River Ouse, Ely - NOT amateur radio

As I mentioned yesterday, we went for a walk in Ely yesterday. This is a view of the River Ouse which runs through the city. Delightful even on a dull day.

Sunspots - Monday November 4th 2019

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 13.  A=2 and K=0.

Julian G4ILO's blog

Julian died 5 years ago from a brain tumour. He was a great amateur who was well liked. Even now, I still get people coming here having read his blog! His blog is still there and it is a fitting tribute to a brave man.

472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Although I have not got "split" working currently on the FT817ND, I am on TX again, with the antenna current back to what I expect on DIG. I am still awaiting spots to confirm TX is working correctly.

UPDATE 1807z: Although everything seems OK, I have got no spots so far. Antenna current looks normal, the transverter PA is running cool as normal. Time has just been resynced. Anything else wrong? Is the WSPRnet website not working properly?

UPDATE 1927z: At last some spots! When I did the reset I had to select DIG as USB-U. Before it was something else, so I was probably on the wrong frequency, which probably explains why I was getting no spots. Split still does not work on the FT817ND, so I am just on WSPR TX this evening and overnight. So far, 5 stations have spotted my 472kHz 10mW ERP WSPR. Best DX was a spot by 2E0ILY (209km). With brain fog it has been very hard getting to the bottom of why things were not working.

UPDATE 2015z: 7 stations have spotted me so far this evening with the best being in The Netherlands. I am really pleased I found out why I was getting no spots.

UPDATE 2207z: Now 11 stations have spotted me this evening with best DX being a spot by PA0LSB (326km).

2m FT8

On TX several spots again with best DX The Netherlands and the Isle of Man. On 2m FT8 RX 6 spots so far (to 1611z).

UPDATE 1636z: Now 7 stations spotted with best DX spotted PD3FRA (408km).

Repairs

I soldered several joints on my 472kHz ATU but still nothing in DIG mode from the FT817ND. On AM, it works. So, either I have some "finger trouble" with the FT817ND in digital mode or there is fault. I tried both front and rear connections and both seem the same (works on AM but not on DIG). I also tried "split" mode, making sure both RX and TX were on DIG. Still it insisted on 474.2kHz TX whereas TX should be on 80m. At the moment I still hope this is me rather than the rig. My brain is so fuzzy. For now I have left it.

UPDATE 1552z: Well I think one fault has been found. When I moved the lead from my SignaLink USB to different rig the plug would not go in. After bending the lead, it inserted fine. I suspect this is why the DIG was not working. I shall try on 472kHz WSPR TX tonight. It is quite hard when you have brain fog.

Ely - NOT amateur radio

It was not raining, so we decided to do a walk around Ely this morning. This is a delightful city (as it has a magnificent cathedral) with some lovely walks by the river and up to the cathedral. The first photo shows the view from near the Maltings towards the city. The River Ouse is just behind us.

The second photo shows the cathedral from a nearby meadow.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely,_Cambridgeshire

The next solar peak (cycle 25)

At the moment the indications are for the next solar peak to be the same or slightly larger than cycle 24. Of course it is still too early to be sure, but I hope the signs that we are not going to experience another Maunder Minimum are correct.

Compared with several years ago the solar peaks are much smaller, but at least 10m was pretty good for several years around even the last peak.

See https://solen.info/solar/polarfields/polar.html

FT817ND split

Someone has reminded me that the "split" mode on the FT817ND only works if VFOa and VFOb are on the same modes. It is just possible that after the resets I forgot to put the TX frequency on to DIG. Later I will try again. It is far more likely to be "finger trouble" than a fault. I do hope so.

UPDATE 1608z: Split still not working!

Sunspots - Sunday November 3rd 2019

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 13. A=2 and K=2.

Brain fog - NOT amateur radio

This may be old age creeping up, but I think it is another artefact of my 2013 stroke.

I am nearly always tired and my brain feels foggy, as if living in a bit of a daze. Of course, others are unaware, but I find physical or mental tasks much harder. Years ago, with a clear head, I would apply logical thinking to problems. It is much harder now.

Intermittent?

When fiddling with the split mode on my FT817ND I noticed no antenna current on 472kHz from my transverter. When I went back some hours later I checked the 3.2MHz oscillator was running by listening on another rig - it was. To my relief the antenna current was normal. Then it disappeared again. My brain was too foggy to investigate, but it looks like an intermittent in the antenna matching. I shall investigate tomorrow and make a few soldered connections.

Finger trouble with FT817ND?

For reasons I do not understand "split" seems to be working again on the FT817ND. I have not done anything, so perhaps it only works from just one of the VFOs? Anyway, with luck, I can be RX and TX on 472kHz WSPR again tonight. Mystery.

Without "split" my operation on 472kHz was restricted to TX or RX sessions. Now, I should be able to go TX for 25% of the time and RX for 75%.

