8m decision time

My current 8m TX permit runs out early next month. My choice is to apply for a new permit (probably a similar one requested). This will cost me £50. Although I can afford it, I object to having to pay to carry out genuine research. For this stupidity I have issues with the RSGB and OFCOM.

The alternative is to run 10mW ERP using ISM rules. This is free.

Most active stations on 8m have either spotted my FT8 or worked me.

Radio science might benefit from me running very low power in the Es season which mainly starts in May. At the moment I am inclined to run 10mW ERP 8m WSPR whenever the 8m band looks promising. As long as there are people across Europe monitoring 8m WSPR, I have every confidence of being spotted.

HF QRP FT8

It is some months since I have given HF FT8 a try. I have a QDX which can give 5W FT8 from 20m to 10m. My end-fed Par antenna has a lowish SWR from 17m to 10m. 

Assuming I can get it working, one thing to try as the sunspots decline (not yet we hope!) will be to send FT8 in sequence on all bands from 17m to 10m.  I have no idea of the antenna pattern on various bands, but it might give me some indications of band openings. 

One of the things I have noticed in the past is people leave the higher HF bands. Maybe with FT8 now, some may stay around. Often it is a lack of activity and not poor conditions. On SSB an isolated call may be missed. Not so with FT8 with lots of people monitoring. 

Incidentally, I can highly recommend the QDX. It is tiny (about the size of a pack of cards) and can run all the modes on WSJT-X.

A very nice addition would be a QDX covering 10m, 8m, 6m, 4m and 2m. Even 10m-4m would be very useful.

See https://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html .

Sunspots - Sunday March 3rd

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 91. A=5 and K=1.

Getting to sleep - NOT amateur radio

Usually I sleep well, but have you noticed how hard it is to get to sleep when you try to? 

Sleep is odd as you are not aware when you actually drop off: you are awake and then you must be asleep! Waking up very early is very hard.

Saturday plans

One more day on 10m WSPR at 500uW (0.5mW). Probably go QRO tomorrow with 500mW! I might also give 6m FT8 another try.

UPDATE 1918z:   Spotted twice by LZ1UBO (2039km) with my 500uW (0.5mW) on 10m WSPR.  Maybe I shall stick with QRPP tomorrow! Note, the beacon is pre-programmed to report 0.5W, even though with the PA off it is actually 0.5mW.

UPDATE 1717z:  8 stations in England have spotted me on 6m FT8 today. No DX today.

Dalham, near Newmarket - NOT amateur radio

 This is a village near Newmarket.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

My 10mW ERP WSPR was spotted by 23 stations including OH1LSQ (1733km) yet again.

Spring - NOT amateur radio

According to the UK Met Office, spring starts March 1st. True to form, yesterday was cold, windy and wet! In many ways, spring came early in the UK. Daffodils that traditionally appear in March are well out and some are even dead. Blossom is well out. Last year we had blossom early on our pear tree. The frost killed it and we had no pears. Let's hope the same does not happen this year.

Sunspots - Saturday March 2nd

 Solar flux is 153 and the SSN 120. A=9 and K=1.

Village pump - NOT amateur radio

Most of us take plumbing and running water in our homes for granted. 

But there was a time when water had to be collected from the village pump. 

The pump in our village is shown in the photo.

Kenwood handheld TH-D75

MLS is advertising the new Kenwood 2m/70cm handheld for pre-order at £789.  In my view, why would anyone pay this much for a 2m/70cm handheld?  Kenwood makes some good gear and has a loyal following, but at this price I cannot see them staying in the amateur radio market for many more years.

My prediction:  the next 5 years will be a torrid time for Japanese manufacturers of amateur radio gear, dealers and magazines.

MLS call it a "game changer"  .....hmmm.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/thd75.

Is my software slowing down? - NOT amateur radio

I have had an Asus Chromebook since November 2019 and it has been simply brilliant. It was fast, responsive and did everything I needed. 

The free online support stops soon. In the last few days, it has become noticeably slower. I am wondering if the Chromebook OS has a timer that says after x years slow the machine down to encourage people to buy new machines?

My intention was to check all I need is saved on Google Drive, Google Photos or on a flash drive and then do a reset to factory conditions. I do not think it is bloatware or rubbish.

Quantum mechanics - NOT amateur radio

Many years ago (late 1960s) I did a course on quantum mechanics at university. If I remember correctly, everything can be thought of as a wave function that exists in all space and all time. What we think of as the "here and now" is the most probable.  Tunnel diodes only work because of quantum mechanical tunneling.

According to quantum entanglement, particles at opposite ends of the universe can have some sort of affinity, which would not conform with relativity.

What is certain is how little we know.

GE3XBM?

 One of the recent UK amateur radio licence changes mean I can use GE3XBM instead of G3XBM.

I doubt I shall bother!

Sunspots - Friday 1st March

 Solar flux is 164 and and the SSN 107.  A=4 and K=3.

137kHz QRSS test

On my ‘to do’ list are some QRSS tests at 137kHz using my earth-electrode ‘antenna’ in the ground and SpectrumView software on my iPhone.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

Overnight 17 stations spotted my 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Rallies this weekend

 The following rallies have been notified to me. As usual, it is advisable to check before going any distance.

Saturday March 2nd - Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Annual Rally, near Belfast, BT26 6AR. See www.lvars.uk .

