Where I was brought up as a child - NOT amateur radio

This is where I was brought up as a child. Salcombe, Devon.

630m WSPR overnight

 

9 stations spotted my 10mW ERP with the furthermost OH1LSQ (1733km).

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

My 10m WSPR beacon was turned on full power (500mW - seems like QRO now!!) at 0855z.

UPDATE 0915z:  There is huge difference between 0.5mW and 500mW 10m WSPR with 5 stations immediately spotting me at 500mW. Stations that stood no chance at 0.5mW are able to spot me with ease at 500mW.

UPDATE 1324z:  18 stations have spotted me today. Not one, I believe, would have spotted me at 500uW.

Sunspots - Saturday December 16th 2023

 Solar flux is 144 and the SSN 130. A=12 and K=4.

630m QRP WSPR (Friday)

My 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on just after teatime. So far, 3 stations have spotted me this evening.

UPDATE 1937z:  5 stations have so far spotted me. Nobody new sadly.

UPDATE 2009z:  It is interesting to see how well some other stations are being received. Take for example G3XIZ who has been copied by 67 unique stations. I have no idea of his ERP but he clearly does really well on 630m. In contrast, I have been spotted by just 6 stations! It would suggest his ERP is some 10-20dB better.

UPDATE 2215z:   OH1LSQ (1733km) has spotted me.

Good job my name is quite uncommon in our village

Recently I got a package from Banggood. The address label just had my name and the village name. I had given them my full address. Thickies. 

How was the Post Office meant to find me? If this is the quality of their labelling, I shall think twice about using them again. Luckily my wife used to teach the son of our postman, so this helped.

Imagine the fun if my name was a common one!! This was my birthday present too - a manual ATU!

Christmas cheer - NOT amateur radio

 

We have our main Christmas tree in the garden room at the back of the house. This is in our lounge.

8m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My 2.5W FT8 was turned on at about 1415z. 

UPDATE 1620z:  No spots. F2 conditions seemed to have gone down a bit. Maybe we'll see a bit of winter Es at the turn of the year on 8m?

They are going

 This came from a local friend yesterday.

"Your crystal ball is working well. I rang the telephone number on the Waters & Stanton website and was told by Mr Fortune that Nevada Radio and Waters & Stanton had now combined and were trading under the Moonraker name and from the same W&S place near Woburn Sands."

I think we could all read the runes. In the future we can expect fewer dealers and fewer ads in magazines and probably fewer mags or smaller mags.  

In the last 20 years look at what has happened to radio mags on sale!

500uW 10m WSPR experiment - last day?

For a couple of weeks I have tried 10m WSPR at 500uW (0.5mW).

After this, I have proved to myself that this power is enough when conditions are good. 

My inclination is to stop now.

UPDATE 1510z:  Once again, my 500uW (0.5mW) has been spotted in the Canary Is.

Christmas meal - NOT amateur radio

Every month a group of old work colleagues meet up for a meal in a different pub in the area. 

The photo shows the December meeting.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

Only 7 stations spotted me last night. I think people are losing interest in 630m WSPR or are they trying new modes?

Sunspots- Friday December 15th 2023

 Solar flux is 155 and the SSN 126. A=16 and K=3.

Geminid Meteor Shower

This evening this meteor shower peaks.  Meteor showers often result in radio enhancements on VHF bands.

See https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/geminid-meteor-shower-uk-dates-how-to-see.

630m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

 My 10mW ERP was turned on about 1730z. So far (at 1753z),  3 stations have spotted me.

Christmas shopping break - NOT amateur radio

This was my break in Cambridge this morning. 

500uW 10m WSPR TX experiment (Thursday)

 My 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR experiment has continued today. Sadly, no spots received.

630m QRP WSPR TX overnight

9 stations spotted my 10mW WSPR overnight with the furthermost again OH1LSQ (1722km).

Sunspots- Thursday December 14th 2023

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 114. A=8 and K=4.

70cm activity contest - December

Last night, I went on the 70cm activity contest organised by the RSGB. As usual, I ran 10W pep and my 2m big-wheel omni antenna. A couple of contacts were had in the short time I was on.

It is my view that SSB activity in this contest is declining.  I usually work a few stations but there seemed fewer people on.

8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

 My 2.5W FT8 gear was turned on just before 1000z.  No spots.

