Flying Scotsman - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago my son was lucky enough to see the Flying Scotsman steam train going through on an excursion. I think it was going to Margate. 

G3XBM grabber

Some browsers will not allow page embedding for security reasons. 

If you can see embedded pages you may be amused to look at my grabber, that is mostly on 10m FT8 RX.  If embedding does not work on your browser, there is an alternative link. 

As you can tell, 10m is pretty good now and has been in recent days.

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

Ukraine - NOT amateur radio

By any standards, what is happening in Ukraine is barbaric. 

Putin will be despised for years to come, whatever "victory" he achieves by brutal force. He will be hated by people who he calls his own. All to recreate a failed autocratic system.  Any threat to Russia is of his own making. Ask yourselves: have recent actions made Russia safer?

In the fog of war, both sides put out propaganda to suite their own ends. However, it is hard to argue with the sheer numbers of refugees fleeing the country and those displaced in their own lands.

I desperately hope a fair and just settlement can be arrived at soon.

Garden frog - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken in 2016. It shows a garden frog that appeared.  I have not seen one since.

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

At 0900z, my 10m FT8 RX was turned on. I may try 2.5W TX later. So far today (at 0905z) 21 stations have already been spotted including several in Australia. This is getting too easy! Just turn on 10m FT8 RX and there is the DX.

UPDATE 1010z:   138 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. It is interesting how this band has changed in the last 12 months: no longer generally quiet. It is wide open most days now.

UPDATE 1250z:  363 stations spotted.

UPDATE 1312z: A brief TX period with 2.5W resulted in no QSOs, but I was spotted by several stations including HI8RD (7054km) in the Caribbean. 392 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 2030z:   1017 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX. Now QRT.

Starehole Bay - NOT amateur radio

This photo shows Starehole Bay near Salcombe in Devon where I lived for part of my childhood. The photo was taken in 2012. 

Wymondham Station - NOT amateur radio

We visited Wymondham by train a few days ago. The station is an old country one much as it must have been a long time ago. 

70cm UKAC results

On the second Tuesday of the month the RSGB organises an activity contest on 70cm.  Even though I can only run 10W to a 2m omni, I usually go on. This time, I only stayed on for a short while, because of my poor voice, making just 1 valid QSO. One other one was rejected as "not in the log".   Better luck next month?

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfresults.pl?Contest=432MHz%20UKAC&year=2022 .

Sunspots - Monday March 21st 2022

Solar flux is 95 and the SSN 39.  A=9 and K=0.

Daffodils - NOT amateur radio

At this time of year the path to our local church is lined with daffodils. 

In a few weeks they will be over. 

In the two horse chestnut trees in the churchyard, the crows are busy repairing or building nests.  They have been there for as long as I can remember. Life goes on. These 2 trees were planted in the 1800s to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Burwell at Large - NOT amateur radio

This is an exhibition in which local societies and groups put on a stall to attract new people. It is also a chance to chat with people not seen in a while. 

10m FT8 RX

 At about 0918z, I turned on 10m FT8 RX.  So far (at 0922z), no reports on PSKreporter, but stations all over the world spotted.

UPDATE 1056z:  136 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX this morning.

UPDATE 1735z:   877 stations spotted.

UPDATE 2003z:  1031 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today. 10m is now regularly open worldwide.

UPDATE 2042z: 1056 stations spotted. As there are still South Americans coming in, I shall stay on for a little while.

UPDATE 2140z:  1058 stations spotted. QRT soon.

Wymondham Abbey - NOT amateur radio

Wymondham in Norfolk has a fine abbey. It was far bigger before King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 1500s.

The approach to King's - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken 3 years ago. It shows the approach to King's College in Cambridge. 

 

160m FT8 RX overnight

Overnight I was on 160m FT8 RX with the untuned 10m antenna. 232 stations spotted on RX including a few in the USA. 

TETRA decoder

In my days of work, I ran the hardware teams designing TETRA hand portables. I actually knew quite little about TETRA as most was implemented in software. What I knew I have forgotten!

These days, you can get freely available software that can decode modes like P25, DMR and TETRA.

TETRA was very popular with security systems as it was hard to intercept. Not any longer.

See https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/tetra/ .

Sunspots - Sunday March 20th 2022

Solar flux is 94 and the SSN 29. A=5 and K=3. 

160m FT8 RX (Saturday)

Even though 10m is still wide open, I have QSYed to 160m FT8 RX with the untuned 10m antenna. So far this evening 30 stations have been spotted. 

UPDATE 2136z:   133 stations spotted. I think I shall remain on overnight.

OFCOM updates

Every month OFCOM updates the data it holds. See the OFCOM website for more details.

Pye PF8 - NOT amateur radio

Back in the 1970s, I was on the design team for this revolutionary product. In its day, it was "ahead of the curve". 

It had an internal antenna, 1.2V rechargeable batteries and a multilayer PCB. From bitter experience we found that the things that got broken were things like antennas, rotary controls etc. So we avoided these in this design. In its day, it was iconic. Some went on 70cm. These days, they are very hard to find.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/vhfuhf-commercial-rigs/pye-pf8 . There is a PDF copy of the handbook linked on the site. Any issues, contact me and I shall send it to you.

