Richard Dawkins - NOT amateur radio

Richard Dawkins is now 78. In his lifetime he has expressed some extreme views and termed religions as outdated or similar. I have admit to agreeing with many of his views.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

Mechanical TV in the 21st century

When TV first appeared it was a 30 line mechanical system pioneered by John Logie Baird. These days there are still 30 line TV enthusiasts, although now PCs can be used to do line conversion and reception.

See https://www.taswegian.com/NBTV/forum/
See also http://www.tvdawn.com/background/

The mystery of consciousness - NOT amateur radio

All humans are conscious beings who can contemplate our pasts and futures. We do not know about other animals.  As it is highly likely we evolved from animal species, it highly probable (at least) some animals are conscious and aware of themselves as we humans are.

In all the vastness of our observable universe, we are here on this planet at this time.

At some point in the future we may be able to explain what consciousness is. For now, it remains a total mystery. Is it linked to our physical body?

Sunspots - Sunday October 13th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the sunspot number still 0. A=13 and K=3.

2m FT8

OK, I admit it. I am lazy!

As it saved unplugging the lead from my SignaLink USB to the rig, I went on 2m FT8 using the FT817ND rather than the FT991A, so power was 2.5W. Even so, my brief FT8 CQ was spotted by 5 stations with best being GI6ATZ (479km) in N. Ireland at -16dB S/N. G7RAU (461km) in Cornwall seems to spot me every time! I should try with 100mW to see if he still spots me!

On 2m FT8 RX the best station spotted here was G1BHM (355km). Again, I am just using the big-wheel omni antenna.

UPDATE 1528z: Now 19 stations in 6 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX in the last few hours.

UPDATE 1606z: Now 22 stations in 6 countries spotted so far this afternoon on 2m FT8 RX. My very recent 2.5W FT8 CQ was again spotted in N. Ireland and Cornwall. I am sure the 43 element at G7RAU must help!

2m FT8 RX so far today.

UPDATE 2002z: Now 37 stations in 8 countries spotted in the last 5 hours on 2m FT8 RX using the FT817ND and the big-wheel omni antenna. Best DX today on 2m FT8 RX is DK6JU (529km).

Summer migrant birds - NOT amateur radio

At the end of September we visited our son near Canterbury. There were plenty of young swallows overhead getting ready to migrate south. Already most of the summer migrants have flown south. By now most have gone. It will be March or April next year before we see them again.

Network radios

At the moment we are at sunspot minimum and conditions on the higher HF bands are poor. If you look, there is still some DX there, but it is much harder to find than a few years ago.

Conditions will soon start to improve, but in the meantime some will turn to network radios. These look like typical 2m or 70cm rigs, but use the internet to connect.  They can be useful to connect to distant repeaters via Echolink.

Portable network radios have antennas, PTTs and batteries and look and feel like conventional radios. Although I have owned a network radio for over a year, it hardly ever get used. They may appeal to some.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/network

Extinction Rebellion - NOT amateur radio

There is no doubt in my mind that the climate IS changing.

The overwhelming evidence points to man having a great influence, although that matters less than changing habits to minimise the impact of rising temperatures. Renewables are now far cheaper than they were.

In the UK, there was criticism over recent actions by Extinction Rebellion activists causing disruption in London. As in HK, activists risk alienating the very people they seek to influence. Certainly climate change is now being talked about. A year ago it was talked about far less.

I am not sure what I think. What is needed is a big change in transport, heating, food and other things across the world. This will involve subtle changes brought about by gradually persuading people to change habits. In my mind this will happen. I just hope this happens soon enough.

Recovering lawn - NOT amateur radio

Today it is a wet miserable autumn day. In summer 2018 a lot of our grass died in the heat. I reseeded the bare patches and the lawn has largely recovered. This summer was nothing like as hot and dry as 2018. Any remaining bits will be reseeded.

The light strip is because I put down too much feed. Hopefully this will recover over the winter.

To Norway again on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

So far this season my QRPP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground on 472kHz has reached Norway on every occasion. Overnight LA8AV (1035km) spotted me 4 times! He must have a very low noise level. The table shows the results overnight.

Sunspots - Saturday October 12th 2019

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=8 and K=2.

