R1155 receiver

With its companion TX the T1154, these were the main radios in Lancasters in WW2. I expect they were a familiar sight to my dad!

In the years following the war they were popular with radio amateurs on the surplus market.

This is a photo supplied by John G3ZTY of it installed in a Handley Page Hampden (on its side as space was so tight!).

Internet time

Many digital modes need the PC to have accurate time. For several months now I have just used the Windows 10/11 system of linking to internet time. As far a I can tell, this works perfectly.

How do you do this?  On Window 10 there is a time/date shown on the bottom right of the screen. I cannot speak for Windows 11, but I assume this is similar. RIGHT click and the select "adjust time and date". Select "sync now" in the box that appears. I do this every morning, but I doubt you have to do it this often. Once the tick appears your PC is synced to internet time. Easy.

10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

When on 6m, it means my 10m antenna is free, so I go on 10m WSPR with my 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon (if I remember!). This does not need the PC. Once the time is set (I use an atomic clock) it is entirely stand-alone.

UPDATE 0921z:  No spots.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned at about 0900z .

UPDATE 1010z: 16 English stations have spotted me this morning. No Es seen yet.

UPDATE 1815z: 61 stations have spotted me today. Lots of Es.

Sunspots - Sunday May 25th

 Solar flux is 130 and the SSN 105. A=5 and K=1.

What is this?

This was on the QRPer.com website, but I don't know what it is. It may have been a concept model that never got to market? I like the looks. If anyone has more data, please leave a comment.

Hamvention 2025

This is now well and truly over. 

Dayton, Ohio, USA (where it is held) is probably the biggest ham gathering on the planet and often the place where new rigs are announced. I am not aware of anything from the major Japanese companies.

Often visitors come from other countries. It would not surprise me if foreign visitor numbers are down this year.

6m 5W FT8 yesterday

 In all, 58 stations across Europe managed to spot my QRP 6m FT8. As yet, I have not yet seen any super DX on 6m.

Yaesu FTX 1F unboxing

My own view is this radio is far too expensive and lacks many essential features (you pay extra for GPS and it lacks wifi!! I don't think it has Bluetooth either). 

The ICOM  IC-705 looks far better value even before they dropped the price. Hopefully the price of the FTX 1F will soon fall so that it becomes a market leader. 

I have the feeling ICOM will soon sell the IC-705A with some features that kill the FTX 1F. Often the price of radios drops before they sell a new version.  If so, I think Yaesu is finished or soon will be. 

Selling a competitor to the IC-705 with what seems like fewer features at a higher price? Are they stupid? If I was in charge of their marketing team I would sack the lot. In the last few years they seem to have made some daft decisions. They come across as followers rather than leaders, and poor followers too.

Many like it, so I have attached the video of it being unboxed.

Sunspot cycle 25

Cycle 25 now looks like it has passed the peak and is on the way down according to NOAA. See their graph.  The black is actual and red is their forecast. 

Usually the up-slope to the peak is quicker than the decline to the minimum. So conditions on HF should be good for some years.

See  https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression