Recent lockdown walk - NOT amateur radio

On Friday we did a nice walk around the village of Reach. The photo shows what we saw.

Hepburn tropo forecasts

This is a resource that I rarely use, but it looks useful for looking ahead at VHF tropo conditions.

See http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_eur.html

Online 2m FT8 screen-grab

A station near Cambridge, G0LRD, has a very useful screen-grab of 2m FT8 activity as seen at his QTH. I find it useful to check my signal is clean and as expected. He gets me strongly. He seems to see very similar stations to me.

I still find 2m FT8 amazing. My low ERP signal seems to get spotted far and wide irrespective of conditions. I am convinced these are not aircraft reflections as these sort of ranges seem possible at any time even with low ERP. It is so easy that I hardly bother these days.

Soon, I think I should try harder on 70cm FT8 to see what is possible.

See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/

What is this? - NOT amateur radio

On our walk yesterday we saw this plant. It looks like a dandelion but is about twice as big.  Any help greatly appreciated.

2 weeks on 10m WSPR TX (500mW to indoor loop)

This surprised me!

I did not expect many to be on 10m WSPR and I was even more surprised how well the indoor loop performs.

In all, 51 stations have spotted me so far in the last 2 weeks on 10m WSPR, despite the 500mW and the indoor tiny loop.

The beauty of 10m WSPR is that I can run this totally separate from the PC using the WSPR beacon TX which is about the size of a pack of playing cards and was designed by W5OLF. It has given me years of great service.

This means I can run 10m WSPR "in the background" whilst going in 6m or 2m FT8 at the same time.

East Cambs net

Every Monday at 1900z (8pm BST) we meet on 144.575MHz vertical FM in the all modes section of 2m for the East Cambs net. Anyone in the area is very welcome. The oldest is 96 but I do not know the age of the youngest!

Gin and tonic - NOT amateur radio

At about 9pm UK local time yesterday I sat out in the back garden with a gin and tonic. Another week or so and the days will start to get shorter again. Yesterday was warm and sunny.

Sunspot going?

The only sunspot on the side of the Sun facing us looks like it is rotating out of view. When I looked last night it was still there, but about to disappear. Unless there are others rotating into view or others bubbling up, we could be in for a quiet few weeks.

Sunspots - Monday June 15th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 11. A=2 and K=1.

6m FT8 (10W and V2000 vertical omni)

At about 1530z, I turned on 6m FT8. So far, nothing spotted on RX and 2 G stations have spotted me. No QSOs yet.

UPDATE 1803z:  Now spotted by 52 different stations so far.

UPDATE 2035z:   QRT.  In the end I was spotted by 84 different stations.

2m - signs of the times?

The 2m PW QRP contest netted me just 3 local contacts. With the same power and antenna (10W and the big-wheel omni antenna) 2m FT8 got me 19 spots with best DX being PE1OPK (378km) within a few minutes. Sad.

UK hereditary peers - NOT amateur radio

Heard today that most UK hereditary peers with vast riches are still living off their compensation for having to free slaves years ago! And they get paid for turning up to the House of Lords!! I am not in favour of revolution, but hearing this crap you do wonder. Personally I would put a windfall tax on all major landowners.

Pre-war TV in the UK - NOT amateur radio

At first, the BBC broadcast 30 line TV.  Later in the 1930s (1936?) they started 405 line transmissions which closed during WW2. Most viewers were in London. YouTube has some historical stuff from 1937.

Polish - Czech border "incident" - NOT amateur radio

The BBC has a piece about a strange incident that was a misunderstanding and was easily fixed. By mistake, Polish guards were guarding a Czech church!!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53034930

Optical communications

One of my Facebook memories today was from 7 years ago when I had built the Finningley optical transceiver. Shortly after this I had my stroke, so it never got used.

Yesterday on 6m FT8 TX

Last evening my 10W to the V2000 vertical omni was spotted by FG5GH (6691km) in the Caribbean. On 6m FT8 RX the best DX was W2AAU (5424km).

