Sunspots - Wednesday December 18th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 88. A=29 and K=3.

Christmas tree festival - NOT amateur radio

This was a Christmas tree 🎄 festival in our village church.

1955 shack

This photo appeared yesterday of a USA shack in 1955.  

When I started in the early 1960s, most HF was AM. These days it is mostly FT8 and SSB.

1937 USA amateur allocations

 Yesterday I came across this, which may be of interest especially to USA readers. Notice an amateur band at 11m, no 160m , no WARC bands and no 15m. I am sorry the chart is not clearer.

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at about 0915z.  Yesterday, 55 stations spotted me. 

UPDATE 1432z:  So far today I have been spotted by 24 stations.

Back on 6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 At the moment I am back on 6m FT8 with the IC-705. So far, at 0930z, 3 English stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 0936z: 6 English stations have spotted me. 

UPDATE 1151z:   Spotted by 13 stations.

UPDATE 1912z:   19 stations have spotted me today (see map).

RF in the shack?

 As reported yesterday, I have an issue using my IC-705 on 10m FT8. There was no problem on 6m. 

It suddenly occurred to me that this might be due to RF in the shack as I use an end-fed antenna on 10m. Later I will try adding some RF chokes to see if this cures it.

Times Radio - NOT amateur radio

Most days, I watch the YouTube videos from Times Radio.  Often they interview a wide range of experts on a host of world affairs. It is hard to find unbiased sources of world news, but this is pretty good.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 17th

Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 90. A=28 and K=2.

"Early doors" - NOT amateur radio

Until this year I had never heard of this phrase. This year, I have heard it several times. Maybe I have led a too sheltered life!  

I am wondering if it was a common phrase in the UK before?

OFCOM updates

A reminder that OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc.. It also has announced more about the auctions of 26GHz and 40GHz spectrum.

10m QRP FT8 (Monday)

Before it went funny I was briefly on 10m QRP FT8. 20 stations spotted me before I moved to 10m QRP WSPR with my beacon.

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR was turned on earlier this morning. At 1101z, 8 stations had spotted me.

UPDATE 1311z:  20 stations have spotted me. See table.

IC-705 FT8 issue?

After working faultlessly for several days on 6m FT8, I am getting an error message when I try to TX on 10m FT8 with the IC-705.  

I checked the COM ports and audio selection (all fine). I re-installed WSJT-X v2.6 (same issue). The next thing is to re-install sound cards on the IC-705 and try again.

New version of WSJT-X released

Apparently WSJT-X 2.7.1 is now on general release. There is a YouTube video all about it.  I shall have to download the new version and have a play.

UPDATE 1050z:  No it is not!! I just looked and I could only see this as a release candidate. I expect it soon will be on general release. 

Sunspots - Monday December 16th

Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 97. A=12 and K=3.

Another dull day - NOT amateur radio

Apart from yesterday, we have had a string of dull days. 

Today was much the same, although at sunset it was a little better (see photo).

One way or two way?

Over the years my interest in amateur radio has changed. 

Like very many others, I enjoyed chatting and chasing DX. Since my 2013 stroke, speaking is hard work for me. I still use voice modes, but not as often these days. Doing so is good for me. Instead I prefer digital modes like WSPR and FT8 which do not involve my voice.

It is not purely because of my poor voice. 

These days, I get as much pleasure from seeing where my QRP on various bands can be received. Many purists will say, "that is not amateur radio" and I can understand where they are coming from. Use of just digital modes means newcomers will not chance upon amateur radio as I did.

I hope amateur radio will still be here as it was. However, it would not entirely surprise me if it evolves as PTTs grow tired of amateur radio administration and its lack of revenue generation. I am pretty sure any administration costs are greater than any revenue generated. This is not a sustainable position.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

Starting at about 1020z, I am on 10m QRP FT8. At 1025z (i.e after just a few minutes) my QRP was spotted by 54 stations - it is too easy! At this rate, I shall soon stop.

I guess I am running about 3W from the IC-705.

UPDATE 1640z:  135 stations have spotted me today (see map). Now QRT.

Making tiramisu - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday our grandsons made tiramisu and had fun doing it. 

It tasted good but will soon be gone!!