Roger G3XBM's (Mainly) Amateur Radio Blog

22 Aug 2023

Crab apple jelly - NOT amateur radio

Last year we had hardly any crabapples. This year we have loads. The photo shows the crop from our one tree.

My plan is to make some crabapple jelly as my wife and I love it with pork chops.

More people on 10m WSPR?

This is definitely not scientific. My impression is that there are more people monitoring 10m WSPR than last year. This year it is not unusual to have spots from over 20 stations in a day. There were far fewer last year as I recall.

Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

Every day on social media I seem to get most ads about electric cars. I am interested, but feel we are not quite there yet. Prices are too high. Range is too short. Lithium is in short supply,. Charging away from home takes too long and there are too few charging points. Prices need to be halved, ranges doubled, and a technology that does not require slave labour is needed. 2027?

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

As 6m looked encouraging, I went on 8m FT8 QRP at about 0830z.

UPDATE 1040z: Quite a strong (for me!) spot by HC02 (1808km) in Portugal.

UPDATE 2018z: In the end, 3 stations spotted my QRP 8m FT8 today. QRT soon.

Dawn - NOT amateur radio

This was the view out of our lounge window at 0500z this morning.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)

It looks like G4KPX (14km) is monitoring as I have already been spotted with my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. It is only now 0516z!

UPDATE 2011z: 19 stations have spotted me today.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

Today, I am currently on 50.313 MHz vertical on FT8 with my 2.5W. Already 2 G spots of me shortly after 0500z. My antenna is the V2000 vertical omni.

UPDATE 0729z: 10 spots of my QRP so far.

8m between seasons

My experimental licence has been held since April 2022. So, I have experienced two Es seasons and F2 last autumn and winter. My 2.5W to a low dipole has been copied widely in Europe by Es and in the USA, Caribbean and Canada by F2.

On RX I have spotted S.Africans on several occasions. In the autumn it would be great to be copied in South Africa with my QRP FT8. Last summer was disappointing with fewer active TX stations than in 2022.

At the moment, we are between seasons. The big Es openings have all but ended and F2 has not really started. Better equipped stations are tapping in to TEP either directly or with F2 linking up with Es.

Overall, I am disappointed in 8m. I was hoping there would be far more activity by now, but if anything there are fewer stations active on TX. Where are the experimenters?

Sunspots - Tuesday August 22nd 2023

Solar flux is 149 and the SSN 102. A=9 and K=2.

21 Aug 2023

Dahlias - NOT amateur radio

The dahlia garden at nearby Anglesey Abbey is now open. These are some of them.

The area in front of the dahlias is grassed and this gets very churned up after wet weather.

The next solar peak

In the past, there has been a lot of doubt and uncertainty over the timing of this. The site I mostly use has been predicting the next maximum in November or December 2023 for some time.

Quite often we get a second peak after the first. What is clear from other cycles is that conditions could be good for several years after the peak.

In the past I have worked stations in Argentina on QRP 10m SSB when the sunspot count right at the minimum has been zero. Quite often 10m propagation is there but there is a lack of activity. With FT8, we can now monitor the higher bands and see. Stand alone 5W FT8 transceivers for 10m can be obtained quite inexpensively freeing up "the big rig".

See https://www.solen.info/solar/images/comparison_similar_cycles.png .

Said on FaceBook in 2012 - NOT amateur radio

This was said by me on FaceBook in 2012. Nothing changes!

Bill and Ben - NOT amateur radio

If you are of a certain age (old) in the UK you may remember the TV show for children called "Bill and Ben". In it, two flower pot men were accompanied by a little weed.

This sunflower poking over a wall on our walk yesterday reminded me!

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My 2.5W gear was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 2112z: No spots all day. My inclination is to concentrate on QRP 10m FT8 for now. If I go on 8m QRP FT8 I must remember to try 10m QRP WSPR TX with my 500mW TX beacon. Now QRT. If anyone needs me on 8m I can be active on 40.680 MHz FT8 TX in minutes.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

My 500mW 10m WSPR TX beacon was turned on just before breakfast. So far, 2 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1355z: 4 stations have spotted me. Most of these look like F2.

UPDATE 1730z: 6 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 2100z: 10 stations spotted me in the end. QRT now.

Sunspots - Monday August 21st 2023

Sunspot numbers seem to be a bit lower this month.

Solar flux is 146 and the SSN 93. A=11 and K=2.

20 Aug 2023

OFCOM consultation on amateur radio

A reminder that OFCOM is consulting views on amateur radio.The deadline for responses is rapidly approaching, so make your views known ASAP.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-2/updating-amateur-radio-licensing-framework .

There is a form if you need it to help make a response. At a guess, just 10 minutes should allow the form to be completed.

This is important.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

At 1346z, my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on.

UPDATE 1709z: 4 stations have spotted me. 3 are outside the UK.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

At about 1340z I switched to 8m QRP FT8 on 40.680 MHz. So far, no spots. I gather there is some TEP.