Sunday March 3rd - Exeter Radio and Electronics Rally , EX4 8PX. Contact g3xvi@yahoo.co.uk

P***ing in the wind? 10m 500uW (0.5mW) WSPR (Thursday)

My QRPP 10m WSPR is on again, although I have not had any reports for a few days.  I just leave it running ...... in hope! 

The fact I got any reports at all amazed me.

UPDATE 1845z:  No spots.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My 2.5W 6m FT8 to the vertical omni V2000 antenna has been on since about 1030z.  So far, 8 English stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1425z: 10 stations have spotted me so far and 3 stations have been spotted here.

UPDATE 1601z: 12 stations have spotted me today.

Squirrels - NOT amateur radio

We have lived in our present home for about 10.5 years. It is about 300m from where we used to live and where we had lots and lots of squirrels. Until this morning, despite there being lots of trees, we had never ever had a single squirrel in the garden. I cannot understand why. This morning we had our first. Apart from a few areas most are grey squirrels.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel .

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

21 stations spotted my 10mW ERP overnight. No great DX.

Norwich

Norwich is a fine city with a wonderful Norman cathedral built of many stones, some of which came from Caen in Normandy centuries ago. 

It has a magnificent castle overlooking the city.

Sunspots - Thursday February 29th

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 127. A=6 and K=0.

8m amateur band?

For many years, I have advocated a tiny amateur allocation around 40.680MHz primarily for radio science research. Here in the UK, the RSGB seems dead set against this, whereas in some countries an allocation has been made.

Frankly, I think the RSGB's position is stupid. 

Surely the main purpose of amateur radio is research and self training. In the UK, if we want do research at 8m it costs us £50 annually unless we keep to ISM powers (10mW ERP).

The latest excuse is space radar to help investigate climate change, yet the latest WARC says:

"that spaceborne radars are intended to be operated only in either uninhabited or sparsely populated areas of the globe, with particular focus on deserts and polar ice fields, and only at night-time from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. locally."

Surely the RSGB could put a good case to OFCOM for a few kHz in the ISM 8m band, NoV, limited power and modes, by application only, no-interference...

Is this likely?  Probably not. 

Instead we can go on 80m with 1kW, with commercial gear to talk about gardening. Am I annoyed? Yes.

RSGB - wake up!!

More on the SDRplay RSP1B SDR receiver

In the last few days I have not found time to play with, and familiarise myself, with the RSP1B receiver. There is a lot to learn, but on the default settings it does a credible job. 

An eHam.com review will have to wait until I have really got to grips with it. My first impressions are that it is a sensiitve on 2m and 70m as my FT817ND, but more artifacts than I was expecting.

Wicken windmill

One of our favourite walks is to Wicken Fen, where we have a bite to eat. Wicken also has a village windmill (shown in the photo).

630m QRP WSPR overnight

In the last day and overnight 21 stations spotted my 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Plenty of spots from Norway, but nothing from Finland.

Our day - NOT amateur radio

On Tuesdays, we go to a free concert at the university in Cambridge. 

We grab a bite to eat first, walk through the Grand Arcade and the grounds of King's College. 

The collage here captures this.

6m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

My 2.5W FT8 to the vertical V2000 omni antenna is on. At 1040z, spotted by 7 English stations. No spots on RX yet.

UPDATE 1622z: 13 stations have spotted me with the furthermost EA6VQ (1419km). 7 stations (all England) spotted on RX. No international DX on RX. The map shows the stations spotting me.

Sunspots - Wednesday February 28th

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 103. A=6 and K=1.

Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

Compared with a few years ago, there are about twice the number of electric cars on the road. Having said that, I would guess only about 1% of cars are electric. 

At the moment, electric cars are not good value. They are expensive, the range is not good enough, they use battery materials that are not commonly available and their insurance is high.

In my view, there will be lots of battery research leading to batteries that have far greater range and far lower cost cars. 

I expect a tipping point in a few years from now when electric cars will be similarly priced to fossil fuelled cars with ranges that mean charging will be infrequent. Many will charge at home on low energy deals and cars will only need charging every few weeks.

My feelings are "not yet, but soon".

It would be a great shame if the Chinese and Americans got there first and guarded all the patents.

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

 My QRPP WSPR is on again. So far, no spots, although I am not surprised.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 

My 2.5W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna is on. So far spots from 6 English stations (see map).

UPDATE 1840z: 14 stations spotted me today and 3 stations in South Africa were spotted here with the furthermost ZS6NJ (9115km). This is the first time I have spotted South Africans on 6m since the 1980s I think.

630m QRP WSPR in the last 2 weeks

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground has been spotted by 56 stations with OH1LSQ (1733km) spotting me 12 times! In the last 12 hours 22 spots.

Sunspots - Tuesday February 27th

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 133. A=11 and K=3.

The human brain - NOT amateur radio

There about 100 billion neurons in an adult human brain. This is quite staggering. By any analysis the brain is incredibly complex.

500uW (0.5mW) 10m QRPP WSPR

 Although my beacon has been on most of the daylight hours, no spots.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

 My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on about 1520z.

UPDATE 2041z:  12 stations have spotted me.

Cambridge waking up - NOT amateur radio

After what has seemed a long and dark winter, Cambridge is becoming alive again.