Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 58. A=9 and K=2.
18 Mar 2023
17 Mar 2023
OFCOM updates
Every week, OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc.. on us. See the OFCOM website for more details.
FT-710 and FT8
As our visitor arrived earlier than expected, I was unable to do the firmware update until Friday AM. I am taking things in easy stages. The CAT now works correctly. FT8 RX works correctly. The PC is doing (yet another!!) Windows update and I will try FT8 TX next.
My brain is like treacle with things that would have been so easy in the past now being unbelievably hard.
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| Stations spotting my FT8 TX with 10W from the FT-710 on 10m today |
UPDATE 1506z: OK I am lazy! My TX is currently set to "fix TX frequency" in WSJT-X, meaning I rarely go after others. With 271 stations spotting me, I have not been called by a single station. ALC is very low and I am running about 10W.
UPDATE 1528z: So far today on 10m FT8 with about 10W spotted by 317 unique stations using the FT-710. May try 12m.
UPDATE 1758z: My 2m big-wheel and coax match on my FT-710, so I am giving 4m a try. I am on 70.154 MHz with about 10W of FT8, although there seems some uncertainty about the 4m FT8 frequency.
UPDATE 1827z: No spots of me (or others) on 4m FT8. I hope I am on the right spot.
UPDATE 2101z: I gave up on 4m for several reasons: not sure of FT8 frequency, poor antenna, low activity. Now on 6m FT8 and being spotted by quite a few. Furthermost on 6m FT8 is MI0BOT (478km). The convention in the UK is to TX evens, but of course more UK stations will spot you on "odd" periods as they are listening then. Judging by the number of stations on RX (none at all!) I guess most people are just on RX.
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| Stations spotting me tonight on 6m FT8 TX |
UPDATE 2211z: QRT now. 14 spots of me on 6m FT8 TX.
16 Mar 2023
Future projects
These are the projects I want to do in the coming weeks:
- 23cm SSB QSO with G4BAO.
- Local 481 THz QRSS tests bouncing off local things like the windmill and church.
- NLOS optical test at 481 THz with G4HJW.
- FT8 with the FT-710.
- Continued 8m tests, probably with WSPR near 40.680 MHz USB dial.
- Write another article ( I have an idea).
- Erect a 4m band halo.
Total exhaustion - NOT amateur radio
Things are far harder for me nowadays. Although I try to do "normal" things , I get exhausted very quickly after mental or physical things. This must be a combination of getting older and my 2013 stroke. My stroke after-effects cause me to be giddy almost all my waking hours. This is a "hidden disability" that few can see or understand.
As I have said many times, never judge a book by its cover. Many people suffer in silence whilst casual observers can see nothing wrong and mistake exhaustion for laziness.
FT-710 and FT8
As you may recall, I have been struggling to get this working. Later today I have a "window" to update the firmware and try the recommended settings again. Hopefully I can get things going.
Our grandchildren go shortly and our best man (from a long time ago!) arrives late afternoon.
The death of AM on the amateur bands
Although there are still a few AM nets on some bands, the mode has mostly been replaced by FM and SSB. This is a pity as in years gone by people "chanced" on amateur radio by listening on short wave. I well remember hearing amateurs on 160m AM many years ago. I remember copying G4PJ 4 miles away on a crystal set in the 1960s when he was on AM.
These days, people can no longer just chance on amateur radio. Our hobby has changed and the way newcomers "find" the hobby will be different. Modes like FT8 may be fine for working DX, but it is unlikely to be an introductory route for newcomers. As a person with a poor voice, I quite like FT8 and WSPR. At the same time, I am conscious that these modes cannot be ways in to the hobby.
AM had many advantages: gear was simple, ex-PMR radios were practically being given away and signals could be detected by very simple detectors. The simplest was just a diode detector. As I recall weak signals were better on AM than FM. Of course AM carriers could be a real nuisance.
Many today have never experienced AM, which is sad.
Even MW/LW broadcast AM is being phased out.
Several of my designs in the past were for simple AM transceivers. See my website at www.g3xbm.co.uk or my free PDF book for details.
Where I lived as a teenager - NOT amateur radio
This very old engraving shows Kingsbridge, Devon as it was over 200 years ago.
Although it has changed quite a bit, the main town is still very recognisable. I lived there from 1959-1970. It is at the head of the Kingsbridge Estuary, that is actually a ria or drowned river valley.
It is still a very beautiful area today.
