Gooderstone, Norfolk - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned yesterday, we visited Gooderstone Water Gardens in Norfolk yesterday. It was the first time.

For some reason, this gem of a place had passed us by. We were both surprised that it had not been mentioned by a friend, even though I have been hereabouts since 1970! It really was great.

Far East again being worked from Western Europe on 6m FT8

As often happens in June, the very long 6m path from Western Europe to the Far East is again being worked, at least by the better equipped stations. It remains to be seen whether or not I spot any with my very basic set-up here! I use a V2000 omni vertical fed with CB coax. There are plenty of Europeans being copied her via Es on 6m.

UPDATE 1133z: 63 EUs spotted on 6m FT8 RX, but no Far East here again 😕

UPDATE 1246z: 74 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX. At the moment my impression is that "real DX" is not as good as last season. Yes, I have spotted Europe, Asia, Caribbean and North America on 6m FT8, but I think this year there were fewer stations. OK, it is still June and things could still get better.

UPDATE 1552z: 121 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX. No "real DX" on my modest set-up!

UPDATE 2238z: Some minutes ago I QSYed to 2m FT8 (see later post).

Sunspots - Friday June 28th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the sunspot number 11 (just be thankful it is not zero!). A=4 and K=2.

Frog or Toad? - NOT amateur radio

Today we went to Oxburgh Hall (National Trust) and then on to Gooderstone Water Gardens where we saw this little fellow. Pretty sure it is a frog and not a toad, but I am hopeless! See https://www.gooderstonewatergardens.co.uk/

Both places are in Norfolk, UK.

Rally

Saturday 29 JUNE (Saturday) : HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING ARC FREE RADIO RALLY

Dubmire Royal British Legion Club, Britannia Terrace, Fencehouses, DH4 6LJ. Doors open 10.15am (10am for disabled). The rally is open to trade, clubs and private sellers/exhibitors. Table space is limited so it will be allocated on a first come first served. There is no charge for sellers and is free entry as well. Donations welcome to the Royal British Legion Club. Hot drinks available and a licenced bar will be open from 11am. Bookings/info: Amanda Weston, M6LXK, 0778 715 5745, westona1@tiscali.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Bury St Edmunds - NOT amateur radio

Bury St Edmunds has a fine market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Often fruit and vegetables are as good as in the supermarkets and far cheaper.

There is a small museum in the market square (at the back of the photo) called Moyses Hall in what is, I think, the oldest building there.

6m FT8 RX

In the last few hours 10 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX. Some could be Es.

UPDATE 0848z: Now 25 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX in 7 countries so far today. Some are Es, but I suspect some nearer ones are aircraft reflections as they are very strong and too near for Es.

UPDATE 1547z:  Now 77 stations spotted in 15 countries today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1915z: 170 stations spotted so far with best DX on 6m FT8 RX being 4X4DK (3580km)

The summit prowler QRP SSB/CW, 4 HF bands

Hot on the heels of the Peregrino is the Summit Prowler from Australia.

See https://vk3hn.wordpress.com/2019/05/01/summit-prowler-6-a-pocket-sized-ssb-cw-transceiver-for-80-40-30-and-20m/

Sunspots - Thursday June 27th 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 11. A=6 and K=1.

New Pixie Kit

Steve G1KQH has told me about a new Pixie kit from China which now comes with a case.

See https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32988482921.html

Latest SPRAT and the Peregrino QRP SSB rig

The latest version of SPRAT has arrived. This is issue 179 of the GQRP club magazine. This has colour on inside pages too. I think this is the first time. Presumably it is cost-effective. It certainly looks good, making a good magazine even better.

On page 20 is described the Peregrino, which is a basic SSB transceiver for 17m. It all fits on a single, small PCB designed by a couple of Spanish stations. It uses only 84 parts.

Could we lose 2m?

France has proposed the re-allocation of the 144-146MHz band to aeronautical mobile.

In the distant past I seem to recall having to avoid certain spot frequencies in the EU 2m band, presumably as this band must have, at one time, been shared with aeronautical mobile services. If my memory is correct, this was a long time ago, possibly in the 1960s.

I suspect this would be discussed at WRC-2023 and implementation, if approved, could take a few years. In the end, I can see this becoming a shared band perhaps. With the low band occupancy, I cannot imagine much risk of interference. I guess they could make the higher band exclusive (145-146MHz) and the lower part shared (144-145MHz).

See http://www.arrl.org/news/no-strong-opposition-to-144-146-mhz-reallocation-proposal-at-cept-meeting

BREXIT uncertainty - NOT amateur radio

We seem to be sleep walking into one of the biggest political crises in the UK in hundreds of years. Personally, I think we are being "led" by a bunch of career politicians with little to commend them. And this is in all political parties! There is a real lack of politicians with backbone and integrity.

As for the EU and BREXIT I am convinced there is no plan, but lots of crossed legs and lots of hope. I think the country and UK parliament are deeply divided over BREXIT and it could be several years before wounds are healed.

My own views on BREXIT reflect many in the UK. We see the benefits of EU membership and want free trade and no tariffs, but want no political union and to have control over our borders and who lives and works here. Basically we want the EU with looser control and free of gravy trains.

6m FT8 CQ (2.5W)

Just before breakfast I called CQ on 6m FT8 with 2.5W to the V2000 vertical. No QSOs resulted but I was spotted by 8 G stations with the best being a spot by M0BEW (194km).

Since then, I see there is Es about with 47 stations so far spotted and it is only 0816z.

6m FT8 RX here to teatime

UPDATE 1653z: Now 158 stations in 21 countries spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX. All were EU (apart from a couple in North Africa) with no "real DX".

Japan worked on 6m

Yesterday, I gather Japanese stations were being worked on 6m from the UK. I presume this was FT8 although I am not sure. I spotted nothing on my modest set-up!

These openings seem to happen every year at this time. I am sure big antennas must help.  It is 2 years now since I last spotted Japanese stations on 6m. That was JT65. In the last 2 years I have concentrated on FT8.

There seems to be a correlation between these openings and noctilucent clouds in the mesosphere.

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

Sunspots at last! - Wednesday June 26th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 24 (yes sunspots!). A=4 and K=1.

UPDATE 1635z: I see the SSN has dropped to 12 now. Well that excitement did not last!

Virtual Amateur Radio

Although these internet based systems have never really appealed to me, they may to some. It is like amateur radio without the ionosphere, using the internet instead.

See also https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/virtual

OFCOM and 3GHz spectrum for 5G

OFCOM has announced changes to the licencing conditions for major 5G players.

See https://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/32E3F5227ADB863C2540EF23F30FEDED/952AB8F022CBFC94BA4AF9908B8D85ED

Ads I hate - NOT amateur radio

One sort of ad I really hate is one that says "Brits must read this"  or similar. In my view, this is like click bate. One is encouraged to read and clearly the ad is, well, an ad. I presume this is a new way to get our attention. In future such ads will be avoided.

6m FT8

After an early morning QRP QSO with EA5/G0KSC (1591km) I have been RX only on 6m FT8.  57 stations spotted so far this morning on 6m FT8 RX. It is now 0830z.

UPDATE 0858z:  63 stations spotted so far on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1543z: Now 190 stations in 20 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX today with best DX EA8DBM (3016km). Nothing from "across the pond".

UPDATE  1844z: Now 239 stations spotted today with best DX spotted on 6m FT8 RX 5T5PA (3791km).