UPDATE 1758z: Well the "split" ICON is back, but I cannot get it to program! This may be me (finger trouble) or a real hardware fault.

Rain - NOT amateur radio

Today looks like it will be "the pits" of a day.  Already it is raining heavily and there is strong wind forecast. A good day to stay home!

MLS "deals"?

As usual, MLS has sent me an email with their deals this weekend. I am not exactly excited.

The FT991A is selling at £1189.95 after a £135 cashback.  Seems to me like a price hike has been slipped in and this is not a great deal.

ICOM IC-705 transceiver

As many already know, I am a keen QRP man and low power suits me fine. In the past, very few radios have excited me, but the ICOM IC-705 does. When it eventually appears in the UK (late 2020?) I can see myself getting one.

It is 5W from the attached battery and 10W from an external PSU. It covers 160m-70cm including 4m in the European version. This is SDR based like the IC7300 and well suited to my sort of operating. My main bands are 10m, 6m and 2m using FT8.

I can see it appearing in Japan first and then in the USA and Europe. I hope they add an auto ATU in the production units as this seems an omission in a rig that is supposed to be used in the field. Maybe they should make it slightly deeper and include this and a better heatsink?

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/ic705

472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP) overnight

Last night was good with spots from Norway and Finbar in the north of Eire. Altogether very satisfying. The table is in distance order and shows the stations who spotted me in the last 12 hours on 472kHz WSPR.

Mud - NOT amateur radio

Every year they have a splendid set of dahlias at nearby Anglesey Abbey. However, the grass in front is always badly churned up. In recent years they have tried to address this issue, but failed. This year they restricted access until the end of August, but now it is a sea of mud. They really want gravel, but this will not look as good of course.

10m FT8

Although a recent FT8 CQ call on 10m was spotted by no-one, I have already spotted 7 stations on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1030z: Now 23 stations in 8 countries spotted here on 10m FT8 RX in the last couple of hours. So far, all are Europeans.

UPDATE 1255z: 52 stations spotted this morning on 10m FT8.  A recent 10m FT8 CQ was spotted by no-one, which rather surprised me.

UPDATE 1530z: Still 52 stations spotted, suggesting that whatever sort of opening we had is now over. A recent 10m FT8 CQ again was spotted by no-one.

Sunspots - Saturday November 2nd 2019

Sunspots return!

Solar flux is 71 and the sunspot number 11. It looks as if the more active side of the sun is now visible again.  A=4 and K=0.

Revised solar data

My favourite site for solar data was updated today.  The candidate for sunspot minimum was June 2019. If correct, we can expect conditions to improve, on average, for several years. Of course, it is still too early to be sure.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/

5MHz newsletter

Southgate News reports that the 5MHz newsletter is now available for free download. I have tried 5MHz WSPR in the past.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/november/latest-edition-of-5-mhz-newsletter.htm

472kHz WSPR TX

Yet again I am on 472kHz WSPR TX for the evening and overnight running 10mW ERP. So far 10 stations have spotted me with best DX being PA3FNY (330km)

472kHz (630m) WSPR TX overnight

Not a bad night with my 10mW ERP being copied by 15 stations (see table). Norway was not reached again last night, but a fair smattering of reports.

13 of the 15 stations spotting my 

10mW ERP on 472kHz WSPR overnight

10m FT8

Today, I am on 10m FT8 with a bit more power (around 15W). A recent 10m FT8 CQ at about 0900z was spotted by no-one, but on RX a couple of stations already spotted with best DX spotted being IV3FGT (1143km) near Venice.

UPDATE 1040z: Now 8 stations in 6 countries spotted today on 10m FT8 RX with best DX spotted so far being EA8ACW (2988km). Results this morning confirm once again that many people have moved from WSPR to FT8. It also confirms that 10m is far from dead!

UPDATE 2024z: For some time now I QSYed to 630m WSPR, but today was a revelation on 10m FT8. I had 1 QSO and copied 37 stations including ZB6WN (8932km). This outside the Es season and at sunspot minimum!

Sunspots - Friday November 1st 2019

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 0. A=8 and K=3. Are we seeing the start of a slight improvement?

472kHz WSPR TX for the evening and overnight

Having turned on WSJT-X again and resynced the PC to internet time, I am back on 472kHz WSPR TX.

So far, 4 stations have spotted me so far with my 10mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with best DX being a spot by 2E0ILY (209km).

Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

This has been discussed here before, but I was reminded yesterday by an old friend who is hanging on to his petrol car until he expects to buy an electric car in about 3 years' time. His comment was "electric cars are not there yet". I agree with this. Both the range needs to increase and the price has to fall.

Most days I see maybe 2 electric cars on the roads. I suspect these are early adopters or maybe eco warriors. In 10 years' time I expect we will all be driving these, but as my friend said, "they are not there yet".

I want to buy and use an electric car. Maybe in a few years? In the meantime let us stop subsidising fossil fuels and subsidise renewables instead so we are encouraged to switch.

