10m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My IC-705 at 6W FT8 was turned on at 0645z.

UPDATE 1534z: 97 stations have spotted me. See map.

UPDATE 2200z: 166 stations have spotted me my QRP today.

Sunspots - Monday April 14th

 Solar flux is 164 and the SSN 80. A=15 and K=4.

Exhibition - NOT amateur radio

At the moment there is an exhibition doing the rounds in the UK. At the moment it is in our church in Burwell. It shows stories from the Bible in knitted figures.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My IC-705 at 6W 10m FT8 has been on since breakfast. 

UPDATE 1750z:  241 spots of me so far. Furthermost is Western Australia. The USA has started to come through now. See map.

Ephemeral beauty - NOT amateur radio

 

The spring blossom does not last long. 

The blossom on our ornamental cherry lasts about two weeks only.

Sunday plans

 After breakfast my plan is to go on 10m QRP FT8. 

Sunspots - Sunday April 13th

 Solar flux is 165 and the SSN 120. A=20 and K=4.

"Our" windmill next door - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned before, we live immediately next door to a fully restored 200 year old windmill. 

Earlier this week our son took this photo at night.

The future of amateur radio in the UK

 It is hard to predict the future, but some trends are clear:

• Amateur radio is, in the main, a hobby of white older men.
• People less often use amateur radio for chatting, preferring the internet.
• The hobby is attracting and keeping fewer young people.
• There is far less building and experimenting.
• The national society (RSGB) depends heavily on old men volunteering.
• Far fewer transceivers will be sold in the future as we age.
• Japanese manufacturers will increasingly question if there are still profits in amateur radio.
• The licencing authority (OFCOM) gains no revenue from amateur radio, just costs.
• We increasingly rely on fewer UK dealers.
• Some dealers will retire and close.
• Some magazines depend heavily on advertising revenue and would really suffer if this revenue stream stopped.

Take together, things will inevitably change.  The same situation is likely in many countries e.g. the USA and Germany.

It is my view, quite possibly totally wrong, that deregulation is the most likely outcome. One possibility is:

• Amateur radio will cease in its current form.
• All amateur radio bands will be deregulated so no licence will be required.
• Callsigns will become optional, but allocated by the RSGB if still needed.
• No interference must be caused.
• Amateur radio will merge with other licence free services like CB and ISM.

It is far from clear what the future holds, but change will come. One possibility is than any frequency may be used with the exception of certain restrictions such as frequencies allocated to the military or commercial services and broadcasting as long as no harmful interference is caused.

Am I concerned?  No. My interest has always been experimentation and any such changes are unlikely to make things worse. Also, most amateur radio operators are appliance operators these days, buying their transceivers from a dealer with little or no idea about how it works! I know of one local who does not know how to even use the transceiver he bought!

VLF earthmode

This was 14 years ago when I was still fit. I used to drive out in the car to see where my 5W beacon could be received.