OFCOM agreed certain targets for rural mobile phone coverage with the major UK mobile operators. It looks as if these targets have been met, but not in Scotland yet. See the OFCOM website for details.
12 Sept 2024
Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio
This National Trust property is not far from us. We went for a walk there earlier.
8m FT8 RX (Thursday)
My "proper" 8m dipole has still to be erected as I need some help putting it up as I am very giddy now on a ladder.
Instead, I am on my endfed Par antenna on 8m FT8 RX where the match on 8m is not very good. This was the antenna with which I worked 2 Spanish stations on 8m FT8 over the summer. As the match on 8m is poor, I do not like to TX on 8m FT8 with this antenna for too long.
I hope to be on 8m QRP FT8 TX very soon with the dipole and a good match.
Stations monitoring 8m FT8 today |
70cm FT8 activity contest
It never fails to amaze me what distances can be spotted at any time on 70cm. My antenna is just a 2m omni big-wheel. Imagine if I had a 70cm yagi on a mast! It is a great pity 70cm is underused. Especially with FT8, I would expect it to be a great band for working Western Europe and the UK.
The disappearance of AM broadcasters
Many AM broadcasters are closing down.
In 10 years' time the MW and LW broadcast bands may be empty of AM stations. This is a great pity as many of us came into RF via simple MW and LW crystal sets. These are easy to make.
Many AM shortwave broadcasters are also closing down as many now prefer to access these stations via the internet. This is also cheaper.
In 20 years' time I wonder what MF and HF will sound like? I suppose much of this spectrum will be kept by the military "just in case" it is ever needed if the satellites were jammed or destroyed.
It seems the shortwaves will largely be abandoned. In this case, I do hope amateurs (or licence free services) are granted access to a wider array of frequencies. Not that I can see it ever happening, but wouldn't it be great if we were granted access to all of HF at low power on a non-interference basis?
11 Sept 2024
365project - NOT amateur radio
One of the pleasures of 365project.org is seeing some wonderful photos from around the world.
Tomatoes- NOT amateur radio
When we got back from holiday we found these growing in our two tomato bags. Home grown always smell and taste delicious.
Holiday over - NOT amateur radio
However, Malta is very built up (the most dense in Europe) and what little countryside there was was rocky and barren.
If you go on holiday for sun, swimming pools and food it might suit you. Overall, I am glad we went, but I doubt we will return.
70cm activity contest entry
Often I forget to submit my entry into this UKAC session. With my pathetic score I shall never even be close to winning, but it is good to show my support.
It is great to see the activity. The "real" stations were working some serious DX.