Killer electrons?

Maybe astronauts have even more to worry about.

See https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/7/eaaw1368

Chester town crier - NOT amateur radio

Last week we were in Chester.

In the photo, the town crier is in good voice. I think he makes a good tourist attraction these days.

6m FT8

As I am home again, I am on 6m FT8. Only 2 stations spotted here so far on 6m FT8 RX (Denmark and Switzerland), but I got 9 spots of my CQ call on 6m FT8 TX with the best being OY1OF (1163km) in the Faroe Is.

UPDATE 1600z: With just 4 stations spotted I think many are now leaving 6m thinking the Es season has ended.

UPDATE 1633z: In the last 25 minutes I called CQ on 6m FT8 TX. 25 spots from all over Europe (as the map shows) indicating the Es season is far from over. No QSOs resulted, which tells me many are still monitoring, but fewer are on TX.

UPDATE 1856z: Another recent 6m FT8 TX CQ call was spotted by 12 stations.

UPDATE 2012z: A recent 6m FT8 TX CQ was spotted by 6 stations right across Europe. I am convinced that many who would be on TX think the Es season is over.

Chester - NOT amateur radio

Chester is a fine city not far from Liverpool, UK.

It has many sorts of architecture and the old centre is quite compact, so easy to walk around.

It is enclosed by old city walls that one can walk around. It also has a fine cathedral.

Something for the weekend

Every weekend MLS, a UK dealer, does a promotion of some kind. This weekend, they are focusing on Yaesu.  As far as I can tell, there are no special discounts. Check their website for more details.

Perseids Meteor Shower

Southgate News reports on the Perseids Meteor Shower that reaches its peak soon.

DXing with crystal sets

Shortwave broadcasting has changed a lot in recent years as more switch to the internet to get their message across. The internet is lower cost and generally much higher quality.

Having said that you may be amazed just what can be heard on a humble crystal set on HF. A few years ago I had quite a bit of success.

There are bigger schematics and photos on the webpage below. Remember all the power comes from the TX end.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/crystalset

UK power outages - NOT amateur radio

All the public pronouncements have been that the recent UK power outages are from unexpected generator failures.

I hope this is the truth and that this isn't as a result of some malign foreign power or terrorists acting with ill intent on the software.  It seems odd (to me) that we have a major computer failure at a major airline a few days ago and now this. It will be interesting to see if a government COBRA meeting is held.

Perhaps I am being paranoid.

Sunspots - Saturday August 10th 2019

Solar flux is 69 today and the SSN 0. A=7 and K=2.

Rally Sunday

Sunday 11 AUGUST : FLIGHT REFUELLING ARS HAMFEST

Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, nr Wimborne, Dorset BH21 3DA. A talk-in station will be on S22. There is car parking on site and doors are open from 10am to 4.30pm. Admission is £4, which includes parking. There will be trade stands with indoor and field pitches and a car boot area. Lectures will take place during the day. No dogs are allowed, except Guide dog, which is a condition set by the landowner. More from Tony Baker, G3PFM on ‪07743 475018‬, tbaker@tiscali.co.uk www.frars.co.uk .

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

Sunspots - Friday August 9th 2019

Solar flux is 65 and the SSN 0. A=3 and K=2.

Most photographed clock in England? - NOT amateur radio

As Big Ben is shrouded in scaffolding, this clock in Chester is supposed to be the most photographed clock in the country.

Liverpool dockside - NOT amateur radio

In recent years Liverpool dockside has been made into a very attractive area. When I was there as a student in the late 1960s it was very run down. The photo shows the skyline today.

Sunspots - Thursday August 8th 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 11. A=12 and K =1.

Locks - NOT amateur radio

I think these are a sign of enduring love. Seen on the waterfront at Liverpool.

Rally on Friday

Friday 9 AUGUST : 26th COCKENZIE & PORT SETON MINI RALLY

Community Centre, Main Hall, Port Seton. Bring along your own junk and sell it yourself. Tables on a first come first served basis. Entry fee £2. Doors open from 6 to 9pm.

