Home? - NOT amateur radio

Soar Mill Cove, Devon

This is near where I come from in South Devon, UK. For several years my dad was running a job creation scheme maintaining the coastal path near here. He has 2 seats in his memory. This was probably his favorite spot on Earth.  It is a wonderful spot. I managed to see it again earlier this year.

There is a fabulous coastal walk from Hope Cove to Salcombe running through here. Cornwall is visible in the far distance beyond Rame Head.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (August 15 to 21, 2016)
Visitors  of  the week: OH6NPV, US3EN, UR0ET, Z35M/p, UA1CEG, HB9DAX, ON6KZ,  G3XJS,  RV3GM,  TF/RA1M,  RU3NJC, LA8BCA/p, OK/DL2DXA, DF6ZX, EW1CY,  EA7EGU, UA9MLY, RV3UF, IT9IFI, R2FAE, G0IIR, GW0EVV/p, EA8YV, DK3WX, R8WC, UR5EFD, OK1KW, SP9XCJ, DM2BRF/p, EA5AHN/p, I5OWT, IZ5IOU, DL5ZP, US5ERQ, UA1CEX, R4NX, UA1ADF, F8BJK/p, YO9CB/p
Full lists of all Visitors and Frequenters at the Club 72 page.

DL2DXA,  RV3UF,  EA8YV became Honor Frequenters of "rendezvous" round
tables - Congrats!

Enjoy Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report including comments and pictures -
http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

5MHz allocations

Several administrations have now granted access to the WRC15 15kHz wide amateur allocation at 5MHz. Eventually this will be a worldwide allocation.

In CEPT countries, I really wish they would allocate a contiguous 100kHz wide band. 15kHz is very narrow and I for one am confused by the multiple narrow "channels". A 100kHz wide band would be so much better.

End of the Es Season

We are now seeing days with little or no Es (sporadic E) propagation on 10m and 6m. The "season" is all but over. As years go, this has not been great, but most days have seen openings to somewhere in Europe.

It never actually ends, but the number of openings declines dramatically and it is easy to miss the times when they do occur. This is where WSPR and JT modes would prove so useful as long as people stay on the bands and don't go to lower bands for more easy pickings. There is a small peak around New Year (I don't know why) but we'll have to wait until May 2017 for Es to really get going again. With 10m F2 in decline these Es openings will be the lifeblood of bands like 10m.

As I have said before, don't dismiss 10m for local contacts. A small vertical, a few watts, FM and you will reliably work 30km. On SSB,CW, or even better modes like JT65 or JT9-1 and you will work 100km or a lot more. In the quiet years 10m behaves more like a VHF band, but there are wide open spaces, so almost any mode is possible.

UPDATE 0815z: It is still very early for Es, but nothing seen here yet today on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1246z: Just one Es spot of me today, so far, from IZ0AIS (1506km). We are definitely seeing less Es than in the last few months.

UPDATE 1617z: With just a single Es spot all day today, so far on 10m, I think it unlikely I shall be spotted outside Europe on 10m JT65 today. I wonder what 10m will be like this autumn? Will there be much F2 propagation? It is a battle between declining solar conditions and improving HF conditions as we leave summer. I am pretty sure there will be far fewer USA openings on 10m this year than in the last few years. There will be the odd opening, but we cannot expect things to be "humming" exactly.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday August 22nd 2016

Solar flux is 76 today. Sunspot number is 11 (still falling). K= 1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Butterfly - NOT amateur radio

A picture of a brimstone (?) butterfly on the sweet peas. Taken a few weeks ago at Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust house a few miles to the east of Cambridge, UK.

Feeling Unwell - NOT amateur radio

Since my stroke, nearly 3 years ago now, I have felt giddy when on my feet. I tire easily but I am not sure if this is a separate issue or as a result of feeling giddy. To be honest, I have not felt well now for almost 3 years. My health has prevented me doing so much. Yes, compared with many, I know I have come off lightly. But, I know how I was and the frustration is so great.  All my field work is on hold and most antenna work is impossible without the help of others. I am very grateful for the help that has been so generously given, but I would prefer to be able to do this myself. Life can be cruel, but my energy is better focused on making the best of what I have and not hoping to be fully mended and as I once was.

