Sunspots - Tuesday September 4th 2018

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN still zero. A=5 and K=1.

Simple Regen RXs and Transceivers

You may be wondering just how simple you can make an effective HF receiver. You may like to try this.  It works remarkably well.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/regen

If you want an ultra-simple transceiver, try this:

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/feter-80m-qrpp-cw-transceiver

Record UK Summer - NOT amateur radio

It looks like England has just had its hottest summer since records began. The UK as a whole saw temperatures matching those seen in previous hot summers.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45399134

Google Analytics - NOT amateur radio

For some weeks the map showing me where the audience for the blog comes from during the day has not been working. This particular map is only available to the blog owner.

In the past sudden increases in visitor numbers always tied up with increased interest from eastern Europe and Russia. These "blips" seemed to happen about once a month. I assumed these were probing bots rather than visits from people with a genuine interest. With the map not working I cannot tell where visits are coming from.

Already today my blog visits are way up. Already I have well exceeded the number of visits on a normal day. Now, these visits could be genuine, but they look exceedingly suspicious to me.

Norwich Collage - NOT amateur radio

My wife created this collage of our visit to Norwich on Saturday. It includes 3 of the cathedral, Elm Hill, the market, Edith Cavell's statue and the river Wensum.

Autumn? - NOT amateur radio

We have had a long hot summer here in the UK.  The Met Office classes Sept 1st as the first day of autumn.

Already, there are some signs of autumn. Nights are a bit chillier and there is early morning dew on the grass. Soon we'll see migrant birds arriving here from Scandinavia.

These lanterns were spotted on a walk yesterday in the village.

PF8

Over the years, several people have asked me about this radio. Back in the 1970s I was involved in the design team.

It was made famous in a TV series called "The Professionals".

The PF8 manual is also available as a downloadable file at the bottom of my page on my main website.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf8

10m FT8

As yesterday, I decided to give 10m FT8 another go. So far today, 6 stations spotted in 3 countries with best DX on FT8 RX CS7AOM (1422km).

UPDATE 1254z:  Now 7 stations in 3 countries spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1752z: VP8LP (12773km) was spotted as the best DX.

UPDATE 1840z: ZD7JC (7606km) on St Helena spotted. Sunspot minimum? 10m? No problems!

UPDATE 1953z: I had to move to 2m FM for the East Cambs net. On my return to 10m FT8  CA3JBD (11760km) in Chile was spotted. Great mode this FT8! What did I miss, I wonder?

Ferrite loaded antennas

15m antenna

Giorgio I2GSI has been experimenting with ferrite loaded and compressed antennas for 20 years and has some good success with 20W CW or less. He sent me a few photos and has written some articles. The true spirit of amateur radio!

6m antenna

20m antenna

Sunspots - Monday September 3rd 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number zero. A=5 and K=2.