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

Orchid at Tatton Gardens - NOT amateur radio

This was one of the orchids yesterday at Tatton Gardens in Cheshire yesterday. Lovely colours. In the orchid house.

Sunspots - Wednesday August 7th 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 12. A=35 and K =2

2m UKAC activity contest this evening

A reminder that the 2m activity contest organised by the RSGB starts at 1900z.

OFCOM updates

As happens every month OFCOM has updated its Communications Monthly with the latest news on matters that effect OFCOM. See the OFCOM website.

Life after death? - NOT amateur radio

Sorry to bring this up again.

When we die our brain cells die and logically we cease to exist any more.

However, we know so little about everything we experience that there is some doubt. The simple answer is no-one can be really sure. In some ways it is perhaps better that death is the end.

G3XBM history

Some may be interested in my history in the hobby. Some years ago I added a page to my G3XBM website on this.

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

Sunspots - Tuesday August 6th 2019

Solar flux is 68 today and the SSN 12. A=35 and K=4 .

Trump NOT amateur radio

As usual, lead by example?  Inane comments.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49230861

A blast from the past on 2m SSB/CW

Back in the 1970s, in the early days of 2m SSB, the most popular rig was the Belcom Liner-2.

Hot on its heals a few years later came the IC202 from ICOM. I had one of these and even used it on 10m with a Microwave Modules transverter. With internal batteries it could be used portable and even handheld. Some great DX was worked with it on 2m SSB and on 10m SSB using that transverter.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/ic202

Roses - NOT amateur radio

These fine roses are in a neighbour's drive. They are keen gardeners. They have a big garden that needs a lot of attention. The hedges alone must be 200m long. It's a good job they enjoy it!

Sunspots - Monday August 5th 2019

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

It still feels like sunspot minimum to me.

First FT8 160m QSO with new rig

160m FT8 log 
(stations that spotted me)

Earlier I worked G0BLB (211km) in IO81 in daylight on 160m FT8. This my first 160m QSO with the new radio. So, I think I have solved the mystery with the rig on HF and FT8. This was on the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Hopefully after dark some Europeans will be spotted.

UPDATE 2030z: My brief 160m FT8 CQ to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground resulted in 9 spots. The best was a spot by DJ9PC (821km). On RX my best spot on 160m FT8 RX is R2AL (2417km) near Moscow.

160m FT8 spots this 

evening of my CQ calls

UPDATE 2102z: A recent 160m FT8 CQ call (no QSOs resulted) was spotted by 15 stations with the best spot being by OL7M (1126km).

160m FT8 tonight

All being well, I intend to be on 160m FT8 this evening. I will be using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with about 10W from the FT991A. As for the ERP, probably low mW!

On WSPR this (with even lower power) has got me to Sweden with this "antenna".

The 160m FT8 frequency is 1.840MHz USB digital. I have not tried FT8 yet on 160m.

UPDATE 1625z: I put out a couple of CQ calls, but no spots. I guess this is far too early as it will be light for hours yet.

FT8 issue fixed?

Yesterday I reported that I was struggling on FT8 RX on 20m, and other bands like 70cm RX. I knew the PC settings were right as these worked on 6m and 2m, so the issue had to be with the rig settings.

It appeared that the bandwidth settings on bands other than 6m and 2m was 500Hz. Setting this to 3000Hz seems to have fixed the issues. I am now receiving stations on 20m FT8 on 14.074MHz USB digital with the loop on the back of the rig. I have no idea why these settings were as they were. Maybe I can try 160m FT8 with the earth-electrode "antenna" tonight?

On TX with 8W I have not had any spots yet, but at least there are now RX spots from all over Europe on just the tiny loop.

UPDATE 1342z: Best DX on the tiny loop on 20m FT8 RX is RA1OD (2920km). Another CQ call got no spots.

