Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 77. A=6 and K=3. Are we over the peak already?
1 Sept 2023
31 Aug 2023
How NOT to - NOT amateur radio
Last night we were treated to a very rare blue super moon. I tried to take a photo. What a dismal failure!
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Thursday)
Most of the day, I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW WSPR TX beacon. 4 unique stations have spotted me, but no Es I think. It is now 1601z and the beacon will be on for several hours still.
Rallies and Conventions this weekend
The following should take place this weekend. As always, I strongly recommend checking the information is correct.
- Saturday September 2nd - GQRP Club plus Telford and District ARS Convention. Telford, TF10 8NB. Contact 01952 255416 or 07824 737716.
- Sunday September 3rd - Annual Telford Hamfest and continuing GQRP convention. Contact and postcode as above.
6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
UPDATE 1608z: 12 stations spotted .
UPDATE 2118z: QRT.
30 Aug 2023
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Wednesday)
Although I have been on for about an hour, no spots so far. I get the impression Es is very marginal today.
UPDATE 1643z: 7 spots (mainly F2) today. Spotted in Antarctica 6 times in the last few days. DP0GVN/3 (13685km) just spotted my 500mW.
6m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)
After about an hour plenty of spots of my 2.5W to the vertical omni antenna including Italy and Northern Ireland.
Solar activity
In the last month, apart from today, solar activity has been poorer than the month before. As the last solar minimum was only in 2020, I cannot believe we have already gone past the peak of solar cycle 25. In the last cycle there was a bigger peak after the first.
What is certain is that solar activity can remain good for several years after the peak. Even if this was a very early peak and not a blip, we can expect solar activity to remain good for several years yet. If the peak really is a way off, this means we can expect solar activity to be pretty good until at least 2026.
It is my belief that it is often low activity rather than conditions that make the higher HF bands seem dead. With modes like FT8, we may well find 10m, for example, is "open" far more often than we once thought.
Like - NOT amateur radio
At one time I would have been appalled by the overuse of "like" and the fact that younger people tend to go up at the end of sentences.
You have only to observe how much speech has changed in the last 100 years. I expect if we heard speech from 500 years ago we would struggle to understand it.
And to think how languages have evolved in the last 1000-2000 years! No, we have to accept that speech and language will be forever changing.
"Like" is the new ""er", "um","hmm" or "ah".
I never fail to be amazed how many different languages there are (in Europe alone) and in how few generations these happened. In the last 2000 years there are, perhaps, 80 generations only!
29 Aug 2023
Late swifts - NOT amateur radio
We went for a walk around the village this afternoon. Much to my surprise I saw a swift on two separate occasions. It is possible this was the same bird. Most swifts fly south weeks ago, so this was a straggler(s). As far as I remember, this is the latest date I have ever seen swifts in the UK.
8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)
At about 0942z, I QSYed to 40.680 MHz FT8. I had already had plenty of QSOs on 6m and the band looked open in the direction of Iberia. As usual my gear on 8m is a modified FT817ND (2.5W) and a dipole.
UPDATE 1757z: No spots today. I suspect there are very few people monitoring.
UPDATE 2056z: QRT now. No spots all day. Disappointing.
10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)
My 500mW WSPR TX beacon was turned on before breakfast. So far spotted by 9 unique stations.
UPDATE 0951z: I see my 500mW WSPR beacon has been spotted in Antarctica by DP0GVN (13685km). See the photo of this permanent German base.
UPDATE 2050z: QRT now. 19 unique stations spotted me today.
6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)
Today, the early start on 6m FT8 QRP resulted in 3 QSOs across Europe. My gear is 2.5W to the omni V2000 vertical antenna.
28 Aug 2023
That kiss - NOT amateur radio
The man in charge of football in Spain, Luis Rubiales, is at the centre of a media storm.
The fact that the media has created such a fuss has taken the focus off the women's team that won the world cup and onto this man instead.
Now, I do not have all the facts and stand to be corrected. My reading of the situation is that this is a story whipped up by the media. Yes, he was carried away by the excitement of the moment, made a mistake, but it would have been better just forgotten. He is also in trouble for scratching his crotch. This took about 1 second! I am pretty sure he just had an innocent itch.
The media has a habit of creating stories. Personally, I do not think he should be made to resign.
Tired, giddy and exhausted - NOT amateur radio
It is almost 10 years ago I suffered my brain bleed/stroke and was in hospital for 3.5 months. Thankfully, I made an almost complete physical recovery and was able to get back to an almost normal life. I was given a second chance, unlike many.
My main issues are my poor voice, being giddy nearly all the waking hours, and getting exhausted very quickly after physical or mental exertion. Whereas before I enjoyed going out in the car doing experiments, I no longer feel able. I still drive, but do not enjoy it. Driving seems to require so much more concentration for me nowadays. All the time I am reading the situation, looking for stupid drivers. It is almost as if my brain takes longer to process things. Driving at 50mph feels like 70mph.
The net result is trying to find ways to enjoy things differently. These days, my experiments are at home rather than "in the field".
Although I long to be as I once was, I know this can never be, so we have to make the best of life.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/non-amateur-radio/stroke .
6m QRP FT8 tomorrow?
As an experiment, I may try 50.313 MHz QRP FT8 tomorrow. The main Es season is over, but Es still occurs, but less often. FT8, which is better than CW, uses a 15 second TX period. If propagation lasts this long, one has a great chance of being detected. Often Es signals can be quite strong, if short-lived.