Early start on 10m WSPR TX

As I was awake early, the 10m WSPR beacon was turned on. Even at this hour (it is now 0505z) I am getting spotted by G4KPX (14km). No Es yet.

UPDATE 0726z:  Still just G4KPX so far spotting me.

UPDATE 1245z: 5 spots of me so far today.

UPDATE 1928z:  I wonder if the small amount of drift seen on some spots is due to Es clouds moving? Usually my drift is highest for the first 20 minutes as things settle, but after than it is very stable.

UPDATE 1950z:  7 different stations have spotted me today so far.

UPDATE 2055z:  QRT.

Friedrichshafen

One of the biggest events in the European amateur calendar is the Friedrichshafen exhibition in Germany. A few weeks ago I was told this had been cancelled. This is unsurprising in the current lockdowns and restrictions caused by Covid-19.

As mentioned before, this is a showcase event, much like the Dayton Hamvention. It is a big event and attracts visitors from all over Europe.

Like Dayton, it is often the place where the big manufacturers show their new products. I guess they will miss this.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday one of our sons visited us with 2 of our grandchildren. We had not seen them in the flesh for months because of lockdown. We had only seen them via Zoom.

We had lunch in the garden on a nice sunny day and did our best to maintain social distancing. It was good to see them again.

Sunspots - Sunday June 14th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 11. A=3 and K=0. Are we through the minimum? Sunspot count is not zero, but the solar flux is still low.

Practical Wireless QRP contest this Sunday

This is this Sunday, June 14th. As portables are unlikely to be on, for this year only the power allowed has been increased to 10W. I believe you can operate for any 4 hour period in the contest hours. Rules are in the June 2020 copy of PW. I expect they are on the web too. If I remember, I intend to come on for a little while. Quite often I am away and miss this. Not this year!

10m WSPR TX

There is quite a lot of Es around already today so I am quite hopeful that 10m WSPR will be productive later. Gear (500mW to the tiny indoor loop antenna) is turned on, but no spots yet.

UPDATE 0752z:  Already spots from 4 different stations, 3 by Es. This very early start bodes well for the day. Some Es spots are very strong e.g. OZ7IT has given me 0dB S/N  which implies he could copy me with 0.5uW (microwatts!!) on a noise free band and this is with me on the indoor loop!! There is a photo of the loop on the previous 6m post.

UPDATE 1824z: 10 different stations have, so far, spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR signal.

UPDATE 2045z:    QRT.

6m FT8 today

Just before 0600z 6m FT8 was turned on. As usual I was running 10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna. The photo shows another view of the shack.  So far, at 0630z, 37 stations have spotted me right across Europe. No QSOs yet.

UPDATE 0808z:  Spotted by 100  different stations so far. A QSO with an SP9 could not be completed.

UPDATE 0956z:  173 different stations have spotted me today so far.

UPDATE 1853z:  259 spots of my 10W FT8 6m signal today so far.

UPDATE 2055z: Several European QSOs, but nothing further afield. This is where additional ERP can really help.  Some stations with more power, beams and high antennas may be 20dB up on me. I cannot, and do not expect to, work the DX they do.

Blackbird death - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago I was in the kitchen when there was an almighty bang: a young blackbird had crashed into the window. I was unsure if it was just stunned, so I left it on the lawn hoping it might recover and fly off.  Sadly, it died.

As often, this makes us consider our own mortality. In an instant this bird was dead, as we all will be one day. As a youth I had quite a strong faith. Now I am more unsure. What I do realise is how little we know. One has only to think how our understanding of the universe and evolution has changed in the last 200 years to realise this.

In the case of this blackbird, it saddens me to think of all the effort of the parents just snubbed out in a second. They probably spent days on making the nest, then days feeding it.

See the poem "Spring and Fall" by Gerald Manley Hopkins.

