6m MSK144 today

Three countries spotted today so far (EI, G OZ) today on 6m MSK144. Next week, I might give 2m random MS a go (RX only).

QRP and QRP Club

The weekly update from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (February 19, 2017)
Visitors  of  the  week:  R1CAF,  RA1M, RW3AA, EA5EQ, US5ERQ, UA1CEG,
UR7VT,  DK1HW,  OH6NPV,  US3EN,  RV3GM, EA2EFI, UR4MME, DH0DK, G3XJS,
SP3LRS,  OK2PDT,  SM5CZQ,  RV3DSA/0,  RU3NJC,  ON6KZ,  OM6TC, UA1AQC,
UR5EFD,  RD6MZ,  UA4NU,  R2FAE,  RX3DOR,  EA8/DK6XM/p, SV2BBK, R4YES,
EW7BW/1, UA0SBQ, F6EAZ, SA4BLM, UR0ET/p, R2AJA, R9WY, IK2RMZ, UW5EKR,
IZ0RQF, IT9IFI, 9H3FC, EA6BB
Congrats!
R2AJA and IZ0RQF became Honor Frequenters (regular visitors)
See full Visitors and Frequenters lists on the Club 72 web page.
Comments...

See full WQR Report on the Club 72 blog page (link from web site).
Thanks  ALL for activity and comments! See you on next QRP Rendez-Vous
round tables.

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

This is a periodic Newsletter of the Club 72. Don't reply to Newsletter address! Send any requests or news to mr72@club72.su please.

Stroke Update - NOT amateur radio

Sadly, no real improvement in the last year. I still feel very giddy when on my feet, tire easily, my voice is poor, and I stress more easily than before. Although I drive it is much harder than before my stroke. Overall, I have plateaued.

Life is hard, but could be worse.

My main problem is people think I am fine. Inside I feel very unwell, but outwardly I look well.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday February 19th 2017

Solar flux is 76 today and sunspot number 13.  A=16 and K=2.

Maggie - NOT amateur radio

Maggie is a very old horse who lives in a field near our old home. Here she is being kissed by one of our granddaughters. Earlier, she gave Maggie some carrots, feeding her from her hands.

I am sure Maggie knows and loves young children, as much as they love her.

My main website

A reminder that my main website is at www.g3xbm.co.uk where, if you drill down, you will find details of my projects. There is also a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/G3XBM. Hopefully, you will find something of interest. The blog gets updated most days whereas my main website and YouTube channels far less often.

PSK Reporter Maps back again

At the moment I am just on 6m MSK144 RX and no other bands. PSK Reporter Maps seems to be OK today. I have spotted OZ, HB9, G, GW and DL stations in the last 12 hours.

UPDATE 1035z: Now EI spotted.

UPDATE 1535z: It is surprising just how strong the MSK144 signals on 6m are. This suggests much weaker signals could be copied but the bursts, although short, are actually very strong.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday February 18th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 14.  A=20 and K=2.

Now 2 more countries on 6m MSK144

With GW and GJ spotted on 6m MSK144 my total tally on this band and mode has increased:

EI, GD GM, G, GW, GJ, ON, PA, OZ, SM, F, DL, HB9,  and I, I have now spotted 14 different countries in just a few weeks on 6m MSK144 RX.

PSK Reporter Maps - issues?

PSK Reporter Maps (see https://www.pskreporter.info/pskmap.html) has helped to show me where I was reaching on 10m JT65 and spotting on 6m MSK144. Of late, I have had a few issues with the maps not loading, despite other pages loading. This could be a local issue, but I wonder if others have noticed similar?

Sunspot and 10m - Friday February 17th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number is 23. A=9 and K=4.

Now 12 countries on 6m MSK144

This morning, I am again on 6m MSK144 RX and 10m WSPR TX. HB9Q (794km) and EI7BMB (462km) have recently been spotted on 6m and last night GM6NX (507km), for the 12th country, was spotted.

Meanwhile on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) no spots as yet.

High blog visits again - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, the visits to two of my blogs are sky high at the same time as visits from Russia has peaked again. Co-incidence or probing?

Southgate News and CQ Magazine

Southgate News reports that CQ magazine in the USA is soon to host a 137kHz and 472kHz column.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/february/cq-to-introduce-mf-lf-column.htm#.WKX2zYXXLIU

11th Country on 6m MSK144 RX

Just spotted my 11th country on 6m MSK144 in the form of GD0TEP (381km). This was most likely aircraft reflection.

Simple 10GHz

Yesterday I received this, which may interest those setting out on 10GHz:

Hi Roger,

We report our experience with HB100 module.

Please visit the Facebook page "HB100 10GHz"

https://www.facebook.com/groups/603514236508122/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Thank's

73, Nino IZ8WLZ

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday February 16th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 23. A=3 and K=2.

6m MSK144 RX

6m - MSK144 RX this morning

So far today, 3 countries spotted: Germany, Denmark and France with the best DX being F6ECI (811km) in JO05 square way down in France. This was at 0847z.

I am also on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) but no spots as yet.

UPDATE 1940z: No spots today on 10m WSPR.

Visit from old work colleague

Yesterday, I had a visit from an old work colleague G3TFX.  As well as a good chat, it also gave us a chance to check the sensitivity of his FT817.

Blog visits - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, visitors to this blog are up again, which coincides with lots of visits from Russia. Odd. I did not realise my humble blogs were so interesting!

UPDATE 2210z: Even my churches blog has received a lot more visits in the last 24 hours. I hope the Russians enjoyed it!

Russian hacking? - NOT amateur radio

It is funny, but the number of visits to my blogs increases a lot on some days. When I check, the visits from Russia also are much greater on those days. I suspect hackers are looking to see if the blogs are worth hacking. Of course I could be entirely wrong.

