QRP, QRP Club and Sputniks

From Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (October 10 to 16, 2016)

Visitors of the week: UA1CEX, HB9DAX, OE5GYL, RA1M/mm, RU3NJC, UA1CEG,
R1CAF,  UR5EFD,  DK1HW,  US3EN,  S57RT, UA4NU, OM6TC, OK2HBY, OH6NPV,
US5ERQ, R2FAE, ON6KZ, SM5ALJ, HA7NE, DF9QV, DL2DBU, YO4BQV
Congrats S57RT, he became Honor Frequenter
See  full  Visitors  and  Frequenters lists at the Club 72 web page -
www.club72.su

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"


Dear Space Friends,
RA7RA/V  informed about new QSO with S57T on 14060 kc (150 mW). Also,
"Astronaut"  Vlad  R2DNN/V  send me pictures of his 120 mW one pnp Ge
transistor GT321 TX, enjoy pictures on the "results" page on club72.su
Note:  his  TX  installed  on  the  door's furniture (detail). What a
wonderful  idea,  isn't  it!  Also,  keep  attention for heat-sink of
transistor,  looks  like  micro-Sputnik  :-)  9  Volts battery name
"KOSMOS" (Space)
Sputniks?Vanguards frights to be continue before October 18.

72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB


Dear Space Friends,
Cosmonaut Jiri OK1DXK (Sputnik) informed yesterday he logged QSO with
RX2AM on 40 m. Jiri used sloper wire 9 m long and 1 watt output.
Enjoy QRPp!
72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB


Dear Space Friends,
R2AJA  informed  about  his  a-la  "Vanguard"  beacon mode TX. Modern
components  used  in  the  auto-beacon  TX, 1 watt output to LW 10 m.
RA7RA/SWL  copied  R2AJA/Beacon  in  October 11. Picture of TX-beacon
installed on the totals result page club72.su
Flights  to  be continue before October 18. I looking for results and
QSO reports, please.

72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday October 16th 2016

Solar flux is 83 today and sunspot number 35. K=3 . Yet again the forecast for 10m F2 is "poor".

WSPR or JT65?

As you can tell, my favorite mode seems to be JT65 rather than WSPR, although I still use WSPR from time to time. WSPR is theoretically better by a few dB, but activity seems higher on JT65.  I think the 60 second TX period in JT65 helps too. In recent weeks with 10m JT65 I have had considerable success despite my poor set-up and 2W.

At the moment I think I'll use 10m JT65 rather than 10m WSPR. Although I have now spotted a couple of USA stations in Florida I have still to be copied in the USA this autumn on 10m JT65.

Now QRT

We have my son, his wife and 2 of our grandchildren here this weekend, so I have now gone QRT. All the DX DX on 10m JT65 seemed to stop a few hours ago, although Europe was still coming through in the last hour. I shall be on again tomorrow, although later than usual.

Another great day on 10m JT65

As well as my own 2W QRP signal being widely copied in Europe and South America, I copied stations in Saudi Arabia, Burkina Faso and South Africa. A great 10m day.

Stroke update - NOT amateur radio

Not much progress in the last year.

Although most things work I still feel giddy when walking, tire easily, have poor fine motor skills, have problems with liquids and my speech is poor.

Overall, I feel I have to come to terms with the new me, as this is how I am going to be now, barring miracles.

Active on 10m JT65

This morning, around breakfast time, I went on 10m JT65. I have been active (2W) with this band and mode ever since. Conditions on 10m seem fine with spots all over Europe and Israel. If things don't change, it looks a lot more promising than yesterday on 10m.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday October 15th 2016

Solar flux is 91 today and the sunspot number 38.  K=2.  The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is, you guessed, "poor".

As the song goes, "what a difference a day makes"

Yesterday by this time, I had been spotted all over Europe and widely in South America on 10m JT65. Although I am spotting a little DX, today is nothing like yesterday. I know there is still time for things to  improve, but I have the feeling this is going to be a "bad hair day".  If we get any real DX, it had better happen soon! At least having 2W 10m JT65 running I am spotting, and being spotted, by some.  Even with 100W SSB I doubt these openings would have been noticed.

Loop on the ground antenna

See The Loop on Ground Antenna - the "LoG".

