Sunspots - Friday October 1st 2021

 Solar flux is 95 and the SSN 46. A=9 and K=2.

Museum duty - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows some of the things on sale at our local museum next door. We volunteer to help there. 

Season of mists... - NOT amateur radio

Even though I am old, I still get pleasure from seeing conkers at this time of year. The ones in the photo were seen a few days ago.

Rally cancelled

The 48th Welsh Radio Rally, due to be held Sunday October 3rd in Newport, has been cancelled, presumably over Covid-19 fears. I have no further information. 

Let's hope things are OK for next year.

10m FT8 RX (Thursday)

Since about 0825z I have been on 10m FT8 RX. So far today, 2 stations have been spotted after 5 minutes. One did not appear on PSKreporter.

UPDATE 1511z: 35 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX including a clutch of east coast USA stations. Is this a taste of what is to come? See map.

UPDATE 2122z:  QRT.

Improving HF conditions

We know conditions can vary day-to-day (some days can be bad), but on the whole things are getting better. We are now well on the upslopes towards the peak of sunspot cycle 25 and we can expect generally improving conditions for some years. Certainly 10m seems better. 

8m NoV (getting the latest draft)

The latest draft NoV is on my website. Some cannot see the embedded document, so I have added a link to the shared document. If your browser prevents seeing the embedded document click the link instead. 

The document should be shared for viewing. I do not think you can edit it, but if you can please do not change it. Instead save a copy for yourself and amend/improve this. Tell me how it could be improved. We all want applications to succeed.

This is the webpage:   https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/8m-band

Sunspots - Thursday September 30th 2021

 Solar flux is 102 and the SSN 74.  A=5 and K=2. 

8m TX permit - a reminder to self!

Well before the next Es season, I intend to apply for an NoV to allow me to TX experimentally on 8m.  I have no idea whether or not this will be successful. 

At the moment, I want to be able to TX FT8, WSPR or CW between the months of March 2022 and the end of October 2022.   All these are narrowband modes, which helps.  The most I can run is 10W, so I shall apply for this. With Es I am sure 2.5W would be enough to be copied all over Europe.  All this depends on my FT817ND being able to TX on 8m!  I have not tried this yet. 

DraftD (not yet submitted) is linked. I propose to send the final version to OFCOM and the RSGB. If you can think of ways to improve it, please let me know as soon as possible.

Anyone care to join me? You may want to amend it as identical submissions might look odd! Hopefully some of us will be successful.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/8m-band .

10m propagation improving

John, EI7GL's blog notes some good E-W F2 openings on 10m in recent days. 10m is getting good again.

As John says, if we get good propagation in September, it should be even better in October and November. I am predicting that we will see good 10m openings to the USA in late October.  It has already been possible, but when 10m is  really open, you will know! Expect S9 SSB signals from the eastern USA. 

With luck, we will also see AM signals just above 29MHz. In the past I have worked USA stations on AM when I was using QRP AM.

When good, 10m really is good. May the good days ahead be enjoyed. With luck, 10m could be good for many years.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/ .

Chromebooks - NOT amateur radio

My Asus Chromebook has been owned for almost 2 years and I have never once regretted it. It has a 3 year "at home" warranty, although I have never had to use it. It will run Linux apps, although I've never bothered. 

If I eventually replace it, I see the new version has twice the RAM and SDD size and is about one third of the price of a Windows machine. It boots in seconds and never once do you have to wait when Windoze is doing yet another update.

Mine can be used as a tablet too and the battery still lasts all day.

Geosynchronous Oscar 100

As many will know, I take a peek at activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite that has been going for about 18 months. I do this by looking at the Goonhilly based web SDR.

My conclusion is still that this satellite is very underused. 

In a way this is surprising as, once set up, you can work half the world with ease with no QSB at any time. No beams, no towers, no linears are needed. Once aimed, the small dish is fixed for ever.  There is no local noise to fight.  All very neighbour friendly!  I guess the lack of commercial offerings puts off "black box" operators. To get active requires a brain, not a purse. I am sure that if one of the Japanese manufacturers made a "black box" solution, things would rapidly change. I guess the risk of it failing and the lack of volumes puts them off.