Any dubious comments are soon deleted and I have little of interest to hackers on my blogs. If you see anything odd, please let me know.

By the way, my Miracle Whip Yahoo group seems to attract Asian women promising much. I wonder why?

Several Russians have been very kind to me. Like Americans, I have found individuals to be warm and kind. In every society there are "rotten eggs" sadly. I am sure the UK has many too.

Another example of false news? - NOT amateur radio

I first saw and heard this many years ago. Although funny, I have great doubts about its authenticity and suspect this is yet another "false news" story doing the rounds. Caveat emptor!

10m WSPR TX (500mW) and 6m MSK144 RX

All day I have been using the above.

On 10m WSPR I was spotted by DK6UG (633km) this morning.

On 6m MSK144 RX I have spotted OZ1PIF (850km) and a couple of UK stations, the best of which was M0CKM (174km) on the south coast.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday February 15th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 15. A=2 and K=1.

Recording 6m MSK144 pings

David G0LRD  has told me that WSJT-X V1.7 allows me to record MSK144 6m spots as WAV files so I can go back and examine them later. I have turned on this feature now, allowing me to check these tomorrow, assuming I get some spots!  Today I spotted 5 different countries on 6m with MSK144.

UK Commercial Radio - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News reports that UK Commercial Radio stations are freed from the shackles of OFCOM. Am I surprised? No.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/radio-released-from-shackles

Rugby on TV - NOT amateur radio

I am not a great rugby fan, but my son is. His son plays for his school and he likes to watch. The picture shows him this weekend watching rugby on the bedroom TV, complete with beer and crisps. When his family comes to stay, he certainly makes himself at home.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday February 14th 2017

Solar flux is 75 today and the sunspot number 16. A=4 and K=0.

70cm UKAC contest tonight

A reminder that the second 70cm leg of the monthly UKAC activity contest organised by the RSGB is tonight from 2000-2230z. Although I only have a 2m halo fed with lossy coax as an antenna on 70cm (it matches well) I try to go on briefly and work a few stations, mostly locals.

See http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?year=2017&contest=70cmsukac&seq=

This is preceded by an FM activity contest.
See http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?year=2017&contest=70cmsfmac

UPDATE 2045z: 5 contacts made with 5W, 2m halo in 30 minutes. Best DX G4CLA (105km).

6m MSK144 this morning

SK0TM (1156km) in JO86 square was the best DX on 6m MSK144 this morning. I was spotted by M1BXF/SDR (14km) when I was briefly on 6m MSK144 TX a few hours ago.

I am also on 10m WSPR TX (500mW 100% TX), but no spots yet.

UPDATE 1135z: DK8NE (704km) in JO50 square was spotted on 6m MSK144.

UPDATE 1922z: EI7BMB (462km) spotted on 6m MSK144 earlier. All quiet on 10m WSPR.

10th country on 6m MSK144 RX

ON4BCV (325km) marks the 10th country spotted so far on this band/mode. I suspect this was aircraft reflection rather than random MS. This mode amazes me as it allows DX to be copied at any time on a dead VHF band with a very simple set-up.

East Cambs 2m FM Net

This is on 144.575MHz FM (yes 144) at 2000z Mondays, vertical, and is open to anyone. Regulars are G4NUA (Cambridge) and G3KKD (Quy). The chat covers anything and we usually finish about 2030z. This started life as an AM net.

If there is QRM we usually QSY downwards in 25kHz steps to find a clear channel. When there is a lift we can sometimes hear stations in the Midlands.

Jigsaw - NOT amateur radio

This 1000 piece  jigsaw (of a world map) took us over a week to do. The most difficult parts were the flags and the oceans. There is no doubt that our geography knowledge improved.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday February 13th 2017

Solar flux is today 75 and sunspot number 18.  A=3 and K=0.

300GHz bands

Although not currently allocated, the THz bands offer incredible data rate possibilities. Now there are ICs which could open up these bands.

See https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170205190911.htm

10m WSPR TX and 6m MSK144 RX again

Today, I am TXing in 10m WSPR and RXing on 6m MSK144. Yesterday and overnight, nothing on 10m WSPR . On 6m MSK144 RX M1BXF (14km) and G0BBB (210km) spotted.

UPDATE 2035z: So far today, 3 countries copied on 6m MS144 with the best DX being OZ1PIF (850km) in JO65 square. This is a great mode for hearing DX at any time!

First UHF Radio

My very first UHF radio was a version of the synthesised FM320 Australian UHF FM CB mobile made by Philips. This was a 70cm amateur version. It was called the FM321. It produced 4W on TX and used channel numbers. I remember someone from Philips discussing producing an amateur band version, at an IEE conference I think.

Ergonomically it was excellent. It only got used at home, never mobile. It worked some impressive DX on UHF FM simplex. I cannot remember when it was sold.

If I am honest this was one of the best radios I ever had. It had no memories, no fancy gismos, but it worked well.  If my memory serves me, I used this with a TV J-Beam antenna (hand rotated) which still had about 10dB gain in the 70cm amateur band.

Spaghetti Harvest BBC Spoof - NOT amateur radio

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm .

Way back in 1957 the BBC ran a spoof Panorama programme about the spaghetti harvest. The programme was narrated by Richard Dimbleby. It was the first time, I think, that TV had been used to pull an April 1st stunt.

Getting older - NOT amateur radio

Looking back at some old emails, I came across this photo of my university days. I can remember a few names, but it was nearly 50 years ago! This is me 3 rows back on the left side with hair!

10m WSPR

For the last day I have been on 6m MSK144 RX and 10m WSPR TX.  EA4BPN (1334km) spotted me on 10m WSPR yesterday when I was running 500mW.