F2 going "off the boil"?

This last week, I have not been spotted in the Caribbean on 8m with my 2.5W and dipole on FT8. I wonder if the autumn F2 has peaked with more to come in February/March? I am no propagation expert, but a few weeks ago I was spotted almost daily in the Caribbean on 8m FT8.

And so it goes on - NOT amateur radio

The BBC reports that more people in Gaza have been told to avoid the difficult fighting at the centre of Khan Younis. I am ashamed of the USA and UK governments. 

Yes Hamas has done evil things, but innocents continue to be badly impacted. All that results is a generation to come that hates Israel.  This is sheer madness. Hamas may be defeated. What then?

Jaw, jaw not war, war. Do we never learn?

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67672759 .

VHF activity contests - waning interest?

For several years now, I have been on the Tuesday night 2m and 70cms activity contests (UKAC) organised by the RSGB ever month. If I am able, I usually go on for some of the first hour with my 10W SSB and big-wheel omni horizontal antenna.

Maybe it is just me, but are there seem to be fewer stations on SSB?  The FT8 activity sessions seem busy.

Outside our post office - NOT amateur radio

Our village (Burwell, Cambs, UK) is a mix of old and new buildings. This photo was taken about now several years ago. One of the trees was rotten and taken down, but has been replaced by a cherry tree.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 2.5W and dipole were turned on at 1116z. 

UPDATE 1429z:  No spots.

Continuing my 10m QRPP WSPR tests (Sunday)

My 500uW (0.5mW) WSPR TX is on. 

UPDATE 1429z:  No spots today.

630m WSPR overnight

 

11 stations spotted my 10mw ERP signal from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with the furthermost SM6BOC (1054km).

Yet more Googledgook - NOT amateur radio

 Yesterday, I got another email from Google that I could not understand. It was titled:

"Allow for contextual programmic demand when serving Ads"

.....hmmm. 

Plain English? No, Googledgook.

Shetland (again) - NOT amateur radio

This was posted on 365project a few days ago by someone who lives in the Shetland Islands It is a great photo.

Mid-winter Es

Do not ask me why as I do not know the answer, but there is often a small Es peak at the end of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This can bring brief openings up to about 1500km.  Look out for Es at the end of December and the start of January. Compared with the spring and summer, this is minor.

Sunspots - Sunday December 10th 2023

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 125. A=3 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR was turned on at 1544z. So far, 2 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 2104z:  7 stations have spotted me this evening with the furthermost EI0CF (602km).

Israel and Hamas - NOT amateur radio

My friends are of all faiths and none. 

Whilst I have every sympathy with Israel over the senseless events by Hamas on October 7th, I think their revenge on the people of Gaza is over the top.  We can understand that Israel wants to feel safe, but in their hunt for Hamas fighters they are inflicting great pain on the people of Gaza.

One could be forgiven for thinking that Israel wants to get rid of all Arabs in the land they believe is theirs. 

In my view, a radical review of the Middle East is needed based on dialogue and not war. There is a great danger of much hatred being created, which could backfire on Israel. What have the innocent children in the photo done?

The world is losing patience.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67670679 .

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My 2.5W to the low dipole on 8m FT8 was turned on at 1110z. So far, no spots. My local reporter G4WSZ (12km) is in Germany, so local spots.

UPDATE 1715z:  No spots of me today, but I did spot ZS6WAB (8931km) in South Africa on 8m FT8 RX.

500uW 10m WSPR TX (Saturday)

My 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR has been received again in the Canary Is by EA8/DF4UE (2876km) on two occasions today.

UPDATE 2146z: So far, I have been spotted in 3 countries (3 continents) when running just 500uW (0.5mW) on 10m WSPR with the furthermost being the USA. I just leave my beacon running with the PA off when I am around.

481 THz RX

 

This is me resurrecting some 481 THz optical gear.

Wicken Fen walk - NOT amateur radio

My wife created this collage of our walk yesterday. Very wild!! 

It was a lovely morning unlike now which is wet and windy.

Saturday plans

 I shall probably carry on with my 500uW tests on 10m WSPR and go on 8m QRP FT8 later.

Yesterday’s snack at Wicken Fen - NOT amateur radio

This was the snack at Wicken Fen yesterday.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

9 spots overnight. 7 spots by Finbar.

Sunspots- Saturday December 9th 2023

 Solar flux is 133 and the SSN 125. A=4 and K=0.

Wicken Fen walk - NOT amateur radio

This morning, we walked to Wicken Fen. We like this as it is an enjoyable walk and we can get a snack half way before walking back. 