QSYed to 10m WSPR and 6m JT65

I have now moved to 6m JT65 (FT817 and PC) and gone onto 10m WSPR using the stand-alone W5OLF WSPR beacon on 10m.

UPDATE 0952z:  All quiet so far on both 10m and 6m here. No spots as yet on either band.

UPDATED 1212z: No Es seen here on either band so far today. A few G spots of me on 6m JT65 and I have spotted G0LFF in IO90 square on 6m JT65. If my theory about 10m propagation to South America is right (see yesterday) then it is unlikely I'll reach South America today on 10m JT65. I shall probably stop 10m WSPR in the next hour and QSY from 6m JT65 to 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1240z: I have now gone QRT on 6m and am transmitting and receiving 10m JT65 rather than WSPR. I noticed a few ONs and an LX calling CQ on 6m JT65 according to my PC, but these stations were not uploaded to PSKreporter - I probably briefly lost internet connectivity. These were probably received by aircraft reflections or tropo. Our internet connection is flaky today. It recently disappeared then reappeared.

UPDATE 1542z: Just G4CJC (73km) spotted on 10m JT65 so far since the EA6 much earlier.

UPDATE 1856z:  No Es today. No South America today either. OK, the sunspot number was much lower but I am sure that, at this time year, I need Es to link with F layer propagation further south to reach central or lower South America on 10m JT65.

10m Es

EA6FG (1415km) in the Balearic Is was spotted not long ago on 10m JT65. As there is early Es, I may QSY to 6m JT65 until mid-afternoon. As yet, no-one has seen my 10m JT65 although I am QRP.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday August 21st 2016

Solar flux is 78 today. Sunspot number is 12 (falling). K= 1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

23cms the inexpensive way

A very very long time ago I went on 23cms RX with a homemade 4el yagi (tiny, indoors) and borrowed RX converter. This must have been about 1976 or 1977.

There is an relatively inexpensive way of getting on the band (transceive) if you have an FT817 or FT290 to drive it using an SG-LAB transverter. The transverter is about £140 and is made in Bulgaria. Output on TX is a useful 2W. This set-up could be ideal for portable use.

See http://gm1sxx.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/that-elusive-23cms-beacon-gb3csb.html .
See http://www.sg-lab.com/TR1300/tr1300.html .

Yaesu at the Tokyo Ham Fair

It looks like there are no nice surprises from Yaesu, sadly. I think all these radios are ones we have seen before.

South America (again) on 10m

With good Es in Europe I am beginning to think my 10m JT65 South American spots (I have just been spotted in Paraguay again and have spotted a station in Sao Paulo, Brazil) is a mix of Es and some variety of F layer propagation. I am no propagation expert but think equatorial spread-F may be a factor? It seems more than coincidental that all my South American JT65 spots on 10m have been on days with good European Es. I am thinking that Es is linking with some sort of F layer propagation nearer the equator.  Equatorial spread-F is meant to occur after sunset.

There are several papers on equatorial spread-F, so I suggest you Google these if you are interested.

UPDATE 1728z: No further South American spots this evening on 10m JT65, well not so far. No further Es either.

Beacons - some useful data

You may not have seen this comment, so I have reproduced it here:

Hi Roger,

GB3VHF (2m), GB3UHF (70cm), GB3BAA (6m) & GB3SEE (10GHz) are always good signals into the SUWS WEB SDR, so you can check their on-air status anytime.

http://websdr.suws.org.uk/

Many other UK and European beacons are also audible when conditions are good.
 
Regards,

Martin - G8JNJ

SUWS is Southampton University, where I nearly did a PhD in 1971. This would have been with Dr Ryecroft in VLF space physics. Still, I did get to lunch with Josselyn Bell who first discovered pulsars. In the end I stayed in industry, but often wonder how life would have been had I done the PhD.

