Love lies bleeding - NOT amateur radio

This is an odd name for a garden flower. Some time ago, my wife was given some small plants by a friend. She had no idea how they would turn out. Now they are mature she knows why they have this odd name! 

Creosoting the garden bench - NOT amateur radio

OK, I know it is no longer creosote (I used to love the smell) as it is banned, I think. This week, a son and granddaughter sanded and re-coated the garden seat as it was covered in bird droppings. 

It has since been moved so should be better in future.

Yaesu FTDX-10

At the moment MLS is offering some good deals on this with a £100 gift voucher to use on future purchases. This offer runs until Monday. The gift voucher can be used at any time. Yaesu also has a £85 cash back offer. 

The rig has received rave reviews, but does not have 2m or 70cm, but does have 4m and an auto ATU. Although seriously tempted, at the moment I am inclined against it. My fear (hopefully unfounded) is that Yaesu is leaving the market. To me, the MLS move is to retain custom.

In these hard times, all dealers will struggle. Amateur radio usually depends on disposable income. There is less.

Rallies

The following rallies should be on over this weekend. In some countries in the UK, Monday is a public holiday. As always, check with organisers before going any distance.

Sunday August 28th Milton Keynes ARC rally. Contact rally@mkars.org.uk.

Sunday  August 28th Torbay Annual Communications Fair. Contact rally@tars.org.uk.

Monday August 29th HARS Annual Rally (Huntingdon).  Contact events@hunts-hams.co.uk .

10m WSPR QRP TX (Thursday)

As the storm risk seems to have passed, I am again on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW from the W5OLF beacon. At 0956z, no spots of me.

UPDATE 1115z: No spots. Even with fewer stations now using WSPR (compared with FT8), I would have expected some spots by now. This suggests the main Es season is now over. Es will still occur, but far less often.

UPDATE 1500z:  Quite a few spots today from HB9TMC (905km). It looks like this was an Es opening, but in a very narrow area.

8m experiment (Thursday)

The 8m QRP FT8 TX was turned on on 40.680 MHz USB dial at 0938z. No spots yet. at 0950z.

UPDATE 1102z:  EI9KP (649km) has again spotted me on 8m FT8 .

No operation until at least the afternoon

As we have thunderstorms at the moment and these could last until well after lunch, everything will remain disconnected until all risks have gone. So, no operation until later. 

UPDATE 0945z:   Although it is still raining here (good), the thunder and lightning seem to have passed. If the lightning map confirms this, I may go on later this morning. It appears to confirm the storms have gone.

Serious rain at last - NOT amateur radio

In this part of the UK we have had almost no rain since March. Today we have rain, thunder and lightning.  Let's hope the grass turns green!! 

Sunspots - Thursday August 25th 2022

Solar flux is 108 and the SSN 46. A=3 and K=1.

ICOM announces SHF transceiver at Tokyo Hamfest

This is the IC-905. I am extremely sceptical.  I cannot see them selling that many or making a profit. Maybe it is a lost leader, really they are aiming to make a profit on something similar in the commercial market. 

It seems unlikely to be available much before late 2023 and at what price? The price has to be very keen or they risk a total flop.

If I was ICOM, I really would not bother. Mind you, I am not ICOM!

Nice concept, but in this tough world will it make them any money?

10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)

My 500mW W5OLF beacon was turned on at 0859z. No spots yet at 1017z.

UPDATE 1103z: Just spotted by HC02 (1808km) in southern Portugal.

8m experiment (Wednesday)

Later, I hope to be on 8m TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 QRP again. Still getting DX spots even with my low ERP in the last few days. 

UPDATE 1152z:  Gear turned on at 0859z. No spots. I have the feeling there will be none today, although I am ever hopeful!

UPDATE 1520z:  EI9KP (649km) has spotted me on 8m QRP FT8.

472 kHz transverter under construction

This was 10 years ago!! I was building my 472 kHz transverter. 

Silent keys (SK)

This is the term used in amateur radio circles for people who have, sadly, died. It must date from the very early days when most people used Morse and Morse keys. The phrase may be over 100 years old.

In the last year or so, two of the people locally that I chatted with every week have become SK. The one thing they had in common was their zest for life. 

Both enjoyed finding new things right up until they died. Both are missed, but their vitality lives on. 

RIP Ted G4NUA and Ian G3KKD. Ted was keen on PCs and WSPR, and Ian was experimenting with DATV. Ian liked all things ATV. Even to the end he was building 5.6 GHz ATV kit.

Yaesu up to date?

As I was considering purchasing the Yaesu FTDX-10, I thought I would look at the Yaesu Japan site for more data. I was invited to do a download. Imagine my horror when I was looking at a 2011 (yes 2011) catalogue!! Does not exactly fill you with confidence. Perhaps this explains why we have seen no decent FT817 replacement.  

Hello, hello - anyone there??

At this rate I expect a spark TX and coherer RX soon - latest Yaesu technology. My fear is that if I buy an FTDX-10, will Yaesu still be around in 5 years time? I really hope so, but I have my doubts, seriously.

5m recording by G5UM

Many years ago Jack Hum G5UM gave a talk to the Cambridge radio club (CDARC). In the talk he mentioned he had made a recording in the late 1940s of the last hours on 5m in the UK. I am not sure if this was a disk, wire recorder or tape, probably a disk.

I am wondering if copies of this historic recording still exist? At the time I think G5UM lived in London.

Many will remember Jack as the columnist of the "Four Metres and Down" column in RadCom.

Sunspots - Wednesday August 24th 2022

 Solar flux is 101 and the SSN 52. A=4 and K=1.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)

Unsurprisingly, many have now moved over to 10m FT8. 

This is not as good as WSPR on weak signals but WSPR takes about 8 times longer to send a message, although it only needs about 6 Hz bandwidth whereas FT8 needs about 50 Hz. I enjoy both modes. 

My little stand-alone 500mW W5OLF beacon does not need a PC at all.

What has surprised me this summer is how many are still using WSPR. Even with my 500mW QRP WSPR on 10m, I usually get several unique stations spotting me. FT8 allows very basic QSOs.

UPDATE 1405z:  Already today my 10m QRP WSPR has been spotted by 4 unique stations.

2m activity contest (August) results published

Every month I enter this UKAC activity contest. I can only run 10W to my big-wheel omni and because of my poor voice I manage an hour. Results were published today and, surprise, surprise, I am in the top half of the low power section. My points go to the Cambridge club CDARC. In the 70cm UKAC I gave up.

1947 - NOT amateur radio

With the UK having recorded record high temperatures lately, it is hard to think of harsh winters in the past. One was 1947 before I was born. The photo shows my uncle clearing snow drifts in Salcombe Devon where snow is rare.