As mentioned before, it seems keen people enjoy the challenge of getting active, then lose interest. Most activity seems to be from Europe although I have spotted Thailand, South Africa and Brazil. It is odd spotting all of these just like a local!

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/. 

Plaque - NOT amateur radio

 

This was on the back of a seat seen on a seat in Brighton a few weeks ago. It meant a lot to me.

10m FT8 RX (Wednesday)

Since about 0825z, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. So far, 4 stations spotted with the furthermost OD5SK (3433km). The rest are Gs.

UPDATE 1020z:  10 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost 4X5DF (3582km). I suspect the OD5 and 4X are single hop F2 propagation. See logbook.

UPDATE 1311z:   18 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1550z:  23 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 2135z: Now QRT.  50 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost VP8LP (12773km) in the Falkland Is..

365project

The photo shows Corfu some years ago. It was a Facebook memory from several years ago. We do 365project every day and have done since 2013. Great fun looking back. 

Sunspots - Wednesday September 29th 2021

Solar flux is 89 and the SSN is 57.  A=10 and K=1 . 

24GHz WBFM

This is a band I have never tried. Some people take it very seriously and employ narrowband techniques. Others "play" at the band using wideband FM (WBFM), much as is done with 10GHz. 

There are Doppler radar modules available which look as if they could be used at 24GHz. With such units there is almost no need for microwave engineering. 

With such units at the focus of dishes, ranges could be surprising. I have never seen designs for 24GHz WBFM units. If you find any, please send me links. 

Ranges of a few kilometres might be possible with just the modules alone.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/24ghz .

UK fuel shortages - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago someone leaked a memo saying a few (5?) garages had run out of fuel but do not panic as there is lots of fuel in the country. So what happens? Lots of people panic so most garages have very long queues and run out of fuel! This is stupid!!! Let's hope things get back to normal soon.

Even in our rural Cambridgeshire village the queue was huge (miles long) and the village garage was soon dry.  The photo show part of the queue yesterday. They had a new delivery earlier, but there was no diesel.

You can now understand why an Orson Wells radio play of 1938 about Martians caused widespread panic in the USA.

10m FT8 RX (Tuesday)

F2 DX coming through from all over today. It is now 1430z and 62 stations spotted from all over the place on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1940z:  So far today, 229 stations on 4 continents spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2023z:  It has been quiet on 10m for some time now, suggesting the propagation has ended. QRT soon.

UPDATE 2118z:   QRT.

Ely Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

It is not called "the ship of the fens" for nothing! 

We are lucky to live just a short drive from Ely.  The cathedral, like Chartres in France, may be seen from miles around. As far as I am aware, it is the highest point in Ely.

See https://www.elycathedral.org/ .

Sputnik TX

According to my Facebook memories today I was using a Sputnik QRP TX built by G6ALB 10 years ago. See the photo. I was surprised to get a QSO so soon after its completion.  I think I was chief operator as I could use a CW key! 

Sunspots - Tuesday September 28th 2021

 Solar flux is 85 and the SSN 30. A=7 and K=2. 

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

At about 0930z I went on 10m FT8 with 2.5W QRP.  I was on TX for a few minutes, but now am RX only. No spots given or received so far.

Shack

At this QTH I have a dedicated shack. At the old QTH I built gear in the back of the garage and operated from a shared bedroom used by my grandson. 

Although I have a separate area for building and for operating, I tend to use FT8 mostly these days and monitor on a separate PC in the lounge. Building and fault finding are much harder now.  I can get to the operating spot in seconds.

I still use the shack for FM nets weekly and UKAC operation 2m and 70cm activity. The shack has probably the best views in the house, hence the binoculars!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/shack .

10m FT8 yesterday

We are definitely moving from a band that comes alive in the Es season to more a band for F2 DX. 

For those with sticking power, there is DX to be found at any part of the solar cycle, although in the quiet years there are often fewer people on 10m making things even harder.

Yesterday, the better stations were calling VK on 10m. As the solar cycle progresses, we can expect more openings, more often, on 10m. It is worth keeping an eye on FT8 or WSPR.

For several days South American stations have been romping in. No doubt those with serious stations will be copying far more than me!  As you know, I run QRP to a low wire endfed.

