Autumn has arrived - NOT amateur radio

In the last few days autumn has suddenly arrived. A few weeks ago the trees were largely green. Now most are bare. 

This was our local churchyard earlier.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

13 stations spotted me overnight including OH1LSQ (1733km) 3 times.

Sunspots - Friday November 17th 2023

 Solar flux is 118 and the SSN 28.  A=8 and K=0.

630m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on at 1642z. So far, after 1 transmission, 3 UK stations have spotted me. No great DX, but it works!

UPDATE 2015z: 7 UK stations have spotted me.

Rally news

The following rallies are due this weekend. If you are going a long way, I always advise contacting the organisers first. 

Saturday November 18th - Rochdale and District ARS Winter Rally, Norden, Rochdale, OL12 7QR.  Contact dave@cardens.me.uk .

Sunday November 19th  - Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting Society (CATS) Bazaar,  Old Coulsdon, CR5 1ES. Contact bazaar@catsradio.org.uk .

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

 My 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on at 1413z.  No spots at 1617z.

Fog of war - NOT amateur radio

When there are wars on it is very hard to discern the truth as all sides tend to distort the truth. This was true in the Vietnam war and was certainly true in WW2. 

At the moment, in the Middle East, it is hard to untangle the facts. Clearly Israel wants to eliminate the threat from Hamas. At the same time, many innocent people are being killed or maimed and their homes destroyed. The best way I have found is to listen to the news from both angles and try to make up your mind on the truth. With the "fog of war", this is hard.  

The only thing for certain is that all involved bend the truth!!

10m uW WSPR (Thursday)

My 10m WSPR beacon is still turned on but with the PA turned off. No spots. My beacon is pre-programmed to say 0.5W, even though the power is actually about 500uW.

UPDATE 1630z:  Unless things dramatically change, I think spots of my 500uW on 10m WSPR TX are very unlikely today. Tomorrow, I shall probably revert to 500mW, i.e. QRO for me! I guess the issue for many is now a high local noise floor.

630m overnight

With 15 stations spotting me overnight (on 630m WSPR with 10mW ERP) this is my best this season. Once again the best were 3 spots  by OH1LSQ (1733km).

Sunspots - Thursday November 16th 2023

Solar flux is 119 and the SSN 41. A=12 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Wednesday)

 My 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on shortly after 1730z.

UPDATE 1736z:   2 spots of me so far.

Fungi - NOT amateur radio

 

This fungi was on a log at Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, earlier.  At one time there was a hornet's nest here.

Medieval stained glass - NOT amateur radio

 

This stained glass is in King's College Chapel in Cambridge and dates from the 1500s.

As locals, we can get in to the chapel free.

The chapel is darker than normal as there is scaffolding and tarpaulins outside.

8m QRP FT8

My 8m QRP (2.5W) was turned on about 0920z.  No spots yet.

UPDATE 1442z: An Irish station called me, but we were unable to complete the contact.

UPDATE  1725z: No spots of me today on PSKreporter.  Shortly QSYing to 630m WSPR.

10m uW WSPR TX

A reminder that today I am trying my 10m WSPR beacon with the PA off. According to my TinySA spectrum analyser the output is about 0.5mW or 500uW. This is pre-programmed to show the power as 0.5W even though the power is actually 30dB lower. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1720z: No spots all day. I think conditions have to be well up for this to succeed.

630m WSPR overnight

12 stations spotted me overnight whilst I was using 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna"  in the ground.

Sunspots - Wednesday November 15th 2023

Solar flux is 124 and the SSN 86.  A=6 and K=1. 

Bus shelter - NOT amateur radio

We go by this bus shelter every week. Only recently have we noticed how mossy the roof has become. 

We have had a very wet autumn.

10m uW DXing

As an experiment tomorrow, I may leave the PA turned off on my 10m WSPR TX beacon. It is pre-programmed to say 0.5W, but I would guess the actual power out is microwatts. I must check the difference on a spectrum analyser.

My guess is some single digit reports of me might still be copied if my PA was off. Today, there were several such reports. I guess it also depends on the RX station having a low noise floor.

UPDATE 2150z:  Using my TinySA spectrum analyser, it looks like the TX is 30dB weaker with the PA turned off, so the output is about 500uW. I wonder how many will be able to spot this on Wednesday?

10m 500mW WSPR TX

My 10m WSPR TX beacon was switched on about 30 minutes ago. Several spots already.

UPDATE 1656z:  54 spots of me today.

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

Once again, I am on 8m WSPR with my 2.5W and dipole. Of course, my PL259 plug failed and a high VSWR resulted. After resoldering (hard these days), I am back on the air. No spots yet.

UPDATE 1015z:   Just local spots of me by G4WSZ (12km).

UPDATE 1647z:  3 stations have spotted me: 2 UK and 1 Caribbean.

