Haggling - NOT amateur radio

One of my pet hates is having to haggle over things like car insurance and broadband prices. 

Having just spent about 2 hours on a web messaging service (chat) to my ISP I have managed to reduce my package costs nearly 50%. Why is this necessary?  Why not just offer existing customers a contract renewal at a competitive price in the first place? I guess they assume many people are too lazy and just accept the new (higher) price. 

I am now paying FAR less for a better package!  At one point I was promised by the BOT that the agent "would be with me in a flash" not realising the BOT had sent the very same message an hour before!!

At least, being retired, I normally have the time. I was dreading the internet going off for just a few seconds and losing everything.

6m 2.5W FT8 (Monday)

Just 9 English stations spotting me so far today. No sign yet of anything further.

UPDATE 1315z:  Now 14 stations spotting me including CT1EEB (1452km).

UPDATE 1730z:  Spotted by 16 stations today. See map.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

Initially, just spots from EA8BFK (2880km) and local G4KPX (14km) so far today.

UPDATE 1420z: Lots of stateside stations stations spotting me. See table and map.

Map of spots care of https://www.wspr.rocks/ Phil VK7JJ.

Autumn is kicking in - NOT amateur radio

Evenings are getting darker, trees are starting to change colour, "Strictly Come Dancing" is on TV. We are entering the gloomy part of the year. 

Luckily we have compensation in the form of beautiful colours, ripe fruit and, later, Christmas (although looking at many shops you could think Christmas is already here!). 

We must not forget the migrant birds who think we are warmer than some places! Included are waxwings from Scandinavia.

Plans for Monday

Currently my plans for Monday are to go on 6m QRP FT8 with the V2000 vertical (2.5W) and 10m 500mW WSPR with my stand-alone TX beacon.

Sunspots - Monday September 23rd

Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 114. A=5 and K=1.

Reach walk - NOT amateur radio

Last week we did a walk around the next village of Reach and picked some blackberries. 

It is a very sleepy village.

Fake news - NOT amateur radio

It is very easy to believe in news that is faked as some fakes are very easy to create. 

I am particularly concerned in the lead up to the presidential elections in the USA this November. There is already a rumour going around that the recent assassination attempts on Donald Trump were faked to gain votes. In the weeks ahead we can expect many more fake news stories.

In my view we have to gather news from multiple sources and treat 1-off stories with a pinch of salt.

8m via my ATU

 Just now, I tried to match my V2000 vertical and 2m big-wheel antennas to 40.680MHz. My ATU is only supposed to work up to 30MHz. My efforts were unsuccessful. 

Hopefully my grandson will help me erect my 8m dipole. This needs a bit of ladder work (not high), but I am too wobbly for ladder work these days.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

Although it is dull outside, the thunderstorms seem to have missed us by several hundred kilometres, so I am again on 10m FT8 with my 2.5W FT8. 

After just a few minutes, I am being spotted by 11 stations.

UPDATE 2014z:  Spotted by 314 stations with the furthermost a station on the USA west coast. When 10m is good (as it is at the moment) just a few watts of FT8 seems quite enough. See map of stations spotting me mid afternoon on 10m QRP FT8. Now QRT.

Wise saying - NOT amateur radio

 Recently, I was told this. I think it is quite profound. 

Before we communicate with anyone, think (1) is it true?, (2) is it necessary?, (3) is it kind? If not, we better saying nothing at all.  TNK: true, necessary, kind.  Cruel words can hurt.

Lightning risk

 Today looks like a dull day with the risk of thunderstorms. At the moment I have heard no thunder but it is probably not a great idea to go on the radio.

8m with 10mW ERP under ISM rules

 In many countries stations may legally operate in the 8m ISM allocation with a limited ERP without a special permit or even a callsign. Several stations have tried this and been amazed. 

In the UK we are limited to 10mW ERP, but this is quite enough to make some great DX spots or even contacts if permitted on FT8. 

It is surprising that more have not tried this. In the end I remain surprised more PTTs have not permitted legal access by radio amateurs. Some enlightened administrations have.

Give it a go!!

Lesser Chirpy 10m QRP CW transceiver

This dates back to 2012, but represents a very simple transceiver circuit for 10m CW. Please treat it as a starting point for your own ideas. I was amazed how well such a simple circuit could work.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-lesser-chirpy .

Sunspots - Sunday September 22nd

 Solar flux is 158 and the SSN 117. A=6 and K=1.

V2000 on 8m?

I have an QRP ATU that is supposed to go to 30MHz. Maybe it can be persuaded to go to 40.680MHz? Tomorrow I shall try it with my V2000 and 2m big-wheel antennas. You never know until you try. Even if it does match, I have no idea what the polar plot looks like.

Stick to the day job!! - NOT amateur radio

Our pear 🍐 crop this year is one tiny pathetic pear. 

To be fair, it was smothered by a neighbour’s honeysuckle that climbed over the fence. 

Actually the honeysuckle smelled wonderful.

Perhaps my wife should eat it as she likes conference pears. I must tell her to eat it very slowly! 😁

Changing nature of amateur radio

At one time, the only way we could talk across the world by amateur radio was by HF contacts. Things are changing.  

These days, there are many alternatives such as DMR, D-STAR and Echolink. Many use the internet as the backbone, whereas in the past we had to rely on HF propagation and the ionosphere. 

