Oscar 100 box

 This was seen at Friedrichshafen. I have no details about price or availability, but I cannot imagine it being low cost. 

Swaffham Prior - NOT amateur radio

This is the next village to us on the way to Cambridge.

It is unusual having two churches in the same churchyard. I think originally 2 parishes met here. 

Our grandson had hoped to ring the bells here, but they changed the day. 

10m Es

Since 0734z, my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been on. Already HB9TMC (905km) and IU1DZZ (973km) have spotted me. A promising start.

UPDATE 2041z: 47 unique station spots of my 500mW WSPR today.

8m experiment (Sunday)

After breakfast I hope to be on 8m QRP TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 QRP. It cannot be worse than yesterday when there were no spots at all! There are too few people monitoring on 8m, so it can be very hard going. 

UPDATE 0751z:  8m gear turned on at 0734z. I get the impression that those active on the band have proved what is possible by Es and are now turning their attention to 6m and 4m instead until the autumn. I shall try a bit longer.

UPDATE 0807z: Spots of my QRP by EA3ERE (1133km) and HC02 (1808km). Promising.

UPDATE 2016z: 6 spots of my QRP 8m FT8 today. With spots from 12 different countries, I am pretty pleased so far this Es season, although disappointed not to be copied further than the Canary Isles. I wonder if I might manage the USA on F2 later in the year?

Colourful garden - NOT amateur radio

This garden is opposite Ely Cathedral and usually is a riot of colour. 

Sunspots - Sunday June 26th 2022

Solar flux is 108 and the SSN 31.  A=16 and K=5.

ICOM IC-7300 transceiver

It is now several years since this SDR product was first launched.  It is very popular. It covers all of HF as well as 6m, and 4m in Europe. It has an auto ATU that will match 10:1 mismatches at the 50W setting. I have never owned one, but people speak highly of it.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/icom-ic-7300 .

RF engineer shortage - NOT amateur radio

What the situation is like in other countries I do not know, but in the UK it is acute. There are far fewer RF designers than there once were. When I started in RF design, most were radio amateurs with a total fascination for RF. 

In my professional life, I saw many CVs from aspiring RF engineers. Most were hopeless! Graduates that knew really very very little. At 73 years I have been offered 2 jobs this year already! They must be very desperate!

Personally, I feel that many have lost the "magic" of RF. This is where amateur radio "self training" could help. We need more good, intrinsically motivated RF designers in the UK. We must do everything in our power to encourage RF design in the future.

Trim time - NOT amateur radio

When we moved here in 2013 this border was pretty bare. Now it is in need of a trim! 

Ely Tudor Chimneys - NOT amateur radio

These were seen in nearby Ely earlier in the week. 

8m experiment (Saturday)

Although I have been on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 TX for about 40 minutes, no spots given or received so far. It is now 0918z.

UPDATE 1853z:  No spots at all today on 40.680 FT8. You get the impression that 8m, with far fewer monitors than 10m and 6m, is on the wane. Yes, there will be good days, but now we are beginning to see more days with no Es propagation. It seems amazing that next week is July!

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

Yet again, I am on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW. It is now 0920z and I have received reports from 4 unique stations already. I think these are by Es.

UPDATE 1930z:   13 spots of my 500mW today so far. Average, but not great.

OFCOM and 8m

 OFCOM is consulting ahead of WRC23. See the OFCOM website for details.

As you probably know, I am APPALLED by the very negative attitude by OFCOM and the RSGB to self training (what the amateur licence is meant to be about!!). Their position is utterly stupid by making us pay £50 annually to experiment at 8m.

My proposal is:

• 5 kHz wide only 40.680-40.685 MHz amateur band at 8m
• narrow digital only (e.g. WSPR, FT8, CW, but no speech)
• by NoV
• strictly for real experiments , not "more of the same"

If you feel inclined, write to OFCOM and copy the RSGB. The current situation WRT 8m is so so stupid!!

I am conscious that RF engineers are in very short supply so why are we not encouraging self training?

Sunspots - Saturday June 25th 2022

Solar flux is 115 and the SSN 60.  A=8 and K=3.

Rose Pride - NOT amateur radio

One of the houses in our village has a splendid garden filled with roses in which they take great pride. 

Es selectivity

So far today, I have had just spots from Austria on 10m WSPR and nothing at all on 8m FT8. 

Es can be very selective. Sometimes a station a few kilometres away spots a lot, whereas at your QTH there is nothing. Also, the openings can be widespread or in just one direction.

Although I may be factually wrong, my impression is openings to more northerly directions are more common later in the Es season. Southern stations are there, but the feeeling I get is that more northern stations are more frequent.

My free PDF book

Although I hope to have every page complete before I go to see my brother next week, I shall still need to check things and order the pages, so it will not be available until some time in July. I am making no deadlines as I always seem to miss them! 

One thing is sure: there will be a link on my blog and website and I shall send the link to the main radio mags. Whether they decide to print it is another matter!

It should contain all my projects and a bit more that may be of interest. As it is a brain-dump as much for me as others, I cannot charge anything for it. What would really please me is if others experimented for the first time and some of my unfinished projects were finished.

Over the years, I have had lots of fun and I hope you do too.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Friday)

I have been on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW for about an hour. Multiple spots by OE3XOE (1233km), but nobody else as yet.

UPDATE 1606z:   19 spots of my 500mW QRP today.

8m experiment (Friday)

 Once again I am on 8m FT8 TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial. No spots yet. 

Barnacle geese and young - NOT amateur radio

These look similar to Canada geese, but are smaller. In the UK we do not see young ones. This was Helsinki in 2018.