Sunspots - Wednesday November 30th 2022

 Solar flux is 108 and the SSN 25. A=25 and K=2.

Singing reindeer - NOT amateur radio

This is in the Grand Arcade in Cambridge. I am sure the children will love it.

Cosmology Lectures - NOT amateur radio

Most of this autumn I have been going to U3A lectures in Cambridge on cosmology. One of the advantages in Cambridge is we are surrounded by very learned people. On this course, there are many people who worked in the university.

One member of the audience had a Cambridge University professor as a friend. When he said he was attending a course on cosmology he retorted, "ah metaphysics".  Perhaps he is right!

10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)

At the moment I am again on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW since about 1210z. No spots. I suspect something is wrong with my beacon. I shall have to try 10m WSPR with a different rig to confirm this. I think there is power and time sync is good.

UPDATE 1220z: Spotted by EA8BFK (2880km), so perhaps all is well after all!

UPDATE 1227z:   2 stations have spotted me in the Canary Isles already. I wonder if I was being clobbered by CQWW CW stations over the weekend?

UPDATE 1406z: Spotted by 3 unique stations. Furthermost is TA4/G8SCU (3010km).

UPDATE 1812z: 4 unique stations have spotted me with the furthermost WD4ELG (6287km). Now QRT.

8m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

Since about 1200z I have been on 8m FT8 QRP (TX first and RX) on 40.680 MHz. No spots.

UPDATE 1811z:   No spots all day. Now QRT.

Sunspots - Tuesday November 29th 2022

Solar flux is 107 and the SSN 52. A=24 and K=3.

Daffodils in November 2015!

 

This was on this date in 2015 at nearby Anglesey Abbey. 

10m FT8 RX

 On all morning until 1130z. 

8m FT8 QRP TX and RX

Been on 8m FT8 QRP since 1130z on 40.680 MHz. 

UPDATE 1706z:  Now QRT. No spots at all!!

Plans for the day (Monday)

The current plan is to go on 10m FT8 initially and swap to 8m FT8 if conditions look promising. 

With the grandson NOT amateur radio

This was me with one of our grandchildren yesterday. I am the handsome one!! 😁😉

Sunspots - Monday November 28th 2022

Solar flux is 107 and the SSN 56. A=15 and K=5.

Black Friday "deals" - NOT amateur radio

Perhaps I am odd, but I am very distrustful of Black Friday deals. 

This started in the USA I believe as a way of getting us to spend over a longer period. 

OK there are some good deals to be had, but this is really another way to get us to part with our money. As soon as I see the words "Black Friday" like the latest email from a major UK retailer, I delete it. 

10m QRP transceiver

It is hard to think this is 10 years old! It seems like only yesterday. Maybe you can get some ideas from it. It was called the "Lesser Chirpy" as the original version chirped badly.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-lesser-chirpy .

Birthday lunch - NOT amateur radio

As my wife had her birthday last week, we ate lunch out with our son, who lives locally, at the Cote Brasserie in Cambridge. The photo shows my wife's desert. The candle was a total surprise to us all and a nice touch.

See https://www.cote.co.uk/restaurant/cambridge/ .

8m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

 Although I have been in for about 40 minutes at 1420z, no spots.

UPDATE 1806z:  No spots. QRT.

Internet Archive

If you have not come across this before it is worth a look. The idea is to archive webpages, magazines and books, often well after the actual pages have long gone from the internet. Using this some time ago, I was able to see one of my long gone websites from the 1990s!

Today I uploaded my Issue 2 G3XBM Project Scrapbook. Really I want to add this to the Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications. Once I find out how, I shall do this, so it is there long after I am pushing up daisies! 

For now, search texts for G3XBM should bring it up.

See https://archive.org/ .

UPDATE 2019z:  Both Issues 1 and 2 of my G3XBM Project Scrapbook are now on the Digital Library of Amateur Radio ad Communications. Searching for G3XBM should find it. My earliest website on the Wayback Machine seems to be in 1996 http: /www.lapr.demon.co.uk. If you search for this URL on the Wayback Macine you should find some captures. This was a very long time ago!!

Thoughts on infinity - NOT amateur radio

We live in a universe that is huge. Some think there may be a number of universes.

Just for a moment ponder these thoughts:

• What if there is an infinite number of universes? 
• What if everything actually happened?  What I mean is that you decided to go on a certain path in life, but there were other choices you could have taken,
• What if in reality all choices made really were made? What I mean is did all paths really get followed, but we are only aware of one?
• What if time is totally an illusion? Maybe we think of us on a path from past into the future, but perhaps every experience is really "now".

We do not have the answers, but we know that we can know so very little. I have the feeling reality is quite different from what we think today.

We find infinities hard to accept.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

Stations spotted to 1008z

At the moment, I am on 10m FT8 with 5W. It is now 0950z and I have been on for about 5 minutes. So far,  16 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 29 stations.

UPDATE 1012z: So far today, 89 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

Sunspots - Sunday November 27th 2022

Solar flux is 107 and the SSN 60. A=16 and K=3.

May I operate 8m beacons legally in the UK without a licence?

Since receiving an email from OFCOM in the UK, I have reread the essential requirements shown in https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/1206/pdfs/uksi_20171206_en.pdf written in 2017. 

"Nothing in these Regulations prevents the putting into service and use of radio equipment in the United Kingdom which is in conformity with these Regulations when the radio equipment is properly installed, maintained and used for its intended purpose."