I was sent this link by a blog reader who has used it very successfully. It is primarily designed as a receive antenna.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday October 14th 2016

Solar flux is 96 today. Sunspot number is 41 and K=4. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Rally

Sunday 16 OCTOBER : HOLSWORTHY RADIO RALLY
 
Holsworthy Community College, Victoria Hill, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 6JD. Doors open at 10am. There will be traders, a Bring & Buy and catering. The venue has disabled access. Details from Howard, M0MYB by email to M0OMC@yahoo.co.uk.

10m JT65 right from the start

Before breakfast I resynced the PC clock and went straight on to 10m JT65. As yet, no spots given or received on that band.

Yesterday was a very good 10m day considering where we are in the cycle with stations in North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe spotted despite my poor (and low) 10m antenna. My own QRP signal was spotted by several stations a long way away. Yes, a good 10m day.

I know others with better antennas will have done better. 10m is still in good shape, although you have to look!

UPDATE 1130z: DG0OPK (730km) spotted my 2W 10m JT65 QRP 2 hours ago. Probably Es, although backscatter and aircraft reflection are possible.

UPDATE 1145z: G4CUI (172km) has spotted me on 10m JT65. Tropo?

24 hours on 10m JT65 QRP

USA on 10m JT65 at last

K4RUM (7134km) in Florida was spotted earlier. At last a USA station this autumn on 10m JT65. It seems the opening on 10m are getting further north.

LU9XT (13473km) spotted right at the far end of Argentina on 10m JT65.

Best 10m day this autumn by far

10m JT65 today https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html

With stations from all over Europe, South America, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and spots of my own 10m JT65 signal by 6 stations already in South America, this is by far the best day on 10m JT65 this autumn.

At this rate, the USA should be audible within 2 weeks.

Autumn HF conditions?

Although we are now well in to autumn, apart from South Americans by what I assume is TEP, I have not (yet) seen a great improvement in HF conditions.

We are fighting a downwards solar cycle trend and, as yet, I have still to get any USA spots on 10m JT65. Conditions may still improve. The next few months are likely to be the best we are going to see for a very long time on 10m and conditions this autumn are well down on the last few years.

Last chances? It is now unlikely I'll see great 10m conditions ever again in my lifetime. That is a sobering thought. There are many in my agegroup who remember great HF conditions in past solar peaks.

Autumn - NOT amateur radio

Suddenly we seem to have moved from summer into autumn. The nights are getting rapidly darker earlier, the temperature has dropped and it suddenly feels like autumn. I enjoy all the seasons, but they seem to come around sooner. Where was summer? Yesterday we planted primroses instead of the begonias which die in the first frosts. The picture shows the primroses under the windows at the front of our bungalow.

Active on 10m JT65

For just over an hour, I have been on 10m JT65 only. As yet, no spots given or received.

UPDATE 1012z: My 10m JT65 has been spotted in Austria and Poland. Es?

UPDATE 1050z: Now being spotted by 9A2WB (1430km) and I am spotting 10m JT65 stations from all over Europe.  Today looks good on 10m Es, well I assume this is Es. This is definitely a good case for JT65 running in the background. On SSB a quick CQ is unlikely to be successful on 10m.

10m JT65 at noon today - stations spotted this morning

See https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html

UPDATE 1106z:  Now being spotted in Germany on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1148z:  PSK reporter map for me looks more like mid-summer!!  If 10m is wide open around Europe, I suspect 6m might be too.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday October 13th 2016

Solar flux is 99 today and the sunspot number 40. K=5. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

New webpage on 10m JT65

My main website at www.g3xbm.co.uk has a new page on 10m JT65. It is a sub-page under the HF section. See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10mjt65 to go directly there. Presently, the sidebar navigation to the sub-pages is broken and I need to fix this.

10m JT65 - another good day

https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html

My QRP station has been on 10m JT65 (2W) since breakfast time. With my signal spotted in Europe, Asia and South America, I cannot complain! I have still to spot, or be spotted, in North America this autumn. On the map where I have been spotted is shown in the boxes with hours. The smaller map points show stations I have copied in the last 12 hours (13 South Americans so far, which I think is the best yet this autumn).

UPDATE 2124z: This is without doubt my best day this autumn on 10m JT65 with 26 South Americans spotted and a couple of stations on that continent spotting me, despite my 2W and poor antenna.

My main website - an apology

See www.g3xbm.co.uk .

