Sunspots - Wednesday September 13th 2023

Solar flux is 154 and the SSN 141. A=25 and K=4.

Encouraging people

 One of the blog readers has made some very good points with regard to Oscar 100. His view is that I should be encouraging  people rather than making disparaging remarks. In many ways he is quite right and my comments are wrong. 

People are just people - NOT amateur radio

 It is very easy to judge people. Whether they are English, American, Russian or from New Guinea or anywhere, people are just people. We all share the same humanity. In the end most want just to live in peace. 

Sunspots - Tuesday September 12th 2023

Solar flux is 176 and the SSN 173. A=7 and K=1.

Budva Montenegro - NOT amateur radio

After a short rest, we went for a walk around the old town in Budva. 

Sunspots - Monday September 11th 2023

 Solar flux is 164 and the SSN 167. A=4 and K=1.

Oscar 100 disappointment

In my view Oscar 100 has been a failure with usage far below expectations. 

My theory is that many have become zombie "black box" appliance operators who struggle to tell the difference between a resistor and transistor. Getting active on Oscar 100 is just too hard for most.

Amateur radio is meant to be about self training and research.  Does the growing cycle of carrots count? 😁

It is not helped by the big markets of Japan and the USA being outside its coverage.

It is my view, stated many many times before (sorry for the broken record) that amateur radio as we know it will be gone in 20 years as most people grow very old and no longer buy gear. I know of one local who bought a new rig and cannot operate it as there are too many adjustments!

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Sunspots - Sunday September 10th 2023

 Solar flux is 161 and the SSN 119. A=8 and K=0.

Last night of the proms - NOT amateur radio

In the UK calendar the last night of the proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London is pretty important. It is an occasion when lots of very English music is performed and the audience (mainly young flag waving people) goes mad.

Knowing that we got wealthy on the back of the evil slave trade makes me uneasy. On the one hand I want to just enjoy the music. On the other hand, I am bothered.

It is with mixed feelings I enjoy it.

In the end we have to work for a fairer, more just, world. We cannot deny the past. It happened. What we can all do is make a better future.

Old church vessels - NOT amateur radio

Our local church had its open day today. On display were some of the vessels used today. One chalice dates back to 1512. Imagine what life was like back then!

Optical communication in daylight

Earlier, I noticed the the reflection of the sun from my watch face on a distant wall. This got me thinking of heliographs. These were used to send Morse code messages in sunny countries. I think ranges were remarkable.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliograph. I seem to recall ranges were up to 80km. The best DX (line of site) was 295km.  Basically, the sun's reflection was obstructed to send CW.

My mind turned to QRSS beaconing. For this to be possible it would be necessary to divert the beam when the QRSS was not on. One possibility would be to have a loudspeaker with a mirrored sheet (kitchen foil?) over it with a tone keyed.  It would also be necessary to have a receiver that was optimised for daylight.  I have no idea how good this would be. 

I guess the same idea could be used for speech. The mirror would be deformed as speech was said. I seem to recall there was a 19th century patent for this called the Photophone. For speech I guess one could simply speak against the metal foil mirror.

I would imagine an optimised system could be used for over-the-horizon (NLOS) tests. Sadly, my health these days means I can only dream about this. It may already have been tried.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

My QRP 10m WSPR beacon has been on most of the morning. So far at 1125z, 4 unique spots of me. Most look like F2.

UPDATE 2103z:  Now QRT.  Altogether, spotted by 9 stations.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My 2.5W and the dipole have been on since shortly after breakfast. So far today, 2 Gs have spotted here. One is a local and the other I think was aircraft scatter.

UPDATE 1236z:  No further spots.

UPDATE 1825z:  A small Es opening (?) to Portugal.

UPDATE 2050z:  QRT. A better day on 8m than I was expecting.

Utter frustration - NOT amateur radio

Twice when out this week I have not been able to make people understand what I say because of my poor voice since my 2013 stroke. My wife is used to me and even she struggles. 

It is for this reason I do not join in casual conversations. Some can understand me, but clearly what comes out of my mouth is not what I want. Frustration!

Sunspots - Saturday September 9th 2023

Solar flux is 161 and SSN 123.  A=6 and K=1. 

EI7GL blog

This blog has not been updated since June 10th sadly.  I do not know why, but I for one miss it.

Late, late, show? - NOT amateur radio

This morning, I could not believe my ears and then eyes. 

At first I heard what sounded like swifts screaming, but saw nothing. Later, at the bus stop, I again heard screaming overhead again. Then I saw them. Quite unmistakable with their scythe like wings. 

It was probably a very late brood that had just left the nest. I saw 2, but there were probably more.  My wife also saw 2. 

Swifts normally migrate by mid August. These are the latest I have ever seen in the UK. They may be the latest ever seen in the whole county this year.

10m 500mW WSPR TX

There would appear to be no Es on 10m today. All these look like F2 propagation. My beacon has been on since breakfast.

Having a chat? - NOT amateur radio

It looks like these two are having a good old chat about something. Seen in St James' Park, London on Wednesday.

8m QRP FT8 (Friday)

Just local G4WSZ (12km) spotting my 2.5W FT8, which has been on since before breakfast.  At this time of year, my only real hope of DX spots is by aircraft reflection I guess