Although if anyone intends to put a product on the market later, there are some onerous requirements including on record keeping, I can see nothing that prevents beacon operation at 10mW ERP without a licence in the UK as long as the essential requirements in the above document and interface requirement IR 2030 are met.   Now, I am no legal expert, but if it is there at all, I can personally see nothing at all that prevents us in the UK using the 8m ISM band without a licence at 10mW ERP for beacons.   Clearly with QRPP beacons we have no intention of putting a product on the market later.

My own personal view is I very much doubt OFCOM really cares!!

As always, I stand to be corrected.

CQWW CW contest

This weekend is the CW leg of the CQWW contest. This is all weekend and we can expect the HF bands to be very busy.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

Something is wrong. I got no spots yesterday and none today so far on 10m WSPR TX. I checked timing sync and there is power out. Something is amiss.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 At the moment I am on 40.680 MHz QRP FT8 with 2.5W.  No spots on TX or RX.

472 kHz RX last evening

Once again I was on 472 kHz WSPR RX last evening using the coax to my 2m big-wheel via a ferrite rod ATU as the antenna. 5 unique stations spotted including Norway and Germany. 

Sunny day - NOT amateur radio

This photo  of the windmill next door was taken in 2016 on a November day much like yesterday when the sun was shining. 

Sunspots - Saturday November 26th 2022

Solar flux is 109 and the SSN 55. A=20 and K=3.

UK fuel prices - NOT amateur radio

In the last month the exchange rate of the UK pound against the USA dollar has improved by about 10%. The wholesale price of a barrel of oil has fallen by about 10%. 

This should mean the proportion of the price of fuel due to barrel prices (excluding tax, delivery etc.) should have improved by about 20% resulting in a drop in fuel prices at garages.

What has happened in the real world? Prices have hardly changed.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Friday)

When I go on 8m FT8, I forget that I can still go on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW  W5OLF WSPR beacon. It has just been turned on.

UPDATE 1610z:  So far today,  no spots of me.

UPDATE 1700z:  No spots, so synchronised timing again. WSPRnet issue? Others don't seem to be having a problem. I was expecting some spots by now.

WSJT-X latest version

Apparently there is a new version of WSJT-X available as a pre-release candidate. At the moment on WSPR and FT8 I use V2.5.4, which is the latest fully released version.  The latest candidate release is V2.6-rc4. I must download it and try it.

FT8 is now very popular. It is possible the decode sensitivity is slightly better with this newer version.

8m FT8 with 2.5W QRP

Earlier this week I carried out some local tests with 10mW ERP from my low wire dipole. By comparison, 2.5W seems really high power! Shortly, I hope to be on 40.680 MHz QRP FT8. The 20dB pad has been removed and the FT817ND back on 3 bars on TX.

UPDATE 1435z:  8m FT8 QRP TX now switched on.

UPDATE 1700z:  I gather Bas has asked the authorities in the Netherlands if he can  TX in the 8mISM band legally at 10mW ERP without a licence. If we did this in many administrations we could see a number of new experimenters on 8m in the next Es season. Certainly, WSPR would be more effective than FT8.

Another view of St John's College, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, I put a photo of St John's College on the blog. This is a slightly different view.

See https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/

10m QRP FT8 (Friday)

All morning I have been on 10m QRP FT8 with 2.5W. 30 unique stations have spotted me. On RX 331 stations have been spotted from all over.

Sunspots - Friday November 25th 2022

 Solar flux is 110 and the SSN 61.  A=6 and K=3.

Rally on Sunday

The following rally this weekend has been notified to me. It is advisable to check before travelling any distance.

Sunday November 27th - Bishop Auckand RAC Rally,  Spennymoor, DL16 6DB. Contact g4ttf@yahoo.co.uk

Outside St John's College, Cambrdge - NOT amateur radio

This is a view towards St John's College, Cambridge earlier. This is a typical Cambridge scene.  Many foreign tourists travel across the planet to see this. We can see this every week for free.

Trinity Street, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

 

This was this morning just opposite Trinity College. 

The famous Heffers bookshop is on the left. Years ago they sold masses of academic books.

10m WSPR full power QRP (Thursday)

Funny how 500mW seems high power after recent 50mW and 10mW tests!! On 10m WSPR TX with 500mW again today. No spots yet. 

UPDATE 1818z:  13 stations have spotted me today.

Sunspots - Thursday November 24th 2022

Solar flux is 113 and the SSN 68. A=3 and K=2.

UK general strike? - NOT amateur radio

There is little doubt that the UK is in a mess. Inflation is much higher than target, jobs remain unfilled and energy costs are high. The gap between rich and poor is now greater.

In my view, we are heading for a general strike. This would be the first since 1926. I have no idea what the outcome would be.

There is little doubt that most will be poorer. Compared with some countries, we are a wealthy nation even now.

The answers remain unknown. Clearly, we do not want to stoke inflation, yet people need to be able to buy food and heat their homes. The gap between rich and poor needs to be narrowed.

My own view? 

1. Individuals who have plenty of money should pay via taxes.
2. We need to pay workers who really contribute more money and "hangers on" less.
3. We should allow more EU citizens in if there is no way of filling vacancies in the short term.
4. Rejoin the EU customs union.
5. A national government for a period.

I have always been centralist in my views. It looks like my views are socialist. I hope they are not, just realistic in a fair society.