Cambridge Botanic Garden - NOT amateur radio

These bluebells and forget me nots were at Cambridge Botanic Garden last week. 

10m 10mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My 10mW 10m  WSPR has been re-synced to internet time. No spots.

UPDATE 1432z:  Several spots by local G4KPX (14km). No DX.

UPDATE 1802z:  It is quite a surprise to find out I am struggling with 10mW 10m WSPR when on 6m with 2.5W FT8 I am being widely spotted. Once again EA8BFK (2880km) is spotting me. No Es spots.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

My 6m QRP (2.5W to the V2000 vertical) is on and 4 stations have spotted me at 0816z.

UPDATE 0838z:  7 stations have spotted me. All of these are in England.

UPDATE 1430z:  40 stations have spotted me. Plenty of Es.

UPDATE 1826z: 49 stations have spotted my QRP FT8 today.

sBitx V3

Steve G1KQH has reminded me of this low cost HF kit. Sadly, building it would be beyond my fine motor skills these days, but I see it has a built-in FT8 decoder, so no PC is needed. I am not sure if it can be bought ready built, but Ashar makes some great kit. His designs always use readily available parts.

See https://www.hfsignals.com/.

Sunspots - Tuesday May 7th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 148. A=15 and K=2. 

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 No great DX but 7 stations spotted my 10mW ERP overnight.

8m or 6m 10mW WSPR?

My intention was to try 8m WSPR with 10mW with ISM rules but I was concerned by the lack of monitors on 8m. 

Then it occurred to me that I could try 10mW WSPR on 6m instead during the Es season and be assured of a reasonable number of monitors.

If it works on 6m it would work on 8m in the ISM band. So, my proposal is to try 10mW WSPR on 6m instead of 8m knowing that if it works on 6m it would work licence free on 8m.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on at about 1845z. So far, 2 stations have spotted me.

York - NOT amateur radio

We like the city of York. It has many narrow and very old streets and a magnificent minster. It also has a famous railway museum. The photo shows the railway station in a photo recently posted by a friend on 365project. The approach to the railway station is currently being changed.

See https://visityork.org/ .

10m 10mW WSPR (Monday)

There is some Es about, although I have not been spotted yet with my 10mW.  The impression is this is not yet at the intensity to regularly support QRPP WSPR.

UPDATE 1730z:  No spots of me. It would appear EA8BFK (2880km) is either not monitoring or my signal is too weak.

Wicken Fen - NOT amateur radio

This is a very old National Trust piece of land. In the UK, members can visit any National Trust property for free. Others pay an entry fee. NT properties include old houses, clifftops and other land of interest. It is a great resource.  I think Wicken Fen was the first NT property in the country. We visited here on Saturday. 

We heard lots of cuckoos. Cuckoos like reed warbler nests - there are plenty!  Cuckoos are often heard and not seen.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/cuckoo .

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

With spots of my 2.5W 6m QRP FT8 to the vertical omni antenna from Germany 🇩🇪 , France and Denmark already, there looks like Es is about.

UPDATE 1131z:  23 spots of me. Plenty of Es.

UPDATE 1653z:  34 spots of my QRP so far today. See map.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

8 stations spotted my 10mW ERP WSPR overnight . No great DX, but better than I expected really.

Sunspots - Monday May 6th

 Solar flux is 177 and the SSN 152. A=12 and K=2.

Es so far and QRPP 8m WSPR

There have been Es openings in Europe on 10m and 6m, but nothing yet to suggest my 10mW ERP 8m WSPR would be copied. This is the power that anyone may use licence free with ISM rules in the UK as long as IR2030 is met.

I still have to replace my 8m dipole. I shall probably do this the week after this. Hopefully someone during this Es season will get my 10mW ERP WSPR on 40.680 MHz USB dial. My reluctance is ladder work as I get giddy up ladders!  

There are two factors working against me - the low power and too few 8m monitors. Results on 10m suggest 10mW should be enough, but 8m suffers from too few monitors. However, I remain hopeful. 

Es is usually good during May, June and July. In my experience the season goes on during July, August and September, but it is on the wane by August.

6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 2.5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was turned on at about 0915z. So far, just one local spot.

UPDATE 0950z:  9 spots of me.

UPDATE 1823z:  22 spots of my QRP with the furthermost SE3X (1447km) in northern Sweden.

10m 10mW WSPR (Sunday)

EA8BFK (2880km) has spotted me multiple times (F2?).  At 500uW this would probably not have been possible.

UPDATE 1922z:  So far, just EA8BFK has spotted my 10m 10mW WSPR over 100 times!! This looks like single hop F2. I was surprised nobody else spotted me. Perhaps his noise floor is exceptionally low.

Wicken Fen - NOT amateur radio

 The photo shows the old wind pump at Wicken Fen. It is often thought of as a windmill although it is a pump not a mill.

Still no swifts - NOT amateur radio

On Saturday, we went to Wicken Fen. Although we saw swallows, we saw no swifts. The odd straggler may have arrived, but most have not. Once they arrive they will be quite common.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 Not a bad session overnight. No great DX spots of me and I continue to be really disappointed by how few people there are on TX in the UK. For now I am staying with 630m QRP WSPR.