500uW 10m QRPP WSPR TX (Wednesday)

My ultra QRP 10m WSPR experiment continues with my 10m WSPR TX beacon on with the PA turned off. So far today, no spots. 

I think conditions have to be very good for this to work. It is an experiment worth repeating in the next Es season.

Saving lives - NOT amateur radio

 "save one life, save the world"

This old Jewish saying resonates in recent world events. 

All life is precious, whether Jew, Arab, Ukrainian, Russian or whatever.

630m WSPR overnight

 

9 stations spotted my QRP 630m WSPR overnight.

Winter gloom

This is perhaps the gloomiest time in the UK. Days are short, nights are long, trees are bare and everywhere is miserable. At least after Christmas evenings start to get lighter and bulbs start to appear like snowdrops and daffodils. After about January 6th mornings start to get lighter too. By the end of January there is a clear difference.

Sunspots - Wednesday December 13th 2023

 Solar flux is 126 and the SSN 120. A=10 and K=1.

500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR TX

My 10m QRPP WSPR experiment continues.

UPDATE 1542z:  No spots today.

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 My 2.5W to the dipole was turned on about 1040z. So far,  no spots.

UPDATE 1540z:  No spots today.

Old friends - NOT amateur radio

We have known these friends since the mid-1970s. They moved away from the village some years ago, but had returned to see old friends and hand out Christmas cards. They came for a meal last night.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

13 stations spotted me overnight  (see table) and I spotted the furthermost as SM2DJK (1720km). I am still using my FT817ND to drive my transverter. I have not tried the IC-705 yet. As sensitivity is probably determined by external noise rather than noise figure, I cannot think there would be any difference, so the stations I spot are probably a function of my antenna and any directivity.

Changes coming to the UK amateur licences

 OFCOM has announced future changes to the amateur radio licences.

Along with other things, they are increasing power limits, which I already think are too high! HI.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0033/272985/Updating-the-amatuer-radio-licensing-framework-overview-of-key-changes.pdf

Sunspots - Wednesday December 12th 2023

 Solar flux is 126 and the SSN 87. A=3 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on at teatime.

UPDATE 2139z:  9 spots of me so far.

10m 500uW WSPR TX (Monday)

My 500uW 10m WSPR TX is on and EA8/DF4UE (2876km) has again spotted me. At 0.5mW, I think this is the third time. It proves that if conditions are good and the noise floor is low, very little power is needed.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

 My 2.5W FT8 was turned on at 1347z.

UPDATE 1701z:  No spots all day. Now QRT.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

Overnight I was spotted by 15 stations with my 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with furthermost OH1LSQ (1733km). 

M0NYW transverters

Interestingly Jason M0NYW using a nearly identical transverter was spotted by 59 stations. I suspect Jason's better antenna and ground wins him a few dBs over me. This could make a lot of difference when his signal is "on the edge". Well done Jason. Incidentally, he is making and selling 630m transverters, so contact him if interested in 630m TX. Jason has been spotted over 3000km with his transverter.

Sunrise - NOT amateur radio

This stunning photo was taken (not by me!) last week. It is about 5km from my home.

ISM band operation - licence exempt

A reminder that re-reading the OFCOM pages I am convinced that operation in the ISM bands without a licence is legal in the UK (and probably elsewhere) as long as the interface requirements are met.  This relates to power levels, and in some cases, duty cycles.

Not being a legal expert you have to read the rules in your administration.

I am pretty sure this means 8m WSPR at 10mW ERP without a licence is legal in the UK for anyone. In Australia 5mW has covered 5000km on 8m WSPR, so all of Europe would be in range especially in the Es season. The callsign can be made up, but best to use one that WSPRnet can use. In the past I used 8M3ISM. You could choose 8M3 plus your initials for example.

Using WSPRnet you can see who is spotting you.  This is NOT amateur radio.

See you in the spring?

VLF earth-mode experiments 2010

Way back in 2010 (when I was fitter!) I used to enjoy going out to see how far away I could detect my VLF earth-mode beacon running 5W. The furthermost I got was 6km, but much further would have been possible with more power and a larger baseline. Indeed, if the power is increased and the baseline larger I know of one station that has been received 100s of kilometers away. The RX station was able to detect the radiated component that was probably just microwatts. Earth-electrode "antennas" have been used successfully on  radiated tests at even lower frequencies with remarkable ranges being covered.

Sunspots - Monday December 11th 2023

 Solar flux is 127 and the SSN 120. A=4 and K=1.