise from the PC getting into the RX, so I may add some ferrite chokes to the USB cable later. Watch this space!
UPDATE 1142z: I am surprised by the number of artifacts. Adding chokes made no difference to LF/MF noise floor, so noise must be external. I tried several antennas. Next thing to try is a sensitivity test on various bands using the FT817ND and the same antenna each time.
UPDATE 1232z: Tested 70cm sensitivity comparing the strength of the Leicester beacon. On my 2m big-wheel omni antenna this is just on the noise level on the FT817ND. It was much the same on the RSP1B with the same antenna. This suggests the 70cm sensitivity is similar. Next is to try the Kent beacon on the two rigs on 2m.
UPDATE 1550z: Still learning, but 6m, 2m and 70cm beacons copied OK. Nice seeing whole bands at a time.10m QRPP WSPR again (Saturday and Sunday)
After success on Friday, my 500uW (0.5mW) beacon is on again with the PA turned off. It was also on Saturday with no spots all day.
UPDATE 1825z: No spots. I think another day has passed with no spots.