Every week, OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc.. See the OFCOM website for the latest.
3 Feb 2023
Savoury biscuits for dips - NOT amateur radio
Inspired by these biscuits, I made my own this morning. They worked out really well (see photo). I shall have to make them again adding a few more dried rosemary herbs. Looking at the recipe, I suspect any herbs could be substituted.
See flatbread crackers recipe.
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)
At 0852, my W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon was turned on. Already, plenty of spots from the Canary Isles.
UPDATE 1204z: 61 spots of me by EA8/DF4UE (2876km) today.
UPDATE 1255z: USA starting to spot me now. See http://wspr.rocks/ .
XBM80-2 transceiver
One of my Facebook memories this week was of some QSOs over 100 miles by AA1TJ using my little XBM80-2 transceiver in 2010. I did not realise it was that old!
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/80m-xbm80-2 .
Early start on 8m QRP FT8
Earlier than normal, I am on 40.680 MHz FT8 with my 2.5W and dipole. It is now 0914z and, so far, no spots. I seem to get my spots via aircraft reflection mainly at this time of year. There was some winter Es earlier, but I think that has largely gone.
UPDATE 1200z: No spots on PSKreporter. QRT for a while as things cool. Back on 8m QRP FT8 this afternoon. Sometimes I notice a delay with PSKreporter.
UPDATE 1355z: Now on 8m FT8 again.
ATV via Oscar 100
 |
| Typical TV picture via Oscar 100 |
2 Feb 2023
Emanuel College, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio
That darn book!
 |
| Current email footer |
As this is a 12.8MB file some emails may reject it! I searched the settings, but cannot see why it does this.
Instead, I have put a link to the book page on my website. So, clicking there is a link to the latest edition. This seems fine.
Rally this weekend
The following rally has been notified to me. As always, it is a good thing to contact first before travelling a long way.
Sunday February 5th 2023 - Canvey Rally, Essex, SS8 9QA. Contact sears.enquiries@gmail.com .
10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)
It is now 1105z. So far om 10m QRP WSPR with my 500mW beacon, spotted by 2 unique stations.
UPDATE 1352z: 6 unique stations have spotted me today.
8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
It is now 1102z. Having been on 8m QRP FT8 for about an hour, no spots on TX or RX.
UPDATE 1355z: No spots today.
Grim times - NOT amateur radio
This photo was on social media and shows a city street in the 1800s. We forget how grim life really was for most people.
1 Feb 2023
2m FT8 activity contest (Wednesday)
UK strikes - NOT amateur radio
 |
| No bus strikes today in Cambridge |
The UK government's position is that inflation busting settlements just stoke inflation so it becomes embedded for years. This happened in the 1980s and was not good for anyone. The trouble is few working today realise what high inflation and mortgage costs are like! I seem to remember mortgage rates approaching 17%!!!
UK inflation is expected to fall this year. What is required is fairness for everybody and common sense.
8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)
My 8m QRP FT8 was turned on about 1450z. So far spotted (again) by WESSEXSDR (265km), I think this is aircraft reflection. Nothing on 8m RX.
10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)
My 500mW 10m WSPR TX has been on for about an hour at 0920z. So far, 8 spots from the Canary Isles.
31 Jan 2023
My PDF book - latest edition (issue 4)
Hopefully, the latest edition of my free G3XBM Project Scrapbook is now available. It is now at issue 4. Do not worry about missing versions. Several minor changes were made so I have published issue 4.
Modifying links will take me a little while. Please not that the tiny URL always goes to the first edition.
UPDATE 1507z: I think the link on my website, blog sidebar and email footer now point to issue 4. If you still cannot access it, please check with me. It certainly worked from my wife's iPad. The file is a PDF. As I make future issues, I shall try to point to the latest version.
UPDATE 2300z: For some reason my email footer always insists in adding the darn PDF book as well. Looking at the Gmail settings I can see no reason why. For now, I have removed the link to the latest version of the book from my email footer. This requires investigation!!
Village walk - NOT amateur radio
We call this our "Muntjac Walk" as we often see these deer on our way.
8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)
For about 3 hours I have been on 8m QRP FT8 on 40.680 MHz. Nobody has spotted me although EI9IP (607km) has been strongly spotted. I am sure this must be aircraft reflection.
UPDATE 1655z: G0HVQ (181km) has spotted me.
10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)
My 500mW W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon was turned on just after 0900z. No spots yet today.
UPDATE 1414z: 12 unique spots of me today. USA spotting me well now.
30 Jan 2023
High office - NOT amateur radio
There has been a lot in the UK media about people in high office "falling from grace".
Now, we all have faults and are all far from perfect. After all, we are just humans.
However, those in high office are bound to come under close scrutiny. It is important that those in high office (e.g. in government) are of the highest standards. It is not wrong for folk to be good business people. If they get rich because of their own business acumen I have no issues as long as nobody was "trodden on" on their journey.
What I deeply have a problem with is people who are not honourable and not honest. People who govern us must be of the highest moral standards and above reproach. If they are not, they will be judged.
Recently we have had several in the UK government that have not been above reproach. They have only themselves to blame.
I am not after perfection, just honesty.
'Our windmill' - NOT amateur radio
Robin - NOT amateur radio
QDX diodes
As mentioned before, I have an assembled QDX transceiver on order from QRP Labs.