At this time of year we were not expecting to see any boats, so imagine our surprise.

630m QRP WSPR (Friday)

For the first day in a few days, I am back on 630m QRP WSPR with my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.  I have still not got around to optimising the match. This is on my "to do" list.

With WSPRnet not working, no spots will be uploaded to the internet, so I hope it gets fixed soon.

8m QRP FT8 (Friday)

 My 2.5W and dipole have been on for several hours. No spots at 1412z.

500uW 10m WSPR tests continued (Friday)

Yet again, WSPRnet seems to be having a bad day and is not working.  As WSPRrocks takes its spots from WSPRnet, there is nothing to see!

Sunspots - Friday December 8th 2023

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 121.  A=5 and K=1.

Seasonal Colour - NOT amateur radio

 

Christmastime here always includes hyacinths and amaryllis (see photo).

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My 2.5W to the dipole was turned in about 1445z. Yesterday the SWR was higher than 3:1. Now it is perfect. I have no idea why!   Perhaps a bird was sitting at the feedpoint? I don't think it is wet in the coax as conditions at the moment are very similar to yesterday. No spots.

UPDATE 1730z:  No spots all day.

10m 500uW WSPR tests continued (Thursday)

My QRPPP 10m WSPR TX was turned on about 1445z. No spots.

UPDATE 1530z:  Amazing!!! A transatlantic spot at 500uW (see table). Although my beacon is hard wired to report 0.5W, the actual output with the PA off is 500uW (0.5mW).

Plans for today

 When I get back from my U3A course in Cambridge after lunch, I shall try 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR and try to better match my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground using the NanoVNA as a guide. Let's hope WSPRnet is working!

Sunspots - Thursday December 7th 2023

 Solar flux is 130 and the SSN 125. A=10 and K=1.

NanoVNA

Well, I think I know how to drive it, so I may try to better match my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground tomorrow after I get back from Cambridge in the afternoon.

For the price it is some instrument.

WSPRnet sick?

This afternoon, I have failed to access WSPRnet. It looks like there is a fault. 

Without this, I cannot continue my 10m 500uW experiments. Tomorrow, I may try 10m FT8.  I can try this with 50mW if need be.

Is there an alternative to WSPRnet?

It looks like WSPRrocks is working.

2200m QRP

 Apart from an abortive try last year with my CW beacon, I have not tried this band for many years. 

With my NanoVNA I can (in theory!) match my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground perfectly on that band, so I may repeat my beacon test at 2200m to see if I get more success. Last time I was trying reception with a mag-mounted EFP antenna. I guess this also needs checking.

Looking back through Google Photos I came across my old 2200m transverter, that I used for LF WSPR tests. I guess this would have been 2012? This is shown in the photo. It is not pretty, but it worked!

Christmas shopping - NOT amateur radio

Just before lunch my wife and I did some shopping for food in Newmarket. 

We usually do our food shopping there, varying the shops.

8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

 At about 1430z my 2.5W 8m FT8 and a dipole was turned on. For some reason, my dipole has gone high SWR and it is actually lower on my triband V2000, so I am using this at present. Not quite sure what has changed.

UPDATE 1445z:  Just local G4WSZ (12km) has spotted me.

Winter garden - NOT amateur radio

There is debate when winter starts. Personally, I go along with the UK Met Office that has winter starting at the beginning of December. To me, winter is December, January and February with spring in March, April and May.

Using the Met Office definition, we are already in winter. During the winter, many trees lose their leaves, grass stops growing or grows very slowly, and everywhere looks dead. Under the ground things are sleeping, waiting to come to life on warm, spring days.

Calendars - NOT amateur radio

My wife enjoys making calendars and posters. Every year she does a calendar for the hall and one for the kitchen, plus a poster to remember the last year. I do one for the radio shack. The one in the photo is an extract of the hall calendar.

10m 500uW WSPR tests continue Wednesday

Judging by the results yesterday, it is possible some stations may have spotted my 500uW (0.5mW) WSPR TX yesterday, so these tests, at 500uW, will continue today.

UPDATE 1440z:  No spots at 500uW.

UPDATE 1630z:  Checking on WSPRrocks, I can see that EA8/DF4UE (2786km) spotted my 10m 0.5mW test today. Even though the beacon is hard wired to report 0.5W, the output with the PA of is 500uW.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

In all, 9 stations spotted my 10mW ERP in the last 24 hours. No great DX.