Roger G3XBM's (Mainly) Amateur Radio Blog

13 Feb 2024

630m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

Yet again I am on 630m WSPR with my 10mW ERP. So far, 7 stations have spotted me.

70cm activity contest SSB (UKAC) - February

Every month I have a go on the 70cm SSB activity contest with my 10W pep and the 2m big-wheel omni antenna. I usually manage a few contacts, but I do stop on long because of my poor voice. I am pretty sure I could work more if I was to stop on longer. The impression I am getting is there is now less SSB activity in this contest. The 70cm FT8 activity contest tomorrow is always busier.

Chippenham, near Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This is a village near Cambridge, not to be confused withe the better known Chippenham.

500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR (Tuesday)

No spots today with this miniscule power. I was hoping for some spots today.

UPDATE 1228z: OH6BG (1718km) has spotted me.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

As usual, I was on 630m WSPR with my 10mW ERP. Furthermost were Germany and Norway, with 24 spots of me in the last day.

Sunspots - Tuesday February 13th

Solar flux is 208 and the SSN 153. A=4 and K=1.

12 Feb 2024

Chippenham Park - NOT amateur radio

Every year we go to Chippenham Park, near Cambridge, to see the snowdrops. As always, they were a picture.

We also saw these swans.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

After a night off, I am again on 630m WSPR with 10mW ERP. So far, 4 stations have spotted me with the furthermost PA0LSB/V (326km).

6m 2.5W FT8 (Monday)

My 6m 2.5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna has been on since lunchtime. So far, 8 stations have spotted me.

500uW 10m WSPR (Monday)

Although my QRPP beacon has been on since lunchtime, no spots today.

UPDATE 1825z: No spots all day at 500uW.

Optical over the horizon

This was 2012.

Sunspots - Monday February 12th

Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 144. A=14 and K=1.

11 Feb 2024

Short-term memory - NOT amateur radio

Not sure if this is old age or another artifact of my 2013 stroke, but my short-term memory can be poor. When I record the solar indices, I often have to go back and recheck the figures.

Spring coming - NOT amateur radio

We still have plenty of winter left, but today is very springlike.

Fine motor skills - basically now crap

This morning, I came across this memory on Facebook showing a 4m transverter I designed and made some years ago. It was published in SPRAT, the magazine of the GQRP club.

There is absolutely no way I could do this now! My fine motor skills are basically shot and soldering anything is unbelievably hard.

Not one to be beaten, I do experiments that I can still do that do not involve building as much as possible.

My voice - NOT amateur radio

Although I still use my voice, it is a struggle. This is why I prefer FT8 and WSPR. They are also good weak signal modes too! I guess that is also why I like blogging. My voice is not involved and I do no have to struggle to be understood.

Even my wife often asks me to repeat things. I try to go on the 2m and 70cm SSB activity contests each month and the local club net each Wednesday, but not for long.

630m WSPR overnight

Overnight, I was again on 630m WSPR with my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. 18 stations spotted me (see table). No astounding DX, but a useful haul.

6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

Yet again, I am on 6m FT8 with my 2.5W and V2000 vertical omni antenna. So far, 5 G stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1142z: 10 G and GW stations have spotted me. No DX from continental Europe.

500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR (again)

Rather than make an attenuator, I have decided to continue with 500uW WSPR on 10m, i.e. with the beacon PA turned off. I did a re-sync at about 0900z.

UPDATE 2104z: No spots all day. As I said before, I suspect conditions have to be very good for WSPR to work at this tiny power.

Sunspots - Sunday February 11th

Solar flux is 194 and the SSN 146. A=5 and K=3.

10 Feb 2024

2m activity contest (UKAC) - February 6th

Better late than never! Last time, I was rock bottom of the AL (low power) section of this contest that runs every month for a year. One thing is certain: things can only get better, HI. In all, 5 stations were worked (see map).

630m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

Basically, I am lazy!

Rather than try WSPR on a different band, I stuck with 630m QRP WSPR all day. My ERP is 10mW from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. At 1455z, just UK stations spotted.

Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

In the end, I suspect many of us will be driving electric cars. In today's Knowledge (it comes every day free by email) was a report in the UK Daily Telegraph. I agree with this.

"The reason people aren’t buying EVs en masse is because “it doesn’t yet make sense”: they’re expensive, their range is too short, and there aren’t enough charging points."

In my view, we will reach a tipping point when battery technology allows prices to drop a lot (bye bye lithium?) and ranges to double or more. This will allow many people to charge at home and infrequently. Like film cameras and cathode ray tubes, fossil fuelled cars will then seem really old. Personally I give it 3-5 years.

Solid state batteries?

Car cleaning - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned in an earlier post, we cleaned the car before lunch. We really ought to clean it a lot more often! My wife did the inside and I did the outside. It looks better for it. It was probably last cleaned last summer.

As you can tell, to us a car is just a mode of transport. If it is reliable, we really do not care what it is. So far, we have had Kia's for about 13 years and they have proved very reliable.

RSGB webinars

Usually, I miss these, but I was recommended to watch the recording of the one last Monday by Hugh HC02 an SWL in Portugal. It was given by G3ZIL in Southampton and focused on the use of digital modes for propagation research. There are definitely people around who are far cleverer than I am! In it, his research has highlighted a new possible HF propagation mode called side scatter. Judging by this talk, these webinars are worth watching.

500uW 10m WSPR success again

My intention was to add a 17dB pad so I could run 10mW WSPR on 10m. Instead I cleaned the car and left the beacon with the PA off producing 500uW (0.5mW). I was not expecting any spots so was very pleased to see a spot from the Canary Is..

UPDATE 1435z: No further 10m WSPR spots today at 500uW (0.5mW). Sadly my beacon is pre-programmed to report the power as 500mW, when it really is just 500uW. I think my repeat 10mW 10m WSPR test will have to wait until tomorrow.

UPDATE 1846z: EA8BFK (2880km) spotted my 500uW again at tea time!

630m WSPR overnight

20 stations spotted my 10mW ERP in the last day and overnight on 630m 10mW ERP WSPR (see table).

Sunspots - Saturday February 10th

Solar flux is 183 and the SSN 105. A=6 and K=1.

9 Feb 2024

OK, I am a masochist! 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR (Friday)

As 500mW 10m WSPR TX was proving too easy, I have turned off the beacon PA again. After 1115z, my power is now 500uW again.

UPDATE 1522z: No spots at 500uW. I think tomorrow I shall do more tests at 10mW ERP. This time, I shall use the 500mW beacon TX with a 17dB attenuator, so the FT817ND is free for other things.

6m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My 2.5W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was tuned on. So far, 4 Gs have spotted me.

UPDATE 1255z: DX stations are spotting my QRP with spots from Germany (near Hamburg) and the Netherlands. 9 stations spotting me.

UPDATE 1526z: 13 stations have spotted me. One QSO attempted and successful.

10m WSPR TX Friday at 500mW (QRO for me!!)

As 500uW 10m WSPR was proving impossible, I turned on the beacon PA, so the output was 500mW. 7 stations have spotted me! It is so much easier at 500mW!

UPDATE 1105z: 13 stations have spotted me at 500mW.

UPDATE 1112z: 14 stations have now spotted my 500mW WSPR. 500uW seems too low unless conditions are exceptional, whereas 10mW seems far better. 500mW seems like really high power!