Shetland winter - NOT amateur radio

This photo was posted recently on 365project. It shows the Shetland Is (Scotland) in winter. This far north, days are very short.

Because of the wind, there are very few trees.

Practical Wireless article

In the February 2023 issue of Practical Wireless is my article about 8m. Practical Wireless now incorporates Radio User.  

The latter used to be a magazine mainly for SWLs. I hope the ending of Radio User is not the start of many magazine closures.

Wall map - NOT amateur radio

This wall map is in our small bedroom where our grandsons sleep. Occasionally it falls down and is a right pain to put back. It fell off a few days ago and was put back yesterday.

8m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

For several hours, I have been on 8m QRP FT8. At 1335z, no spots today. 

10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)

Yet again, I am on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW W5OLF beacon. Already 4 unique stations spotting me at 1030z after a very short time. No surprises.

Stations spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR at 1030z today

UPDATE 1310z:  No further stations, but more spots.

Stations spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR to 1505z

UPDATE 1505z:   11 unique stations have so far spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR (see table).

UPDATE 1615z:  14 unique stations have spotted me.

Oscar 100 activity - terrible!

Every few weeks I give an update on activity levels on the narrow-band transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. It is very low! 

The only activity seems to be from Germany and these are just "59" exchanges. As far as I can tell, this is a total failure. The satellite works well, but people do not like talking through this "repeater in the sky".

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/.

Sunspots - Tuesday January 10th 2023

Solar flux is 191 and the SSN 142.  A=5 and K=1. 

Canon Powershot Zoom - NOT amateur radio

Just occasionally, I see a product that sort of "connects". One such is the Canon Powershop Zoom Monocular. 

It is a monocular and a zoom camera. It is available from several sources. 

As I already have micro-SD cards and a USB-C lead and charger, I would only need to buy the basic camera.

Winter garden - NOT amateur radio

At this time of year the garden looks dead. There are a few signs of new life with bulbs poking through. It will be very different in a few months. 

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

At about 0925z, I turned on my 500mW W5OLF WSPR 10m beacon. So far (at 0957z)  4 unique stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1550z:   8 unique stations have spotted my 10m WSPR QRP today.

UPDATE 1650z:  11 unique stations have spotted my 10m QRP WSPR TX today.

UPDATE  1925z:  QRT.

SSB activity lower?

Every month I take part in the 2m and 70cm UKAC activity contests organised by the RSGB. My voice is poor and I only run QRP to my big-wheel omni antenna. I am usually on for less than an hour. I also have a go at the FT8 activity contests.

Although I rarely use SSB and FM outside contests, I gather activity with these modes is down on the past. I guess there are several reasons. Firstly, people can chat for free on the internet by video with anywhere on the planet, so there is less need to use the amateur bands just for chatting. Secondly, the average age of amateurs is increasing, with the hobby appealing to retired people. Some of these are now getting infirm so less active. Thirdly, there are more digital modes not needing much bandwidth. For example, the FT8 slot is often busy, but very little bandwidth is needed.

QSOs on 2m UKAC
last Tuesday

Certainly, SSB UKAC contest QSOs seem harder now on 2m than a few years ago. My average used to be about 10 QSOs whereas now even getting a couple is harder.

Change is inevitable, but you do not just chance upon FT8 as this needs specialist software. People will no longer just chance upon amateur radio. The danger is numbers decline over the next 10-20 years unless we can galvanise the interest of younger people.

8m FT8 QRP (Monday)

Later, I expect to be on 8m TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 with 2.5W QRP. The winter Es season seems to be in full swing, so I am hopeful some in Europe will spot me. 

UPDATE 1927z:  No spots. QRT.

Kingsbridge 1930s? - NOT amateur radio

This photo of where I lived as a teenager was probably taken in the 1930s although I am not an expert on vehicles. It certainly looks pre WW2 to me. 

Sunspots - Monday January 9th 2023

Solar flux is 184 and the SSN 117. A=8 and K=0.

The Yaesu FT81x transceivers

Yaesu has announced the ending of production of the FT818 transceiver claiming parts shortage as their reason. 

When the FT818 was launched, like many, I was completely under-whelmed. What a complete failure!! 

The FT818 offered none of the things people had expected and that would have been very easy to do. Instead, they opened the market to others and gave us the impression of a company that had totally lost its way. 

In my view they have one last chance in 2023. Based on their muddled performance in 2022 I am not too hopeful. If they are after profits, they have surely lost their chances already. Compared with, say, 10 years ago there are far more competitors.  At one time they ruled the QRP market and were leaders not followers.

In my time I have owned many Yaesu transceivers. I was a Yaesu fan. 

It would not surprise me at all if Yaesu left the amateur radio market within 5 years.

481 THz "over the horizon" communications

Since my 2013 stroke, I have felt too wobbly to do field work. One of my great pleasures was trying optical communications over the horizon where I was astounded by what was possible, even though there was no sign of any light visible. Had I been fit, far further would have been possible.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/optical-nanowaves/over-the-horizon for some ideas. 

In many ways optical communications are easier than microwaves as all the gear (test gear and working kit) may be homemade at low cost.

The photo shows my first tentative steps in daylight along a road. Little did I realise what fun was to follow!

"Our" windmill - NOT amateur radio

We see the windmill right next to us at breakfast and from the lounge. 

This photo was taken yesterday when we had showers and sunshine. Well worth a visit as it is fully restored. The museum is excellent. 

Few people have a fully restored windmill right next door!

See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

At 0956z, my 500mW WSPR beacon was turned on.

UPDATE 1808z:  30 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR TX today as shown below in the table.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

It is now 0950z. In a few moments I expect to be on 8m TX on 40.680 (TX first) with my 2.5W FT8 QRP and low dipole. 

UPDATE 1101z:  On now. No spots.

UPDATE 1335z:  G0HVQ (181km) has spotted my QRP 8m FT8.

UPDATE 1452z:  EI9KP (649km) has spotted me ....again ... on 8m FT8.

UPDATE 1815z:  S50B (1220km) has now spotted my 2.5W FT8 on 8m today. Today is probably my best day on 8m for several months. Winter Es for S50B? The propagation to EI9KP still puzzles me. It must be some sort of scatter - aircraft, random MS or tropo?

Grandson's bellringing videos - NOT amateur radio

Our elder grandson has a video channel about bellringing. He has new rung in well over 80 towers in London and in the Cambridge area. His channel is called StedmanTriples783.

See https://www.youtube.com/@stedders783.