Poppies - NOT amateur radio

On our walk yesterday we passed this field of poppies. It was a sight to gladden the heart.

Certainly since our lockdown we have appreciated simple things more. It is not all bad.

Excellent talk

Last night the Cambridge club had a virtual meeting in the form of a Zoom talk about secret listeners in WW2. We had about 31 people watching the slides. The speaker would have had to travel a long way if this was a "real" talk. In many ways this was better for me than attending the club in person.

Sunspots - Saturday June 13th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 11.  A=4 and K=0.

Cambridge club Zoom talk

Since lockdown, the Cambridge club (CDARC) has been unable to meet. Instead they have had a series of talks online the latest of which is tonight. 

I have to say, they have all been excellent. So much so, that I rejoined CDARC as a country member. Zoom talks work well for me as I do not have to travel 26 miles at night in the dark. Details of tonight's talk are on the CDARC website.

2m activity contest

The results for the June 2m activity contest have just been published by the RSGB. 

This friendly contest is arranged on all VHF bands every month. I have a go in the 2m and 70cm contests with 10W and my 2m big-wheel omni antenna used on both bands.  Usually I stay on for less than an hour because of my poor voice. It is mostly SSB. 

My position in the low power section has gone up. If I stayed on longer, I could work far more stations. I do not take this, or any, contest seriously.

10m WSPR TX (500mW to the indoor loop)

Using my stand-alone 10m WSPR beacon, I am again on 10m WSPR TX. So far today just spots from local G4KPX (14km) and HB9TMC (905km).

6m FT8

Since earlier this morning, I have been on 6m FT8 with my 10W to the V2000 vertical. 37 spots so far, but no QSOs with far fewer stations on RX. All so far are EU. Most of the spots of me are Es from Europe.

Shack earlier

The photo shows my shack earlier. Currently I am on 6m FT8 and 10m WSPR TX.

Simple VFO

This tiny VFO from ZL2PD may be an answer when the price of crystals is so high. It has a display too.

See https://www.zl2pd.com/sugarcube_VFO.html

Virtual dinner - NOT amateur radio

Every month I used to go to a dinner in local pubs with old work colleagues. At the moment this is not possible so we have a virtual dinner instead via Zoom. It works well.

Yesterday on 10m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop antenna

Yesterday, I went on 10m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop antenna. Much to my surprise lots of QSOs were had and my 10W was widely spotted around Europe. I spotted lots of Europeans and North African stations.

Sunspots - Friday June 12th 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 11.  A=4 and K=1.

10m FT8

For a change, since 1253z, I have been on 10m FT8 with 10W to the indoor loop. As yet, no spots on RX or TX.

UPDATE 2122z:  36 spots of me and lots of QSOs. Now QRT.

National Trust visit - NOT amateur radio

No café, so just a
hut selling snacks 

Our nearest National Trust place is Anglesey Abbey.  After months of being closed the gardens have been opened again as long as you pre-book.

It was surreal with so few people. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. It was good to be back.

Another cancelled rally

The East Suffolk Wireless Revival has been cancelled. The following may be hard to read on some screens, but this is as I get it.

Sunday 14 JUNE : CANCELLED
EAST SUFFOLK WIRELESS REVIVAL (Ipswich Radio Rally). 

Kirton Recreation Ground, Back Road, Kirton IP10 0PW (just off the A14). Doors open at 9.30am and the entry fee for visitors is £2. The venue has free car parking. Trade tables are from £10. There will be trade stands, a car boot sale, a Bring & Buy, special interest groups, GB4SWR HF station and an RSGB bookstall. Catering is available on site. Contact Kevin G8MXV, 07710 046 846. www.eswr.org.uk.

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

The next solar peak

Historically, it has been very difficult to forecast the size of the next solar peak. We are getting better. One paper compares the methods used. They forecast the next peak may be just a bit better than the last cycle.

See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41116-020-0022-z