The last time I was on 10m WSPR was on Thursday when I was spotted by 62 different stations in Europe and South America. And I thought most were now using FT8!! Not bad with 500mW and a low wire antenna.
In the last week, 74 stations have spotted me on 10m WSPR.
If you look on the website you will see OFCOM has published its annual report and accounts.
For a change, I am on 10m FT8 today. Power is 2.5W. Let us see what happens. All quiet at 0630z.
This has not been a good year for radio rallies again, with most cancelled or postponed. Let's hope 2022 is better.
The weekend another two have been cancelled: the East Suffolk Wireless Revival and the McMichael Rally.
From time to time I like to remind readers of my video channel. This gives more details on some of my projects and some of my non amateur radio videos.
For several hours I have been on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW. Nobody has spotted me yet at 1400z.
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| Stations spotting me to 1455z on 6m FT8 TX |
UPDATE 1455z: 182 spots of my 2.5W to the omni vertical V2000 so far. On 6m FT8 RX plenty of stations from North America and the Caribbean.
It is amazing to think this was serving ale when the Pilgrim Fathers sailed to America 400 years ago! The bit on the right was added about 150 years ago. Most is thatched.
The food and service were excellent. There were quite a few tables occupied, which is always a good sign.
I think these are meant to be about 3-4W pep and take about 6 hours to build. That means 26 hours for me! The idea is to have a rig that can be on, but freeing up the "big rig" for other things.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-phaser .
Every month the RSGB organises a 2m activity contest on Tuesday evenings. Last evening, I went on for far shorter than normal (because of the sibling reunion) with 5W and the big-wheel antenna.
Every month, OFCOM updates its "Communications Monthly" which shows the statistics it holds. See the OFCOM website for the July edition.
When the weather is good (it is raining here at the moment!) it is great fun. Seaside operation with good take-offs can be surprisingly good. If you have high noise levels at home, you can choose quiet places.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/pedestrian-portable .
As the antenna was free, I decided to go on 10m WSPR TX again. Nobody has spotted me yet today.
UPDATE 1026z: No spots yet today.
UPDATE 1152z: So far today, spots from 2 stations with the furthermost EA8BFK (2880km).
It is much quieter so far today.
I have been on for about 30 minutes with 2.5W and the V2000, but only 3 stations spotted on RX and 4 stations spotting me on TX.
Yesterday the FT8 slot at 50.313MHz was busy with plenty of Far East stations on 6m FT8.
UPDATE 0958z: 9 stations have spotted me on TX and I have spotted 12 stations on RX.
UPDATE 1155z: 18 stations have spotted me on TX and 22 stations spotted on RX. No super DX here today.
For the first time since 2017, I spotted Japan on 6m. This time it was FT8 with the V2000 vertical omni antenna. Last time, with the same antenna, it was JT65.
With a beam at a decent height, I would expect to spot stations some 10dB weaker. I suspect I would copy Japanese stations every year on 6m FT8.
Nonetheless, I was very pleased to spot Japanese stations on 6m FT8 yesterday with the V2000 omni antenna.
Why?
We have been fighting wars in Afghanistan since the first half of the 19th century when Victoria was queen. Countless people have been killed or maimed.
What will happen now the western troops leave? Most likely it will descend into civil war again and the Taliban will again fight for control. In many ways things will be as bad as when we arrived.
In my view, we should stop interfering. Yes, we wish to support democracy and freedom, but we do not exactly a good track record. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan to name a few.
We have a great record in soldiers and civilians being killed or maimed and wasting billions. Instead we could spend the money on fighting climate change.
Although we may experience a few showers, it is quite warm outside. The thunder risk looks low with most storms over Denmark.
I think there is some link between thunder activity and Es, although I have not studied it. I think it has something to do with sprites? There must be people who know far more than yours truly! If you know the link, please leave a comment.
See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=0.00;ts=0;y=38.0295;x=8.3248;z=4;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;
At the moment I am on 10m WSPR TX and 6m FT8 RX.
The W5OLF beacon is totally self contained (no PC needed) and about the size of a pack of cards. It is on 100%, but randomly changes frequency each slot. In the past it has been spotted in every continent with simple, wire antennas.
No spots yet at 1037z, although I have only just turned it on.
UPDATE 1137z: Just 4 WSPR 10m spots so far by F4CWN (969km).
UPDATE 1303z: 16 unique stations spotting me today.
UPDATE 1640z: 23 spots of me so far today.
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| Photo from Wikipedia Commons |
The first ever photo to capture a person is supposed to be a Daguerreotype taken in 1838. This is a street scene and shows a person having his shoes cleaned. This person had no idea he was making history that day! The photo was taken out of a window in Paris. The image here does not do it justice. The man having his shoes cleaned is in the bottom left.
Photography was invented (I believe) in the 1820s. Just imagine if we had had photography centuries earlier. Samuel Pepys would have been busy!
See https://medium.com/thinksheet/the-first-ever-photograph-of-a-person-56ab2142819b .
Quite a few stations are calling the Far East on 6m, suggesting there is propagation from Western Europe to the Far East on 6m. This regularly happens at this time of year.
It seems linked to noctilucent clouds that form about now, although I am not clear about the mechanism. It looks like E layer propagation, although I think multi-hop Es idea is wrong in my view! There would have to be so many hops and this makes this so improbable. It would not surprise me if we discovered some new E layer mechanism in the next few years.
There are quite a few incorrect myths about. Never believe all you are told!! Look at facts and make up your own mind.
UPDATE 0908z: 149 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX including 2 in South Korea and 1 in Japan, JA6SBW (9053km) being the furthermost. Although better equipped stations have been spotting and working the Far East, this is the first time I have spotted Japan on 6m since 2017. This is my first time I have spotted Japan on 6m FT8. I think my V2000 vertical omni needs signals to be strong to copy them although at -15dB S/N this station was quite strong here. On TX (2.5W) 37 spots, but no spots from the Far East unsurprisingly!
UPDATE 1112z: 50 spots of my 6m FT8 (2.5W) so far today.
UPDATE 1305z: 92 spots of me so far today on TX. 247 spots on RX plus several QSOs.
UPDATE 1644z: 133 stations have spotted me so far today on TX. 330 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.
When I am on 6m FT8, I keep forgetting that my 10m antenna is not in use! So, I am on 6m FT8 (2.5W) and 10m WSPR with the 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon. Much to my surprise I got 3 spots on my first transmission with the furthermost TF4X (1995km) on 10m WSPR. I shall leave the 10m WSPR TX running to see what other reports come in.
UPDATE 1242z: Glad I went on! Now being spotted in South America with 500mW.
As the antenna and coax were faulty, I had not been on 6m for some weeks until just now. The FT8 slot on 6m is filled with Es stations from Europe. I am on TX too. I wonder who I shall work?
Within a very short time (a few minutes) I had been spotted across Europe by 25 stations and I have spotted 55.UPDATE 1224z: 120 stations have spotted me and 2 QSOs. 225 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX. When open, 6m Es is every bit as good as 10m in my view.
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| Stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX |
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| 238 stations spotted my 2.5W 6m FT8 TX today |
For some people these could be very useful. They use the cellular network as the bearer rather than the ionosphere, so the range is effecti...
