"It is all too much?" - NOT amateur radio

Many years ago (5?) a doctor said these words to me.  I replied "of course not". 

Now I am less sure. As I get older, I feel my strength waning, people around me are dying (friends and family) and I live in an almost constant state of near exhaustion and giddiness. Life is no longer such fun. As a younger person, all my life was ahead of me. My sex life was healthy and meant a lot. These days, my drive is no longer there.  Ahead of me is (probably) ill health and death.

We once went to a party, mainly of older people. The host said, "you are not allowed to discuss your illness or medication". She was very wise!

Most of the time, I remain positive doing what still gives me fun, and there  are plenty of things.  On the whole, I am a "glass half full" sort of person i.e. positive.

..... but I now know what that doctor meant.

Oscar 100 narrowband

Every few weeks I take a peek at activity levels on the narrowband transponder on Oscar 100 using the on-line SDR at Goonhilly Down. Although I cannot comment on the wideband transponder, the narrowband transponder is very under used. My last look was early weekend in Europe.

Early optical experiments

This was a whole 11 years ago. Later, I went on to much further over the horizon.

Tempted? - NOT amateur radio

After Christmas, quite a few people go on diets to lose some weight after eating too much over the break. 

My wife saw this display in Cambridge yesterday. She was very tempted!

RF modules?

Sadly, the days when I can build things have long gone: instead I concentrate on experiments that I can (mainly) do at home without building.

It has long fascinated me that many RF modules for various bands are available at low cost. People have used these for low cost 5.6 GHz ATV links. In fact a whole /P culture has grown around /P ATV at 5.6 GHz.

What I have not seen is other such RF modules put to use on VHF and UHF frequencies for FM or AM transceivers. In principle, people could make whole rigs without any RF knowledge!

The modules shown may be bought as a set of 4 (RX and TX modules) i.e. 8 for just £10!!!

Sunspots - Saturday February 4th 2023

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 74. A=9 and K=3.

PSKreporter - sick or overloaded?

At times, PSKreporter seems not to work. Sometimes there is a great delay adding spots and at other times it seems unresponsive. I don't think this is an issue with my end. I think it is at the PSKreporter end. 

Sadly, this makes it a far less useful site as you sometimes have to wait hours before you know if you have been spotted.

I am currently looking for 8m FT8 spots.

Promise of spring? - NOT amateur radio

At this dark time of the year, my wife likes to buy some bunches of daffodils. They are usually a bargain (still) and herald better days ahead. Spring is only a few weeks away .... along with grass cutting!! 

The bird migrants from Africa usually arrive in April.

Solar data

The latest information on solar cycle 25 is out. It still shows the peak as November this year, which is early.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/ . 

OFCOM updates

 Every week, OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc..  See the OFCOM website for the latest.

Savoury biscuits for dips - NOT amateur radio

On Monday our son popped around for "University Challenge" on TV.  He brought some dips and biscuits for dipping. 

Inspired by these biscuits, I made my own this morning. They worked out really well (see photo). I shall have to make them again adding a few more dried rosemary herbs. Looking at the recipe, I suspect any herbs could be substituted.

See flatbread crackers recipe.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

At 0852, my W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon was turned on. Already, plenty of spots from the Canary Isles.

UPDATE 1204z:  61 spots of me by EA8/DF4UE (2876km) today.

UPDATE 1255z:  USA starting to spot me now. See http://wspr.rocks/ .

XBM80-2 transceiver

One of my Facebook memories this week was of some QSOs over 100 miles by AA1TJ using my little XBM80-2 transceiver in 2010. I did not realise it was that old!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/80m-xbm80-2 .

Early start on 8m QRP FT8

Earlier than normal, I am on 40.680 MHz FT8 with my 2.5W and dipole. It is now 0914z and, so far,  no spots. I seem to get my spots via aircraft reflection mainly at this time of year. There was some winter Es earlier, but I think that has largely gone.

UPDATE 1200z:  No spots on PSKreporter. QRT for a while as things cool. Back on 8m QRP FT8 this afternoon. Sometimes I notice a delay with PSKreporter.

UPDATE 1355z:  Now on 8m FT8 again.

ATV via Oscar 100

Typical TV picture via Oscar 100

Every Thursday evening at 2000z, BATC has a TV net on Oscar 100. I am disappointed that the only people I have seen are UK stations, but this confirms that there are some very bright people about. I am very impressed.

See https://batc.org.uk/live/oscar100net .

Sunspots - Friday February 3rd 2023

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 56. A=6 and K=1.

Emanuel College, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This is the annex to Emanuel College in Cambridge. It is about 200m from the bus station.

See https://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/ .

That darn book!

Current email footer

In my email footer are links to my various websites. For the life of me, I cannot see why putting a link to the shared file of my free PDF book always included the file as an attachment as well!  

As this is a 12.8MB file some emails may reject it!  I searched the settings, but cannot see why it does this.

Instead, I have put a link to the book page on my website. So, clicking there is a link to the latest edition. This seems fine.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/book .

Rally this weekend

 The following rally has been notified to me.  As always, it is a good thing to contact first before travelling a long way.

Sunday February 5th 2023 - Canvey Rally, Essex, SS8 9QA. Contact sears.enquiries@gmail.com .

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

 It is now 1105z. So far om 10m QRP WSPR with my 500mW beacon, spotted by 2 unique stations.

UPDATE 1352z:   6 unique stations have spotted me today.