Now QRT

Everything is now off until after breakfast tomorrow.  As yet, I've not decided what band to try on Friday.  Maybe 10m JT65 or WSPR? It depends on the K-index. If this is low, there is a chance of some DX on 10m.

Otherwise I may return to 6m MSK144 again as this is largely (entirely?) independent of solar conditions. Certainly 6m MSK144 has been a total surprise, but I like the challenge of 10m: there is still life there, but it needs activity to prove this.

Post BREXIT letter UK pound up - NOT amateur radio

OK it is very early days, but the day after the letter triggering the BREXIT process the UK pound is up against most currencies including the euro and US dollar.

UPDATE 2025z: The UK pound is still up against most currencies. Against the euro it is up over 1% in the last day.

Going home - NOT amateur radio

After a few days with us, my brother returned home today by train. Here he is with me in our front garden. The primroses get replaced with begonias in the summer.

New Beam, but not for me thanks

Thanks (again) to Southgate News comes information about a new beam from SteppIR. Covering 40-6m I am sure it will appeal to some. To me it is still huge and my neighbours would be appalled. I prefer to use low power and simple antennas. Luckily we are all different!

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/march/new-steppir-beam-huge-signal.htm#.WN0DTYWcHIU .

OFCOM annual plan

OFCOM has just released its annual plan.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans .

QRP Marathon

From Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
just  inform  about  annually  QRP  Marathon "Look In the Horizon" in
April.  See rules on the Club "72" web page (club72.su) Registration
page  will  be open in 00.01 UTC April 1'st. Add your QRP QSOs on the
on-line  form daily and  collect  "luk" points depend of distance and
both stations power. Memorable certificates for all Marathon'ers.

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.

60m (5MHz)

It seems that several administrations have reduced the total 5MHz spectrum available and the power limits permitted when making available the 5MHz WRC15 15 kHz allocation. The RSGB, working with OFCOM and the UK military, has been trying to avoid this (see the GB2RS news last week).

Really I'd like to see the WRC15 allocation released in the UK too as soon as possible, but with the other "channels" still available. As a seasoned QRPer the power levels really don't bother me. 5W would be fine!

Many times we (I) take for granted the work done on our behalf by volunteers at the RSGB. A quiet thank you. You know who you are, HI.

6m MSK144 RX yet again

As you can tell, I love this mode. I was on 6m MSK144 RX overnight again. In the last 12 hours I have spotted 9 stations in 6 countries on 6m MSK144 RX. In the last day I have spotted 13 stations in 7 countries on this band/mode.

UPDATE 1308z: Now 12 stations in 9 countries spotted on 6m MSK144 RX in the last 12 hours. Best DX today is SM0NKZ (1404km).

UPDATE 1528z: Now the totals on 6m MSK144 RX are 15 stations in 10 countries in the last 12 hours.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday March 30th 2017

Solar flux is 83 today. Sunspot count is 53. A=21 and K=5

2.97kHz amateur DX

By careful analysis over 9 days in 25uHz bandwidths, Paul Nicholson has proved beyond doubt that DK7FC was copied in Todmorden, UK on 2.97kHz. This is with amateur powers and amateur (i.e. small) antennas.

Article 50 and leaving the EU - NOT amateur radio

Article 50, the trigger to leave the EU, has now been invoked, with 2 years ahead to negotiate our exit from the "club".  Although we have some tough decisions and negotiations ahead, the UK pound has not collapsed. If anything it is a little stronger against the euro. Although I voted to remain in the EU, I am pretty sure we'll be fine in the UK.  The rest of the EU faces quite difficult times ahead. In truth, Europe needs us as much as we need them.

At Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

As we are having some new windows fitted, I took my brother for a walk at Anglesey Abbey this morning. Although cloudy, it was quite mild. Many of the daffodils there are dying now.