Global warming - NOT amateur radio

In 1989 seeing little egrets in the UK was rare.  Now they are common. Their range has moved northwards. This part of England regularly had snow. Now it is rare. We were once the driest part of the UK. We now get plenty of rain. We had plenty of frosts. Not any more. 

Global warming is real.

Sunspots - Monday September 27th 2021

 Solar flux is 86 and the SSN 67. A=3 and K=3.

V2000 vertical omni

Many years ago, this triband vertical was erected at the current QTH. It had been up at the old QTH for years. It is probably 20 years old?

It is used on 6m, 2m and 70cm. Apart from just recently,it has worked faultlessly. Richard G3TFX took it apart, cleaned it, added new coax, and re-erected it. It seems to work like new again.

The photo was taken 8 years ago after it was first erected at this QTH.

Moulton packhorse bridge - NOT amateur radio

Centuries ago this was the main road from Cambridge to Bury-St-Edmunds in Suffolk, UK.  You can imagine packhorses being driven across this bridge laden with goods.

Grabber

A reminder that my new webpages have a grabber. This is mainly on 10m FT8, although occasionally it is looking somewhere else. You can see what I am spotting.

Some browsers do not like embedding as this can pose a security risk. There are work-arounds, but if you are not sure, do not.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/10m-ft8-grabber .

Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

We are lucky to have this place just a few miles away. The house is cosy and the grounds are huge. Even when the car park is full, it is easy to find quiet spots. 

We walk here most weeks. It is owned by the National Trust, so we get free entry with our annual membership. Every season there is something to see.

10m in the months ahead

10m should get better every year until about 2025. The famous CQWW SSB contest is at the end of October and I expect this will be the first autumn for several years when we will consistently have USA and Canadian stations romping in on 10m SSB. 

When conditions are good, I have worked USA SSB stations with 2.5W from indoors with just a whip!

10m (28MHz) remains one of my favourite bands. At dead of night and in the quiet solar years, it acts more like a VHF band. In the Es season it is good for DX up to 1500km often, and occasionally much further. In the better years there is worldwide DX via F layer. Antennas can be small and simple. Often QRP only is needed.

See https://www.cqww.com/ .

See also https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/10m-operation .

Dahlia collage - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, I posted a photo of my neighbours dahlias, but I could not resist posting my wife's collage today. 

At the moment, they are at their best. Given a week or two, they will be gone until next September.

10m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

 At about 0840z, I went on 10m FT8 with 2.5W for a few minutes, then RX only. I spot of my QRP by GM4WJA (624km) and 3 Gs spotted by 0856z. I notice that some Gs are calling VK6.

UPDATE 1035z: 23 stations spotted. Mostly these are Gs, although the furthermost was IZ7NLJ (1770km) in the heel of Italy. All Europe so far.

UPDATE 1113z: 25 stations so far spotted on RX. 

UPDATE 1245z: 34 stations spotted with the furthermost PU1KPS (9402km) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

UPDATE 1500z:  53 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. Plenty from South America again, plus the Comoros Is yet again.

UPDATE  1907z: 130 stations spotted on RX. See map.

Sunspots - Sunday September 26th 2021

Solar flux is 88 and the SSN 38.  A=7 and K=0. 

Where I come from in South Devon - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows where I come from in South Devon. I lived in Salcombe until 1959.  When this photo was taken, the small pier on the right was in place.

Neighbour's flowers - NOT amateur radio

In the UK, dahlias flower mainly in the autumn. Our neighbour always has a good show. The ones in the photo are in his garden now. We can enjoy them from the lounge window.

10m FT8 QRP (Saturday)

Although I have been on 10m FT8 for about 15 minutes (it is now 0825z), no spots on 2.5W TX or RX so far. 

UPDATE 1030z:  9 stations spotted on RX so far, with the furthermost EA7CBQ (1739km).

UPDATE 1320z:   15 stations spotted on RX including South America. The furthermost is PY1XYZ (9585km).

UPDATE 1503z:  Now 19 stations spotted on RX including 2 in South America and 2 in South Africa.  See map.

UPDATE 1632z:  24 stations spotted with the furthermost ZS1F (9745km).

2012 workshop

The photo shows the back of the garage, at the old QTH, where I did much of my building. 

Tidy!! 😉

Autumn jewels - NOT amateur radio

This is the season of conkers. Although now in my old age, I still enjoy seeing them.