OFCOM updates

OFCOM is consulting on spectrum trading and sharing. See their website for more details.

Northern Ireland Rally

Sunday 3 NOVEMBER : BUSHVALLEY ARC RALLY

Limavady Football Club, Rathmore Road, Limavady BT49 0DF. Doors open 11am and admission is £3.

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

Online shopping - NOT amateur radio

Is it any wonder that many of us shop online?

As an example, I recently ordered 10 CR2032 cell batteries online from the comfort of my arm chair. They will be here tomorrow. I got 10, whereas on the High Street I might have got 2 for the same price.

Over time, this will become more and more the norm. In my mind the High Streets are changing: if they adapt they may survive. If they do not adapt many will fail.

A few months ago my wife wanted some new nail scissors. She walked to our local chemists who had none and thought they would be getting no more. She went online, had plenty of choice, and bought them cheaper, within a few seconds!

No, High Street shops are in for a very hard time. Adapt or go under.

Halloween - NOT amateur radio

When younger we hardly celebrated Halloween. Sadly, in recent years, the shops have seen another opportunity to take our money and Halloween has become commercialised.  The new god is profit.

I have little problem with youngsters having fun (my grandchildren love it), but I do object to the commercialisation. I know some object on religious grounds, but to me it is just an excuse for youngsters to dress up and have fun.

10m FT8

On John EI7GL's advice I am giving 10m FT8 a go. An initial 2.5W FT8 CQ  at about 0900z was spotted by no-one and now I am RX only on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1216z: EA4IL (1370km) spotted on 10m FT8 RX. There is life on 10m!

UPDATE 1413z: 3 stations spotted today on 10m FT8. 2 were Spanish and 1 was a local.  A recent 10m FT8 CQ (2.5W) was spotted by no-one. I can run more power. Perhaps I should? I can increase the power about 8dB.

UPDATE 1640z: A recent 10m FT8 CQ was again spotted by no-one and no further stations have been spotted here today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1840z: Sometime in the last 2 hours my Windows 10 PC decided to turn off WSJT-X. I really am heartily fed up with Microsoft.

472kHz WSPR overnight

Overnight, my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground on 472kHz WSPR was spotted by 14 stations. This time I did not reach Norway, but was spotted by several stations in the Netherlands.

Sunspots - Thursday October 31st 2019

Solar flux is 70 (highest for some time) and the SSN 0. A=9 and K=1.

BREXIT - not amateur radio

With a probable election in the UK on December 12th, it is anyone's guess what will happen regarding BREXIT.

If the Conservatives manage to get a big majority they will probably try to get their current withdrawal agreement passed into law.

If the Labour party gets to form the next government they will probably go for a new, softer, withdrawal agreement and probably push for a people's vote (referendum) to either approve this or remain in the EU.

If the Lib Dems win then BREXIT will be cancelled and we will remain in the EU.

Somehow I cannot see the BREXIT party doing well. They may have some followers, but if they stand against Conservatives they could lose the seat to Lib Dems or Labour.

Like many, I personally favour remaining in the EU or a much softer form of BREXIT. After 3.5 years, like many, I am tired of BREXIT! Years ago we joined a common market. That is what we have always wanted, plain and simple: nothing more and nothing less.

Personally, I doubt if this UK election will make matters clearer.

28MHz (10m) WSPR TX - 500mW

As I have my outdoor 10m antenna erected again, I thought I would connect my W5OLF WSPR beacon. This puts out 500mW and transmits 100% of the time, but changes frequency every 2 minutes.

If anyone copies me I shall be amazed.  The Es season is over and we are at sunspot minimum. Still, it is easy to connect and you never know!

UPDATE 2048z: After a whole day, not a single 10m WSPR spot. Maybe tomorrow I should try FT8 instead on 10m?

Museum Party - NOT amateur radio

At the end of the season, our local museum next door has a party for volunteers. I am on the left.

It is one of the best local museums in the UK. It heavily depends on volunteers. Many people think it is just the windmill, but it goes on and on!

See http://burwellmuseum.org.uk/

Overnight on 472kHz WSPR TX : 20 stations spotted my 10mW ERP!

Overnight I was on 472kHz WSPR transmit using 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. In all, 20 stations spotted me with the best DX spot being by LA8AV (1035km)in Norway overnight. In the last 2 weeks, I have been spotted by 40 stations on 472kHz WSPR TX when running 10mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Overnight on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

UK General Election on Dec 12th - NOT amateur radio

So here in the UK we are set for a general election before Christmas.

Although this is largely about BREXIT, I fear the outcome could result in even more of a muddle!

The people in the country, and most parties in government, are largely divided over BREXIT. What my gut tells me is no single party will win an overall majority and the party forming a government will have to consider coalitions, or at very least consider working with the smaller parties. This is not a recipe for strong, decisive government. What might happen is a softer BREXIT.

One thing is certain:  nobody knows what will happen.