AliExpress - a warning

On September 17th I ordered a Beofeng UV5 Mini via AliExpress. The money was taken from my PayPal account, but the order was not shown when I looked for it. I thought the order had been "lost in the system". 

I contacted AliExpress who told me the order had been placed in a different way (paying via PayPal?) and to log in again using Google. The order appeared thankfully. 

The goods are due to arrive in the coming days.

I have had no problems with AliExpress in the past. In fact I have been impressed.

10m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

For a change I am on 10m FT8 with 5W today. 

UPDATE 0927z: Spotted by 127 stations. With the sunspot count and solar flux high, even 5W FT8 gets you all over the planet on 10m.

UPDATE 1300z:  351 stations have spotted me. See map.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 24th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 172. A=14 and K=1.

10m QRP WSPR yesterday

As well as all the USA and Canadian stations spotting my 500mW, I was spotted by the German base in Antarctica DP0GVN (13685km) 5 times!

Tuesday plans

 As we have old university friends here, I doubt I shall be on the radio today. I shall try to be sociable!! 😄

6m QRP FT8 yesterday

Yesterday, I remained on 6m FT8 with my 5W to the V2000 vertical. 

Although not at the level in mid-summer, I was still spotted widely across Europe. See map. 

Imagine if I was running 50W to a decent beam i.e. with an ERP 20dB higher! If I can do it with QRP....

Fragility of life

Yesterday my brother was playing a game of golf when his partner just dropped dead whilst walking away from the 1st green. 

We have no idea when our time is up. 

Live life as if this is your last day and enjoy every minute.

Sunspots - Tuesday September 23rd

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 157. A=13 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

My stand alone beacon has been on since about 1312z.

UPDATE 1513z:   22 stations including many in the USA and Canada have spotted me. 

Sixbox revisited

 A few moments ago I had a nice email and video from Marcos PU2MBZ. In it he says he has built the RX of the Sixbox with a few changes, on a PCB. Thank you Marcos!

See  https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/sixbox

6m 5W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 1313z.

UPDATE 1500z:  So far, 8 stations have spotted me with one in Portugal.

Decreasing human contact

Just now I was invited to check my PayPal balance. They wanted to send me a code to my phone to verify it was me. I doubt a human was involved. 

Most chat bots are computers rather than real people.  At supermarket checkouts you are encouraged to use automatic checkouts.  Most bank transactions are getting cash from an ATM. If you are lucky you may get a call centre somewhere on the planet, where a person might understand you and you might understand them! You are just a sort code and account number - no personal contact.

More and more there is less human contact. All this is done in the name of "progress" and to save money or increase profits. 

In my view we are going backwards.

Monday plans

As I now know how 10m WSPR works, my plan is to continue on 6m FT8 QRP as well as 10m QRP WSPR .

Grandson sailing

 

It seems a blink of the eye since he was born! Now he’s sailing like a champ!

10m conditions

It seems we are moving to autumnal HF conditions with afternoon openings across the Atlantic with my 10m 500mW WSPR. These openings seem almost daily. 

I  think it’s very unlikely that my 6m 5W FT8 would make it this autumn, but you never know!

Sunspots - Monday September 22nd

 Solar flux is 176 and the SSN 157. A=6 and K=2.

Windmill fantail shadow

When the sun shines we get some great shadows from the windmill right next door. 

This was the shadow of the fantail on the museum.

4m FT8 RX?

Even though I have no antennas for 4m, I am tempted to try 4m FT8 RX at some point. My recollection was that activity outside of the Es season was low though. I am also unsure of the 4m FT8 frequency these days. 

I might be just wasting my time. I would have to use the V2000 or 2m big-wheel.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)

My beacon was turned on at 0932z.

UPDATE 2143z:  Spotted by 24 stations. Now QRT .

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at 0932z.

UPDATE 2130z:  37 stations from all over western Europe.  I am sure FT8 is catching very brief patches of Es. Now QRT.