Walk around the village - NOT amateur radio

Most days we try to do a short walk.

According to my phone, we have walked 2.68 miles today. On the walk we bumped in to several friends and the rain held of.

We are home again.

Good session on 472kHz WSPR

Overnight was a good session for me on 472kHz WSPR. Running (at most) 10mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground, I was spotted by quite a few stations (see photo). Notice that LA3EQ (769km) copied me multiple times!

472kHz WSPR TX last evening 

and overnight (10mW ERP)

472kHz WSPR RX last evening and overnight

UPDATE 1928z: A couple of spots by stations in the Netherlands this evening, but nothing yet from Norway. I am not sure if LA3EQ is on tonight. As last night, as many stations are spotting me (actually more) than I am spotting others. It suggests my ERP is a bit higher, but measurements suggest not. Perhaps more stations have better RX set-ups?

Sunspots - Monday October 7th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1.

472kHz WSPR

I seem to have better optimised my matching transformer with the S/N being 1dB better on G1GKN who is like a beacon with me. I have been spotted by a couple of new UK stations in the last few hours and it is still daylight.

UPDATE 1843z: Already my 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP, maybe less!) has been spotted in Norway 3 times and once in The Netherlands.

Miracle Antennas

It is some years since I last used my Miracle Whip. In fact, I am not even sure where it is! These days there are commercial alternatives as the original inventor became a SK in 2012. Now, please do not expect miracles from any of these. As I have said many times, a 56 inch whip can only be as good as a 56 inch whip, but with a counterpoise or ground they can work reasonably well on the higher HF bands. In their favour, they are small and convenient.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/mwhip

472kHz ERP

Despite having redone the calculations, I still cannot get a sensible figure.

All my sums seem to give me figures well below 10mW ERP, even if I assume the effective loop area is much bigger than I expected.

Now, it is entirely possible that I have made an error, but if the ERP is greater than 10mW I shall be very surprised. Perhaps I should take another look tomorrow.

ON4KST chat

This is a useful resource for arranging skeds and seeing what is happening on various bands. As often happens, I forgot my password so requested a new one. Nothing received.

So I tried re-registering. Again nothing received. I checked the SPAM folder - nothing.

Crap. I give up.

472kHz WSPR - no TX

For reasons I do not understand, it appears that my WSJT-X software decided to disable TX on 472kHz WSPR. I think this may have been the case for several hours. I manually enabled it again a few minutes ago. No reports resulted though!

G1GKN on 472kHz WSPR

G1GKN seems to be always copied. I am intrigued why the S/N is better now than earlier. It could be for several reasons. Has my noise floor dropped? I don't think so. Has the path loss dropped? I don't think so. Is he running more ERP? Not according to the WSPR database. Mystery.

New Beofeng 10W handie

My friend Steve G1KQH has sent me a link for a new 10W Beofeng handheld transceiver. How do they do it for the price?

See https://www.banggood.com/Baofeng-UV-9R-Plus-10W-Upgrade-Version-Two-Way-Radio-VHF-UHF-Walkie-Talkie-for-CB-Ham-AU-Plug-p-1402512.html?p=1T122389680562017027&custlinkid=588363&ID=43101&cur_warehouse=CN

Recalculating 472kHz ERP

Yesterday I said I would recalculate the ERP of my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground at 474kHz. This is proving much harder to work out, not helped by living in a continual "brain fog" since my 2013 stroke. Even simple tasks, whether physical or mental, are now so much harder.

I seem to be coming up with silly figures (much less than 10mW ERP) and these depend on some assumptions about the effective area of the loop in the ground, which are an educated guess. Either the effective loop is much bigger than I expect or the ERP is far less than 10mW!! A recalculation is needed.

472kHz FT8? and storm risks

At the moment, I have not had any interest in a 472kHz FT8 QSO attempt, so I shall remain on 472kHz WSPR unless I hear from anyone.

At the moment, the UK storm risks here look low.