Windy - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we had strong winds. Many of the trees in our garden lost plenty of leaves. The next milestone will be looking for the first buds to appear in the spring.

Waxwings - NOT amateur radio

In the winter time waxwings (pinkish almost starling sized birds with crests) fly to the UK from Scandinavia because food is more plentiful. They are often spotted eating berries in supermarket car-parks. In all my years, I have never seen one!  It is not for the lack of looking either.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/waxwing .

630m QRP WSPR overnight

13 stations spotted me including 4 spots from OH1LSQ (1733km) in Finland and two from Norway. Not bad with 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Sunspots - Tuesday November 14th 2023

 Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 85. A=16 and K=1.

Shetland rainbow - NOT amateur radio

A friend who lives in the Shetland Is. recently posted this photo. This far north the sun is very low in the sky and days are short.

See https://365project.org/.

Shopping - NOT amateur radio

 

This morning, we went shopping. This was our shopping cart.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on about 1705z.

UPDATE 1720z:   2E0ILY/KIWI (209km) has spotted me.

UPDATE 1940z: 7 UK stations have spotted me this evening.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

 My 10m QRP WSPR TX beacon was turned on at about 1504z. So far, I have been spotted by 28 stations.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

 My 2.5w system was turned on at about 1503z. So far just local spots.

UK Home Secretary - NOT amateur radio

The UK Home Secretary was Suella Braverman. She has been sacked according to the BBC website. The job of Home Secretary is a most important one needing someone in the position who gains the respect of all the people with whom this person interacts.

SDR

One of my aims today is to get my software defined radio (SDR) installed and working on my shack PC. I have to install drivers and suitable SDR software.

UPDATE  2200z: Did not do the SDR drivers. Maybe tomorrow?

630m QRP WSPR overnight

Overnight, 9 stations spotted my 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground including (again) OH1LSQ (1733km).  I am still amazed how few UK TX stations there are on the band.

Sunspots - Monday November 13th 2023

 Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 78. A=10 and K=1.

Current solar conditions

Although I am far from an expert on this sort of thing, I suspect we have now passed the solar maximum in this cycle. Sunspot numbers and solar flux have been lower than past months. Usually, the solar maximum is averaged over several months, so the actual peak cannot be known until we are well over the peak.

Certainly MUFs have been high and my 2.5W 8m FT8 makes it to the USA, Canada or the Caribbean most days. Some amazing DX has been worked on 6m too. 

Solar conditions are currently very good on average. As I have mentioned before, solar conditions could be good for several years to come. With FT8 we could well find the higher HF bands are good for some while yet.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/.

630m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on at about 1615z. So far, at 1645z, spotted by 3 UK stations. Furthermost spots are by G8HUH (250km).

The Middle East - NOT amateur radio

The outcome of the current war is unclear. Israel as a nation has clearly been deeply traumatised by the events of October 7th and wants this never to be repeated. I think most nations would feel the same. 

At the same time, children, babies and civilians are being maimed  or killed every day. No sane person would think this acceptable "collateral damage".

In my view, the only long term outcome is a mutual acceptance that everyone has right to worship whomsoever they choose and a right to live in peace and harmony with neighbouring states. The present dispute has roots that go back a long way.

Leaves - NOT amateur radio

At this time of year the garden looks dead. Leaves are falling off trees, the grass is wet and all looks, well,  past it. We swept up a bin full of leaves this morning, but there will be a lot more in a couple of weeks. I look forward to seeing bulbs pushing through and signs of new life. 

At first, we have to accept that things are asleep following cycles that have been the same for thousands of years.

Basically I like the seasons.

See https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44400/spring-and-fall .  This poem  by Gerard Manley Hopkins to me says so very much.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

 My 2.5W to the dipole was turned on about 1140z. No spots yet today.

UPDATE 1347z: 3 stations have spotted me today including WP4G (6804km) in Puerto Rico, Caribbean. At the moment, I am getting "across the pond" spots almost every day on 8m FT8 despite my 2.5W.

UPDATE 1425z:  ZR1ADI (9777km) spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1500z:  4 spots of my 2.5W 8m FT8 today, including 2 in the Caribbean.

10m QRP (and QRPPP) WSPR (Sunday)

My 500mW 10m WSPR TX beacon PA was turned on at 1140z. At first I was puzzled by a spot at 0900z by EA8/DF4UE (2876km). Then I realised he had copied me with the PA off. My beacon is preprogrammed to say 0.5W, but in reality the power was just microwatts. This accounts for why the report was just -31dB S/N.  

The beacon is now at full power of 500mW.

UPDATE 1535z:  55 stations have spotted my 10m 500mW WSPR TX beacon so far today. The furthermost is PP5ZX (10058km) in Brazil.