OFCOM - clearing 700MHz

Today OFCOM showed more about its plans to reallocate 700MHz spectrum.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/information/transmitter-frequency?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=700MHz_clearance

10m FT8 RX

Will today be a repeat of yesterday? Having been on since breakfast my only spot is of G0OYQ (177km) in the Hull area. This is probably aircraft reflection or it could be tropo. If it turns out like yesterday, this could be it! However, I am always hopeful and you never know.

UPDATE 1205z: Well, I was right to be optimistic! DK2BL (990km) in Bavaria has been spotted.

UPDATE 1412z: No further spots.

UPDATE 1835z: SQ4OJD (1357km) spotted strongly.

Sunrise - NOT amateur radio

After the rain yesterday, we had a glorious sunrise today. This was the sunrise earlier in our close. It is still sunny.

Sunspots - Tuesday January 30th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today (low). Sunspot number is still zero. A=4 and K=2.

630m

Last night I did not go on 630m WSPR RX. The rigs and PC were rested overnight. Since breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX.

Shack

This is a view of my operating position. Nearby, but not shown, is the bench where I do any building.

630m WSPR RX

Although I am currently monitoring 630m WSPR RX, I am not sure about monitoring overnight. I may continue (shack PC on batteries) until bedtime. So far the best DX is EA5DOM (1525km). In all, 5 uniques spotted this evening so far.

Grumpy old man - NOT amateur radio

OK, I have definitely qualified for grumpy old man status!

Over lunch I glanced through one of the many gifts on sale in the brochures we get sent in the post. I noticed a "New England Chair" that was £450!! It was probably made in a sweatshop in China for £5. Now, some may pay this (perhaps a footballer on £400k a week?), but count me out!

Now, I have nothing against small businesses (or large) making fair profits, but this is ridiculous in my view. Some suckers may be persuaded to part with their money, but not me.

365project - NOT amateur radio

Some time ago I think I mentioned that I do the 365project (do not confuse with MS Word as it has nothing whatsoever to do with this).

Basically this is free unless you want privacy and more albums, when it costs $19.99 a year. The idea is to submit a picture every day so you have a sort of visual diary.

Some submit very arty photos, but I tend to use very ordinary images. It is interesting to look back, say, 3 years.

See http://365project.org/g3xbm/365

The next solar maximum

"A monthly smoothed maximum number of 62 is derived for Solar Cycle 25. This would probably be around 2025. This is almost down to Dalton Mimimum values."

Basically, not great! We had better get used to it.

See https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/12/21/solar-cycle-25-amplitude-prediction/

630m overnight

Last night I returned to 630m WSPR RX. In all, 12 uniques were spotted, all EU. Overall, not a brilliant night.

Wallflowers - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went for a short walk around part of our village. In one garden, there were some wallflowers in flower.  This is the first I have seen.  At the right temperature, these smell wonderfully.

Our own, in the sun by our front door, have still to flower: they are some weeks off yet.

Sunspots - Monday January 29th 2018

Solar flux is 67and the sunspot number zero. A=4 and K=1.

This is the lowest solar flux I have seen for many years. We are likely to hit even lower numbers in the years ahead around the sunspot minimum.

It is some time since I checked the forecasts for cycle 25 peak. The last time I looked I think the "experts" were expecting a similar peak to the last one.

10m FT8 RX since breakfast

As I normally do, I have been on 10m FT8 RX since breakfast. So far just G4CJC (74km) spotted, probably by aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 1655z: No further spots. What a bad day! Unless things suddenly change (it has been known - says the eternal optimist!) it is probably the worst day on 10m for a very long time. I shall stay on until about 1800z, then switch to 630m WSPR RX, which always brings results.

QSYed to 630m WSPR RX

At 1724z I QSYed to MF from 10m. I am again running the shack PC from batteries with a preamp and earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Late this evening I shall have to take a break so the shack PC batteries can be charged for the overnight period.

UPDATE 1744z: First spot was DL3NDR (814km) shortly followed by G0MRF (139km) and DH5RAE (995km). Whilst it is good to spot these stations, it would be great to spot some new stations. 