Whilst trying to update my main website, I seem to have accidentally removed the navigation pane on the left. My apologies. I am trying to fix the issue.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday October 12th 2016

Solar flux is 100 today. Sunspot number is 56 band and K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Windows 10: am I alone? - NOT amateur radio

For about a week now my main PC has been unreliable. It was upgraded to Windows 10 without any issues months ago, but it has been problematic recently and says it is now missing a file and won't boot. I recently did a defrag. Although this is a well used machine, and this may be coincidence, I seem to have had issues since the BIG Windows 10 update which took 1.5 hours to install.

Am I alone? Is this my PC or a more general issue? Incidentally the PC in question is a Dell Inspiron  i5 with 1TB hard drive.

10m JT65

More in hope than expectation, I am now active on 10m JT65. Although there is quite a bit of activity, I have neither spotted or been spotted by anyone on 10m tonight. Soon I'll go QRT and come back on 10m JT65 after breakfast.

UPDATE 2030z:  Nothing spotted, so time to go QRT on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 2040z:  Now QRT on all bands.

UPDATE 2044z: From my logbook I see that 20 countries were spotted on 10m JT65 in the last week.

OFCOM updates

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/8CE39B7251DA2FC3/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C .

More news from OFCOM.

10m QRP to the USA

Still nothing spotted here from the USA on 10m. Tomorrow, I shall probably use 10m JT65 all day. If the band is going to open across the Atlantic this autumn, JT65 is probably my best chance.

There is some (a little!) hope this autumn, but this time next year USA openings on 10m are unlikely. We are now on the downward slope of cycle 24. Cycle 25 is unlikely to start until 2020 and the peak may be poor.

70cm UKAC this evening

Although I have no suitable antennas, just my 2m halo which matches, tonight is the monthly 70cm leg of the UK activity contests organised by the RSGB.

As my voice is still very poor, I shall probably be on for much less than an hour.  It starts at 1900z and ends at 2130z. As usual I shall be QRP with 5W SSB. Even with my poor setup, I am often surprised by what I can work. Give it a go!

Stations worked on 70cm this evening - 5W and 2m halo

UPDATE 1950z: After 30 minutes I had to stop because of my poor voice. G4CLA (105km) was the best worked tonight - not bad with 5W and a 2m halo fed with lossy RG58 coax! One not shown was in our village.

Before radio

See http://www.newmarketlhs.org.uk/shuttertelegraph.htm . A reminder that even in the days before radio, messages could be sent a long way. My thanks to John Mullins for sending me this link. Fascinating.

This system was set up by the UK Admiralty in the early 1800s, presumably to give early warnings of a French attack.

If memory serves me right, Morse came on the scene in the early 1840s. By the late 1800s most of the world was connected by telegraph - the Victorian Internet. We were better connected than I thought before radio.

More Sputniks

From Oleg:

Dear Space Friends,
thanks  Jos  for Mag Loop "Sputnik" QSO report. All QSOs installed in
the  totals log. Also "astronaut" Pavel RA7RA/Vanguard informed about
new  QSO with M0AUW with 150 mW e pnp transistor P416 (old type of ex
USSR).  In  the photo gallery I install some pictures of R2DNN Ge pnp
TX-beacon  (beacon  mode  only)  120...250  mW.  Enjoy  photo  of his
home-made heat sink so called "a-la sputnik" concept-form :-)
BTW.  On  the  1's USSR Sputnik and US Vanguard really TX beacons was
installed (both). So it looks like we need to add "Beacon" category in
the Sputnik Activity Days in the future. Isn't it?
72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB

6m JT65

G0LRD (25km) was the only station spotting me on 6m JT65 today.

I did spot EA4BAS (1340km) in Madrid this afternoon on 6m JT65. There is still life on 6m even in October, although you have to look for it!

UPDATE 1842z: There was an outside chance of catching some TEP on 6m JT65, but this has not materialised.

Good on 10m WSPR today

Quite a variety of Europeans and Israel, 4X1RF (3519km) spotting my 500mW on 10m WSPR today. I assume this was Es but it might have been F layer backscatter. As 10m WSPR was proving so productive, I decided to stick with 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 all day.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday October 11th 2016

Solar flux is a respectable 102 and the sunspot number is 64 (quite good). This figure will probably exceed the next maximum in cycle 25. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor", although for several weeks there has been good 10m propagation N-S on 10m JT65.

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

For a change, I have started on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 this morning. No spots on 10m WSPR as yet and just G0LRD (25km) spotting me on 6m. I have spotted M0AAX (107km) in South London on 6m JT65, either by tropo or aircraft reflection.