Dragonflies - NOT amateur radio

Black-tailed Skimmer?

This must be the season for dragonflies as we saw loads at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge today. Most were flying, so hard to photograph. This one was very obliging! The dahlia garden there is now open.

10m Es today

The Belarus station EU7FBB (1931km) was spotted very early (and he spotted me) and there has been widespread Es on 10m JT65 already. This is encouraging.  Best DX on receive JT65 is a station in Finland and it is only 0908z!

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday August 20th 2016

Solar flux is 79 today. Sunspot number is 37 (K=2). The F2 10m propagation is forecast to be "poor" yet again.

ICOM IC7610

Although likely to be far too expensive for me, ICOM is expected to launch the IC7610 transceiver at this year's Tokyo Ham Fair. They may well have already done so. This is an SDR version like a IC7300 on steroids.

No 10m South America today?

Having returned to 10m JT65 mid-afternoon it looks like there will be no spots from South America today. There are fewer monitors on than in the peak Es months, but I wonder if I was seeing Es linking with some other mode like F2 or equatorial spread F? It has been very quiet here today on 6m and 10m with no Es seen at all. If this was pure F2 all the way I might have expected something as conditions are fairly quiet and the solar activity is not bad. But nothing all day - no Es and no South America this evening. Things could still change, but it is getting quite late on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 2150z:   EU7FBB (1931km) in Belarus was spotted at 2108z on 10m JT65. This may have been late Es, but who knows?

UPDATE 2155z: LA9NKA (929km) has spotted me, so I think we are seeing late Es on 10m JT65.

Paralympics - NOT amateur radio

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/37135083 .

Brazil is struggling, but this is a major setback for disabled athletes. Up until these Olympic Games the outlook for disabled athletes was getting better progressively. Now the Paralympics movement is going backwards. Hopefully Tokyo will be better in 2020.

70cms beacons

Last year, I could always hear the Leicester 70cm beacon GB3LEU on 432.490MHz when listening on my 2m big wheel antenna. I can no longer hear it so there are several possibilities: (1) it is not operational at present, (2) summertime and the attenuation through trees over this 100km (ish) path is now too great, (3) there is water in my antenna or cable? GB3UHF in Kent is operational on 432.430MHz I am told. Although the co-sited GB3VHF beacon is a decent signal on the big-wheel omni on 2m, I have been unable to find the UHF beacon with the same antenna so far. It may be just there, but it is below noise most of the time.

UPDATE 1504z: GB3LEU is shown as "off air". That explains a lot! See http://www.leicestershirerepeatergroup.org.uk/beacons/gb3leu.html

Garden birds - NOT amateur radio

Young starling on seed feeder

We have lived here for 3 years now. We see fewer small birds than at our old house despite lots of cover and an orchard right next door. Here we see a young starling on the seed feeder.

More from OFCOM

See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/EE-licence-variation-1990-1920MHz/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ee-licence-variation-request.

More from OFCOM.

Tokyo Ham Fair 2016

See http://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-6_ham-fair/ham-fair.ht

As I mentioned yesterday, this is a big Japanese event, although I expect few outside of Japan will be able to go.Nonetheless, it is worth checking for announcements of new rigs. Last year ICOM launched their IC7300 at this event and there were lots of videos.

UK Rally

Sunday 21 AUGUST : RUGBY ATS ANNUAL RADIO RALLY
Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby, CV23 9PY Doors open at 8.30 for traders and at 10am to 4pm for the public. Admission is £3. There will be a car boot area and catering will be available on site. More details from Tony, G0OLS on 07759 684 411. www.rugbyats.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Be sure to contact the organiser to check arrangements before going any distance!

Switched modes and bands

I have returned to 10m WSPR and 6m JT65. About 2 minutes ago, I restarted the shack PC and did a re-sync to internet time.

