Solar flux is 136 and the SSN 122. A=12 and K=2.
11 Sept 2022
10 Sept 2022
Cambridge Club - virtually
For the last few days I have been in Amsterdam.
The Cambridge radio club (CDARC) held its first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic began (a builder's evening). As an experiment they ran a hybrid meeting with people attending in person as well as others by Zoom.
I attended the whole thing from Amsterdam on my phone! The hybrid meeting was, in my opinion, a great success.
10m WSPR and 8m FT8 TX
After a few days away, I hope to be on again tomorrow. Normal service should resume on Sunday.
Stamps and seals - NOT amateur radio
In the centre of Amsterdam is a shop selling stamps and seals. I have never seen such a shop before.
160m FT8
Many people think they can't go on 160m as they need huge antennas and extensive ground systems and/or their noise is very high. Using just QRP and my earth-electrode antenna in the ground on FT8, both North and South America have been widely copied on RX and I have worked all over Europe on TX . As FT8 needs only 50 Hz bandwidth provided by the free software, it works well with very weak signals much weaker than SSB or CW. If you have local noise then you can try FT8.
UK Prime Ministers - NOT amateur radio
This will mean more to people in the UK than elsewhere in the world. It made me chuckle.
9 Sept 2022
The Chinese are coming?
Several UK dealers have been advertising the new Chinese SDR portable (the Xiegu G106) that in many ways looks like a much better radio than the FT818 and far less expensive.
My main objection in the past to Chinese amateur radio products has been quality control and consistency. Maybe this is the first of a new breed?
This radio is HF only, but look at the price!!
OFCOM announces spectrum earmarked for the police in Northern Ireland - NOT amateur radio
OFCOM has released some spectrum in the 700-900 MHz region for police use in Northern Ireland.
Sad news - NOT amateur radio
This cartoon was posted on FB earlier. Whatever your views on monarchy, the UK's Queen Elizabeth II was well respected across the world as a head of state. The new king will have a hard act to follow.
8 Sept 2022
Rembrandt's Night Watch - NOT amateur radio
10m WISPY WSPR TX
It is hard to think that I first made this TX 10 years ago. It was copied across the world. I still have it somewhere.
Upcoming rallies
The following rallies are due to take place this Sunday. As always, please check with the organisers before travelling any distance.
Sunday September 11th - Caistor Lifeboat Radio Rally. N3O 5DJ. Contact m1bfi@outlook.com.
Sunday September 11th - Ripon Radio Rally CANCELLED.
Silly Jack - NOT amateur radio
The clock tower was added about 100 years later. Its time keeping was terrible, hence the name.
Pye PF8 on 70cm
Some were put on to 70cm.
They were 500mW transceivers with internal antennas. At the time they were novel and quite different from the usual PMR radio.
There is a page about them on my main G3XBM website.
7 Sept 2022
Delft for lunch - NOT amateur radio
Amsterdam canals - NOT amateur radio
Amsterdam is a beautiful city with lots of canals and old buildings. It is a city of contrasts!!
6 Sept 2022
Hair once - NOT amateur radio
I looked young and innocent back then. 😁
6m
Outside of the Es season, the 6m band is sadly underused. This is a pity as it can be used for local chats.
One suitable rig is my Sixbox transceiver described on my main website and in my free PDF book.
Norway? - NOT amateur radio
This photo was on 365project a few days ago. I think it was northern Norway.
V2000 vertical omni antenna
The 2m halo is now not there and may be replaced with a 4m halo.
5 Sept 2022
What is this?
This dates from 2011 and I have not a clue what this is. There is an SBL mixer and it looks like some sort of direct conversion RX, but I have no idea what it is! I obviously was breadboarding something. I guess I could trace the circuit.
10m WSPR QRP TX (Monday)
In the end, there was a quite good 10m Es opening on 10m yesterday.
4 Sept 2022
News of W5OLF - Jay?
Some weeks ago, I sent Jay (Wilson) W5OLF an email and got no reply, which is unusual. Has anybody any news please? He has been a great help to me and others.
10m WSPR QRP TX (Sunday)
As I am on 6m FT8, the 10m antenna is free, so I am on 10m WSPR TX with the 500mW W5OLF beacon. It is now about 1553z and I have been on for an hour. No spots of me.
UPDATE 1729z: Still no spots. Basically rubbish.
6m FT8 QRP (Sunday)
The gear (V2000 vertical omni antenna and FT817ND) was turned on at 1120z. So far (1137z) 6 spots of me including what is probably Es, but none of anyone else!!
UPDATE 1703z: 9 stations spotted me today so far including 1 in Italy and 1 in Portugal. 1 QSO .UPDATE 1751z: 11 stations have spotted my QRP 6m FT8 today, with what looks like 3 by Es in southern Europe.
3 Sept 2022
Reverse beacon network
I have to confess that it is a long time since used the Reverse Beacon Network. It can be quite useful to find where your signal gets to even when you don't manage a 2-way QSO.
6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
In a few moments, I again expect to be on 6m FT8 QRP with the FT817ND and the V2000 vertical. Yesterday was a good Es day. I somehow doubt this will be the case today!
UPDATE 0723z: Gear turned on at 0715z. Spotted by GB0SNB/SDR (65km). I spotted an ON on RX, but this has not appeared on PSKreporter maps. Often, my very early RX spots do not appear. Not sure why this is.
UPDATE 0816z: Just been spotted by M1ABK (70km). Still nothing on 6m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1011z: 3 stations have spotted me on QRP TX and I have spotted 4 on RX. All UK. No sign of any Es.
UPDATE 1700z: Quite a good 6m day considering the lack of Es. 12 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX and 8 stations have spotted my QRP with the furthermost SP5QWB (1405km). Was the SP by Es?
That 4m transverter
Jason (in a comment on an earlier post) may well be correct. I was puzzled why the FT817ND was flagging "HI SWR" when I went to TX on the 4m transverter.
Somewhere way back in the mists of time I did do a mod to my original FT817 to add 5V to the RF line from the rig. Of course, this is not there on the FT817ND, so the relay will not switch over to TX.
At some point before the next Es season, I must do this mod on the FT817ND. I cannot recall what I did, so I shall have to photograph and copy exactly the original mod.
As it stands, I can monitor on 4m, but not TX.
I guess an RF detector could be added to the transverter to switch on the 5V TX. This would avoid the need to doctor the FT817ND inside.
UPDATE 0830z: Anyone know if the 5V TX is present on the RF connector of the unmodified IC-705? If so, I could just use the IC-705 with the 4m transverter instead! Guess I should just try it.
UPDATE 0838z: Tried it with the IC-705 Still high SWR, so guess +5v not there either. Pity.
UPDATE 0852z: Just found this from when the transverter was first designed and made, " I also did the FT817 DC switching mod to put 5V DC on the antenna pins when on TX. It was easy to do, with care, and made the transverter switching so much easier. Don't understand why it was not there as standard for the sake of 1 capacitor and 1 resistor."
UPDATE 1714z: If the mod is within my capability, I shall do the 5V TX mod. I must note that I should use the front BNC for 4m.
Click bate - NOT amateur radio
In the last few weeks I seem to have lots of adverts telling me (from the photo) that adding things like cola or toothpaste to the car fuel tank has "taken Brits by storm" and saved lots of money. Curiosity encourages many people to click to view. This is pure click bate and I HATE this!!
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