10m FT8 RX

Much of the morning, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. There is no doubt that HF conditions are again good. The average sunspot number must be around 100 and 10m FT8  DX from around the world is widely spotted most days.

UPDATE 1157z:   179 stations spotted.

Stations spotted on 10m
FT8 RX today at 1902z

UPDATE 1902z:   801 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1958z:  806 stations spotted. Now QRT.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 27th 2022

 Solar flux is 150 and the SSN 96. A=22 and K=4.

QDX 10m

Hans Summers has announced a new higher bands version of his QDX digital transceiver. It is tiny. I have just ordered one assembled as my fine motor skills prevent me building it these days sadly. 

This is a 5W transceiver covering 20m-10m. Used with a software package like WSJT-X, it should work the world on modes like FT8.

See https://www.qrp-labs.com/qdx.html .

10m FT8 RX (Monday)

Most of the day I have been on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2139z:   713 stations spotted today.

Dalham - NOT amateur radio

This is the nearby village of Dalham about 12km from us. 

Sunspots - Monday December 26th 2022

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 107. A=10 and K=1.

10m FT8

Stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX at 1240z

My problem with my 10m antenna was the coax plug, which I have re-done. At the moment (whilst getting ready for Christmas lunch!!) I am on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1240z:  So far today, 148 stations spotted.

UPDATE 1803z:  670 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today. QRT.

White Gold - NOT amateur radio

In the 17th and 18th centuries, many Devon people were captured as slaves by Turks (Barbary Pirates). In all 7000 people were captured and sold in North Africa. Many never returned and died in captivity. 

About half of these came from coastal Devon, so it is highly likely that some of my fishermen ancestors were captured. At that time fishermen travelled thousands of miles to the rich cod banks off Newfoundland and were captured as they left port on their arduous journeys. It must have been a very frightening time.

A very good book was "White Gold" by Giles Milton. Until I read this I knew nothing about this.

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

Merry Christmas! - NOT amateur radio

This winter festival at the darkest time of the year pre-dates Christianity by many thousands of years. Whatever your faith (or none), I hope you have a good time. 

Whatever your circumstances, you are loved. We all benefit from being kind and loving to each other.  This time of year is especially magical for young children, so please make it an especially happy for them.

Merry Christmas!

👍

USA digital geostationary satellite?

Excuse my ignorance, but I am confused by the difference between a geosynchronous and geostationary satellite. 

Apparently there are moves afoot to get a high orbit satellite with a footprint over the USA. Oscar 100 does not cover the USA. This one should be digital.  If so, I expect it will get even less attention that Oscar 100, which is seriously under-used.

In my view, these satellites are interesting to access at first, but interest soon wanes later: people know they can access them and then they get bored. It is just like talking on a terrestrial repeater.

Sunspots - Sunday December 25th 2022

Solar flux is 133 and the SSN 85. A=23 and K=3.

Cold Devon day - NOT amateur radio

This was the beach in Devon near Thurlestone Rock. It is near here that I come from.

2m activity contest results

The results have just been published for the 2m UKAC contest. These results are for December and the overall scores for the year. Despite just one QSO in December, I managed to end up in 67th place in the low power section (I run 10W to my big-wheel omni antenna) out of 175 stations.  As my voice is poor these days, I find SSB contests hard work, so I usually stop on for 30-60 minutes only.

SDR has arrived

It is unlikely to be tested for several days, but my SDR has arrived. It is meant to cover from 100kHz to 1.75GHz.

Looking for software recommendations to use with it please? 

See https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HA642SW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

Amaryllis at last - NOT amateur radio

We love watching these amazing plants grow in pots during the winter. A bulb grows into an enormous plant with huge flowers. We thought this one was a dud that was never going to grow. In the last few days it has started. Usually they take about 4-7 weeks to fully mature. Each morning they seem to have grown!

See https://www.amaryllis.com/pages/amaryllis-planting-and-care

Intermittent 10m antenna

This morning, I was planning to go on 10m QRP FT8, but something is still intermittent so I have a high SWR. I suspect the coax plug. At some point, I shall have to remake the joint. These days, this is less easy as my fine motor skills are poor.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 At the moment (1106z) I am on 40.680 MHz FT8 with my 2.5W and low wire dipole. No spots on RX or TX.

UPDATE 1545z:   No spots.

Oscar 100 activity (or rather lack of)

Every few weeks I take peek at activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. My latest peak was at 1045z on Christmas Eve. This is European Saturday morning in a holiday, so I would have expected activity to be as good as at any time. What did I find? Very quiet (see screenshot).

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Sunspots - Saturday December 24th 2022

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 100.  A=24 and K=4.

4m in the Caribbean

PJ4MM has also got a permit to TX on 4m. When the Es season comes, this will be an interesting path from Europe.   

As far as I know, this is the first amateur in the northern hemsiphere in Region 2 to get a transmitting permit. 

I think VP8 in the southern hemisphere has 4m, so this could be an interesting TEP path.