TEP (Trans Equatorial Propagation)

For the last few weeks, I have spotted, and been spotted, by lots of stations deep in South America on 10m JT65. To me, this looks like TEP. According to the "experts" this sort of propagation goes across the equator and can occur at up to 70cm. I guess the MUF is lower as the solar activity drops off. Here in the UK I guess we need another propagation mode to reach the TEP region. TEP is more common further south.

See http://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/index.php?title=Trans-Equatorial_Propagation .

More QRP, QRP Club and Sputniks

More from Oleg today:

Dear Space Friends,
thanks  to Peter PA0PJE for report of October 9. New 4 "Sputnik" QSOs
installed on the results page - club72.su
> ...make some more contacts on 30 meters. I worked 4 stns:
72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB

No storms yet

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en . So far the storms are far away, so I can remain on air for hours still. There is an outside chance of storms around early evening.

UPDATE 1220z:  The first lightning strikes have happened - in the North Sea just off East Lincolnshire.  I shall keep a close watch.

UPDATE 1445z: At the moment, the only storms are over the sea off eastern Kent.  Staying on the air for now.

UPDATE 1700z: The nearest storms are in France and Belgium. I think it unlikely I shall have to go QRT early tonight.

10m JT65

Yet again, I gave 6m a miss and fired up on 10m JT65 this morning. As yet, no spots at all given o:r received on 10m JT65, but it is very early. JT65 is ideal as the solar activity slides on 10m.

As there are storms possible later, I may have to go QRT later in the day.

UPDATE 1015z: Not everyone gets uploaded to PSKreporter. I spotted a German at breakfast time and he is not showing on PSKreporter. Maybe there was a short glitch and I lost internet or PSKreporter was not reachable? More recently, I was spotted in Italy on 10m JT65 by IC8BNR (1646km). Es or backscatter?

UPDATE 1138z:  3B8CW (9751km) in Mauritius has again been spotted on 10m JT65. 4X1QQ (3551km) also spotted.

UPDATE 1452z: 4Z5ML (3571km) in Israel is the best DX on 10m JT65 TX.

UPDATE 1702z:  LU3VCC (12470km) is the best DX on 10m JT65 TX so far. I have also been spotted in Paraguay this evening.

UPDATE 1754z: 12 South Americans received on 10m JT65 RX so far this evening.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday October 10th 2016

Solar flux is 104 today and the sunspot number 58. K=3, Yet again the 10m F2 forecast remains "poor".

Conditions on 10m JT65 yesterday seemed far from poor though.

QRP, QRPclub and Sputniks

From Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
QRP Rendez-Vous weekly report (October 3 to 9, 2016)
Visitors  of  the  week: OK2MSS, IK2RGV, DK1HW, HB9DAX, G3XJS, RV3GM, US3EN,  RU3NJC,  UA1CEG,  UA9MLY, UR0ET, RW3AA, CS7AFI, ON4MB, EA6BB, UA1CEX, OM6TC, UA1ASB, UR5EFD, OH6NPV, RN4W
Congrats!
ON4MB became Honor Frequenter
See full Frequenters and Visitors lists on the Club 72 page - www.club72.su
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

Dear Space Friends,
a  lot of busy with my house reconstruction now. Sorry for delay. All
QSOs and pictures installed on the results page. I wonder, is the QSO
between  ON6WJ  -  PA0PJE  (PA6FBE) the 1'st 2-way Sputnik QSO in the
World? Great!

72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB


And this from Peter:

Dear Friends,

Today I was at the Fort again as it was the last day to be open to general public. I did a lot of Radio-talk again but also found time to make some more contacts on 30 meters. I worked 4 stns:

UY6IO Vasily at 10:06 S579-R569 He used 100 watts in a loop antenna
DL1DTX Knut at 10:35 S589-R599 he used 70 watts
GM3MXN Tom S579-R579 corrected later to S599+10 QSB he used 5 watts to an end fed so a true QRP/QRP QSO.
OK1HB Ruda S579-R589 he used 100 Watts to a G5RV

Everybody liked my 1 Watt xtal-TX

40 meters was very busy so I stayed on 30 this time however some pilups were created by split-uppers ovrcrowding 10.116 MHz.

I did attempt to transmit on 21 MHz with my Sputnik TX because I heard some activity, even JA and PY so called CQ but only 1 RBN report from UD4FD SNR 10dB. The GP was only partly demolished by the sheep so repair of the radials was quickly done but alas no QSO.

72/73 and keep beeping!

Peter - PA0PJE (Sputnik: PA6FBE)