10m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 0836z. At first it was on FM which seemed odd. Then I realised!

UPDATE 0926z:  3 stations have spotted me. As I had received no spots (which I thought was odd)  I quickly tried 15m FT8 to confirm everything was OK. 2 spots were soon received on 15m, so I QSYed back to 10m. I am surprised how few people I am seeing on 10m FT8. It is almost as people have QSYed to lower bands now the Es season is going as it's easier. I get the impression that most people are only really interested in working new countries, so 10m would be too hard if you are an"appliance operator".

UPDATE 1019z:  7 stations have spotted me today. Es?  By the time of the next solar cycle peak, I suspect amateur radio as we knew it will have all but ended. Hopefully I will be wrong. See map.

UPDATE 1134z: 27 stations have spotted me. Es I think.

UPDATE 1540z:   63 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 30 here including North and South America.

Sunday plans

 At the moment I think I shall try 10m 5W FT8 for a change.

Crumble

My wife makes a very good crumble.This one is wild blackberry and apple. It’s delicious with the ice cream.

Vegan "steak" pie

Usually I am a meat eater, so I bought this Vegan pie as an experiment. 

I am sure if I was given a blind test, I would not have been able to tell which was which. It was excellent, but far less expensive. 

I shall buy these again.

Heathkits

In my youth these were a way of getting on the air for less by making your own gear.  

They were famous for their step-be-step assembly instructions. These days it is less expensive to buy Japanese or Chinese made gear either new or second hand.

I thought Heathkit had died, then I saw a website which had a few products. Compared with Heathkits of old, these were very limited and very expensive. I thought this "rebirth" was doomed to failure. It would appear it still exists, much to my surprise.

Unless they increase their range and drop their prices I just can't see them surviving for long. They must have a very loyal group of supporters.

See https://shop.heathkit.com/ .

President Trump's "private" visit to Scotland

It is reported that this visit is accompanied by huge security. 

As this is a private visit to his golf courses, shouldn't Mr Trump pick up the security costs? It seems grossly unfair if this has to be done by the Scottish taxpayers.

Instead, why does he not try a bit harder in his quest for a Nobel peace prize by helping to get a lasting peace in the Middle East and the Ukraine?

Sunspots - Sunday July 27th

 Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 136.  A=12 and K=1.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My IC-705 at 5W to the vertical omni V2000 antenna has been on since about 0750z.

UPDATE 1953z:  248 stations (mostly in Europe) have spotted me. Plenty of Es I think. On 10m QRP WSPR just 26 stations have spotted me by comparison.

UPDATE 2055z:  QRT

Canterbury

We spent some time in Canterbury with our son this week. Canterbury has some very old buildings.

End fed halfwave antennas

These antennas are popular as they cover many bands and are easily erected. Especially with high power, RF in the shack can be an issue.

At the end of a halfwave the impedance is high so they are usually fed via a wideband transformer to bring the impedance closer to 50 ohms.  Wideband transformers are usually 1:49 or similar. On their harmonics the radiation pattern can be very odd.

They can be useful antennas, but are a compromise.