Earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Until our son accidentally cut it, I used this antenna extensively from VLF to 60m. On 630m (472 kHz) it consistently got reports from Norway with a measured ERP  of just 10mW using WSPR. 

My theory is that at low frequencies it acts as a loop in the ground. As you go higher in frequency the loop gets smaller, so the antenna gets worse. 

If my theory is correct, the loop will get larger as frequency is lowered making it very effective for sub-10 kHz communications. Indeed, such an antenna has been used to great effect by DK2FC and others at VLF.

For use on LF and MF it has worked well for me.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/earth-electrode-antennas .

Beginhof, Amsterdam - NOT amateur radio

This is a very secret and calming part of Amsterdam with an entrance that is quite obscure. 

Our "harvest" - NOT amateur radio

This year we grew pears, tomatoes, crab apples and beans as well as some herbs. 

Most of the tomatoes are still green. As you can see, this has not exactly been a bumper year. We had a wet winter and dry spring with a very hot summer. The pears were not bad (if a bit hard) and the crab apples just enough to half fill a small jar with crab apple jelly. Beans? Maybe enough for 1 meal. Tomatoes? If the green ones turn red I may have the same as a punnet from a supermarket. If they stay green I shall have a go at green tomato chutney. Overall, a disappointing "harvest".

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

Again on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW QRP.  So far, only spots by local G4KPX (14km).

UPDATE 1215z:   Just G4KPX and HB9TMC (905km) spotted me.

8m FT8 QRP (Monday)

Very shortly, I shall be on 40.680 MHz FT8 TX again with my FT817ND and low wire dipole. 

There seem to be fewer monitors on 8m now that the main Es season has ended. Es still has some openings , but these are fewer now. Most openings now are random MS, F2 or aircraft reflections I suspect. 

Yesterday, EI9KP (649km) again spotted me on 8m. This is very unlikely to have been Es.

UPDATE 0950z:  On 8m FT8 now. Once the Cornish 8m beacon becomes active, I shall start monitoring it on PI4 mode.

UPDATE 1221z: No spots all day. Rig currently off cooling.

UPDATE 1415z: On TX again. EI9KP (649km) has again spotted me. I suspect EI9KP has spotted me nearly every day I have been on 8m!

Sunspots - Monday September 12th 2022

Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 113. A=9 and K=3.

2m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

So far this evening I have been spotted by 16 stations (see map) and 1 QSO with a station in the west of Wales.

Milking - NOT amateur radio

The queen dying after so long as head of state is sad. We are certainly in a new age now. Whilst in Amsterdam last week every English language channel was about the queen and her long reign. 

When we got back home  yesterday, we had non-stop queen on the BBC. Now, I know people grieve in different ways and the BBC will have prepared for how it would respond. They probably have had recordings for this eventuality prepared for years and years.

Am I alone in believing there is grieving and their is milking? 

In my view, enough is enough. I would like to hear about other things as well in the world. Perhaps some of the news is dedicated to the queen and then other news is covered?

If I was an anchor person on the BBC, I would run out of things to say!

Ducks - NOT amateur radio

In Amsterdam last week we saw a shop selling nothing but rubber ducks for the bath. You could get quite a few famous people! 

10m WSPR RX (WISPY)

This was designed 10 years ago as a simple 10m WSPR RX. Later, with slight changes, this became the 10FT8R FT8 receiver that appeared in RadCom. 

The design is very simple and used low cost crystals either for WSPR or FT8 RX. It is a direct conversion RX so will also pick up signals on the other sideband. It is extremely unusual for this ever to be an issue. Lots of stations have been received.  

On a simple PCB, it would make a low cost, simple, and useful club project.

8m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

As I am home again, I am again on 8m FT8 QRP with the FT817ND and low wire dipole. No spots.

UPDATE 1207z: EI9KP (649km) has again spotted me. I wonder if this is aircraft reflection?

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

Now that I am back home, I am on 10m WSPR with my beacon and 500mW. 

UPDATE 1353z:  No spots of me all day.

UPDATE 1535z: Just a spot by FY5KE (7110km). This looks like F2.

UPDATE 2025z:  Seems like all the spots are now by F2 with the furthermost FR1GZ (9724km).

Sunspots - Sunday September 11th 2022

Solar flux is 136 and the SSN 122. A=12 and K=2.

Cambridge Club - virtually

For the last few days I have been in Amsterdam. 

The Cambridge radio club (CDARC) held its first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic began (a builder's evening). As an experiment they ran a hybrid meeting with people attending in person as well as others by Zoom. 

I attended the whole thing from Amsterdam on my phone! The hybrid meeting was, in my opinion, a great success.

10m WSPR and 8m FT8 TX

 After a few days away, I hope to be on again tomorrow. Normal service should resume on Sunday.

Stamps and seals - NOT amateur radio

In the centre of Amsterdam is a shop selling stamps and seals. I have never seen such a shop before. 

160m FT8

 Many people think they can't go on 160m as they need huge antennas and extensive ground systems and/or their noise is very high. Using just QRP and my earth-electrode antenna in the ground on FT8, both North and South America have been widely copied on RX and I have worked all over Europe on TX . As FT8 needs only 50 Hz bandwidth provided by the free software, it works well with very weak signals much weaker than SSB or CW. If you have local noise then you can try FT8. 

UK Prime Ministers - NOT amateur radio

This will mean more to people in the UK than elsewhere in the world. It made me chuckle. 

Sunspots - Saturday September 10th 2022

Solar flux is 126 and the SSN 72. A=13 and K=3.

The Chinese are coming?

Several UK dealers have been advertising the new Chinese SDR portable (the Xiegu G106) that in many ways looks like a much better radio than the FT818 and far less expensive.

My main objection in the past to Chinese amateur radio products has been quality control and consistency. Maybe this is the first of a new breed? 

This radio is HF only, but look at the price!!