Even with a VHF or UHF transceivers worldwide contacts are possible. I remember being amazed that with a DMR portable sitting on the bookshelf DX from across the planet could be heard.

Near death experience - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, I probably came nearer to death than at any time I can remember.  

For what seemed like ages I was unable to breathe because of a chest infection. In the end I got my breath, but had I not been able to, I would have passed out and probably died. We hang on by a thread.

Pompeii 2017 - NOT amateur radio

 

We visited here in 2017. As the ground was going to be uneven I was not sure if I would be able to manage it. In the end it was fine. 

One thing struck me: really nothing changes and really they were just like us.

10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My 2.5W FT8 was turned on at about 0550z. Yesterday was very successful. I hope today is similar.

UPDATE 2028z:  So far today, 382 stations have spotted me. See map of stations spotting my 10m FT8 QRP by the early evening.  Since then, even more have spotted me.  Worldwide spots. 1098 stations have been spotted here today.

Sunspots - Saturday September 21st

 Solar flux is 154 and the SSN 113. A=7 and K=2.

“Our” windmill - NOT amateur radio

 

This has been on many times, but this was the view from the lounge on a nice, sunny afternoon just now.

At one time some of our grandchildren thought the area in front of the windmill was part of our garden! We own the hedge you can see in front, but not the windmill!

The windmill is fully restored and the sails go round sometimes.

Lightning risk?

 This weekend there are some advanced warnings of thunder and lightning in the UK. At the moment these storms are a long way off, but if they get close I shall go QRT and disconnect things.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;

Church roofs - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we were in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. These were some of the magnificent church roofs we saw.

10m QRP FT8 (Friday)

 

This afternoon I decided to concentrate on 10m QRP FT8. At 1442z, 85 spots of my 2.5W. See map.

UPDATE 1724z:  So far today my 2.5W 10m FT8 has been spotted by 171 stations across the planet. I have spotted 400 stations here.

Moon - NOT amateur radio

This was the moon in our close on Wednesday evening. 

Sunspots - Friday September 20th

 Solar flux is 161 and the SSN 109. A=20 and K=1.

The Faroe Islands - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned before, one of the things I like about 365project (NOT at all connected with Microsoft) is seeing places I am never likely to visit, such as this view from a friend in these far-flung islands between Scotland and Iceland.

Sepura SCL3 - NOT amateur radio

It  seems amazing that I have been retired from Sepura for 16 years now! These days I am totally out of touch, but they seemed to have moved on a lot. 

Take for example the SCL3 portable (shown in the photo) that looks like a fusion of TETRA and 4G/5G technology. It looks just the product mission critical services would need. 

It looks more like a mobile phone than a traditional TETRA transceiver. I hope it is successful.

See https://scl3.sepura.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SCL3_Brochure_converted_compressed.pdf.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

Just 5 English spots of my 2.5W 6m FT8 so far today.  See map.

UPDATE 1627z:  So far today, my QRP 6m FT8 has been spotted by 14 stations including one in the Baltic that could be Es.

Rallies this weekend

The following have been notified, but always check details are correct before going far.

• Saturday September 21st - East Midlands and Electronics Rally, Doncaster, DN10 4FX. Contact www.g0raf.co,uk/rally . Please note this is a 1 day event, not 2. The location is actually nearer Gainsborough.
• Sunday September 22nd - Weston super Mare Radio Society 9th Radio and Electronics Rally, Worle, Weston super Mare,  BS24 7DX. Contact westonradiosociety@gmail.com .

Interesting how many radio rallies have broadened their appeal to include a wider audience than in the past.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

 Just 13 spots of me by EA8BFK (2880km) in the Canary Islands, presumably via F2. 

UPDATE 1146z:  YOs also spotting me. This is probably F2 as well. See table.

Sunspots - Thursday September 19th

 Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 106. A=12 and K=2.

Advertisers and radio magazines

Today I received my copy of the RSGB RadCom. One large UK dealer has most of the advertising space. I have no idea what this must cost, but it must be a lot. If this major dealer decided to stop advertising, or advertised far less, it would have a major impact on the RSGB and the remaining UK radio magazine available on newsstands.

Without this one dealer, I suspect RadCom would have to shrink in size and the one remaining magazine radio amateurs could  buy in newsagents would enter terminal decline.

I hope I am wrong.

History Society - NOT amateur radio

 

We have a very busy history society in our village. Tonight was the first meeting of the season and was on Fen Skating which is in decline as a result of global warming.

10m 500mW WSPR TX ( Wednesday)

 Although my beacon has been on all day just 2 stations spotting me. See table. 

Sunspots - Wednesday September 18th

 Solar flux is 165 and the SSN 140. A=71 and K=1.

With my brother - NOT amateur radio

Although we message daily on WhatsApp, we see each other face-to-face a few times a year if we are lucky.  He lives in Devon and I am in Cambridgeshire.

Yesterday, we visited Bury-St-Edmunds. The photo is of us in the Abbey Gardens, with the ruined abbey behind.

Radio Magazines

 Already this year we have seen the disappearance of CQ and Radio User (at least as a separate magazine). Others may follow. 

At one time you could pop into a UK newsagent and see several radio related magazines. Not any more. Over the years more and more have closed or maybe gone online only. If you want a magazine about PC games or steam trains there are several to choose from.

It is as if few people are interested in radio technology any more, sadly.

10 years' time? The best we can expect is a few pages in a magazine about technologies in general. 

I have made my view plain in the past. Am I right or am I right?