15 Mar 2023
Eddystone EC10 RX
This RX was first introduced in the late 1960s and was the first transistorised communications RX. It sold for £48 when it first appeared, and we all (well quite a few of us) wanted one.
By modern standards it was hopeless. At high HF the image rejection was pathetic because of the low IF. They still appear on sites like eBay for a fortune. They have become collector's pieces. I briefly owned one a long time ago, goodness knows why. They used germanium transistors and these became leaky with time. Many need replacing. Mechanically, these receivers were excellent. Shame about the electronics!
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/eddystone-ec10 .
Burston strike school, Norfolk - NOT amateur radio
This evening, we went to our local history society meeting. It was a talk on the Burston Strike School in Norfolk. The speaker did not use a projector and just spoke. It was excellent.
I had not heard about this before, but interested to hear this was all so near. It was in an age when society was very stratified.
Bus ride - NOT amateur radio
Every Wednesday I go to and from Cambridge by bus. The ride is free with my bus pass and I can just relax and watch the world go by. It is as quick as by car. One of the villages we go through is Swaffham Prior which has 2 churches and 2 windmills!!
The photo shows the 2 churches through the bus window.
Birkitts, Lincoln
This photo of Birkitts shop in Lincoln was taken 2 years ago. I have no idea if it is still there. At one time all sorts of parts were sold. I think the owner died a few years ago.
10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)
At the moment, I am on 10m WSPR with my 500mW TX beacon. It is now 0900z. The beacon is tiny. I sync time using my atomic clock in the shack. Thank you (you know who you are!). No PC is needed at all.
UPDATE 0920z: Already spots by local G4KPX (14km) and EA8/DF4UE (2876km). I think the Canary Is is single hop F2 propagation. This station gets me most mornings.
UPDATE 1522z: No further stations spotting me. I was expecting some USA spots by now.
Cambridge - NOT amateur radio
Every Wednesday, I go into Cambridge on the bus for my University of the 3rd Age lecture. It is all too easy to take it for granted, but it has some very fine buildings that people cross the world to see. One of these is King's College Chapel shown in the photo.
14 Mar 2023
10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)
At about 2030z, I turned on my 10m 500mW TX beacon. Just spots by local G4KPX (14km).
70cm activity contest
On the second Tuesday of the month is the 70cm activity contest (UKAC). I can only run 2.5W to the 2m big-wheel omni antenna. Because of my voice, I cannot stay on long. This evening was hopeless and I only stopped on for about 20 minutes and worked just 1 station. I expect there will be many more on the 70cm FT8 activity contest, that I think is tomorrow.
Volunteer day - NOT amateur radio
Although our museum and windmill next door only open 2 days a week from Easter to late October, a team of volunteers comes up every Tuesday to carry out maintenance. Usually it is very quiet, but all changes on a Tuesday!
FT-710 and FT8
Thank you for all the suggestions.
I was going to do this yesterday (find out why the FT-710 does not work with FT8), but had no time. Today is make or break time: I shall check the firmware version, try at a lower speed that 38400 (probably 4800) and if all else fails give MLS a ring for help!
In the end, it has to be something daft and I shall say, "of course"!
UPDATE 1709z: It would appear my firmware on the FT-710 is not up to date. I am not sure if doing the reset to factory settings some weeks ago did this or whether these firmware updates post date the rig being shipped from the factory and MLS? Anyway, clearly I should make sure the firmware is fully up-to-date before I try to get FT8 working. The rig talks about CAT-3 settings and elsewhere CAT-1. This has left my small brain confused, HI.
481THz optical beacon tests
This popped up as a Facebook memory yesterday. It is some years since I last did optical tests over the horizon. In the near future, I want to re-assemble my optical gear and do some local tests before attempting some NLOS tests with Bernie G4HJW who is over the horizon about 9km away.
13 Mar 2023
OFCOM updates
A reminder that OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc. every week. See the OFCOM website for details.
12m FT8 yesterday
In the end, I went QRT on 12m FT8 RX only at about 2100z. In all, 921 stations were spotted. The band was still wide open when I went QRT.
Tilt switch DT project - NOT amateur radio
My grandson was very exited about this design and technology (DT) project at his school. It is a demo of a tilt switch.
These are widely used in "man down" alarms in wireless devices where you can trigger a remote alarm if a person falls to the ground. This has applications in safety critical situations such as police radios.
We might make an engineer of him yet! He is excited about such things, which is good.