UPDATE 2142z: About 30 minutes ago I went QRT to charge the shack PC battery.  Up to this point I had spotted 9 uniques. This is typical. I shall go on again later.

UK Pound up - NOT amateur radio

Although I am at a loss to understand why, the UK Pound is up against almost all major currencies. Against the US Dollar and the Euro, yes, but the rest too?

RSPB Birdwatch 2018 - NOT amateur radio

Every January, I take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch organised by the RSPB here in the UK. You watch the birds in your garden for any 1 hour and note the maximum number of each sort seen in the hour.

This year there were no blackbirds, no tits, no collared doves. In fact there was a real shortage of small birds. I may just have been unlucky or maybe it was the fact that we have had more frosts which have killed off smaller birds? Anyway this year I saw 2 robins, 2 starlings, 3 jackdaws and 4 black headed gulls and nothing else.

10m FT8 RX - all quiet?

For about 20 minutes I have been on 10m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots. It is on 1055z, so things could change.

UPDATE 1254z: 4 stations in 3 EU countries spotted so far. Most of these were quite recent. Es?

UPDATE 1655z: G4AWP (19km) spotted. Real DX today! No further spots since G4AWP.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

Last night we had one of our sons and his children staying. They have now gone home. This is them outside "our" windmill.

Sunspots - Sunday January 28th 2018

Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number zero. A=6 and K=0.

Not on 630m WSPR RX overnight

Overnight I did not go on 630m WSPR.  Instead, I remained on the band during yesterday afternoon and evening. One reason was we had grandchildren staying, so access to my shack was limited. I am now on 10m FT8 RX.

FT8

There is little doubt that FT8 digital mode has taken the world by storm. Bandwidth is much less than JT65 and QSOs are faster although I think it needs stronger (weak) signals to work. One thing it does is concentrate operations in a small part of the band, so fleeting openings are more likely to be noticed.

As many know, I keep a watchful eye on 10m FT8 RX. Although openings are now much rarer than at the peak of the sunspot cycle, they do occur. Rarely does a day pass when 10m does not open to somewhere overseas. In the last few weeks it has opened to South America. Even the very briefest openings get noticed. At one time a quick CQ on SSB would have led to 10m being given up as a "dead" band.

Try FT8 on a higher band: you may be surprised.

WSJT-X, which is the software needed, is totally free.

See https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html.

Cheese rolling - NOT amateur radio

This saddens me. A cheese rolling contest has been cancelled this year. They hope to do it in 2019. We English like doing odd things and it would be sad if this tradition died out.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-42788965 .

Fake speed camera - NOT amateur radio

All I can say is well done that lady.

I certainly hope it makes some drivers slow down. The next thing we'll hear is this is causing a health and safety hazard and has to be removed.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-42775070/berkshire-mum-fakes-road-camera-to-tackle-speeding-cars

Amateur files - useful link

My friend Steve G1KQH has sent me an interesting link. These are amateur radio related files in pdf format.

See http://www.n5dux.com/ham/files/pdf/ .

Giddiness - NOT amateur radio

This morning, in the drizzle, we did a short walk at Wicken Fen. I find walking along the board walk there very hard nowadays. Perhaps it is the water on either side, but I always feel giddy there since my 2013 stroke. I find having to concentrate so hard exhausts me these days. Pathetic. Today, it was wet too, which made it even harder. On the positive side, there were few people!

Daytime 630m WSPR RX

For a change, I am on 630m WSPR RX in the daytime. A couple of spots with best DX PA3ABK/2 (306km).

UPDATE 1308z: G0MRF (139km) is always a good signal with me, but his daytime S/N is much worse than in the middle of the night. I presume this is due to my local noise level being higher rather than propagation.

UPDATE 1420z: 3 different stations in 3 countries spotted so far. Best DX spotted F5WK (364km).

UPDATE  1615z: LA3EQ (769km) is currently the best 630m WSPR spots today.

UPDATE 1745z: 5 uniques in the last hour with best DX DH5RAE (995km).

UPDATE 2245z:  My last spot was at about 2116z, so the PC lasted over 9 hours on its internal battery - impressive!

Last night on 630m WSPR RX

Again, an average night here with 15 uniques copied. As far as I know, these were all stations spotted before and all EU stations. G3XIZ was actually very very strong (+9dB S/N). What is shown here is a second spotting probably as a result of my system handling strong signals!

Sunspots - Saturday January 27th 2018

Quiet and not much happening. Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number zero still. A=8 and K=2.

630m WSPR RX

Just before 1900z, I decided to go onto 630m WSPR RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" that has been successfully used on previous nights with the preamp and shack PC on battery power. Already 3 spots in the very first period.

MLS discounts

MLS is again doing its "something for the weekend" discounts. If you were thinking of buying any of these, you might save a bit.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/

Hygge detox, no thanks! - NOT amateur radio

OK, I am getting old and grumpy, but I do not need my newspaper (free and only chosen as it is big enough for bones to be recycled in it when folded) to tell me to spend £849 on a machine to restore ionic balance.

Go for a walk, open some windows, get a life.

Daffodils - NOT amateur radio

In better years, we have had daffodils from late November until May. This year, they were late with this clump appearing just a few weeks ago. Soon we'll have daffs everywhere.

Right now, snowdrops are appearing everywhere - a sign that spring will soon be with us and (hopefully) some better weather.

Ukraine - NOT amateur radio

Either the people in the Ukraine have suddenly taken a great interest in the content of this blog (mainly amateur radio) or I am being targeted by hackers or bots. Yet again, visit numbers are through the roof. I find it hard to think that the numbers I normally see in a whole day have already popped in.

Now on 10m FT8 RX

Following my usual pattern, I am currently monitoring 10m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1330z: F5RD (681km) is the best DX spotted so far.

UPDATE 1452z: Now PG0DX (409km) spotted strongly. Aircraft?

UPDATE 1547z: 5 stations in 3 countries so far today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1757z: Now 7 stations in 4 countries with best DX SQ4OJD (1357km) on 10m FT8 RX today.

Last night on 472kHz WSPR RX

Overnight I was on 472kHz WSPR RX using the earth-electrode "antenna", a preamp and the shack PC on battery power. In all, 15 unique stations spotted. Not bad, but not the best.

Are we becoming more stupid? - NOT amateur radio

Having just finished reading Bill Bryson's excellent book called, "The Road to Little Dribbling" (a laugh on every page!), I was struck by something he said.

Are we getting more stupid?

If you look around, you could be forgiven for thinking this. On TV quiz shows I am amazed how poor most UK people are on UK geography: no-one seems to know where anywhere is in our connected world! Allegedly, many USA citizens do not know where California or Texas is.  Allegedly Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country. England? Where is that? Iraq? Iran? Afghanistan?

Bryson may have a point. Perhaps we are slowly being poisoned by something in our foods or atmosphere that is adversely impacting our brains. Perhaps we really are dimmer than our forefathers. Certainly we seem to be thicker and need things dumbing down. Are we also more selfish?

It would not totally surprise me if we found out in years to come that something, currently unknown, is slowly doing us harm. The most worrisome thing is we may be too stupid to even realise!

Sunspots - Friday January 26th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=10 and K=2.

Mag-mount 136kHz E-field probe picture

This is a photo of the E-field probe used some years ago to receive my very low ERP 136kHz QRSS3 signal on the far side of Cambridge (20km?).  It was mounted in the middle of the car roof.  As you see, the whip was very small!

UPDATE 1550z: Well, I found the EFP in a drawer, but the coil and cap in the drain had been removed years ago. If I want to resurrect this, I shall have to rebuild this part. A nice small project over the spring or summer.

QSYed to 630m WSPR RX

At about 1915z I QSYed to MF. Using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground, a preamp into the FT817, the shack PC on batteries, I have the best chances. Already many countries have been spotted.

UPDATE 2212z: After a break so the shack PC batteries could be fully charged before the overnight period, everything is now ON for the overnight run on 630m WSPR RX. Noise floor is as low as I can get it with this setup.