80m QRP - the XBM80-2 transceiver

About 7 years ago I designed this ultra-simple QRP transceiver for 80m. It managed some local QSOs. These days, following my stroke, designing and building things is hard.

There is a YouTube video too shown here.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/80m_xbm80

Crossing the channel - NOT amateur radio

Today, a Frenchman crossed the channel between England and France by flyboard. I prefer the shuttle!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-49226353/man-crosses-english-channel-by-flyboard

Sunflower - NOT amateur radio

This sunflower in a garden down the road (complete with bee!) just had to be photographed.

Amateur signals from the Moon?

Southgate News reports on an AMSAT and ARISS initiative to get amateur involvement in the next NASA visits to the moon. They calculate path losses will be about 30dB higher than low earth orbit stations.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/amsat-and-ariss-designing-amateur-radio-system-for-lunar-gateway.htm

6m FT8 - Es?

Stations spotted today on 

6m FT8 RX to 1147z

Just now I reconnected my 6m gear and called CQ using FT8. Although no QSOs resulted I got 8 spots with my furthermost report coming from GS8VL (753km) in the far north of Scotland. This is further than many stations in Germany, so probably Es. It does seem odd that I tend to spot more northerly stations towards the end of the Es season. Maybe the things that trigger Es occur more frequently later in the season?

Interestingly, I have so far spotted no stations on 6m FT8 RX. There is no Es (here at least) to the south. Maybe there was Es to the north, but few stations.

You may recall I just use a V2000 vertical omni antenna.

UPDATE 0817z: As there were no spots at all on 6m FT8 RX, yet there were Gs copied I began to suspect my internet connection. I have reloaded WSJT-X to see if this makes things better and reconnected the wi-fi. Still quiet here.

UPDATE 0904z: Just 2 Gs spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1150z: With 19 stations now spotted on 6m FT8 RX, it looks like there is Es. Best DX spotted is IZ8FDH (1657km).

Sunspots - Sunday August 2019

Solar flux is 65 and the SSN 0.  A=5 and K=1.

Flying ants - NOT amateur radio

Black garden ant (Lasius niger). The queens are 

much larger than the worker ants. 

© JvL via Flickr (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

A few years ago our bedroom was inundated with flying ants. Since then we have seen just a few in the house. On a walk around the village today we saw quite a few and there was one in the lounge a few minutes ago. This is the first time I have seen these this year.

See https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-why-winged-ants-swarm-nuptial-flight.html

Erotica? - NOT amateur radio

Bet you didn't know that my wife's namesake wrote erotic novels? Well, she does! I have to confess I have never read them. I think you can get them via Amazon UK too. A quick look showed 6 pages on Amazon UK of Lapthornes, mostly books by this lady. I have never met her.

A search of Lapthorn on Amazon UK shows 3 pages including books by my nephew Nicholas Lapthorn, who is a geographer.

I bet this post gets quite a few hits!

See https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1311754.Merc_and_Her_Men

What am I doing wrong?

Up to now, I had not used my FT991A on any HF band because I had no antennas. Then I remembered I had a small loop antenna that can be tuned anywhere from 40m-10m. OK, I was not expecting great results, but I was expecting to spot stations and be spotted by some. I set the power down to 10W just in case the loop antenna had a power limit. It was some years since I last used this, so could not remember.

As far as I was aware all the FT8 settings were as for 6m, but it sounded different. In the end I spotted nothing on 20m or 30m. I am convinced this is "finger trouble". At some point I will say, "Of course! That is what's wrong.". It sounds like the PC is not getting the audio from the rig, but all the settings seem correct. I am using the SignaLink interface I am currently using on 6m and 2m. Odd.

In the meantime I am back on 6m FT8. On 6m FT8 things sound normal.

Patio flowers - NOT amateur radio

The flowers on our patios and in the hanging baskets have been pretty good this year. The picture shows some of these.