More nations get the WRC 5MHz band

The Netherlands is joining the growing list of nations gaining access to the 15kHz wide international WRC15 amateur allocation at 5MHz (60m) although, you will have read, the UK will not be joining the list anytime soon. We have non-contiguous bands at 5MHz that allow access to more spectrum with higher power. Personally, I'd prefer a contiguous allocation and the power limits do not bother me.

Solar storm

It looks like we are in a solar storm. Although this will pass, HF conditions will have been affected. Luckily modes like MSK144 on 6m are little impacted. I guess the chances of lower latitude auroras improves, but I am no expert.

See http://spaceweather.com/

Sunspots and 10m

Solar flux is 85 today and the sunspot number 51. A=28 and K=4.

Probing again? - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, 3 of my blogs have seen exceptional activity for a third day and yet again this coincides with much increased views from Russia. I have no problem with people from any country who genuinely are interested, but this looks like bots probing. Highly suspicious.

6m MSK144 RX overnight

The 6m MSK144 RX was left running overnight, but nothing until breakfast-time when F6ECI (811km) was spotted in JN05 square very strongly (+10dB S/N). The bursts may be short, but they are usually strong when they occur.

UPDATE 1132z: Currently 7 stations in 4 countries spotted today.

6m MSK144 RX

Although I have not been on long, EA2ARD (1010km) has already been copied.

Gardening - NOT amateur radio

The weather these last few days has been glorious, so it has been a chance to do some gardening. My brother John has been up for a few days and busy doing "odd jobs" which I used to be able to do, but struggle with these days. Here he is putting some new top soil in the garden.

Waters and Stanton move

The shop of Waters and Stanton is moving to Portsmouth on April 1st.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday March 28th 2017

Solar flux is 85 today. Sunspot number is 49. A=54 and K=3. 10m conditions are expected to remain "poor" but solar flux and sunspot numbers are quite decent.

Russia again - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday numbers of visitors were up on a couple of my blogs. Now, I welcome anyone from any part of the planet, but it is strange how numbers seem to double and most of these are from Russia.  This is a pattern I have seen before and I know others have seen similar.

It looks very suspicious to me like they are probing for vulnerable sites to hack with malicious intent. Sorry but I think my content is pretty innocuous! 

Should my blogs suddenly go you will know the reason! If you suddenly get links to porn sites or sites offering you lots of money you'll know I have been "got at". I try to screen and delete dodgy comments that are clearly outright ads or with links to dodgy sites, but please let me know if you find any that I have missed.

SDR receivers and transceivers

There is a real gap in my knowledge as I have never once tried an SDR based receiver or transceiver. SDR dongles are very low cost, so I really have no excuse.

On the Southgate site I read news of a new SDR 5W transceiver.

See https://sunsdr.eu/product/sunsdr2-qrp/

10m JT65 (2W) this morning

This morning, I am on 10m JT65 transceive.  As yet, no spots given or received.

UPDATE 0918z: Still no 10m JT65 spots given or received, but it is still very early. I was hoping to see a few Gs, but nothing.

UPDATE 1124z: 10m JT65 - still nothing at all!

Sunspots and 10m - Monday March 27th 2017

Solar flux is 78 today. Sunspot number is 20. A=4 and K=5. 10m propagation is again expected to remain "poor". Not too long to wait now to the Es season.

QRP and QRP Club

Oleg's usual report:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous Report (March, 26, 2017)
Thanks all for starting new sessions of evening 7030 kc Rendez-Vous!
Visitors  of  the week: RU3NJC, UA1CEG/p, UA1ADF, US7IB, R1OA, DK1HW,
RA1OIM,  RN4AO,  PA3DEU,  OF5LP, OH6NPV, RV3GM, UR5EFD, R1CAN, UR7VT,
G3XJS,  UR0ET, US5ERQ, I1NOL, UA0SBQ, R1CAF, SM7RYR, IW2HTH/p, DH0DK,
DL6YYM, G4HOM, R2AJA, UA1CEX, G6HUI, ON6KZ, UR5IFM, G0EQC
Congrats!
IW2HTH became Honor Frequenter (regular visitor)
New Visitors: I1NOL, DL6YYM, G0EQC - you are welcome!
See full Frequenters and Visitors lists on the Club 72 web page.
Some comments...
See full WQR Report on the blog page - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/

Schedule:
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
9.00 UTC - 14060 kc
18.00 UTC - 7030 kc
alternative 10116 kc if contest QRMs. Keep +/- RIT for QRM, QRL, XTAL

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.

eBay HB100 10GHz modules

An old work colleague, Richard G3TFX, has found these modules on eBay for £2.23 with free postage. This is an insane price.