I realise that my QRPP 472kHz WSPR signal has not been spotted since 0744z this morning.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?bo_page=map&bo_showmap=uk

Sunspots - Sunday October 6th 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=7 and K=2.

Spotted in Norway on 472kHz WSPR

Overnight LA3EQ (769km) spotted my signal on 472kHz WSPR 3 times. This is the first time this autumn. Very pleased! At -30dB S/N I only just made it! Jan must have a very low noise level.

As usual, still using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I shall work out the ERP later, but it is low milliwatts.

UPDATE 1000z: 7 stations spotted on 472kHz WSPR RX in the last day, including a couple of new stations.

472kHz FT8 QSO anyone?

If anyone would like to give this a try, I am happy to try 472kHz FT8 this Sunday. Unless anyone can tell me different, I shall use 474.2kHz USB dial as my setting frequency and transmit in the few kilohertz HF of that, as for other bands.

Please contact me at rogerlapthorn (at) gmail.com if you want to give this a try. FT8 is about 10dB worse than WSPR so I may copy you, but you may not copy me!

HF FT8

There is no doubt that FT8 is changing our bands.

Many are saddened that there are fewer casual chats these days, so our bands sound quieter. This has been especially noticeable on 6m, where many have deserted SSB and CW for FT8.

FT8 is a weak signal mode that does not lend itself to chats. An advantage of FT8 is that it works with weak signals (not as good as WSPR, but better than SSB and CW), occupies only 50Hz, all activity is concentrated within a few kilohertz and lots of people are monitoring.

So, if a band opens only briefly, it is more likely to be spotted. Using PSKreporter maps it is possible to see where your signal is reaching. Unlike WSPR, transmissions are only 15 seconds long. It is useful for quick QSOs. I think we has still to fully exploit this mode on HF.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hf-ft8

Return to 472kHz WSPR

After quite a break, I am back on 472kHz WSPR TX (very low ERP) and RX.

I wound a new matching transformer (shown in photo) in the hope of squeezing a tiny bit more ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I will calculate the ERP tomorrow, but I don't think it is greater. The coil has more turns on the secondary, but I think the tapping point was not far off before.

My own signal has been copied by a couple of stations and G1GKN (99km) has been copied here a few times. I shall leave it on this evening and possibly overnight.

472kHz WSPR so far this evening

It would be good to try FT8 on 472kHz (about 10dB worse than WSPR), but I am not sure if people use FT8 on MF. Years ago I had some JT9 QSOs on MF.

UPDATE 1852z: Best DX so far on 472kHz WSPR RX is LA3EQ (769km) running 20mW ERP.

UPDATE 2108z: A few new stations spotted this evening, that I did not see last season: LA4NJ (800km) and DL1HWK (816km). I don't think these stations were active last season,

Cavenham Heath - NOT amateur radio

This morning we went for a walk at Cavenham Heath. The heather was well past its best, but we saw several stone curlews. These birds migrate shortly. None were that close sadly.

On the way we saw this fungus, but we saw fewer than the last time when we went in August.

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

High Street shops - NOT amateur radio

There is little doubt that shopping is changing. Many High Street stores have closed and they are replaced by charity shops, coffee shops or empty shops. More and more people prefer the convenience of shopping online. One finds what one wants and it is delivered next day to your home.

Yes, rents may be too high and the online retailers usually have a price advantage.

It is anyone's guess how the High Street will look in 20 years. It seems that retailers who adapt may survive. Those that don't adapt face a bleak future. It is not just shops: many other things will change in the coming years.

2m FT8

Since just before breakfast I have been on 2m FT8 RX. So far today, 21 stations in 5 countries spotted.

UPDATE 1447z: After a break when we went out for a walk I went back on 2m FT8 calling CQ (10W). 24 stations spotted me and a couple of QSOs resulted. 34 stations in 7 countries spotted here today on 2m FT8.

UPDATE 1648z: Now 46 stations in 7 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX.