Sunspots - Tuesday April 24th 2018

Solar flux is again 74 and the sunspot number 20. A=5 and K=1. So, much the same as yesterday.

Mud - NOT amateur radio

On our walk this morning bluebell hunting we were surprised by the quantity of mud on the paths after a week of hot weather. The photo shows me struggling! I was totally ill prepared with suede shoes and no stick.

2m FT8

2m FT8 in the first few minutes today

As I was getting nowhere on 10m FT8 today, I have QSYed to 2m FT8 instead.

A brief TX period saw my 2.5W to an omnidirectional big-wheel copied by several stations with best DX on TX being F6DBI (501km).

At the moment I am on 2m FT8 RX only with 10 unique stations spotted in 5 countries in just a few minutes.

UPDATE 1817z: Now 28 uniques in 6 countries on 2m FT8 in just a few hours.

UPDATE 2110z: Now 33 uniques in 8 countries today on 2m FT8. And I have only been on since teatime!

UPDATE 2140z: Now QRT on all bands

60m (5MHz) band

More and more countries are allowing their radio amateurs access to the 15kHz wide 60m WRC allocation. Apparently China is granting access from July 1st. This is a small band and hopefully later there might be a wider slot.

As the sunspot activity drops, this band could be quite useful. That is if noise levels allow!

First swallow seen - NOT amateur radio

Much later than last year, I saw my first swallow (migrant bird) here. Numbers seem to be down as by this date they are usually quite common.

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

10m FT8 RX

After lunch, I went on 10m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1630z: Still no spots today here on 10m FT8 RX.

Bluebell hunting - NOT amateur radio

This morning we drove to Waresley Woods (about 28 miles west of here) to see the bluebells. As the video shows, there were plenty. The paths were surprisingly muddy though. The video has no sound.

Last night on 472kHz WSPR RX

This may be my last outing on 472kHz WSPR RX this season. Last night just 4 unique stations were copied, suggesting most have now gone QRT on the band until the autumn. I may join them!

Sunspots - Monday April 23rd 2018

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 20. A=5 and K=1.

Rain stopped play?

This is a familiar phrase heard by cricketers in the UK.

Well, in my case not rain (yet) but thunder. For the first time this year my radio kit has been switched off and everything unplugged. At the moment, I think we will (just) miss the worst, but it is quite close. I shall consult the maps!

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en

UPDATE 1548z: At the moment, the storms seem to be passing south of us.

UPDATE 1604z: As the storm seems to have passed, I have reconnected rigs and antennas.

UPDATE 1800z: No further DX spots on 10m FT8 RX, but things will be running for a few hours yet, so still a chance of South Americans. This, of course, assumes the storms don't return. F1ABL (963km) spotted very recently.

40 not out - NOT amateur radio

Remarkably our younger son is 40 today. It seems just a blink since I was that age!

We do not know what the future will bring us, but we wish him good health and happiness.

Just think  - in just 10 more years he can go on Saga holidays. Saga is a UK holiday company doing holidays for the over 50s. 😄

Lyrid Meteor Shower

Space Weather reports we are in the middle of the Lyrid meteor shower. Compared with some showers, this is not that big. A solar storm is passing.

10m FT8 RX

Yesterday was remarkable with 11 South Americans spotted on 10m FT8. After a brief period calling CQ earlier, I reverted to 10m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots (at 0822z) here on 10m today.

UPDATE 0838z: G7BXU (124km) spotted. Aircraft?

UPDATED 1454z: Lots of Southern Europeans spotted earlier on 10m FT8 RX. Could this be Es? Also South Africa and Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean spotted on 10m FT8 RX this afternoon.

Rally reminder

One of our "local" rallies is today. Sadly, I am not going, but this is a reminder for those able to go.

22 APRIL 2018 : CAMBRIDGE REPEATER GROUP RALLY

Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge, Cambs CB22 6RN. There is free car parking at the venue, Doors open at 9.30am with traders gaining access from 7.30am. Entry is £2. There will be a talk in station on the air. There will be traders, a Bring & Buy and an RSGB book stall. Catering will be available on site. Contact Lawrence M0LCM on 07941 972 724, or email rally2018@cambridgerepeaters.net www.cambridgerepeaters.net.

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

Sunspots - Sunday April 222nd 2018

Solar flux is 75 (quite high for this part of the solar cycle) and the sunspot number 34 (remarkably high for where we are in the solar cycle). A=12 and K=2.

Summer migrant birds - NOT amateur radio

Well, just one house martin seen here so far. No swallows, no sand martins. I have heard lots of chiffchaffs. Several reports of cuckoos locally, but not seen or heard one. So far, a disappointing spring on the bird front. Swifts usually arrive here in early May, although I suspect these will be later arriving, in any number, this year. Screaming swifts are a major part of a UK summer. In June, swifts are one of the most common birds seen here.

SAQ (17.2kHz VLF CW) on air May 1st 2018

Apparently, the historic alternator CW VLF station SAQ Grimeton, Sweden, is being fired up on May 1st. This is the first time since 2016. I have a QSL card from them, which came many years ago.

See http://alexander.n.se/?lang=en

Ephemeral Spring - NOT amateur radio

Spring is ephemeral. At the moment, we have fresh green leaves and blossom. Sadly, in a few weeks this will all be gone.

10m FT8 RX

Yet again I am monitoring 10m FT8 RX. Yesterday was good with lots of real DX and already today Germany and Holland have been spotted.

UPDATE 1125z: Currently 6 unique stations in 4 countries, all in Europe, on 10m FT8 RX so far today. Best DX spotted today is OE3KLU (1233km).

UPDATE 1625z: Now 11 stations in 4 countries spotted on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 2020z: Unbelievable! No less than 11 South Americans spotted on 10m FT8 RX this evening. In addition, a couple of stations in the Canary Is. Is this TEP or F2 layer or Es layer linking with TEP further south?

Sunspots - Saturday April 21st 2018

Solar flux is 73 and the sunspot number 14. A=47 and K=3.

UK rally

22 APRIL 2018 : CAMBRIDGE REPEATER GROUP RALLY

Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge, Cambs CB22 6RN. There is free car parking at the venue, Doors open at 9.30am with traders gaining access from 7.30am. Entry is £2. There will be a talk in station on the air. There will be traders, a Bring & Buy and an RSGB book stall. Catering will be available on site. Contact Lawrence M0LCM on 07941 972 724, or email rally2018@cambridgerepeaters.net www.cambridgerepeaters.net.

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

A bit out of touch?

Only today I found out that the GB3PY UHF repeater is moving (or has moved?) to new frequencies to avoid interference. This was announced last December, and only now have I found out! It must be ages since I last had a QSO via a repeater as you can tell.

See http://www.cambridgerepeaters.net/2017/12/gb3py-frequency-change/

Optical kit

One of my Facebook memories today is of testing my 481THz optical kit in the garden of the old QTH. In those days I was fit and well. These days, field work has proved impossible although I still hope to restart one day. The photo is here as a reminder (to me!).  And, no, I was not looking at that attractive girl up the street!

All the optical kit was homemade and easy to assemble and test in the back of the garage with very basic test gear. Even the software used was free. Over the horizon testing with optical kit was challenging and great fun. Results amazed me.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/optical

10m antenna for the Es season

As we are about to enter the Es (sporadic-E) season in the northern hemisphere, quite a few people will be looking for a quick, simple, effective and low cost antenna for 10m. May I introduce the Homebase-10 antenna?

By scaling the size, it will also work on 6m and 4m too. At the old QTH it was used for many years. You'll be hard pressed to find something as simple as effective. It appeared in Practical Wireless some years ago.

This has been on this blog before, but many will not have seen it I guess.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/homebase

Still no swallows - NOT amateur radio

By now, I have usually seen a swallow back from South Africa. They started arriving in Devon in March, but as yet, I have still not seen one! Numbers are dropping, but this is now very late.