Gardening - NOT amateur radio

In the last few weeks with some decent sunshine the garden has "come alive". There is new growth everywhere.

Here I am in the garden yesterday. Lis (my wife) has done most of the work. I am pruning a rose and clearing a bramble.

Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE website

Ashhar is well known for his BITX rigs for HF. This is his website. If you are looking for low cost HF rigs, this may be your answer! The circuits are clever, simple and low cost.

See http://www.hfsigs.com/

New world record with low cost HB100 module on 10GHz

I see that a new world record has been set in Italy using the very low cost HB100 Doppler radar module (204km). This was wideband FM, I think.

These modules are very low cost. They make the heart of a very low cost wideband FM system for 10GHz. They are the modern version of the Gunnplexer. They contain (I think) a transmitter, RX mixer and 2 antennas all on a small PCB. If you spend £5 you will have change from some eBay suppliers!

"204km. NEW WORLD RECORD, Full Duplex 10GHz with HB100 only 10mW!
Team #1: Giuseppe IK8XFR - Nino IZ8WLZ - Giacomo (Jack)
on S. Giovanni a Piro JN70RB
Team #2: Giuseppe IZ8WGU - Domenico IZ8BAD - Gianluca IZ8YWC - Antonio IK8TGH
on Solano Sup. JM78VF...
Strong signals, how many Km can still make HB100 with only 10mW?"

No more 5MHz ....yet

On the GB2RS news today from the RSGB:

Somebody dragging feet?

"Amateurs in the UK have been very fortunate in having early access to 5MHz, with 5 spot frequencies 15 years ago and more than 70kHz of spectrum made available in 2013. This was a result of close cooperation with Ofcom and the MoD, who is primary user on the band. The UK currently has an arrangement that gives us more spectrum and a higher power allowance of 100W at 5MHz, however it does not cover all of the WRC-15 band of 5351.5 to 5366.5kHz. The Society played a very active role in the WRC-15 process and continues to work with Ofcom to gain access to all of the WRC-15 band, however this is not expected to change in the foreseeable future as there are on-going assignments within the band. The RSGB will implement the IARU Region 1 band plan for 5MHz within the segments allocated to us. In common with other Region 1 societies with allocations greater than 15kHz, we will recommend that frequencies within the WRC-15 band that are allowed under the UK Amateur Radio Licence only be used for international contacts, or for stations with no other option."

8m (40MHz band)

Re a small 40MHz allocation to help with Es research, this was on the RSGB forum earlier:

In the ITU Radio Regs, please remember there is no international amateur allocation for 50 MHz in Region-1 (ie Europe, Africa, Middle East). We are very focussed on trying to fix this under WRC-19 Agenda Item 1.1. Our usage (and by other european countries) is effectively a national non-interference one. Only Region-2/3 have formal 50 MHz amateur allocations.

Getting that change for Region-1 you might think ought to straightforward given the spread of 50 MHz national level licenses - but it is most definitely not. It needs agreement from first CEPT (where Russia and France have serious objections) and indeed all 193 ITU Member States. The impact of that on an ordinary amateur is both lower activity and a direct restriction in your UK personal licence. When you are abroad or Maritime Mobile in Region-1 international waters - 50 MHz usage may be barred. If you look on the other thread in this C3 forum, there is a new draft paper on 'Spectrum Prioritisation and Development' which covers the challenge and explains that CEPT/193 issue further.