Running from my standard 13.8V PSU, there is a risk of over dissipation in the PA devices, so I intend to drop the supply to the QDX with a number of silicon diodes. I can add up to 10, but will probably add 6. The diodes have arrived. This solution is noise free and the diodes are well rated.
Early start on 8m QRP FT8
At 0902z, my QRP 8m FT8 was turned on. No spots yet today.
It has been surprising just how many spots I have had on 8m, considering the few monitors and the time of the year. Many of the nearer reports look like aircraft reflection, but my 2.5W and dipole have made it across the Atlantic at least twice.
I do hope my 8m permit is granted for this year as there is so much still to research.
If it is not granted, there will definitely be times when I shall be on the ISM bands with 10mW ERP WSPR without a licence. The latter is, I believe, a course that anyone in the UK could take. Not being a legal expert you will have to judge your own legal position, although I very much doubt OFCOM would come knocking! In nearly 50 years I have never been inspected. When the man last came, he was more interested in a cup of tea!
My personal view is that OFCOM should have allocated a tiny, digital only, amateur band at 8m by NoV on a strict no interference basis. This would have meant full traceability whether on-air or off.
Both OFCOM and the RSGB seem dead against even a tiny 8m amateur band even by NoV. Personally I find this stance hard to understand. More public statements on this might help us to understand their reasoning. In the absence of data, we can only assume the military is against this. Personally, I think not making their reasons public is short-sighted and unhelpful. We should have full confidence in both the RSGB (that depends heavily on committed volunteers) and OFCOM. There must be good reasons for their position, so please share these!!
UPDATE 1042z: Spotted by WESSEXSDR probably via aircraft reflection. This mode seems more common than I thought at 8m and could well account for the frequent spots of my 2.5W by EI9KP (649km). It could be random MS, but I somehow doubt this.
10m QRP WSPR (Monday)
At 0902z, my 500mW TX beacon was turned on. Already spots from the Canary Isles and a local.
UPDATE 1052z: 3 unique stations have spotted my QRP 10m WSPR today.
UPDATE 1540z: 14 unique stations spotting me today.
Sunspots - Monday January 30th 2023
Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 80. A=5 and K=0. It is interesting that when the most active regions are pointing away from us, the sunspot count is still pretty good.
29 Jan 2023
6m incredible DX
First we had reports of a short path 6m opening for Europe to New Zealand. Now we have news of this DX via the long path (22100km). Totally amazing. No wonder they call it "the magic band"!
I get exited by seeing NZ on 10m, but this is 6m!!
10 GHz wideband FM
At one time Gunnplexers were popular, but there is a modern equivalent available at low cost (HB100). These can be bought on eBay for example.
Although I have not looked recently, I expect someone (or many?) have made 10 GHz WBFM transceivers with them.
Similar modules are also available for 24 GHz.
Wideband FM 10 GHz transceivers could be made with the 10 and 24 GHz modules without any microwave engineering at all. At the focus of a dish the 10 GHz ones have been used for ATV contacts over 100km.
If you know of WBFM transceivers designed around these, I'd love to take a look.
A quick look on eBay showed the 10 GHz units were available for just over £2.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/10ghz .
UPDATE 1535z: The link Jan has put in the comment below (in French) looks interesting and is just the sort of thing I had in mind.
8m FT8 QRP (Sunday)
No spots yet at 0947z.
I have heard of one 8m T&I permit being issued in the UK last week, so I remain hopeful that I shall be granted one this year.
Personally, I think it would have been far easier for OFCOM to have just granted a tiny, digital only, amateur allocation by NoV at 8m, with strictly no interference.
C'est la vie.
UPDATE 1200z: No spots today.
UPDATE 1343z: G8BCG (394km) spotted. He is located in central Cornwall and was very strong at 0dB S/N. This suggests aircraft reflection.
UPDATE 1444z: Just had news that an Australian 8m WSPR ISM beacon at just 5mW has been decoded in the Cook Is over 5900km away. I am convinced that ISM WSPR beacons could be operated by anyone in the UK without a licence and could certainly be copied in Europe by Es. They would probably reach the USA.The rules on ISM beacons vary with the country. In the UK we can operate on the 8m ISM band with 10mW ERP as long as the technical requirements and IR 2030 are met. In other countries there are different limits.
UPDATE 1850z: QRT.
Early start on 10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)
My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on early today. Already at 0943z I have been spotted by 3 unique stations.
UPDATE 1322z: USA stations now spotting me.
Ends of the spectrum
This was a Facebook memory from 2012 and shows my 481 THz optical beacon from then. I always enjoyed experimenting at the ends of the spectrum!!
28 Jan 2023
10m QRP WSPR (Saturday)
5 stations have spotted my 500mW QRP WSPR today. I was on from about 1600z. Now QRT.
8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
Despite being in for several hours late this afternoon, no spots on RX or QRP TX today.
Big British Garden Birdwatch 2023 - NOT amateur radio
This is organised by the RSPB every January. The idea is simple. You count the maximum number of each species seen at the same time in your garden, park etc. for any hour over the weekend and submit this. From these returns, the RSPB can learn a great deal about the birds around.
Certainly here, there are fewer smaller birds around. It is not uncommon to see 6-12 different species, but it is unusual to see that many different small birds. There are far more pigeons that in the past.
I do it every year. It is surprising what appears over the hour.
UPDATE 1625z: Just 6 species seen! Way down on previous years. Most of these were larger birds. Some very common birds were missing. Overall? January!! Dull and cold.
See https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/ .
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
