Fewer EU openings today?

 It looks like there are fewer European openings today, which may account for just English reports so far (1039z) on 6m FT8.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

Brother's visit - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned before, my brother and his wife are visiting us from Devon. Yesterday we went to Bury St Edmunds and today they have gone to Norwich. The photo shows some of the day yesterday.

4m

This is a band that is gaining in popularity. It is very good when there is Es, but it is also good for inter-G working. I am sure that with reasonable power and FT8 the whole of the British Isles would be in range. The new Yaesu FTX-1F is supposed to include this in European versions.  I would expect 6W and a dipole to reach widely on FT8 especially.

A while back I designed and build a 4m transverter that is on my website. It is only low power but managed to work well. It was in  GQRP SPRAT some years ago.

10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 So far today, no spots on 10m QRP WSPR.

UPDATE 1145z:  Local G4KPX (14km) seems to have stopped at breakfast time. EA8BFK (2880km) is now spotting me.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

My QRP 6m FT8 was turned on at about 0905z. 

UPDATE 1140z:  So far, spotted by 12 stations including 1 German.

UPDATE 1505z:  Spotted by 18 stations so far today. See map.

Sunspots Tuesday September 17th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 103. A=23 and K=6.

Where my son got married - NOT amateur radio

 This is where my younger son got married. It is St Mary’s in Bury St Edmunds and has the longest nave to n the country.

Tuesday plans

Tomorrow I think I shall go on 10m QRP WSPR and 6m QRP FT8.

Bury St Edmunds

This is a delightful market town in Suffolk. Unlike Cambridge where many people are foreign visitors, most in Bury St Edmunds seem to be East Anglian,   The old abbey was sacked centuries ago. The photo shows a view of the cathedral from the Abbey Gardens.

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

Today I am concentrating on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon . So far, just G4KPX (14km) spotting me.

UPDATE 1352z: 3 stations have spotted me today.

Brother’s visit - NOT amateur radio

My brother and his wife have come up from Devon for a few days.

Sunspots - Monday September 16th

Solar flux is 173 and the SSN 68 . A=19 and K=3.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

As there were no spots at all on 8m RX or TX, I have QSYed to 10m 500mW WSPR with my tiny beacon. Apart from time synchronisation at the start, it is totally stand alone and does not tie up a PC. 

UPDATED 1525z:  Already spotted 10 times by EA8BFK (2880km).

Smelling diseases - NOT amateur radio

 When our children were young they had a "poorly smell". It was not unpleasant at all, but both my wife and I were aware of it. Maybe it is a parental thing that nobody else is aware of. 

Today I read of a nurse who has a remarkable sense of smell. She can literally tell if a patient has early signs of a disease by smelling their breath or even a swab. Her success rate is extremely high.

WebSDRs

There are huge numbers of these, enabling you to hear what bands sound like in other parts of the planet. It is interesting to listen via some of these.

See http://websdr.org/

Reach - NOT amateur radio

 

This sleepy village 2 miles from us has some fine walks. There has been a fair here since the 1200s.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

 Today, I am concentrating on 8m QRP FT8 (40.680MHz USB dial). As the match on my end-fed Par antenna is poor on 8m, I shall have to have breaks to let the PA cool.

Crystal set DXing

 

Many years ago I tried making and using a short wave crystal set. It is on my website.  As you can see, it does not cost much to have fun. I had aims of making a crystal set that covered VLF to VHF. Then my stroke scuppered plans!

Short wave radio is changing and there are far fewer English language broadcasters. I was pleasantly surprised by what I could hear back then. It is not just broadcast stations you can hear.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/crystal-set-dxing .

Nice sunrise - NOT amateur radio

It  looks like we’re in for a decent week with a big high pressure system over UK.

Oscar 100 narrowband activity

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. 

It certainly has encouraged some to assemble a ground station, but general activity is way below what I would have expected. 

My last "peek" at the narrowband webSDR at Goonhilly Down was mid evening in the UK on a Saturday evening, when I would have expected activity levels to be good.

Based on the activity levels seen, I think it is very unlikely we will see another geosynchronous amateur satellite in a hurry.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/.

Sunspots - Sunday September 15th

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 136. A=24 and K=2.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 At about 1554z, I QSYed to 40.680MHz QRP FT8. No spots. There are far more 8m monitors.

UPDATE 2030z:  Spotted 1 Italian, but I was unable to work him. Now QRT.

Es or F2 or F2 backscatter?

Today, my QRP 6m FT8 has been widely copied in SE and central Europe. At the last count, 89 stations had spotted me. Now Es can occur at any time of year, but I wonder if these spots are related to F2 propagation?

I am definitely not a propagation expert, so would appreciate your thoughts.

The latest Es map suggests it is Es. See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

Last Tuesday on 70cm QRP SSB

Once a month I try my luck with 10W pep on 70cm in the activity contest UKAC. Because of my poor voice I rarely stop on more than 30 minutes. 