The recent 5MHz WRC result (and this weeks announcement in GB2RS re no 5MHz future changes) is proof that this is not an easy process. It is not free either - attending the Ofcom/CEPT prep meetings costs RSGB (ie members subs) quite a bit over the four years of that WRC15 cycle, and more in the run up to WRC-19. Smaller amateur radio societies in other countries often cant afford to do that and thus fail to get their governments fully on side.

Returning to 40MHz. Years ago when we and the Danes did our 40 MHz beacons, other IARU Member Socs were formally encouraged to do likewise - nothing happened (not even in South Africa). If other amateurs cant even manage that (let alone convince their governments to have a Tx allocation) - then you can assume its not going to happen very quickly...

We do recognise that some knowledge of propagation at 40MHz is a technical nice to have - but we need to be realistic re an 'allocation'

73

Murray G6JYB

PS. Dont forget members subs also have to go into protecting what we have first, before acquiring more.
PPS. 50 MHz and 70 MHz are in the same boat of course - as they are national and not ITU allocations (A great Question for Advance exams that!)
PPPS. Any future item for WRC-23 will need all those 193 states to approve it at WRC-19 just to even have it added to the agenda
PPPPS. IARU is funded by IARU Member Socs - basically Progress needs Pounds (or Euro or whatever) - ie healthy membership subs for Member Socs

Continuing on 6m MSK144 RX

Already 6 stations in 5 countries (OZ, G, EI, F, HB9) spotted on 6m MSK144 RX this morning. I shall leave the RX and PC running whilst I cut the grass.

UPDATE 1320z: Now 9 stations in 7 countries on 6m MSK144 RX today.

UPDATE 1530z: Now 11 stations in 8 countries on 6m MSK144 RX today and another new country (LX) on this band/mode.

UPDATE 1905z: Now 12 stations in 9 countries on 6m MSK144 RX with SK0TM (1156km).

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday March 26th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today. Sunspot number is 11.  A=4 and K=0. 10m propagation is expected to be "poor".

British Summer Time - NOT amateur radio

Well, if you are in the UK did you remember to put your clocks forward an hour?

BST means it is darker for longer in the morning, but it is lighter in the evenings. It also helps delineate winter from spring - lighter evenings bring a promise of better weather as we move on through spring.

Pipit - 15m QRP CW transceiver

Many years ago I designed and built the Pipit, an 800mW CW transceiver with a direct conversion receiver. It really worked and for some time was my main rig. Used with a low dipole it worked some decent DX. The design was published in GQRP "SPRAT" many years ago.

Sadly, the rig was dismantled some years later. I regret this!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/15m_pipit

Obamacare - NOT amateur radio

Although I don't live in the USA, free healthcare, it seems to me, should not depend on wealth. There is a lot wrong with our NHS here in the UK, but the Trump version of Obamacare seemed, to me, to be a step backwards. Yes, the richer have to subsidise the poorer in society. So what?

Now, I am no USA politics major, but looking in from the outside, I think Congress was right to dismiss Mr Trump's healthcare bill at the first hurdle.

As I said, this is my opinion. You may well disagree!

Cattle Egrets - NOT amateur radio

Before the late 1980s, seeing a little egret in the UK would have been rare. Now they are everywhere. I have even seen these in our village here in East Anglia.

Now it is the turn of the cattle egrets, which are becoming increasingly common in Devon. These are slightly smaller than little egrets with a different bill colour. They tend to be near cattle.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/c/cattleegret/

See also https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cattle_Egret/id

UPDATE 1638z: I see that a swallow was seen in Slapton village, Devon 17.3.17,which is very early. I think it will be well into April before I see one up here.

Lady Day - NOT amateur radio

Today, March 25th, is Lady Day. Years ago, this marked the start of the year. The UK tax year starts April 6th, which was Lady Day before calendars changed. This day had great non-liturgical importance too. I remember my parents moving house on Lady Day 1959.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Day

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday March 25th 2017

Solar flux is 72 today. Sunspot number is 12. A=6 and K=1. 10m propagation is expected to be "poor".