The lawns were cut.... then we had hail and thunder!
15 Apr 2023
10m QRP FT8
Just now I looked on 4m FT8 spots in the last 12 hours and decided it was not worth the effort. Instead, I am on 10m QRP FT8 with the tiny QDX transceiver.
So far, on RX spots from all over the world and 11 spots of me on TX with the furthermost 3C3CA (5482km) in Equatorial Guinea. At the moment 10m really is good.
UPDATE 1502z: As we had hail and thunder, I went QRT. Up to then (about 20 minutes ago) I have had reports from 35 stations despite the QRP.
 |
| Stations spotting my 10m QRP FT8 so far today |
UPDATE 1744z: Storms have passed and the QDX turned on again. 57 stations have spotted my 10m QRP FT8 so far. It seems amazing that such a tiny, multi-band, QRP transceiver works so very well.
UPDATE 1754z: Although no USA stations have spotted me yet, I hope they do so before the propagation closes. This was quite late on 12m yesterday. On 10m, we can expect the band to close earlier. Currently 58 spots of me today.
Saturday plans
Yesterday, I tried 12m QRP FT8 as an experiment. It was not as busy as 10m, but I was still spotted widely. More stations spotted me than I expected especially with QRP.
Today I may give 4m FT8 another go. At some point I must install SPECTRAN on my PC and sort out the optical interface.
14 Apr 2023
Kindness
To avoid embarrassing him, I shall not reveal name or callsign.
Completely out of the blue, someone sent me a 3 element PCB antenna for 23cm. It was a TOTAL surprise! Thank you so much. The antenna will get well used.
In my experience, radio amateurs are a kind, thoughtful and warm-hearted bunch. The spirit of amateur radio is alive and well. If you can make somebody happy by an act of random kindness, please do so. This is what life is truly about. In my time I have been at the receiving end of such kindness several times and it means so very much.
Thank you again!
In my experience there are far more kind people in the world than bad ones, it is just that kindness is not newsworthy!
Our village museum - NOT amateur radio
OK, I am biased!
We live next door to one of the best local museums in the UK. It is vast and there is a huge variety of things to explore over many buildings including our 200 year old, fully restored, windmill which is just a tiny bit of it.
See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .
12m QRP FT8 with the tiny QDX (Friday)
You can tell that this band is far less busy than 10m.
I have been on for about 30 minutes. Although I have copied stations as far away as China, it is far less busy than 10m. Just one local station has spotted me.
UPDATE 0910z: 4 spots of my QRP as far away as Asiatic Russia. Definitely a lack of activity and not propagation.UPDATE 1100z: So far today 12 stations have spotted my QRP 12m FT8 and I have spotted 46. I am wondering if one of the factors is fewer people have beams on the WARC bands? On 10m, several people use low cost CB yagi antennas.
 |
| Stations spotted on 12m FT8 RX to 1310z |
UPDATE 1310z: 28 stations have spotted my 12m QRP FT8 TX and I have spotted 99 stations on RX. So far, just one USA station has starting to appear (see map).
UPDATE 1848z: 216 stations have been spotted on RX and 71 stations have spotted my 12m QRP FT8 TX from the QDX with the furthermost YE6YE (10260km) on Java.
 |
| Stations spotting my 12m QRP FT8 today |
UPDATE 2129z: 138 stations have spotted me on 12m QRP FT8 TX and 248 stations spotted here on the QDX.
Rallies this weekend
The following rallies have been notified to me. As I have no control over these emails, I always advise checking the data is correct before travelling any distance.
- Saturday April 15th - 37th QRP convention, Sherborne, DT9 3AA. Contact qrp@yeovil-arc.com
- Sunday April 16th Cambridge Computer Group Rally. Foxton nr Cambridge.CB22 6RN. Contact rally2023@cambridgerepeaters.net
- Sunday April 16th - Holsworthy Spring Rally and Boot Sale, EX22 7FA. Contact m0omc@m0omc.co.uk
OFCOM updates
A reminder that OFCOM updates the details held on licences etc every week. Check the OFCOM website for more details.
Historic Plaques - NOT amateur radio
Around our village we have a number of plaques to commemorate well known people or places. There is a copy of these in our superb village museum.
4m UKAC next Thursday
I must remember to this!
So far I have been disappointed by the lack of activity on this band outside of the Es season. Hopefully things will be better in the activity contest.
