Sunspots - Monday April 24th 2023

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 86. A=66 and K=3. Things seem pretty disturbed.

Spectroid app

My lounge PC and smart phone have Android apps including a free one called Spectroid. This might be suitable for my 481 THz tests. It is available on the Play Store. It is a powerful audio spectrum analyser (see screenshot).

Robins - NOT amateur radio

Of all our garden birds, the humble robin is probably the most endearing. They can be very tame. Actually, as shown in David Lack's famous 1947 book "The Life of the Robin", it is a far more complex bird than it at first appears.  By the way, the book has been reprinted many times and the latest version is available online.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/robin/ .

Salisbury - NOT amateur radio

 

I do not think I posted this photo of Salisbury last week. If I did, put it down to old age!

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

Since about 0945z, I have been in 10m FT8. Plenty of spots.

UPDATE 1426z: 149 stations have spotted my 10m FT8 QRP today.

QRP 10m FT8 spots of me today

UPDATE 2030z:  245 stations have spotted my 10m FT8 QRP today. QRT soon. No spots from N.America.

Endings - NOT amateur radio

Endings do not work for me. When things end, I can find things hard. As I get older, and friends around me die, it is sometimes harder to make sense of things. Many years ago some things were very important to me whereas now they are less so.  Impulses that were strong long ago are less so now. 

As I have said many times, most religions seem to be too Earth-centred for me. I still think it must be great to have a strong faith, but I cannot be true to myself. As a youth I tried to be "saved", but never was. 

My philosophy has been to be as honest and open as I can be and kind to others. I am not perfect, but I know this.

80m QRP FT8 using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

80m FT8 spots of my QRP using the
earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

As I managed to match the FT-710 to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground, I was on 80m QRP FT8 early last evening and again now. So far, 60 stations have spotted me. It certainly works! 

Later, I may try calling into the CDARC (Cambridge) 80m net.

UPDATE 1000z: I tried to go on the CDARC 80m net, but heard nobody. Noise level was S9, so I QSYed to 10m FT8 instead on the FT-710 at QRP level. Plenty of spots on TX and RX.

160m QRP FT8 with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Last evening and overnight I was on 160m QRP FT8 using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Even my XYL cannot see it!  

6 hours 160m FT8 TX at 3W using the
earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Results were remarkable with 53 spots of me right across Europe. As an experiment, I left it on overnight at just 3W.  23 stations spotted me as the map shows in the last 6 hours alone!  It certainly works. Furthermost was a spot by YO3APJ (2082km).

Sunspots - Sunday April 23rd 2023

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 87. A=7 and K=1.

Chromebooks - NOT amateur radio

For about 2.5 years I have owned and used a Chromebook rather than a Windows PC. When I first got it, I wondered whether I had made the right decision.  It uses Chrome OS rather than Windows 10 or 11.

It was the right decision, definitely.

It starts very fast, does updates painlessly in the background, and does everything I need for my lounge PC. I have not found anything I want to do with it that I cannot do.  Also, it was far less expensive than a Windows PC and came with a 3 year "at home" warranty. It is pretty rugged too. It runs Linux apps too, although I have never needed to. It can also be used as a touch screen tablet.

I have been extremely pleased with it. Next year I shall probably buy another one!

80m FT8 tonight?

Just might try 80m FT8 TX this evening after dark when 10m is no good. It means matching the FT-710 to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground and setting WSJT-X for use with the FT-710. For the last few days I have been using the QDX.

UPDATE 1606z:  As 10m does not exactly look great, I might swap to 80m FT8 quite soon.

Football - NOT amateur radio

In the UK, we call soccer "football". I am definitely an armchair fan! The last time I went to a match in person was 3 years ago with my son and grandson at Cambridge United. Watching on the TV is not the same, but some matches are very expensive.

Today, I have split loyalties: Plymouth Argyle used to be my local team. If they win today they have a better chance of promotion to the next league up. Cambridge United are struggling at the bottom of the table and face relegation. Last time I looked, Plymouth were 3:1 up.

Wrexham Town, who are a non-league team, could be promoted into the Football League if they win tonight.

UPDATE 1600z:  Plymouth Argyle won 3:1.

Plans for next week

My plans for next week are currently as follows:

• Restart experiments on 40.680 MHz QRP FT8 TX now the Es season is almost here. 
• Put Spectran software on the shack PC and carry out local 481 THz optical tests with it.
• Go on 10m QRP WSPR TX whilst on 8m. 
• Perhaps try 80m TX with the FT-710 using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Maybe I should try 80m FT8?? 
• With Spectran on the PC, I could also perhaps try some 136 kHz QRSS tests.

Memory costs - NOT amateur radio

It is amazing how inexpensive memory now is. Just now, I ordered a 32GB flash drive for just £5.49. We can expect in 10 years this memory will seem small: it would not surprise me if 1TB costs under £10 in 10 years.

Anemones - NOT amateur radio

 

These were seen in Salisbury earlier in the week.

Spring in the garden - NOT amateur radio

Spring is a lovely time of the year. Everything springs into life after what seems like a long winter. Summer migrant birds are returning from Africa and the blossom is at its best. The birds are singing and building nests.

On the trees, the leaves are a fresh green, whereas later they look tired. Blossom is ephemeral. In a few days it will be gone until next spring and so the cycle goes on.

The photo shows spring in our garden.

10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My tiny QRP QDX transceiver was turned on at 0830z. So far,  just a local spotting me. On RX, I suspect a pirate as the only station spotted so far is in South America where it is still dark and the time is all wrong.

In the last day, 222 stations have spotted my 10m FT8 QRP from all over the world.

UPDATE  0841z:  A few more stations coming through on RX.

UPDATE 1000z:  Sorry, the South American was last night, not this morning as I was looking at the last 12 hours, so was probably genuine. So far this morning, 10 stations have spotted my QRP 10m FT8.

Stations spotting my 10m FT8 QRP today

UPDATE 1325z: 43 stations have spotted me today and I have spotted 55. The photo shows the stations that have spotted my 10m QRP FT8 today.

UPDATE 1516z:  50 stations have spotted my 10m FT8 QRP and I have spotted 73 on RX. I get the impression things are not so "hot" as yesterday. So far, not a single North American has been spotted. Also, I wonder if working the same stations yet again causes people to lose interest in FT8 unless there is some choice new country to chase? On SSB, FM and AM people can chat, whereas they cannot on FT8, although JS8call allows keyboard chats.

UPDATE 1816z:  Switched to the FT-710 from the QDX. This works on TX on 10m but not on 80m. I must be doing something wrong. 6 stations have spotted me so far at 10W on 10m FT8 TX. Maybe the settings are per band?

The current station

The photo shows my current station. On the left is the FT817ND with the SWR meter above. On the right is the FT-710 and tiny QDX transceiver plus the Tigertronics USB interface used with the FT817ND. In the background is the little used MX2 2m SSB handheld. 

Out of shot is the 500mW W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon TX. 

Sunspots - Saturday April 22nd 2023

 Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 114. A=9 and K=3.

VLF earth-mode TX

Looking back over some of my old photos, I came across this photo of my 5W earth-mode VLF transmitter, that was last used over 10 years ago. 

The 3C90 toroid on the left is to match the low impedance output from the TDA2003 to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. In the centre is the TDA2003 audio amplifier. On the right is the keyer IC that can produce QRSS or CW.

It would be good to do some more experiments in the future, if my health allows.