Another Beatles recording? - NOT amateur radio

Looking back, I was one of the rare people who saw the Beatles live on stage. This was in 1964 in Torquay before they became really famous.

It is just possible that the two remaining Beatles could make a recording together. Back in 2017, Ringo and Sir Paul appeared on Twitter together.

My wife did her teaching practice in a junior school where some of the Beatles went. She also helped at Strawberry Fields and banked on Penny Lane.

Return to 472kHz WSPR

After a few days' break, I have returned to WSPR on 472kHz. As before, I am using about 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I am on RX 75% of the time and 25% on TX. After the initial TX period, no spots.

UPDATE 2128z: 3 spots on RX so far.

UK VHF/UHF-only beginners licence?

Southgate News has a piece on a possible "beginners licence" to encourage VHF/UHF activity. This would be non-technical and with restrictions on power and bands. Certainly a casual look at our VHF and UHF bands would suggest these are not well used and maybe we should be encouraging use of these bands. Back in the 1980s, these bands were busy.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/october/new-uk-entry-level-licence-proposed.htm

Bill's - NOT amateur radio

Back in the summer we had a bad experience at Bill's in Peterborough. Bill's is a big cafe chain and they usually quite good.

I wrote to explain our disappointment and they offered us a free meal for 2 in the Bill's in Cambridge. We went there for lunch today and they worked hard to make amends. The service and the food were fine.

Of all the places to eat in Cambridge our favourite is still Cote Brasserie, They offer good fixed price menus of either 2 or 3 courses. Every month they vary the menu.

Non-scientific research - NOT amateur radio

As I was in Cambridge today, I felt compelled to carry out some research.

As I stood outside a shop in Cambridge today I observed the use of mobile phones by young people. Older people tend not to use mobile phones as much. My method was to observe male and females who were walking alone. My highly scientific methodology was to count the number of males and females using mobile phones. Some were listening to music, some were texting and some were surfing. I guess some were even using it as a phone!

In the time I counted 16 males and 13 females on their mobile phones.

Conclusions? My feeling is that as many males as females were using their mobile phones. The sample size was really far too small.  A year ago, there were far more females than males using mobile phones. A year ago I concluded the females were saying, "go away as I am not available". Today I guess younger people are using them to connect, although I have no evidence.

20m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop

As 10m was dire here yesterday, I decided to try 20m FT8 RX using the tiny wire loop on the back of the rig indoors. I made the switch yesterday afternoon.  In the last day, 618 stations on 4 continents spotted.

Sunspots - Friday October 11th 2019

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN=0. A=6 and K=2.

More UK rallies

Sunday 13 OCTOBER : HORNSEA AMATEUR RADIO RALLY

Floral Hall, Hornsea HU18 1NQ. Doors open at 10am with admission being £2 with under 14s free. There will be trade stands exhibiting radio equipment, computers etc. The Bring & Buy will be run by Hornsea ARC. There will be an RSGB book stand. Hot and cold food will be available in the café. See latest information on www.hornseaarc.co.uk or contact Les, 2E0LBJ on 01377 252393 or by email lbjpinkney1@hotmail.co.uk.

13 OCTOBER 2019 (NEW VENUE) : HOLSWORTHY RADIO RALLY

Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 6DH. There will be Traders, a Bring & Buy and catering will be available on site. The venue has separate disabled access via the Traders side door entrance. A club steward will be on duty in the car park. Doors open 8am for Traders and 10am for visitors. Email Howard, M0MYB at holsworthyarc@gmail.com [https://www.qsl.net/m0omc/].


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

Extinction Rebellion - NOT amateur radio

I am not sure what I think about this.

It seems to me to be totally wrong if the UK government is subsidising fossil fuels when we should be doing all we can to persuade people to adopt "carbon neutral" solutions for everything. If we are even to meet carbon neutral by 2050 targets then people really have to change. This is not optional. This means eating less red meat and adopting energy saving methods in all new homes.

At the same time the Extinction Rebellion protests may turn people off. This is a hard one, but I think the duty of government is to encourage habits to change.

Electric cars will be the norm when they are less expensive and ranges better. This alone is not enough. The Prime Minister of the UK is wrong when he labels protesters as "crusties". We are seeing really concerned people of all shades protesting.