10m FT8

After a very brief TX period, (no reports) I am again monitoring 10m FT8 RX, more in hope than expectation. But, if you do TX, I shall be there, HI.

UPDATE 0634z: Well there's a surprise! DB6LL (651km) in the Hamburg area has already been spotted on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 0816z: No further spots so far today.

UPDATE 1634z: 10m FT8  spots from Indonesia, Middle East, Africa and South America. A good 10m FT8 day without a doubt. Sunspot number? Zero!

Where I was born and brought up - NOT amateur radio

Until I went to university, I lived in the South Hams of Devon. This picture was taken 8 years ago, but it probably hasn't changed much in 1000 years. We know my ancestors owned a piece of land near here in 1428. I can trace the family tree right back to  about 1550 with no breaks. Our family has probably been hereabouts for thousands of years.  BTW, Thurlestone (this place) means "rock with a hole" so Thurlestone Rock has been there a long time!

Sunspots - Friday April 20th 2018

Solar flux is 70 today. Sunspot number remains zero. A=5 and K=1.

New Software

I just downloaded WSJT-X V1.9 rc3 and it seems to work fine with stations spotted from all over Europe on 40m FT8 RX in the last 15 minutes.

Kings - NOT amateur radio

As we are "local" we get cards which give us free entry into the Cambridge colleges. People come right across the world to see sights we take for granted. One photo shows Kings College Chapel and another the Wren Library and some punts.

International Marconi Day

21 APRIL 2018 : INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY

To register your official Marconi site station please email crac.imd@gmail.com or visit www.gb4imd.co.uk.

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

Where we ate yesterday - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned before we visited Harleston and Diss yesterday. We ate lunch in Harleston in an antiques centre surrounded by old books and ephemera.

WSJT-X V1.9 rc3

A look at the Princeton site shows there is a WSJT-X V1.9 rc3 available. I need to check more often!

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

rc3 means "release candidate 3", so further changes are still possible before it is "officially" released.

40m FT8 RX

Overnight, I remained on 7.074MHz FT8 RX.

North and South America, Caribbean, Asia , Africa and loads of Europeans spotted. Overall, quite amazing.

Even North America spotted in the last few hours.

In the next few hours I shall probably go QRT and download the latest version of WSJT-X.

Sunspots - Thursday April 19th 2018

Solar flux has risen to 71, although the sunspot number is still zero. A=6 and K=1.

Diss - NOT amateur radio

Today we visited Harleston and Diss.

In our view Harleston was a dump, but Diss was a charming old town on the edge of a mere. People in Diss that we came into contact with were helpful and kind.

Suddenly, the sun was out and it was hot: the best day this year so far.

40m FT8 RX

As a complete change, I am on 40m FT8 RX this evening. There are lots of stations being received. Best DX spotted so far is A45XR (5794km). Considering my antenna (very low) I am amazed.

UPDATE 2012z: Best DX spotted on 40m FT8 RX is XV3GMI (9739km) in Vietnam.

UPDATE 2035z: Now PY6HD (8101km) spotted on 40m FT8 RX this evening.

Spring? - NOT amateur radio

It has seemed a never ending, dull winter with no spring. Yesterday was different: warm sunshine and the first real day that felt like spring. The next few days are promising too. The collage shows nearby Anglesey Abbey bursting out with fresh green leaves.

Super VHF/UHF/SHF DX via noctilucent clouds?

In the next few months noctilucent clouds are often seen. There is a possibility that these are responsible for the very long 6m paths that regularly open from western Europe to Japan in the early summer. These openings are as regular as clockwork in the early summer, and then they just stop. It is a very long way on 6m and the conventional wisdom that this is multi-hop Es to me seems very unlikely. Last June, several Japanese stations were spotted on 6m JT65, even on my omnidirectional vertical.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/noctilucent

Digital mode frequencies (Region 1)

If you are like me, you will be unsure of the commonly used frequencies in Region 1 for various digital modes. I found this link helpful as a reminder.

See http://www.qsl.net/sv1grb/psk31.htm