I like to experiment on 8m FT8, but there are too few monitors sadly.
Optical Experiments
With very low power and simple, homemade, gear I could detect my beacon on a PC way over the horizon. In Australia, the "over-the-horizon" (NLOS) distance record is way over 100km. With my own very modest gear, I can well believe this.
My tests were done on cloudless nights, suggesting the propagation was scattering off atmospheric dust. There was no sign of the light from the TX in the sky at all. This is definitely where everyone, licenced or not, may experiment. It would be good to find out how far we could achieve non line of site (NLOS) in the UK. Incidentally LEDs are generally considered better than lasers due to scintillation (look it up!).
My own beacon and optical gear were made in the back of the garage. If I was fit, I would be experimenting now.
My optical gear used LEDs bought off eBay. Far more powerful ones are available. I used 100mm lenses used in magnifying glasses bought at Poundland. Better equipped stations used Fresnel lenses. My tripod was hopeless. With better LEDs, lenses and tripods, ranges could be increased a great deal. Even with my system ranges could be considerably greater than the nearly 9km I managed.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/optical-nanowaves/over-the-horizon.
Isleham priory - NOT amateur radio
In my view the Reformation did a great deal of harm in England. Looking back, it seems pure vandalism.
In my view, we have to look at history, reflect on it, but not destroy it.
Rowan tree - NOT amateur radio
8m 2.5W FT8 (Monday)
My 2.5W FT8 to the dipole on 40.680 MHz was turned on about 0830z. So far, no spots.
UPDATE 1206z: 2 Polish stations have spotted my QRP 8m FT8.
UPDATE 1544z: No further stations spotting me.
10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)
27 Aug 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - NOT amateur radio
Until this year, most had not heard of AI. Now it is widespread.
There is no doubt that with big computers that learn we can all benefit from the huge processing power. What a human brain can do in days could be done by an AI computer in seconds. This could really help in such things as fast cancer diagnosis.
At the same time it could be a great cause of harm in the wrong hands.
Some time ago, I did an experiment with AI. I put my name and callsign in and within seconds it produced line after line about me, most which was accurate. I then put my son's name in (he is an internationally famous jazz musician) and it came back with rubbish. The danger is that people may accept what AI tells them as absolute truth. Imagine a hostile power using AI. We can be sure the military services both east and west are "on the case".
I can see both good and bad. We have interacted with AI for years e.g. with chat bots and phone chats that, for example, ask you to "press 2 if you need to discuss future cruises". In the future they will be far better.
At the moment, I am reserving judgement.
Crabapple jelly (continued) - NOT amateur radio
Yesterday I tried some and it was very good. It is just a pity there is so little!
European Es
See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .
Ickworth (National Trust) - NOT amateur radio
I have no idea where this wealth came from, but I hope not slavery. These days it can be enjoyed by everyone.
In praise of Chromebooks - NOT amateur radio
Mine is an Asus and came with a 3yr "at home" warranty. It is an 11.6 inch model with rubber bumpers. The Chrome updates and virus protection are valid until next year, when I shall probably get the latest version.
It was about a third the price of the nearest Windows machine. The battery still lasts for hours. It really is very good and I have not once regretted buying it.
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)
Although my QRP beacon has been on since breakfast, no spots yet. It is now 0942z.
UPDATE 1005z: Doh!! It helps if you turn the PA on too! Without this, I was probably running a just few microwatts. PA now turned on and resynced time.
UPDATE 1047z: The map shows the stations that have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon in the last few weeks.
UPDATE 1328z: 23 spots of my 500mW WSPR so far today.
8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
My 2.5W to the dipole has been on since 0700z. No spots.
UPDATE 0848z: Already spotted by WESSEXSDR (266km) and SR4BBX (1217km).
UPDATE 1312z: Spotted by 3 stations so far. 2 are in the EU.
UPDATE 1831z: 4 stations have spotted me today on 8m FT8 TX.
UPDATE 1941z: QRT.
Sunspots - Sunday August 29th 2023
Solar flux is 139 and the SSN 75. A=7 and K=3. Have we passed the peak already?
26 Aug 2023
WISPY RX
Rant time
Today must be a bad day.
In an earlier post I moan about the future of our hobby. Before my stroke in 2013, I had the honour of giving talks at radio clubs throughout East Anglia. Sadly, I can no longer do this as my voice is poor.
One of the things I noticed time and time again was that old men outnumbered young people overwhelmingly. As for females, maybe one or two. By far the most interested were old men. Some had been in the hobby for years, whereas some had recently become interested with family cares and work behind them.
Thinking to the future, the writing is on the wall. In 20 years' time most radio amateurs will be dead or past caring. A few might be in care homes. Amateur radio will be a distant memory, assuming we can remember at all!
Time and again I hear calls to really understand young people of today. If we really understand younger people we have chance to attract them and keep them in the hobby. Sadly, most old men are not trying, so the downward spiral has started.
Rant over!
Blogs - NOT amateur radio
Just now, I looked at my profile, but had forgotten some of the blogs I created years ago!
Usually, one is created when we go on holiday, as it is easy to forget things later. One was created shortly before we moved here 10 years ago. It is interesting to look at these again.
Storms stop play
We have just had a clap of thunder and looking at the lightning map, there are storms all around. As a precaution I have disconnected antennas, PSUs and the PC in the shack. when the danger has passed I may reconnect things. I have seen no flashes of lightning, so assume the storms are some way away.
See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;
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