A blast from the past on 2m SSB/CW

Back in the 1970s, in the early days of 2m SSB, the most popular rig was the Belcom Liner-2.

Hot on its heals a few years later came the IC202 from ICOM. I had one of these and even used it on 10m with a Microwave Modules transverter. With internal batteries it could be used portable and even handheld. Some great DX was worked with it on 2m SSB and on 10m SSB using that transverter.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/ic202

Roses - NOT amateur radio

These fine roses are in a neighbour's drive. They are keen gardeners. They have a big garden that needs a lot of attention. The hedges alone must be 200m long. It's a good job they enjoy it!

Sunspots - Monday August 5th 2019

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

It still feels like sunspot minimum to me.

First FT8 160m QSO with new rig

160m FT8 log 
(stations that spotted me)

Earlier I worked G0BLB (211km) in IO81 in daylight on 160m FT8. This my first 160m QSO with the new radio. So, I think I have solved the mystery with the rig on HF and FT8. This was on the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Hopefully after dark some Europeans will be spotted.

UPDATE 2030z: My brief 160m FT8 CQ to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground resulted in 9 spots. The best was a spot by DJ9PC (821km). On RX my best spot on 160m FT8 RX is R2AL (2417km) near Moscow.

160m FT8 spots this 

evening of my CQ calls

UPDATE 2102z: A recent 160m FT8 CQ call (no QSOs resulted) was spotted by 15 stations with the best spot being by OL7M (1126km).

160m FT8 tonight

All being well, I intend to be on 160m FT8 this evening. I will be using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with about 10W from the FT991A. As for the ERP, probably low mW!

On WSPR this (with even lower power) has got me to Sweden with this "antenna".

The 160m FT8 frequency is 1.840MHz USB digital. I have not tried FT8 yet on 160m.

UPDATE 1625z: I put out a couple of CQ calls, but no spots. I guess this is far too early as it will be light for hours yet.

FT8 issue fixed?

Yesterday I reported that I was struggling on FT8 RX on 20m, and other bands like 70cm RX. I knew the PC settings were right as these worked on 6m and 2m, so the issue had to be with the rig settings.

It appeared that the bandwidth settings on bands other than 6m and 2m was 500Hz. Setting this to 3000Hz seems to have fixed the issues. I am now receiving stations on 20m FT8 on 14.074MHz USB digital with the loop on the back of the rig. I have no idea why these settings were as they were. Maybe I can try 160m FT8 with the earth-electrode "antenna" tonight?

On TX with 8W I have not had any spots yet, but at least there are now RX spots from all over Europe on just the tiny loop.

UPDATE 1342z: Best DX on the tiny loop on 20m FT8 RX is RA1OD (2920km). Another CQ call got no spots.

80m QRP - the XBM80-2 transceiver

About 7 years ago I designed this ultra-simple QRP transceiver for 80m. It managed some local QSOs. These days, following my stroke, designing and building things is hard.

There is a YouTube video too shown here.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/80m_xbm80

Crossing the channel - NOT amateur radio

Today, a Frenchman crossed the channel between England and France by flyboard. I prefer the shuttle!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-49226353/man-crosses-english-channel-by-flyboard

Sunflower - NOT amateur radio

This sunflower in a garden down the road (complete with bee!) just had to be photographed.

Amateur signals from the Moon?

Southgate News reports on an AMSAT and ARISS initiative to get amateur involvement in the next NASA visits to the moon. They calculate path losses will be about 30dB higher than low earth orbit stations.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/amsat-and-ariss-designing-amateur-radio-system-for-lunar-gateway.htm

6m FT8 - Es?

Stations spotted today on 

6m FT8 RX to 1147z

Just now I reconnected my 6m gear and called CQ using FT8. Although no QSOs resulted I got 8 spots with my furthermost report coming from GS8VL (753km) in the far north of Scotland. This is further than many stations in Germany, so probably Es. It does seem odd that I tend to spot more northerly stations towards the end of the Es season. Maybe the things that trigger Es occur more frequently later in the season?

Interestingly, I have so far spotted no stations on 6m FT8 RX. There is no Es (here at least) to the south. Maybe there was Es to the north, but few stations.

