Russia and Ukraine - NOT amateur radio

 After all this time, I am completely puzzled why Russia is doing the damage it is on Ukraine. For many years to come the Ukrainian people will hate Russia, as will much of the world. Surely this is not productive. All this wanton destruction seems so pointless. Why don't we concentrate on real threats rather than waste all this money on destroying things?

JAs again on 6m

 Many Japanese stations are being worked (again) on 6m FT8. This is a case where ERP really does matter. Although I am being spotted by Es around Europe, I think high power and big, high beams are getting the DX contacts! 

At the moment, I am RX only on 6m FT8. I shall let the "grown-ups" have the fun, HI.

UPDATE 1003z: 107 stations spotted on 6m FT8 with the furthermost HL4GAV (8944km) in South Korea. Looking at his/her spots this looks genuine.

UPDATE 1212z: 150 stations spotted on 6m VHF FT8 today. I wonder who is chasing 6m DXCC 😆? In another month there will be almost nobody on 6m! Sorry, but I reckon the Amateur Radio Service, as we know it, will be gone by 2040.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

My 500mW WSPR TX beacon has been on for a little while. Already 9 stations spotting me. Plenty of Es around.

UPDATE 0907z: 10 spots of me. Later in the Es season I detect a pattern. I seem to have more northerly spots. I am wondering if this is the traditional Es or something else? It happens every year on 10m. The co-incidence is odd.

UPDATE 1400z: 20 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR with the furthermost PU5ALE (10191km) in Brazil.

How simple can you go?

This has been on before, but I make no excuses for posting it again. One of the challenges in amateur radio is to see how simple a complete transceiver can be made that really works. This is just one possibility. There must be many others. My main issue was adjusting the RX to be precisely on the TX frequency. Maybe you have some ideas?

UK politics - NOT amateur radio

In the UK a General Election, after which the next ruling government will be formed, is expected late 2024. The ruling Conservative party is expected to lose power. 

Sadly, the leading opposition party is led by Sir Keir Starmer. He seems an honest man, but rather lacks charisma. 

In my view, the outcome could well be closer than expected.

Near Ely Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

 

This house was next to Ely Cathedral. I think it is either a cathedral office or linked to the King's School.

Sunday plans

Later this morning I expect to be on 6m QRP FT8 and 10m QRP WSPR TX. Sadly the SWR on my loop makes 8m TX tests unlikely, although I might try 8m FT8 RX later.

Sunspots - Sunday July 23rd 2023

 Solar flux is 174 and the SSN 103. A=8 and K=0.

Ely thistle - NOT amateur radio

This splendid thistle was in the Almonry Garden at Ely Cathedral last Tuesday.  You can just see Ely Cathedral behind.

OFCOM publications

This is just a reminder that OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc. every week. Check the OFCOM website for details. The latest versions of their publications are also there too.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

As mentioned before, my 8m antenna system is faulty and needs replacing. As an experiment I tried my V2000 vertical omni on 8m. The VSWR is over 3:1 so not really suitable. I gave a few transmissions but am currently on 40.680 MHz FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1144z:  I must mend my 8m antenna system!

UPDATE 1600z:  As an emergency measure I am using my indoor loop on 8m. The SWR is higher than I would want, so I am mostly on RX.

Amateur Radio Weekly newsletter

This comes as a free email newsletter. It is a good source of amateur radio data.

See https://hamweekly.com/ . 

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

Since just after breakfast I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon. At 1058z, 16 stations had spotted me.

6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

Switched on the 6m QRP FT8 gear just after breakfast. Looks like there is Es, but no JAs spotted here although I see them being worked from Eastern Europe.

UPDATE 1130z:  64 stations have spotted my 2.5W 6m FT8 today.

Poldu, Cornwall

A few weeks ago some friends called at the Poldu radio museum. They mentioned that I used to work for Philips and the person there said he knew me. It was Terry who must have retired to Cornwall. Small world. 

Sunspots - Saturday July 22nd 2023

Solar flux is 173 and the SSN 121. A=13 and K=2. 

Bee patient - NOT amateur radio

This morning, I tried to take a photo of a bee on a thistle. I waited and waited, but the bee refused to make itself visible. In the end I gave up! The bee is the black blob in the right hand thistle. Well, I tried.

Spelling - NOT amateur radio

These days, I am finding spelling far harder. 

Years ago I would look at a word and know if it was wrong. It is as if my built-in spell check no longer works. Errors no longer stand out as wrong. Now, this may just be old age or yet another after effect of my 2013 stroke. 

Please, be patient. If I realise a word is wrong, I shall try to correct it.

Carpe diem (sieze the day) - NOT amateur radio

 The dictionary definition is:

"to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future"

I guess as we age, we have to make the most of the time we have.

10m QRP WSPR (Friday)

Having been on since 0750z, most of my 500mW 10m WSPR spots are from local G4KPX (14km). OH6BG (1718km) could be F2.

UPDATE 1205z:  There would appear to be Es on 10m with 10 spots of my 500mW WSPR even though the charts do not look to great. See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/.

Stations spotting me today
on 10m QRP WSPR

UPDATE 2124z:  9 stations have spotted me today.