Um, ah, eh and like - NOT amateur radio

Have you noticed how many young people say "like"? 

At one time this bothered me, but it is the new "um","ah" or "eh". Language is always evolving. 

Recently I noticed how often we say "um", "ah" or "um".  I counted 4 in a very short period.

Sunspots - Friday December 20th

 Solar flux is 175 and the SSN 96. A=11 and K=3.

UKAC certificate

Every month, if I am here, I enter the 2m and 70cm activity contests (UKAC), but because of my poor voice, low power (10W) and poor antenna (big-wheel omni) I do not stay on very long.

In the low power section I came 57th. 

Much to my surprise I have a certificate to say I took part!

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

 My stand-alone WSPR beacon has been on most of the morning. At 1156z 10 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1847z:  20 stations have spotted me. See table.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

 My 6m QRP FT8  from the IC-705 has been on most of the morning. At 1153z 18 stations had spotted me

UPDATE 1825z: 38 stations have spotted my 6m FT8 QRP (see map).

UPDATE  2035z:  43 stations have spotted me. It looks like there is a late opening to Iberia. A station in Portugal pointed out that my timing was out. As I usually sync to internet time, this suggested that my internet connection was briefly lost and time sync was lost. Now re sync'ed.

Busy supermarket - NOT amateur radio

This is probably true the world over. Our local supermarket was busy with people stocking up with food and drinks for Christmas. They are actually only closed on Christmas Day.

8m QRP FT8 with the QMX+

In many ways  I am lazy, putting off things that I could do right away.

As an example, my QMX+ should work fine on 8m FT8 TX using the 6m TX low pass filter using PuTTY to alter the TX band parameters on a band I don't use. This should take a few minutes.

As 6m has been in good shape, I have concentrated on 6m rather than 8m in recent weeks. 

Of late, 6m has been in poorer shape recently regarding F2 propagation, although Es sometimes shows a small peak in mid-winter for reasons I don't understand.

I think the RX requires hardware changes to a band pass filter, than I cannot manage any longer, so the best I can manage is to TX on 8m.

Good news - NOT amateur radio

 From now on it starts to get lighter at night. At first the change is very slow , but by the end of January it is very noticeable. It still gets darker in the morning, but this is less noticeable as I am still in bed.

Sunspots - Thursday December 19th

 Solar flux is 174 and the SSN 82. A=15 and K=3.

Sunrise - NOT amateur radio

 

This was the sunrise this morning in our close.

10m QRP WSPR (Wednesday)

 

My 500mW beacon has been on most of the day. 31 stations have spotted me at 1519z.

6m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

My IC-705 has been in most of the day. 46 stations have spotted me with the most distant CU6AB (2694km) in the Azores.

Sunspots - Wednesday December 18th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 88. A=29 and K=3.

Christmas tree festival - NOT amateur radio

This was a Christmas tree 🎄 festival in our village church.

1955 shack

This photo appeared yesterday of a USA shack in 1955.  

When I started in the early 1960s, most HF was AM. These days it is mostly FT8 and SSB.

1937 USA amateur allocations

 Yesterday I came across this, which may be of interest especially to USA readers. Notice an amateur band at 11m, no 160m , no WARC bands and no 15m. I am sorry the chart is not clearer.

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at about 0915z.  Yesterday, 55 stations spotted me. 

UPDATE 1432z:  So far today I have been spotted by 24 stations.

Back on 6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 At the moment I am back on 6m FT8 with the IC-705. So far, at 0930z, 3 English stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 0936z: 6 English stations have spotted me. 

UPDATE 1151z:   Spotted by 13 stations.

UPDATE 1912z:   19 stations have spotted me today (see map).

RF in the shack?

 As reported yesterday, I have an issue using my IC-705 on 10m FT8. There was no problem on 6m. 

It suddenly occurred to me that this might be due to RF in the shack as I use an end-fed antenna on 10m. Later I will try adding some RF chokes to see if this cures it.

Times Radio - NOT amateur radio

Most days, I watch the YouTube videos from Times Radio.  Often they interview a wide range of experts on a host of world affairs. It is hard to find unbiased sources of world news, but this is pretty good.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 17th

Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 90. A=28 and K=2.