As I recall things from many years ago, it was a good band for inter G QSOs. Since then (1970s) VHF activity has nosedived.
Friday plans
Almost certainly I shall be on the air with the tiny QDX, although I am not sure what band. Maybe I should try 12m for a change?
I tend to operate as a beacon and rarely chase others. To me, seeing who receives me is enough. DXCC chasing no longer appeals.
13 Apr 2023
Why I don't like lightning - NOT amateur radio
It can do serious damage!
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/lightning-maps .
Not on 8m currently
Until the Es season, I have decided to give 8m a miss.
With higher ERPs I know some remarkable DX becomes possible, but up to now my experiment has been to find out what would be possible with very low ERP. It would appear that with QRP FT8, some remarkable distances are possible in the right conditions. As the sunspot number climbs still further, we could see some remarkable reports next autumn on 8m.
Already the beacon ZS6WAB on 40.675 MHz has been copied in Western Australia.
Acceptance? - NOT amateur radio
Although in many ways I still feel like a teenager inside, I know I am an old man sadly. Some things that would have been easy 50 years ago are now very hard or impossible. Perhaps we all have to accept the person we are now and learn to accept that some things are now not possible - harder said than done!
10m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
See https://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html .
UPDATE 0830z: 95 stations have been spotted on RX and I have been spotted by 20 stations.
UPDATE 1737z: So far today, 107 stations have spotted my 10m QRP FT8 today (see map).
UPDATE 1747z: QRT.
Repeater closing
This morning I heard that the GB3YT ATV repeater is to permanently close this summer as the owners are getting older and can't climb ladders. How many will follow? I can imagine quite a few repeaters going with a combination of high site costs, old age and low usage. Many repeaters are totally quiet for hours on end.
12 Apr 2023
70cm FT8 activity contest
This contest starts at 1900z tonight. I usually go on with my 2.5W to my 2m big-wheel omni antenna for about 30 minutes. I may well stay on RX until much later in the evening to see which stations come through.
UPDATE 2115z: After 2.25 hours, 24 stations spotted (see map). What a difference from the UKAC last night! It would seem many now prefer FT8 to SSB.
Threatening sky - NOT amateur radio
We have seen the extremes in our weather today. We have had rain, strong winds, sunshine, but no snow!
UPDATE 1747z: Bright sunshine now!
Our changing hobby
In some way or other, I have been involved in amateur radio since 1961. Many changes have occurred since then.
When I started, the only real way to talk across the world was if you were a radio amateur. This was the case until the internet came along and anybody could talk across the world with video for free. Since then, amateur radio has evolved. Yes, some still come on the air just to chat, but this number is getting smaller each year as those that remember amateur radio long ago, get older and frailer. Instead, many come on to work new DX, often with modes like FT8. Others come on to experiment or try new things like satellites, ATV or moonbounce.
In my (heretical) view this is how the future looks. It may very well be wrong!
- In 20 years, the Amateur Radio Service will cease.
- Amateur radio will merge with licence free services like CB and ISM.
- Callsigns will be optional and handled by national radio societies for those that want them.
- The Chinese will dominate amateur radio manufacture.
- Everyone will be able to operate licence free as long as interference is not caused and they operate in bands allocated only.
- There will be far fewer magazines.
- There will be far fewer dedicated amateur transceivers.
One thing is certain: most of this will be when I am pushing up daisies!
I would like to hear your views.
Puzzled - NOT amateur radio
In centuries past, there have been some amazing places made in the name of Christianity and Islam. There is little doubt that these we made by very devout believers. What puzzles me is that these amazing places got built at all!
All the religions of the world have incredible places and statues. Probably most people on planet Earth have some sort of religious faith. I cannot believe any one of these is "right" and the rest "wrong".
So, as I have said many times before, I prefer to think that all faiths are hints at the truth, not the complete picture.
At the time many sacred texts were written, people believed in witches and things which today we would find bizarre.
Maybe there is a better explanation of events so long ago that was interpreted differently back then?
The Backs yesterday - NOT amateur radio
The Backs are what the backs of the Cambridge colleges are known as. They back onto the R.Cam, famous for punting! The photo shows the approach to King's College yesterday. I don't think I have posted it before. The photo has appeared in many places already, so if this is twice, please accept my apologies.
