Pye PF70

One of my early jobs in the labs at Pye Telecom was rebanding the PF70 to the band that included 2m. This involved optimising coils and capacitors. 

In the end I was in development for nearly 40 years before I retired. I used to come home and say my work was my hobby. Mostly it was great fun and I enjoyed it.

Plans for today

Today I have several aims:

• Sort out PuTTY so I can increase the audio level on FT8 using my QMX+.
• Try the QMX+ on 6m FT8.
• Try the QMX+ (again) on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1937z:  I failed!  In the end I just went on 10m QRP FT8. That's the problem with being retired: there is always tomorrow. Things can wait.

Cars - NOT amateur radio

There were several vintage cars at our local museum and windmill on Sunday.

See  https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .

Bikes at the windmill - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday it was briefly sunny and these bikers 🚴 enjoyed a visit to the windmill next door.

By the way, this is our hedge in the front.

472kHz transverter breadboard

This photo from many years ago shows me breadboarding my 472kHz transverter.

UPDATE 0812z:  In the early autumn, I shall try again on 472kHz WSPR. Last season was very successful despite the low ERP.

PuTTY trouble

I am sure it’s finger trouble on my part, but I have never used a terminal emulator on Windows 10 before or any machine, so what should be easy with my QMX+ seems very hard for a PC idiot like me! 

One of my challenges today is to find out what I need to do to get it working. It can not be hard. It does not help that my brain gets so fuddled.

Sunspots - Monday July 15th

 Solar flux is 234 and the SSN 217. A=5 and K=1.

The recent uptick in solar activity must have pushed the peak of solar cycle 25 into later this year.

Experiments with the QMX+

 At the moment, I am testing my QMX+ transceiver on 15m and 10m QRP FT8. I am still experimenting to see what sequence I have to use to get the QMX+ soundcards to be recognised by the Windows 10 PC.  Currently it works fine although I cannot remember the sequence in which I plugged things in!!  

Also, the audio levels need increasing on the higher bands. This can be done by putting the PC in terminal mode and adjusting some numbers. I have yet to do this.

Overall, I think the QMX+ is a good rig. It will be even better when I adjust the audio levels on the higher bands.

European Es season

Usually, the Es season in Europe goes "off the boil" about now. Es can occur at any time of the year, although the peak times are in spring and early summer.

It is interesting that most of my spots on 10m QRP FT8 this morning were probably F2.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

Gun culture - NOT amateur radio

This morning, we see on the news that Donald Trump narrowly missed an attempt on his life.

The USA has a gun culture and a very high death rate due to guns. It is sad that political candidates cannot give their "pitch" without the fear of being shot.