"Early doors" - NOT amateur radio

Until this year I had never heard of this phrase. This year, I have heard it several times. Maybe I have led a too sheltered life!  

I am wondering if it was a common phrase in the UK before?

OFCOM updates

A reminder that OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc.. It also has announced more about the auctions of 26GHz and 40GHz spectrum.

10m QRP FT8 (Monday)

Before it went funny I was briefly on 10m QRP FT8. 20 stations spotted me before I moved to 10m QRP WSPR with my beacon.

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR was turned on earlier this morning. At 1101z, 8 stations had spotted me.

UPDATE 1311z:  20 stations have spotted me. See table.

IC-705 FT8 issue?

After working faultlessly for several days on 6m FT8, I am getting an error message when I try to TX on 10m FT8 with the IC-705.  

I checked the COM ports and audio selection (all fine). I re-installed WSJT-X v2.6 (same issue). The next thing is to re-install sound cards on the IC-705 and try again.

New version of WSJT-X released

Apparently WSJT-X 2.7.1 is now on general release. There is a YouTube video all about it.  I shall have to download the new version and have a play.

UPDATE 1050z:  No it is not!! I just looked and I could only see this as a release candidate. I expect it soon will be on general release. 

Sunspots - Monday December 16th

Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 97. A=12 and K=3.

Another dull day - NOT amateur radio

Apart from yesterday, we have had a string of dull days. 

Today was much the same, although at sunset it was a little better (see photo).

One way or two way?

Over the years my interest in amateur radio has changed. 

Like very many others, I enjoyed chatting and chasing DX. Since my 2013 stroke, speaking is hard work for me. I still use voice modes, but not as often these days. Doing so is good for me. Instead I prefer digital modes like WSPR and FT8 which do not involve my voice.

It is not purely because of my poor voice. 

These days, I get as much pleasure from seeing where my QRP on various bands can be received. Many purists will say, "that is not amateur radio" and I can understand where they are coming from. Use of just digital modes means newcomers will not chance upon amateur radio as I did.

I hope amateur radio will still be here as it was. However, it would not entirely surprise me if it evolves as PTTs grow tired of amateur radio administration and its lack of revenue generation. I am pretty sure any administration costs are greater than any revenue generated. This is not a sustainable position.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

Starting at about 1020z, I am on 10m QRP FT8. At 1025z (i.e after just a few minutes) my QRP was spotted by 54 stations - it is too easy! At this rate, I shall soon stop.

I guess I am running about 3W from the IC-705.

UPDATE 1640z:  135 stations have spotted me today (see map). Now QRT.

Making tiramisu - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday our grandsons made tiramisu and had fun doing it. 

It tasted good but will soon be gone!!

How?

 

For this price both the manufacturer and AliExpress make profits. I am amazed. In the UK one could not buy even the crystal for this!

Some years ago I bought a Pixie kit from AliExpress. It cost a few pounds, but worked perfectly when fired up on the air.

Sunspots - Sunday December 15th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 86. A=10 and K=3.

Sunday plans

Tomorrow I plan to try 10m QRP FT8 with the IC-705. 

If I have time, I shall try to use PuTTY to put my QMX+ on 8m FT8 TX. I think the RX would need HW changes to the RX BPF. I intend to convert the 20m TX settings to 8m. This should only need me to change the frequency  and low pass filter selected.  The 6m LPF should do.  As my fine motor skills are poor, I shall have to accept the (poor) RX sensitivity.

Chinese - just how do they do it?

Just seen this on AliExpress.  It is a Chinese copy of a UK designed radio. The moral is register your design. What amazes me is the price. 

This is what the big Japanese manufacturers are up against. In my view, if the Japanese want to remain in the amateur market, I suspect the answer is to design in Japan, but make products in a low cost country. In the future this may not be China.

Ely Train Station - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows Ely rail station with Ely cathedral in the background.

Memories - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife and I met in Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in 1968. I see it is now part of a UK set of stamps.

10m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

My 500mW WSPR beacon was turned on at about 1050z. So far, 7 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE  1524z:  28 stations have spotted me. Furthermost Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear was on all night. Lots of European spots. Was this the Geminid shower?

UPDATE 2108z: 81 stations in Europe have spotted my 6m QRP FT8 today. See map.