Sunspots - Saturday October 1st 2022

 Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 74.  A=13 and K=1.

Approaching Ely - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we got the train back to Ely. This was the view through the train window showing the cathedral and boats. 

Ely is a surprisingly busy station where many lines meet. It is rare to not see something going on there.

Fredbox in Eire

Recently, I was asked permission to reproduce the Fredbox in a PDF magazine in Eire. It was nice to be asked and, of course, I said yes. It is now available.

See https://www.docdroid.net/SgtShtb/crnews1022-pdf .

Geosynchronous Oscar 100

It is some weeks since I last peeked at the narrowband transponder of this satellite. Activity remains very low when I last looked on a Friday afternoon in Europe. Overall, my recommendation is still "don't bother".

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Gloucester cathedral glass - NOT amateur radio

Earlier this week, we stayed in Gloucester and visited the cathedral. It has some of the finest medieval glass in the UK, and probably the world. Some examples are here. 

The bottom right is from the great east window which was erected in 1350 whilst the others are in the cloisters.
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OFCOM updates

As usual, OFCOM has revised the figures it holds about licences etc.. Check the OFCOM website for details.

10m FT8 RX (Friday)

At the moment, I am on 10m FT8 RX. So far, after 10 minutes, at 0856z, 5 stations spotted with the furthermost D2UY (6525km) in Angola.

UPDATE 1527z:  816 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1803z: 1103 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX (see map).

UPDATE 2045z:  1202 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.

Sunspots - Friday September 30th 2022

 Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 56.  A=7 and K=4.

Rally

I have been notified of the following rally on Sunday. As always, make contact with the organisers before travelling any distance.

Sunday October 2nd - Welsh Radio Rally, Newport,  NP18 2YE . See gw6gw.co.uk .

How simple can you make a transceiver?

Many years ago, I built the XBM80-2 80m CW transceiver. It never got cased, but shows how simple a transceiver can be! Somewhere recently I was told that it is a good idea to keep DC from hitting the crystal earpiece. If this is the case, it is probably worth adding a DC blocking capacitor between the audio transistor and earpiece. I have no idea if this is an old wive's tale or fact.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/80m-xbm80-2 .

Shetland - NOT amateur radio

This was on 365project a few days ago. It shows a Shetland scene.

8m QRP FT8

At 1736z, my 8m QRP FT8 was turned on 40.680 MHz hoping for some F2 transatlantic propagation. 

UPDATE 2010z:   No spots. QRT.

Where I was brought up - NOT amateur radio

This is Salcombe in Devon where I lived for part of my childhood. I lived there as a young child until 1959. 

10m WSPR

All being well, I hope to be on 10m WSPR later when we get home. I should be back this afternoon. 

UPDATE 1430z:  Back home at 1329z. 10m QRP FT8 turned on. 19 stations have already spotted me with the furthermost WA5TXY (7632km) near Dallas Texas. On 10m FT8 RX 123 stations already spotted.

UPDATE 1811z:   386 stations spotted on RX and I have been spotted by 33 stations in the last 4 hours (see map).

Sunspots - Thursday September 29th 2022

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 72. A=5 and K=1. 

Sputnik Day 2011

11 years ago, some colleagues and I made a TX based on Sputnik valves. Although it was only 400mW QRP, it worked the USA with the first CQ. 

1350 Window - NOT amateur radio

This is the great east window in Gloucester Cathedral. 

It was made in 1350 and was the biggest window in the world at the time. It is a great example of ancient glass. 

Gloucester Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

This is one of the finest cathedrals in the UK, although we have many fine ones! I like the link with history. People have worshipped on this site since 600ad. Whatever your beliefs may be, you can feel the history all around 

QST stray

My free PDF book got a plug in October QST I see. Please feel free to download it should you want. It is totally free. 

Sunspots - Wednesday September 28th 2022

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 110. A=24 and K=2.

8m GB3MCB beacon

This is being copied in Eire by EI9KP by weak tropo, but after several days I have had no sign here in East Anglia. I only have a low dipole and it is obviously too weak for tropo and with MS or aircraft, I almost certainly need more time for a decode on FT8. 

I shall try again when there is a decent MS shower, hoping the Doppler doesn't kill the FT8!

ICOM IC-703

This is one of the best QRP transceivers I have ever owned. The best was the Yaesu FT7, but the IC-703 is very considerably smaller and covers more bands with speech processing and an auto ATU. Many years ago, I sold this to a local amateur, Ted  G4NUA. Ted is now a silent key sadly. He was a keen experimenter, especially with 20m WSPR.

Sunspots - Tuesday September 27th 2022

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 120. A=6 and K=6.

Cambridge University Church - NOT amateur radio

This is the exit from the University Church in Cambridge called Great St Mary's. It is next to the market and very near King's College Chapel. It is very central in Cambridge.

Many famous people have given sermons here. I have heard a few in years past.

See https://www.greatstmarys.org/.

Chinese lanterns - NOT amateur radio

 

These plants are commonly seen at this time of year and are popular in indoor displays.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

Gear turned on earlier this morning. As usual, running 500mW from my WSPR beacon.

UPDATE 1300z:  Just 3 unique stations spotting me so far today. These are one local and 2 in the Canary Is.  The Canary Is looks like F2 propagation.

Yosemite National Park - NOT amateur radio

This photo shows a ledge in the Yosemite National Park. Rather him than me!

I visited there in the late 1990s when working in California, USA. 

No, that is definitely not me!

See https://www.yosemite.com/.

Plans for today

 Although I suspect my chances are low, I am continuing to monitor the beacon GB3MCB in Cornwall on 40.050 MHz FT8.

