US Dollar to Russian Ruble - NOT amateur radio

At one point earlier in the month it looked like the Ruble was collapsing against the US Dollar. I am not sure if it is the Trump effect, but it has recovered a lot since then. Maybe the stories of the collapse were premature?

See Dollar to Ruble .

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 

My IC-705 was turned on after breakfast. 15 spots of my 10W FT8 so far at 1023z.

UPDATE 1103z:  Now spotted by 19 stations. Es or single hop F2? Furthermost is a spot by SM2GHI (2013km).

UPDATE 1328z:  24 EU spots of me.

630m WSPR RX overnight

Using the coax up to my 2m big-wheel antenna via an ATU I was on 630m WSPR RX. 5 stations were spotted with the furthest SM2DJK (1720km) in the north of Sweden. It was good to see 630m WSPR well used.

Map from WSPRrocks by Phil  VK7JJ

Sausage pasta - NOT amateur radio

This is a quick and easy (and low cost) meal we sometimes have. 

Sausages browned first then cut up, added with pasta, mushrooms, cheese, sweetcorn and a few herbs, all in Creme Fraiche. 

Ready in about 10 minutes. Served with a few peas.

DeepSeek AI - NOT amateur radio

There is a new AI program from China that is "upsetting the apple cart".  It is called DeepSeek and is supposed to be better than ChatGPT. When I went to try it yesterday, it was unavailable due to a malicious attack.

There is little doubt that AI will get even better over time and will have a great impact on our lives. In many ways it will be a force for good, but it will cost us jobs and could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

See https://chat.deepseek.com/ .

Remote control of an ICOM rig

It would be good to operate my IC-705 over wi-fi from my iPhone. This would mean I could control the radio whilst in the lounge or even in bed! 

I am sure there are several programs, but I saw this one yesterday. It is not cheap at $36.99. There are versions for the Mac and iPad. 

One could even control the radio over the internet.

See https://ham-radio-apps.com/sdr-control-for-icom/ .

Sunspots - Tuesday January 28th

 Solar flux is 162 and the SSN 146.  A=8 and K=1.

630m WSPR receive (Monday)

As my earth-electrode "antenna" is not connected and  my Tigertronics SignaLink USB interface is faulty, I am RX only using the IC-705 and the coax up to my 2m big-wheel via a ferrite rod ATU. 

So far this evening, 2 stations spotted on WSPR with the furthermost DC0DX (467km).

UPDATE 2230z:  Just 2 stations spotted this evening. I shall leave the RX on overnight.

Receiving commercial services in the UK

In the UK we have some unusual rules. I think you may legally listen to commercial broadcasts (like aircraft bands) but it is illegal to make use of the information received. This was probably done with the best of intention. I guess this was to prevent industrial espionage or terrorism, but it leaves a "black hole" when you just listen or report for fun.

I wonder if anyone has actually been prosecuted here in the UK for infringing this law?

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

 At about 1340z, I decided to go on 6m FT8 with the IC-705.

UPDATE 1537z:  Spotted just by 6 English stations.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My QMX+ has been on 8m FT8 TX (about 2W to the low dipole) since about 0920z. No spots at 1222z.

I think I'll QSY to 10m FT8 with the IC-705.

Big Garden Birdwatch 2025 - NOT amateur radio

This was organised by the RSPB over this weekend. Lots of UK individuals and schools took part. The idea is to record the maximum number of each species in an hour. Over the years some patterns emerge.

It was quite noticeable how bigger birds now dominate. In my hour I saw not one small bird!! The smallest was a blackbird.

See Big Garden Birdwatch. 

10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)

My beacon was turned on at 0924z.

UPDATE 1710z:  15 stations have spotted me.

“Our” windmill in the rain - NOT amateur radio

After a decent start, Sunday was a miserable day. This is the view from our lounge window.

Sunspots - Monday January 27th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 140. A=3 and K=0.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

My stand-alone 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at about 1058z.  Just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting me.

UPDATE 1320z:  12 stations have spotted me. See table.

UPDATE 1855z:  22 stations spotted me today. Now QRT.

8m QRP FT8 TX (Sunday)

My QMX+ with about 2W to the low dipole was turned on at about 1058z this morning.

UPDATE 1857z:  Just one spot of me by EA7KBX (1661km). Now QRT.

Wicken Fen collage - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife made this collage of our walk yesterday. We are expecting rain later!

Too easy?

As mentioned in the earlier post, I am on 10m QRP FT8 at the moment. At the peak of the solar cycle it is all too easy! 

At solar minimum it will be very different as many will desert the band. In my view 10m would be good for DX at solar minimum far more often than we would have thought. 

I really hope more stick with 10m, even 8m, FT8 for much longer so we can see. 

One useful experiment would be to TX FT8 on 15m, 12m, 10m, 8m and 6m sequentially and see how many stations spot on each band over time. Ideally this should be carried out over several years around solar minimum. An antenna that covers all these bands would be needed.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

As my QMX+ was already on 10m FT8  from yesterday, I decided to try 10m QRP FT8 this morning. 

UPDATE 0936z:   My 3W to the end-fed had been spotted by 19 stations. On RX the furthermost is Japan.

UPDATE 1019z:  141 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX (see map) and 73 stations have spotted me.