The DC-DC converter it used was a nightmare.

More Wymondham, Norfolk - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned yesterday, we went to Wymondham on the train. The photo is a collage of some of the things and places we saw. 

Wymondham is a delightful place. 

It is a few miles from Norwich. 

Component supplier

This supplier used to attend rallies, but can no longer travel from their home in Cumbria. They are retiring. They still have some components left.

See http://www.harrisonelectronics.co.uk/ . 

10m FT8 RX

It is now 0804z and I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 30 minutes. So far 35 stations have been spotted. The band seems wide open. 

UPDATE 1204z:   344 spots so far today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1606z:   815 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. A great day on 10m.

UPDATE 1830z:   1066 stations spotted today.  A great day on 10m FT8 RX. QRT soon.

Red-legged partridges - NOT amateur radio

We used to see these handsome birds regularly in our garden, but I have not seen them for a while. They were introduced over a century ago to this country. 

Sunspots - Saturday March 19th 2022

Solar flux is 98 and the SSN 27.  A=4 and K=0.

Yaesu FT-747

This was an HF 100W transceiver that dates from the early 1990s. I owned one for a few years, but never warmed to it. It had a metallised plastic case which was Yaesu's attempt to save money. It was sold a few years later, although I cannot remember to whom.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/yaesu-ft747 .

Looking back, it was one of the HF rigs I liked the least.

Wymondham - NOT amateur radio

Some of my wife's ancestors lived here in the 1800s before moving to industrial Sheffield - what a shock that must have been! We went there today by train. 

10m FT8 QRP (Friday)

Starting at about 0645z, I have been on 10m FT8 with 2.5W TX initially (no spots), but now RX only (just 1 G spotted). PSKreporter seems to be working at the moment.

UPDATE 0707z:  5 stations spotted with stations in the Far East coming through.

UPDATE 0758z: 40 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. 

UPDATE 2055z:  845 stations spotted.

Sunspots - Friday March 18th 2022

Solar flux is 103 and the SSN 53. A=6 and K=1.

First proper grass cut - NOT amateur radio

Although I cut our 2 lawns a few days ago with the blades set very high, today was the first proper cut this year.  Spring is here .... and the weekly cuts!  😒

After the heavy rain yesterday, today is sunny and mild.

DX maps

With PSKreporter not apparently working, I am looking for alternatives. At the minute, I am on DXmaps. I am still exploring and have not yet worked out how to search for FT8 stations and only on 10m.

See https://www.dxmaps.com/spots/mapg.php?Lan=E .

Fuel prices - NOT amateur radio

Certainly here in the UK fuel prices have rocketed. 

I guess this is due to the war in Ukraine.

This collage shows some of the local prices a few days ago.

8m TX permit - still waiting

OFCOM got their money last week. I am still waiting for the actual licence to come through. 

In the meantime, with a dummy load, I checked the widebanded FT817ND definitely produces output on 8m - it does, as I thought I had already checked. Early April was my start date.

If I don't hear before the weekend I may give them a gentle reminder!

160m FT8 RX overnight

Overnight I was on 160m FT8 RX with the untuned 10m antenna. Plenty of European stations spotted. I shall see if there were any from the USA if PSKreporter returns to normal later.

UPDATE 2040z:  Nothing from "across the pond" last night. 112 stations spotted.

10m FT8 RX (Thursday)

Currently, I am on 10m FT8 RX. So far, after about 10 minutes, several stations have been spotted locally, but there seems to be a problem with PSKreporter as I am seeing no spots from anyone.

UPDATE 1315z: Still nothing on PSKreporter. I think the issue is at their end. I did not realise just how important PSKreporter was to my monitoring. I presume others are also seeing this?

UPDATE 2035z:   PSKreporter is back, but the band is dead and all stations spotted on 10m FT8 are not there of course!

Saharan sand - NOT amateur radio

Every few years, if the weather patterns are right, we get a deposit of sand from the Sahara Desert.  

Our clean white car was covered, but seems to be clean now. Not so the windows and windowsills!! 

Forsythia - NOT amateur radio

 

This was seen on the walk to see our son. 

Sunspots - Thursday March 17th 2022

 Solar flux is 107 and the SSN 41. A=4 and K=1. 

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Iran - NOT amateur radio

It sounds like the detained dual nationality Briton is (eventually) being released from Iran and is on her way back to the UK. It appears the Iranian authorities were holding her because the UK government was breaking international law for withholding £400M from a cancelled tank order in the 1970s.

Several things come to mind:

    1.   The UK government should always operate within international law.

    2.   The Iranian government has no right to hold an innocent mother all this time as a hostage and bargaining chip.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60756870 .

UPDATE 1340z:  She is on the plane. I hope she is soon reunited with her family.

Bark texture - NOT amateur radio

 

We saw the bark in the photo in the Abbey Gardens in Bury-St-Edmunds yesterday.