My wife took the photo and put it on 365project, which she has done every day for over 10 years now. This is totally free and is a good visual "Pepys diary" of life.
10m QRP FT8 (Wednesday) with the QDX
At the moment I am on 10m FT8 with the QRP QDX rig. So far today (after about 15 minutes) 11 stations have spotted me. The QDX is tiny!!
UPDATE 1143z: 13 stations spotting me today (see map).
UPDATE 1610z: So far today, 58 unique stations have spotted my QRP FT8 TX.
UPDATE 1841z: 91 unique stations have spotted me today. Furthermost on RX is TW4OGX (15697km) in the Wallis and Futuna Is in the Pacific.
Other sites
This is just a reminder of the other sites I maintain. Hopefully, you will find some inspiration on these. Overall, I hope you have fun.
http://www.g3xbm.co.uk
https://www.youtube.com/@G3XBM
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/
CDARC Wednesday Net
At 1900z on Wednesday evenings, the Cambridge and district amateur radio club (CDARC) holds a very informal net on 145.55 MHz FM. Anyone in range is welcome whether a club member or not. Usually there are between 3 and 7 members on. Polarisation is vertical and there is a web SDR if you are having difficulties receiving. I thought the link for this SDR was on the CDARC website, but cannot find it.
Most people on the net are in the greater Cambridge area (surrounding villages). The net usually lasts for 20-60 minutes, but people come and go as they want. It is rarely technical!
See cdarcvhfrx.hopto.org:8073 for the webSDR.
Matching the earth-electrode antenna in the ground
To allow the auto ATU in the FT-710 to match the earth-electrode antenna on 80m (see the excellent results yesterday) I had to use this transformer. As you can see, it is not pretty!! With it, the load presented to the FT-710 was obviously less than 3:1 as it matched well.
12 years ago
 |
| Earth-mode experiments in 2011 |
This was my earth-mode signal 4.5km away from home in 2011 at 1.095 kHz using Spectran software on the PC. Strictly speaking, I suppose this is ULF!
It is a long time since I have done any earth-mode experiments, but my health has got in the way. It would be good to do some more experiments.
11 Apr 2023
70cm activity contest
After copying no stations at all (!) I gave up. I expect the next 70cm FT8 activity contest will be much better!
80m FT8 (Tuesday)
As 6m was so poor, I QSYed to 80m FT8 using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Although I am receiving spots of my signal from right across Europe, it says I am receiving none. This is rubbish as I can see loads of stations locally. Either there is a delay with uploads from me or, more probably, my spots are not getting to PSKreporter. Shortly I shall do reset to see if this cures it.
UPDATE 1922z: The reset did the trick with lots of spots on RX. On TX 36 unique station spots of me so far.
6m FT8 (Tuesday)
In a word, hopeless. I have been on 6m FT8 for about a hour and have been spotted very strongly by just one station not too far away (50km). On RX absolutely nobody copied.
UPDATE 1708z: Still useless! Just 2 stations have spotted me and I have spotted nobody! Soon be time to try another band. I might give 80m FT8 a go with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground - probably after tea.
Windmill next door - NOT amateur radio
This stunning photo of the windmill next door was taken by a neighbour K. Tingey.
E-field probes (EFPs)
These are tiny receive only antennas that can work extremely effectively at VLF, LF and MF where external noise is usually the dominant factor. I guess as local external noise is increasingly the dominating factor, these will be as effective as a "big" antenna at even higher frequencies. At LF they can be only a few centimetres long, but be as effective as antennas hundreds of metre long.
 |
| EFP on a mag mount for 2200m RX |
As the signal decreases, so does the external noise! Overall, nothing is lost. There is no advantage by using a large antenna at low frequencies for receive only. For TX efficiency, a large antenna and good earth help! A popular EFP design is that PA0RDT (Google it). I have made versions for LF and VLF with a tuned peak as shown in the circuit.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/137khz-efp-rx-antenna .
Double rainbow - NOT amateur radio
April in the UK is a strange month. Some days can be warm and sunny, whereas others can be cold. Yesterday was a mix of sunshine and showers. The photo of the double rainbow was taken in haste from the lounge window. A few minutes later it had gone.
10 Apr 2023
630m WSPR RX
At about 1940z, I switched to 630m WSPR RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. So far, no spots.
UPDATE 2126z: Several WSPR spots of DC0DX (467km) at up to -9dB S/N.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