UPDATE 1102z: Just a couple of G spots on 6m JT65, but nothing on 10m WSPR so far. At the moment there is no Es here on either band.  JT65 on 6m seems to get G spots whereas 10m WSPR does not, well not very often. As we are more or less at the end of the main Es season, activity is dropping off.

UPDATE 1353z:  Still no Es seen here on 10m or 6m. Others may do better, but it seems pretty quiet here to me.

UPDATE 1435z: I have the feeling there will be no Es here today. I may go back to 10m JT65 to see if South America is within reach today.

Es - all quiet here so far

10m JT65 is my mode and band today currently. As yet, no Es seen, although it is still very early. I may give 6m JT65 another go as I seem to spot more inter-G on 6m than on 10m. If so, I shall go on 10m WSPR as the beacon and antenna will be freed  up.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday August 19th 2016

Solar flux is 80 today and the sunspot number 54. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor" although every time I have been on 10m in the last week South America has been in reach on 10m QRP JT65. This band is often "open" even when it appears dead.

More Tits - NOT amateur radio

Long tail tit at seed feeder (close-up)

Well this morning there were three long tailed tits on the bird table. The photo shows one on the seed feeder. I tried to photograph all three but they kept flying away! Long tailed tits tend to go around in flocks. At one point there were long tailed, coal and blue tits at the bird table. We also get great tits.

South America (again) on 10m JT65

On every occasion I've been on 10m JT65 recently I have been spotted, or spotted others, in South America. This evening at 1726z PU2TWU (9572km) was spotted. 10m is still open for N-S paths as JT65 proves. My recommendation is leave WSPR or JT running in the background to spot these openings.

A win at last - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned before, I am not a great football fan, but I still watch the tables to see how my old local team is doing. Plymouth Argyle are in League Division 2. Last season, they were in the running for promotion. This season they lost their first 2 games, but they won away from home on Tuesday evening.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/plymouth-argyle  .

Amateurradio.com

See http://www.amateurradio.com/ .

There are often interesting posts on this site. Yesterday there was a post by VE7SL about the increase in JT65 activity on 6m.

Tokyo Ham Fair reminder

Often this is the place where new rigs are first announced. I doubt many outside Japan will be able to go, but it is often worth keeping an eye out for announcements and videos after the event.

20 & 21 AUGUST : TOKYO HAM FAIR

Tokyo International Exhibition Center, 3-11-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan 135-0063.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday August 18th 2016

Solar flux is 81 today. The sunspot number is 64. K=2. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is again "poor", although there is Es about, which is some compensation.

10m Es this morning

Well, the Es is back on 10m JT65. Quite early I have been spotted widely in eastern Europe, which bodes well for the rest of the day.

UPDATE 1025z:  Now getting 10m JT65 spots from southern Europe.

Argentina on 10m JT65

LU1MPK (11592km) has been spotted recently on 10m JT65. Every time I have been on 10m JT65 in the last few days I have spotted, or been spotted, by stations deep in South America.

No Es here today?

This is the first day for a long time when I've seen no Es on 10m. I guess we are nearing the end of the Es season and openings will be less frequent? It is still possible there could be some Es around teatime but the 10m band has been very quiet here so far today.

UPDATE 1714z:  Still no 10m Es here.  I have spotted one German but don't think this was Es. No F2 DX to/from South America either so far today, although this could still happen.

Plums next door - NOT amateur radio

Well, our crab apples are nothing like as good as last year, but the orchard next door has plenty of apples and plums already. I think the reason was the odd winter and summer we had. We had a mild, wet winter and a cold, early summer and now it has warmed up. Here are some of the plums.

Goldfinch - NOT amateur radio

This was a goldfinch on the top of our silver birch tree a few days ago. We hear them most days. They are quite common and perhaps one of the most colourful UK garden birds. They tend to fly around in flocks.

10m JT65 - no Es yet today

10m JT65 has been my focus again today. As yet, I have seen no Es but 4X1RF (3518km) spotted me a few minutes ago. I checked sync a few hours ago. Last evening both CE and LU were spotted on 10m JT65.