UPDATE 1625z: Spotted by EI9KP (649km), I am pretty sure this is not Es . He spots me regularly. As the time varies, I do not think it is aircraft. I suppose it could be random MS, but think this unlikely. It is too far for tropo.

UPDATE 1906z: The jury is out on the propagation to EI9KP , but it is most likely aircraft scatter. What I had not thought about is that there could be many aircraft on the path.

Classic Car Day - NOT amateur radio

Every year, the museum next door holds a classic car day. It was filled with vintage cars and motorbikes.

Like radio amateurs, most are geeks!! A very good turn out. The weather was warm and dry.

Getting maudlin - NOT amateur radio

This must come with old age.

As we get older, we know our time is limited. Certainly it is highly likely that our health will fail. So, every chance to do a walk is a gift to be enjoyed.

Today we saw, a green woodpecker, blackberries, Ely cathedral and lots more.

TINY Shetland ponies - NOT amateur radio

It is hard to get an impression of size from this photo of Shetland ponies seen on our walk earlier. We walked around the village of Reach.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 2.5W FT8 was turned on at 0524z. No spots at 0532z.

UPDATE 0932z: 28 stations have spotted my 2.5W FT8. 124 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost YG9EDE (12436km).

Sunspots - Sunday August 20th 2023

Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 104. A=8 and K=3.

19 Aug 2023

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My QRP signal has been copied in Portugal this evening by Hugh HC02, although this has not appeared (yet) on PSKreporter. I went on 8m FT8 as Hugh was getting G9PUV well.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

As I am on 8m QRP FT8, I am on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW TX beacon. The beacon was turned o at about 1814z. Already spotted in the Canary Is.. I presume this is F2 propagation.

8m - am I wasting my time?

To be honest, I am disappointed in the interest shown in 8m. This is between 10m and 6m and especially around sunspot maximum (like now) there is a lot of useful research that radio amateurs could do.

Instead, we have had fewer active TX stations on 8m this summer and the FCC is not renewing the few USA permits I understand. In Belgium higher class amateur licencees will be able to TX on 8m. One station in Greece has been granted special access for a limited time. EI, ZS, S51 and 9A I think have amateur bands and a few Caribbean stations (I think) have been given access to 8m.

In most countries everyone is able to run very low power beacons in the 40-66-4.70 MHz ISM bands without a licence, I think. We know from Australia that just 5mW WSPR can be copied 5000km away. As far as I know, few have tried 8m WSPR ISM beacons, instead preferring to talk about tomatoes with commercial rigs on 80m. Self training is interpreted as testing weedkiller.

Amateur radio is meant to be about self training and research! I despair for the future. At this rate, the hobby will be gone by 2040.

Weather last night - NOT amateur radio

We had 11mm of rain overnight, but no thunder. It is now sunny.

10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My 2.5W 10m FT8 was turned on at about 0600z.

UPDATE 0819z: So far spotted by 26 stations with the furthermost V51MA (8460km) in Namibia. On RX, 62 stations spotted.

UPDATE 2100z: 149 stations have spotted my 2.5W QRP 10m FT8 today.

Sunspots - Saturday August 19th 2023

Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 112. A=11 and K=2.

18 Aug 2023

Storm tonight? - NOT amateur radio

In East Anglia there is thunder, lightning and heavy rain due overnight. Quite often we miss the worst. Just in case, I have disconnected antennas, PSUs and PCs. Some areas are due to get nearly 2 weeks of rain in just a few hours. Better check the rain gauge tomorrow!

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;z=5;y=49.6529;x=1.597;d=2;dl=2;dc=0; .e

ICOM IC-905 GHz transceiver review

The latest RadCom has a review of this ICOM microwave transceiver.

At £3549.95 without the 10 GHz transverter I cannot see them selling many, let alone make a profit. It would not surprise me if this product quietly disappeared in 2024. There is a theory that this product is a free trial for a later commercial product. Watch this space.

It is an interesting product, but would you pay this much to cover essentially line of site and rain scatter QSOs? Perhaps "appliance operators" with deep pockets might buy as the latest toy. This is not for me unless a fairy godmother waves her magic wand, HI.

HF, 8m and 6m

Well, today was pathetic on 8m FT8 and 10m WSPR.

The main Es season has now ended and the main F2 peak is a few months off. Most of my reports recently on 10m, 8m and 6m with QRP were via Es.

These openings will occur, but not with the frequency we were used to in May, June and July. Probably 10m FT8 is worth a try as there is far more activity than WSPR. Also, the far shorter TX periods of just 15 seconds means that very short openings may be caught. FT8 is about 8dB worse than WSPR mind you.

OFCOM reminders

This is a weekly reminder that OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc. every week. They also have a new publication about 28 GHz satellite gateways. As always, look on the OFCOM website for details.