As the 10m antenna is free I shall probably go on 10m QRP WSPR TX with my 500mW W5OLF beacon.

UPDATE 0825z: 10m QRP WSPR TX turned on and PC manually re-synced "just in case".

PC time syncing

Many digital modes like WSPR and FT8 depend on accurate timing.  

For the last few weeks I have just used Windows 10 to sync PC time.  As a matter of habit I do a re-sync perhaps once a day "just in case".  

Judging by results on FT8, I am perfectly sure this is fine. In the past I used special software for this. My advice is do not bother. 

Make sure your settings for time automatically sync. This is extremely easy.

GB3MCB 8m beacon in Cornwall

This beacon on 40.050 MHz began operation this weekend. 

It is situated in mid-Cornwall near St Austell. It should be very useful to indicate when 8m is open across the Atlantic. It has an FT8 sequence, so can be monitored with WSJT-X free software. The antennas are crossed dipoles.

Initially, it is operated under a test and innovation licence. In my view both the RSGB and OFCOM should have just granted them an NoV to the amateur licence as this truly helps propagation research and self training. The RSGB should have made the case and OFCOM agreed.

OFCOM and the RSGB -- just wake up!!!  You are making yourselves look unbelievably stupid! Surely the whole purpose of our hobby is self training and radio research. Is it any wonder we cannot find RF engineers in the UK if there is no support?   

8m need not be "more of the same". It is uniquely situated in the radio spectrum, on the HF/VHF boundary, to offer radio amateurs a real chance to contribute to radio propagation research. Instead, both the RSGB and OFCOM appear to be obstructive.

I am still totally puzzled why OFCOM seems so against even 5 kHz (just 5 kilohertz!!) at 8m being allocated to the amateur service by NoV. They could insist on narrow digital only and make us secondary users with limited power. It just seems so short-sighted. Like the Chinese trying to stop Covid or King Canute trying to stop the tide - there are some things in life that make no sense.

UPDATE 0804z:  No spots overnight.

UPDATE 1556z: Still not a sign of that beacon. My feeling is that this is a complete waste of time.  I thought I might see the odd MS burst, but nothing. Maybe I should remain on until the morning? Probably the 15 second TX period is too long for random MS. In a shower I might have better luck.

Sunspots - Monday September 26th 2022

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 96. A=6 and K=2. 

70cm activity contest results

These have been published. My position is unchanged in the low power section.

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

Help always at hand

Whenever I ask for help trying to find something, I usually get a positive response within a few hours. There are so many kind people who always offer their help. Thank you! 

Don't ever let anyone say the spirit of amateur radio has gone. It most definitely is there. This week alone I have had kind offers from several people.

Help needed to find a circuit please

Back in the 1970s my first outings on 70cm were using a circuit I found in a VHF Communications magazine. I guess it would have been 1971-1974 sometime. I think the magazine came out quarterly.

The circuit used a varicap diode as a tripler on TX and as a mixer on RX. The IF was 2m and on 70cm it produced about 100mW as I recall. In those days most were crystal controlled AM and on RX we tuned "low to high", or similar, to get a QSO.

Do you recall this circuit?  If you have a copy of the article I would be most grateful for a copy. 

I have no intention of building it, but it would be nice for old time's sake. From an East Anglian "hill" (yes there are a few, HI) it worked as far as Yorkshire with a very small beam.

UPDATE 1341z: Found it!! Thanks Henry.

See https://worldradiohistory.com/VHF_Communications_DE.htm .

M0ZAE was a great help - thanks again. The edition was November 1971. The link takes you to all back numbers and is a great resource.

10m FT8 mainly RX (Sunday)

Later today, I hope to be on 10m FT8. Although some of the time I shall be QRP TX, most of the time I shall be RX only. 

If F2 E-W is very good, I may QSY to 8m FT8.

UPDATE 1134z: Been on RX since about 1050z.  62 stations spotted so far today.

UPDATE 1255z:   152 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX (see map).

Stations spotted on
10m FT8 RX today

UPDATE 1525z: 401 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX. As of now I do not think conditions will be good enough on 8m for transatlantic DX.

UPDATE 1628z:  471 stations spotted today.

UPDATE 1835z:  Now QSYed to 40.050 MHz to monitor the new (this weekend)  GB3MCB 8m beacon.

Dragonflies? - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife spotted this on Friday on our walk to Wicken Fen. I think it is 2 dragonflies mating, but I am no expert!

I was going to use other words, but thought the censors might object and ban me.

Back of the garage

This was my workshop at the back of the garage in 2012 at the old QTH. 

Sunspots - Sunday September 25th 2022

Solar flux is 147 and the SSN 128.  A=13 and K=2. 

23cm antennas (again)

At one time, a very popular 23cm antenna, for ATV I think, was the bow tie designed by G8GML (now SK). As I recall it was 2 diamond shaped elements with a solid reflector. I think it had a useful (not high) gain and a fairly broad forward lobe. 

For DX contacts, a decent beam with lots of forward gain is usually essential, but such an antenna might be better for me than the PCB HB9CV that, I believe, is supplied with the 23cm transverter that should come next month.

What I am wondering is does anyone make this commercially and at what price?

Such an antenna might be useful on 70cm too.

UPDATE 1907z:   As David says in the comments, Wimo make such an antenna. It looks expensive.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

At the moment, I do not think conditions are good enough for E-W F2 propagation on 8m. Unless things change, I think I shall give 8m a miss today.

UPDATE 1659z:  On 40.680 MHz QRP FT8 (first). ZS6WAB has been very strong in central Europe on 40.680 MHz FT8 in the last hour, but I doubt he will be spotted further north. I think this is TEP.