Central Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

The parts of Cambridge that are most often in photos are the colleges and backs. Rarely do you see the town. This photo taken yesterday shows the "normal" town where the shops are. 

Sunspots - Tuesday October 25th 2022

Solar flux is 115 and the SSN 46. A=8 and K=1. 

Cambridge in autumn - NOT amateur radio

Monday is my day in Cambridge for my University of the Third Age course on Cosmology. I took this photo on the way.

10m FT8 RX (Monday)

All day, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. So far, quite a good day, but fewer stations spotted than yesterday, so I decided against QSYing to 8m QRP FT8.

DMR joys

It is surprising how well DMR works. I am monitoring TG91 on my network Android handheld T320 using Droidstar. As yet, I am a novice and there are many things still to learn.  Although a vocoder is used to make the signal digital, it does not really make things sound wrong. I can easily detect accents and everything sounds natural.

However, it is fun to have it monitoring on RX in the background. It is amusing to hear USA stations talking to Australia and a station in Ukraine talking with Australians.

The impression is there is more fun getting things working than actually using the mode. Contacts are just too easy!

10m and 8m FT8 yesterday

10m was in excellent form yesterday with lots of stations spotted, so I thought the E-W F2 MUF might reach 8m, so I QSYed and went on QRP FT8  on 40.680 MHz. Then we had thunder and lightning so I had to go QRT! No spots on 8m yesterday in the brief time I was on.

King's College - NOT amateur radio

The world famous King's College Chapel is often seen, whereas the rest of the college is seen less often. 

Usually, the grass is immaculate. Mind you, they probably spend a bit more on weed killer than I do!

Sunspots - Monday October 25th 2022

 Solar flux is 108 and the SSN 65. A=16 and K=3.

8m QRP FT8 (first) on 40.680 MHz TX and RX

Ever hopeful, I am on 8m QRP FT8 once again. 10m was good today, so I live in hope that the E-W F2 MUF to the USA will creep briefly to 8m. This assumes there are people monitoring over there!

UPDATE 1520z: No spots.

EI7GL's blog

John posted on his blog after a break of 5 months. I can honestly say it is probably the very best blog I have ever seen. This is a reminder to us all that this is just a hobby and we can do as much, or as little, as we choose.

A very warm welcome back John.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/ .

10m FT8 RX

Today was the turn of 10m FT8 RX, where I have been on most of the morning. So far, 839 stations spotted from all over the world (see photo).

UPDATE 1446z: 1095 stations spotted on 10m FT8, so I have QSYed to 8m QRP FT8 (RX and TX), ever hopeful

First DMR QSO

 My very first DMR QSO!! This morning I worked M7SNS near Leeds on BG-2341 TG91.  All seems to be well.  As I have no DMR gear, I am using my T320 network radio with Droidstar.

Bridge Street, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This is the street where I attend my University of the 3rd Age lecture on Cosmology. There are several places to eat here as well as the famous Pepys Library in Magdelene College just over the bridge over the River Cam .

Yesterday on 10m WSPR

For several days now, I have had no spots. Power and timing seems fine, so I wonder if I am off frequency? More investigation needed. 

Sunspots - Sunday October 23rd 2022

Solar flux is 105 and the SSN 55. A=27 and K=2.

No sunspot data

It is now very late and for the first time in many years I have not shown the latest solar data. It seems too late now! 

The DMR adventure continued

Most of the day I was trying to get DMR working with Droidstar on my Android phone. Unfortunately I couldn't get the vocoder to download even with a mod to allow sideloading. 

Switching to my T320 network radio seems to be working as I am hearing plenty. Tomorrow, I shall try for a 2-way DMR QSO.

It seems 90% of my issues were due to the vocoder. What should have been easy was not. 

10m QRP (500mW) TX (Friday)

At about 1420z, I turned on my 500mW W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon. No spots of me yet.

I hope WSPRnet is working as I have not had any spots of me today or yesterday which is odd.

8m QRP FT8 TX and RX (Friday)

 At about 1420z, I turned on my QRP 8m FT8 on 40.680 MHz. No spots at 1430z.

Plans for the day (Friday)

My plan for the day is to go on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW from the W5OLF beacon. Later, I may try 8m QRP FT8 TX .