You may recall I just use a V2000 vertical omni antenna.

UPDATE 0817z: As there were no spots at all on 6m FT8 RX, yet there were Gs copied I began to suspect my internet connection. I have reloaded WSJT-X to see if this makes things better and reconnected the wi-fi. Still quiet here.

UPDATE 0904z: Just 2 Gs spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1150z: With 19 stations now spotted on 6m FT8 RX, it looks like there is Es. Best DX spotted is IZ8FDH (1657km).

Sunspots - Sunday August 2019

Solar flux is 65 and the SSN 0.  A=5 and K=1.

Flying ants - NOT amateur radio

Black garden ant (Lasius niger). The queens are 

much larger than the worker ants. 

© JvL via Flickr (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

A few years ago our bedroom was inundated with flying ants. Since then we have seen just a few in the house. On a walk around the village today we saw quite a few and there was one in the lounge a few minutes ago. This is the first time I have seen these this year.

See https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-why-winged-ants-swarm-nuptial-flight.html

Erotica? - NOT amateur radio

Bet you didn't know that my wife's namesake wrote erotic novels? Well, she does! I have to confess I have never read them. I think you can get them via Amazon UK too. A quick look showed 6 pages on Amazon UK of Lapthornes, mostly books by this lady. I have never met her.

A search of Lapthorn on Amazon UK shows 3 pages including books by my nephew Nicholas Lapthorn, who is a geographer.

I bet this post gets quite a few hits!

See https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1311754.Merc_and_Her_Men

What am I doing wrong?

Up to now, I had not used my FT991A on any HF band because I had no antennas. Then I remembered I had a small loop antenna that can be tuned anywhere from 40m-10m. OK, I was not expecting great results, but I was expecting to spot stations and be spotted by some. I set the power down to 10W just in case the loop antenna had a power limit. It was some years since I last used this, so could not remember.

As far as I was aware all the FT8 settings were as for 6m, but it sounded different. In the end I spotted nothing on 20m or 30m. I am convinced this is "finger trouble". At some point I will say, "Of course! That is what's wrong.". It sounds like the PC is not getting the audio from the rig, but all the settings seem correct. I am using the SignaLink interface I am currently using on 6m and 2m. Odd.

In the meantime I am back on 6m FT8. On 6m FT8 things sound normal.

Patio flowers - NOT amateur radio

The flowers on our patios and in the hanging baskets have been pretty good this year. The picture shows some of these.

Swifts - NOT amateur radio

It is now August 3rd and I have not noticed the swifts (birds). During May, June and July they are a very common summer migrant. They feed and sleep on the wing. During August most fly south. Suddenly we look up and notice they are no longer there. A few stragglers may stay a bit longer, but most will have started their long journey south. They usually return in late April or early May.

To me, their antics on the wing and their screams are part of an English summer. Safe travels and I hope to see you next summer.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swift/

6m FT8 - no early Es here, but some later

Today, I am again on 6m FT8. On 6m FT8 RX 2 G stations were spotted so far (0855z). On TX 5 stations spotted me, but all were Gs. As yet, no Es seen here.

UPDATE 1037z:  No 6m Es today? As of now, just 4 G stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today. You get the feeling the main Es season is ending.

UPDATE 1117z: Well there is Es on 6m FT8 today, with Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Scotland on 6m FT8 RX this lunchtime.

UPDATE 1633z: 16 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX and my CQ was spotted by 16 stations in 4 countries with best DX a spot by EC1CT (1065km) in northern Spain.

UPDATE 1815z: Now 19 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today with EA8AQV (2989km) being the best DXs as the map shows. No "real DX" here today.

UPDATE 2105z: Now going QRT, so check 6m for a massive opening that I am just about to miss!  😒

Sunspots - Saturday August 3rd 2019

Solar flux is 67 today and the SSN 0. A=8 and K=1.

Dahlias - NOT amateur radio

Most months we visit nearby Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust property, to walk around the extensive grounds. Every summer they have a great show of dahlias. At the moment these are not quite at their best, but some are already wonderful, as the photo shows. There was one on the blog yesterday, but I could not resist sharing this one too!