23 spots of me on 10m FT8 QRP TX mostly in the USA. On 10m FT8 RX, 131 spots, mostly from the USA.
The photo shows some of the stations, mainly in the USA, that spotted me. Considering it is just a few watts, quite a few!
My own view is that nobody deserves respect or wealth just because of who you were born. Much wealth is based on slavery. This is wrong.
In the case of the queen she has dedicated her whole life to the service of the UK. She has earned respect. I hope King Charles III can similarly earn our respect.
He has a hard act to follow. Initial signs are good.
If things are normal, this evening is the 70cm FT8 activity contest. Activity is usually high.
Even with the V2000 vertical or 2m big-wheel omni I usually copy PA and EI and manage a few QSOs. Normal FT8 QSOs are fine. No special contest software. Even if you don't enter a score, this is a good chance to find activity.
If you think 70cm is quiet, you are in for a shock!
See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?year=2022&contest=70cmsgmac. The RSGB contest starts at 1900z.
Since about 0930z I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW W5OLF beacon. No spots.
A change of plan. I decided to try QRP FT8 on 40.680 MHz right away. Rig turned on about 0930z. No spots after 6 minutes.
UPDATE 1106z: No spots so far. Rig going off to cool.
After breakfast I hope to be on 10m FT8 RX again. Yesterday was successful. If 10m FT8 is promising, I shall switch to 8m FT8 QRP TX and 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 0942z: Change of plan. See other posts.
Before I start, let me say my "outings" on 60m are rare.
Speaking personally I find the UK allocations totally confusing. I would much prefer to have the WARC 15 kHz wide allocation instead. Many countries now have this. Using modes like WSPR and FT8, very little spectrum is needed.
I know much of this is beyond our control, but I am sure a narrower contiguous band would be preferable to many, especially if this was a worldwide allocation.
The photo shows a typical view of Amsterdam last week with bikes (lots!), canals and lovely houses. It is our 7th visit, so we must like it!
I have also been to the Netherlands many times for work years ago.
Just before breakfast, I turned on 10m FT8 with the FT817ND. At 0817z, 8 stations have been received. I am not on TX at the moment.
UPDATE 0911z: 12 stations so far spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.
It is now 1555z and I have been on 10m FT8 for about 5 minutes. So far, just 2 G spots on RX.
Until our son accidentally cut it, I used this antenna extensively from VLF to 60m. On 630m (472 kHz) it consistently got reports from Norway with a measured ERP of just 10mW using WSPR.
My theory is that at low frequencies it acts as a loop in the ground. As you go higher in frequency the loop gets smaller, so the antenna gets worse.
If my theory is correct, the loop will get larger as frequency is lowered making it very effective for sub-10 kHz communications. Indeed, such an antenna has been used to great effect by DK2FC and others at VLF.
For use on LF and MF it has worked well for me.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/earth-electrode-antennas .
Most of the tomatoes are still green. As you can see, this has not exactly been a bumper year. We had a wet winter and dry spring with a very hot summer. The pears were not bad (if a bit hard) and the crab apples just enough to half fill a small jar with crab apple jelly. Beans? Maybe enough for 1 meal. Tomatoes? If the green ones turn red I may have the same as a punnet from a supermarket. If they stay green I shall have a go at green tomato chutney. Overall, a disappointing "harvest".
Again on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW QRP. So far, only spots by local G4KPX (14km).
UPDATE 1215z: Just G4KPX and HB9TMC (905km) spotted me.
Very shortly, I shall be on 40.680 MHz FT8 TX again with my FT817ND and low wire dipole.
There seem to be fewer monitors on 8m now that the main Es season has ended. Es still has some openings , but these are fewer now. Most openings now are random MS, F2 or aircraft reflections I suspect.
Yesterday, EI9KP (649km) again spotted me on 8m. This is very unlikely to have been Es.
UPDATE 0950z: On 8m FT8 now. Once the Cornish 8m beacon becomes active, I shall start monitoring it on PI4 mode.
UPDATE 1221z: No spots all day. Rig currently off cooling.
UPDATE 1415z: On TX again. EI9KP (649km) has again spotted me. I suspect EI9KP has spotted me nearly every day I have been on 8m!
The queen dying after so long as head of state is sad. We are certainly in a new age now. Whilst in Amsterdam last week every English language channel was about the queen and her long reign.
When we got back home yesterday, we had non-stop queen on the BBC. Now, I know people grieve in different ways and the BBC will have prepared for how it would respond. They probably have had recordings for this eventuality prepared for years and years.
Am I alone in believing there is grieving and their is milking?
In my view, enough is enough. I would like to hear about other things as well in the world. Perhaps some of the news is dedicated to the queen and then other news is covered?
If I was an anchor person on the BBC, I would run out of things to say!
The design is very simple and used low cost crystals either for WSPR or FT8 RX. It is a direct conversion RX so will also pick up signals on the other sideband. It is extremely unusual for this ever to be an issue. Lots of stations have been received.
On a simple PCB, it would make a low cost, simple, and useful club project.
As I am home again, I am again on 8m FT8 QRP with the FT817ND and low wire dipole. No spots.
UPDATE 1207z: EI9KP (649km) has again spotted me. I wonder if this is aircraft reflection?
Now that I am back home, I am on 10m WSPR with my beacon and 500mW.
UPDATE 1353z: No spots of me all day.
UPDATE 1535z: Just a spot by FY5KE (7110km). This looks like F2.
UPDATE 2025z: Seems like all the spots are now by F2 with the furthermost FR1GZ (9724km).
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.
After a few days away, I hope to be on again tomorrow. Normal service should resume on Sunday.
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.
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 has released some spectrum in the 700-900 MHz region for police use in Northern Ireland.
