Sunspots - Wednesday April 18th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number 0.  A=4 and K=2.

2m UKAC Results

The results are out for the 2m UKAC activity contests organised by the RSGB. In the low power section I am 66th out of 132 places. Considering I only use 5W to an omnidirectional antenna and usually stay on for around 30 minutes, I am quite happy.

Beetle - NOT amateur radio

This very iridescent beetle was seen earlier today at Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, UK. It is probably a very common sort.

10m FT8 RX

After a very brief period on TX, I am again on 10m FT8 RX. Not unexpectedly, no spots. At least I try!

UPDATE 1042z: No 10m FT8 spots here today so far.

UPDATE 1134z: G7BXU (124km) near or in Reading spotted. This could be tropo or aircraft reflection (Heathrow stack?). Nothing else so far today.

UPDATE 1156z: Now G4YBI (83km) to the east of London spotted. This is already 100% better than yesterday.

UPDATE 1629z: No further spots here today on 10m FT8 RX. Not exactly promising, but I'll monitor until about 0830z "just in case" there is some real DX. Then I'll try a different band for a while.

UPDATE 2024z: No further 10m FT8 spots today, so time to go QRT.

End of season on 472kHz?

Last night I was on 472kHz WSPR RX. Only 3 different stations were received, whereas earlier in the year I copied 12-15 different stations in the same sort of period and with the same gear and antenna. My conclusion is the "season" is ending and there are now fewer stations active. I guess many will return later in the year.

2m FT8 RX - not today

As you will have seen from earlier posts, 2m FT8 has been a true revelation. The 15 second TX periods mean even very short openings are now seen. As a result, unheard of DX (at least for me!) is being copied even with my omnidirectional antenna. When I do go on TX (maybe for 3 minutes a day) I am regularly copied over 300km despite only using 2.5W QRP.

6m - magic band

In the Es season, this is a great band allowing a long way to be worked with QRP and simple antennas. This summer, it is likely to be even better with FT8. Although FT8 activity on 6m is currently well down on 2m, I suspect this will soon change once we see some E-layer DX.

Last spring and summer, quite a lot of real DX (outside Europe) was copied on 6m JT65. This year, I shall probably concentrate on FT8 to see what can be spotted.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/6m_op

Ant (of Ant and Dec) - NOT amateur radio

Allegedly, Ant (a UK TV star) has been fined £86k and banned from driving for being over the drink-drive alcohol limit. He is very sorry for his actions. Sadly, his reputation has been badly dented.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43786771

The Liner-2

This was the very first 2m SSB rig available in Europe and it revolutionised 2m.

I first got mine second-hand in the mid-1970s and was amazed how far one could work on 10W of SSB, especially as before I'd only used a few watts of FM or AM. Stations that I could never imagine hearing, let alone working, suddenly were within my grasp, even with just a dipole or HB9CV antenna. This was the experience of many in those exciting early days of SSB in Europe when activity was around 145.41MHz.

The Liner-2 had plenty of faults! It was basically a modified 10m rig and produced lots of spurii, especially if the power was pushed up. Many used it with a 9 element Tonna antenna and a 30W linear. Having said all that, I was able to work some amazing DX with a simple, indoor antenna and the Liner-2 barefoot.

There was also a 70cm version produced by Belcom, although I never owned one or even saw one.

In its day, it was a trailblazer. We have come a very long way since then.

Sunspots - Tuesday April 17th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today. The sunspot number is zero. A=3 and K=1.