Pixie transceivers
The Pixie is a classic low cost CW transceiver usually for 80m or 40m. It started life as the Micro80. Kits are available from China at ridiculously low prices, although some are better than others.
It uses the PA transistor as a mixer and often suffered from poor selectivity and AM breakthrough. It was let down by this poor RX. Over the years several versions have been created to help with these issues.
However, it does work and is capable of really get contacts.
The photos show a typical Pixie and my version of the Micro80.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/8040m-pixie-and-micro80-transceivers .
Sunspots - Monday March 13th 2023
Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 135. A=4 and K=0. It looks like the page I get my information from is back to normal. Yesterday morning it looked different.
12 Mar 2023
BBC email? - NOT amateur radio
I cannot find the BBC email to whom I should send my complaint. If you know it, please would you share it?
My complaint is that nearly every documentary seems to have loud and intrusive music that drowns out the speaker. Why? It is almost as if we have to have this music, but why is it so loud?
It would be good if this music was much quieter or even not there at all! The music is added, I suppose, to give dramatic effect.
The latest culprit is David Attenborough's "Wild Isles" on BBC1.
Please, do not treat us as stupid.
Yaesu FT-710 FT8 - last try!
Having tried most things, I shall give my FT-710AESS one more try on FT8.
So far, everything I have tried has failed. If it is something I am doing wrong, I have yet to find out what it is! All the drivers are installed, port selection is correct, port properties are correct, rig selection is correct, RTS is selected (as they say), but still CAT fails to work.
If this fails, the rig will have to go back. I really hope I can crack it. It should not be this hard. If the rig is working, I fail to see why this popular mode is so difficult.
If you have one of these rigs, please tell me your FT8 settings both on the transceiver and WSJT-X. I thought mine were all correct, but obviously not.
Yaesu FT77
Way back in the last century, I bought this radio. It came after the FT7 (which I loved) and had the WARC bands. I guess this would have been in the mid 1980s. I did not warm to the rig. As for the DX worked with it, I cannot remember. As I recall it had a noisy RX. Mind you, after the FT7 most receiver sounded noisy!
12m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
This is a band I rarely go on and as my QDX covers this and the antenna is still a good match, I am giving it a try. After about 5 minutes, I am being spotted by 10 stations (3 in the USA) and I have spotted 47 stations including the west coast of the USA.
UPDATE 1747z: Spotted by 140 stations and I have spotted 428 stations on 12m FT8 with the QDX. Now RX only. Power on 12m is about 3.9W.
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| Stations spotted on 12m FT8 with the QDX |
UPDATE 1929z: 739 stations spotted on 12m FT8 RX.
10FT8R receiver
At the moment 10m is in great shape with plenty of DX via F2 most days. We are also approaching the Es season in the northern hemisphere. My 10FT8R receiver (been on this blog before) makes a great, low cost, 10m FT8 RX. This is very inexpensive, yet works well.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10ft8r-rx
Thetford Priory - NOT amateur radio
This was destroyed by King Henry VIII hundreds of years ago. It upsets me when history is destroyed. Nobody has any right to destroy our past. We may not agree with the views when these things were created, but (please) do not destroy them. Had King Henry VIII has a son early on, history might have been so different.
Coffee time - NOT amateur radio
This morning, we went to Thetford. It is about 25 minutes from us. With me driving, it is a bit slower! This was where we had coffee.
10m FT8 RX (Sunday)
Apart from a brief QRP 10m FT8 TX session (11 spots of me) I am on 10m FT8 RX with the QDX. It is now 0930z and 96 stations were spotted after about 20 minutes. We are out for the morning, so just on 10m FT8 RX. After lunch I may try TX.
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| Stations spotting me on 10m QRP FT8 today |
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| Stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX |
UPDATE 1445z: 1066 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the QDX and 98 stations have spotted me. I reckon the QDX is about size of a pack of cards. Amazing. It is just too easy!
20m FT8 RX with the QDX
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| Stations spotted on 20m FT8 RX with the QDX and 10m antenna |
Overnight, I left my QDX on 20m FT8 RX using my totally non-resonant 10m antenna. In all, 841 stations spotted as the map shows. Too easy!! I guess I was on for about 15 hours.
CDARC talk on my website
I think this file is now shared. If you have problems getting it, please discuss with me. I created it in (free) Open Office and saved it in Powerpoint.
Open Office is totally free and every bit as good as Microsoft equivalents in my view.
There is a link on this page below.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/cdarc-talk-march-2023 .
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