Before you ask, NO I am not pregnant and don't you be so darn cheeky! 😀😀
24 Nov 2024
Faroes - NOT amateur radio
Some places are much hotter whereas some (like the photo posted by a friend in the Faroe Is) are much colder.
There was snow on the hills and temperatures of 4 degrees C in September! I expect they see the northern lights far more often up there.
Exceptional E-W F2 MUF
In the last few weeks the F2 MUF has exceeded 50MHz "across the pond" on a few occasions. I would expect this at times at the height of a good(ish) solar cycle. It would reach 8m far more often. Indeed my 8m 2.5W FT8 to a dipole was regularly spotted in Canada, the USA and Caribbean in autumn 2023 as well as this autumn.
In my view this is where 8m FT8 could score. Just occasionally for a short period, the MUF will be high enough. These openings are far less likely to be spotted on CW or SSB, whereas with 8m FT8 and PSKreporter it is far more likely these brief openings will be noticed.
As the sunspots decline the N-S MUF may support 8m FT8 to South Africa more often than we might think.
70cm activity contest
It is a dead certainty that I have never even come close to winning the AL section of this contest! Why? 10W to a 2m big-wheel omni antenna and well less than an hour of operating.
The results were published earlier and I remain 51st out of 92 stations in the low power (AL) section. I am certain that if my voice allowed me to stop on longer, a much better score would be possible. I only really take part because of the activity. It is also good for my voice.
6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
My QMX+ has been on since about 1035z. So far, 5 English stations have spotted me. The QMX+ initialised after a few minutes!
10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)
My 500mW WSPR has been on since about 1015z. So far spotted by 10 stations.
UPDATE 1706z: 37 stations have spotted me with the furthermost ND7M (8568km).
23 Nov 2024
Climate change - NOT amateur radio
It is a very odd person (probably living on Planet Zog) that cannot see that our climate is changing. We may argue if this is cyclical or as a result of man, but changing it is.
In some countries it is of minor significance, whereas for some it is becoming an existential crisis. In some places there have been devastating floods, or droughts or very powerful hurricanes. If sea levels rise whole nations could disappear beneath the waves.
A fact of life is that poor countries suffer the most. Many of these we depend on for food. In the long run we will all suffer if we are selfish as nations.
Digital modes compared
This is a link I came across when looking at videos about LongChat (see previous post). I think it was done before FT8 appeared. I think FT8 works down to about -21dB S/N although I have had some decodes at -24dB S/N.
LongChat
This is a mode of message transmission I had not heard about before. It is claimed messages can be sent using extremely low power using chirped signals. I am no expert at all on digital communications!
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