Also, I only have a 2m big-wheel omni antenna. Talk about making things hard, HI! 

In all I made 3 QSOs with the furthermost G4CLA (105km). He must have great antennas and ears.

Blackberry picking - NOT amateur radio

Autumn can be a great time of year. It is usually not too hot and the wild fruits are maturing in the hedgerows. When the sun is shining it is a perfect time to pick blackberries. 

Although we really should have gone last week, we still managed plenty for a blackberry and apple crumble and breakfast.

80m FETer transceiver

Years ago I was inspired by a circuit for a 40m transceiver by W2UW who is now a SK. My challenge was to see if I could make an 80m version with even fewer parts. 

This is a complete transceiver using just a single FET and very few components. It is detailed on my website.

10m 500mW WSPR TX

My tiny stand alone W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon has been on since just after breakfast. So far (at 1100z) 11 unique stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1438z:  26 spots of me. See table. Usually I look on WSPRnet for spots. I am not sure how PSKreporter works but it seems to miss many WSPR spots.

6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

Stations spotting
my 2.5W 6m FT8

My 6m 2.5W FT8 has been on most of the morning. 51 stations have spotted me. 

It looks as busy as in the peak Es season! All my spots are in Europe.

UPDATE 1458z: 89 stations have spotted me. See map.

Malta - NOT amateur radio

This was Malta last week. The photo makes it look lush. Actually mostly dry and barren.

Sunspots - Saturday September 14th

 Solar flux is 186 and the SSN 127. A=37 and K=4.

Eco-Worthy batteries

MLS is doing a promotion  of /P gear including the IC705, no doubt expecting many IC705s to be traded for the new Yaesu field portable transceiver next year.

One of their items is the Eco-Worthy 30A, 12V lithium battery pack for use with the IC705 out portable. I was about to blog how expensive this was. Then I checked on Amazon and the battery was £99.99 to which you have to add the charger. Overall, not a bad price from MLS with the charger if you really need a 30A battery. However, there are lower capacity batteries and chargers available from other suppliers for far less.

UPDATE 0827z Sunday:  Steve G1KQH says the same capacity battery may be bought elsewhere for far less. Shop around?

Memories - NOT amateur radio

Something just occurred to me. We assume time passes from the past to the future. and that we remember things in the past.  Altogether I can recall about 200 things from before the age of 5 as can my wife.  Many cannot.

What if this is all an illusion?  Perhaps every time we wake we think we have lived in the past but our brains have a finite memory that is in the here and now and not in the past? What I am wondering is time really there at all? We think we have a past, present and future, but this could all be an illusion.

In the world of quantum mechanics we have come to realise that things are stranger than we think. There is so much we do not know.

All we can do is keep an open mind and realise our brainpower is very limited. I wonder what our memory capacity has been estimated as? I imagine it must be well in the TB region and probably much much bigger.

UPDATE 1230z:  Googled it!  Estimated as 2.5 million Gigabytes. Huge! I wonder what the biggest super-computers in the world have by way of memory. As memory increases I wonder what will be possible in 20 years' time.

6m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My 2.5W FT8 to the omni V2000 antenna just spotted by 9 English stations so far with 3 English stations spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1225z: 20 stations have spotted me on 6m QRP FT8 today. See map for stations spotting me.

UPDATE 2045z:  QRT.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

 o far just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting my beacon. I am pretty sure this is F2 propagation. I

UPDATE 0845z:  Interesting that even with the disturbed HF conditions my QRP WSPR beacon still makes it to the Canary Isles. Still just spots by EA8BFK. There is 9dB S/N difference between my best and worst report. I am not sure if this is QSB or local noise. 

UPDATE 1105z:  Now 2 stations spotting me (EA8 and YO). Pretty sure this is F2.

UPDATE 2019z:   4 stations spotted me today. See table.

UPDATE 2028z:  QRT.

Sunset last night - NOT amateur radio

This was the sunset last night taken through the windscreen of a moving car.

Sunspots - Friday September 13th

 Solar flux is 201 and the SSN 160. A=67 and K=3.

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR TX was turned on just after 1700z, So far, just spotted by EA8BFK (2880km).

Rallies this weekend

 The following have been notified to me. As always, please  check bore going a long way.

• September 14th/15th - Broadcast Engineering Museum open days, Near Gainsborough, DN2 15XS. Contact contactus@becg.org.uk .
• Sunday September 15th -  British Vintage Wireless Society Swapmeet and Auction, Biggleswade,SG18 8JH. Contact secretary@bvws.org.uk .

OFCOM and shared rural coverage in the UK

OFCOM agreed certain targets for rural mobile phone coverage with the major UK mobile operators. It looks as if these targets have been met, but not in Scotland yet. See the OFCOM website for details.

Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

 

This National Trust property is not far from us. We went for a walk there earlier. 

In each season there is something to see. At the moment, it is a good time to see dahlias.