Monday plans

 At the moment I plan to go on 10m QRP FT8 with the IC705. If I go on 8m QRP FT8, I shall try 10m QRP WSPR, although going on 8m is far from certain

Amateur radio?

 This was spotted on Facebook earlier. It is not my idea of  amateur radio although I expect we have all worked such super stations.

Sunspots - Monday February 10th

 Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 142. A=18 and K=2.

Tower Bridge - NOT amateur radio

 

This was Tower Bridge in London last weekend. It was a dull day.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

 For a few hours I was on 8m QRP FT8 this afternoon, but nobody spotted me.

Progress? - NOT amateur radio

It seems that every spare piece of land in our village is being used for "infilling" with yet more houses like these at the back of long gardens. I prefer "infilling"  to swallowing up farmland.

10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

 Before going on 10m FT8 I went very briefly on 10m WSPR with my 500mW beacon. Spotted by EA8BFK (2880km) before changing mode.

UPDATE 2130z:   When I went on 8m FT8, I returned to 10m QRP WSPR.   In all, 13 stations spotted me.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

 

At the moment I am on 10m QRP FT8 with my tiny QDX transceiver. Power is about 3W. So far, at 1034z, 9 stations have spotted me. 

See https://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html

UPDATE 1430z: Spotted by 221 stations. Furthermost on RX is Australia.

Sunspots - Sunday February 9th

 Solar flux is 173 and the SSN 168. A=11 and K=2.

10m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

My QRP 10m WSPR was turned on at about 1230z.

UPDATE 1613z:  17 stations have spotted me. The furthermost was a station in Brazil.

Our local Co-op shop - NOT amateur radio

This is where we get the stuff that we forget to get on our "main" shop in Newmarket.

It is usually well stocked although more expensive. 

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

In a few moments I hope to go on 40.680 MHz FT8 QRP TX with my QMX+.

UPDATE 1629z:  Spotted by WW1L (4976km). First transatlantic spot of me on 8m QRP (2W) FT8 this month.

Rally on Sunday

The following is due tomorrow. Usual caveats about travel apply:

Sunday February 9th - Radio Active 25 - The Nantwich Rally, Nantwich, CW5 5DG. See radioactivefair.co.uk.

10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My QMX+ was turned on at about 1020z.

UPDATE 1033z: 27 stations have already spotted me. These look like single hop F2.

UPDATE 1220z:  168 stations have spotted me.

Clearing the decks?

 A major UK dealer is discounting all its stock of second hand FT817ND transceivers. I wondering if they are expecting many to be traded in soon so people can buy the new Yaesu FTX -1F assuming it comes!

Brunch - NOT amateur radio

Every Wednesday my wife has her University of the Third Age lecture in Cambridge so we have brunch beforehand. 

Sunspots - Saturday February 8th

 Solar flux is 182 and the SSN 179. A=4 and K=2.

Thatched cottage - NOT amateur radio

This thatched cottage is in the next village of Wicken.

Talk without talking

At the end of the month I am giving a talk with a difference at the Cambridge Radio Club. The format is different from normal in that I prepare the slides but someone else does the talking, because I can no longer talk at presentations. This is the second time I have done this.

This time my talk is on 8m.

8m QRP FT8 TX (Friday)

 At 1315z I turned on my QMX+ on 8m FT8 TX. At 1320z, nobody had spotted me.

UPDATE 1610z: QRT on 8m FT8. No spots of me.

10m QRP FT8 with the QMX+

Just before lunch I turned on the QMX+ to FT8. Power out is about 3.5W to an end-fed.

UPDATE 1301z:  So far I have been spotted by 162 stations with the furthermost VK6DW (14466km) in Western Australia.

UPDATE 1630z:  Back on 10m FT8 with the QMX+. 100 stations have spotted me recently.

UPDATE 2100z:  399 stations have spotted me today. See map. QRT soon.

PC and QMX+ puzzle solved

This morning I solved an issue with my QMX+. 

I could not understand why, despite all the settings being correct, my QMX+ refused to have any output on FT8. What had not noticed was that the USB audio on the PC was muted. Once it was unmuted, all was well.

10m QRP WSPR (Friday)

 My 500mW beacon was turned on at about 0900z. So far just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting me.

UPDATE 1240z:  In all, 8 stations spotted me this morning, before I went to 10m QRP FT8 with my QMX+

Sunspots - Friday February 7th

 Solar flux is 188 and the SSN 169.  A=9 and K=0.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

With my antenna PL259 mended I went back on 8m at about 1230z. 

UPDATE 1416z: No spots of me.

10m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My 10m QRP FT8 (using the IC-705) was turned on at about 1115z. 

UPDATE 1147z: 120 stations have spotted me. See map.

Thursday plans

Today, I have several things to do: 

1. Go on 10m QRP WSPR (already on).

2. Mend the PL259 plug on my 8m antenna (it came unsoldered).

3. Try 10m QRP FT8 with the IC705.

4. Set up GB3PI on my IC-705 and check access.

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

My 500mW beacon was turned on at 0900z.

UPDATE 1402z:  16 stations already spotting me today with the furthermost ZD7GB (7607km).

See https://wspr.rocks/

UPDATE 1642z: 32 stations have spotted me today.

Christ's Pieces - NOT amateur radio

This is Christ's Pieces, a park behind the bus station in Cambridge.  

Christ's College, part of the University of Cambridge, is nearby.

Cambridge buildings - NOT amateur radio

My wife made this collage of Cambridge buildings yesterday. 

She took the photos on her way back from her course at the University of the Third Age.

VLF memory 2011

 This was my copy of a VLF amateur signal from Germany 🇩🇪 on 8.97kHz with my earth-electrode antenna in the ground in 2011.

Sunspots - Thursday February 7th

 Solar flux is 191 and the SSN 159. A=6 and K=3.

10m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

Since fixing the RF feedback issue (see earlier post) I have been on 10m FT8 since about 0700z.

UPDATE 1940z:  14 spots already with the IC-705, all bar one in the USA .

RF in the shack on 10m with the IC-705

 For some reason I was getting RF feedback in the shack when using my IC-705 at 10W on 10m FT8. I added a few ferrite beads and this seems to have fixed it,

Waiting for the bus - NOT amateur radio

In the UK bus travel is free most of the time if you are old. It is as quick to go into Cambridge by bus as by car and is totally free. This was earlier waiting for our bus.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)

 

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been on since just after breakfast. So far, 14 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1400z: 16 stations have spotted me.

VLF transmitter

 

Looking through some old photos I came across this one of my VLF transmitter that was used for earth-mode tests though the ground. 

It produced about 5W and my best DX (before my stroke intervened!) was about 6km. Much further would have been possible.

Since my stroke, I have been unable to continue my VLF tests. It is still on my shelf.

Sunspots - Wednesday February 5th

 Solar flux is 191 and the SSN 194.  A=6 and K=1.

Huge sunspot

Apparently there is a very large sunspot that could result in increased solar activity this week. 

Is it or isn't it?

The Yaesu FTX-1F puzzles me. 

This radio was announced, and deposits taken, by many dealers months ago, yet (as far as I am aware) we have never seen any preliminary specs. 

The only data I am aware of was the demo at the Tokyo Ham Fair last summer. I am still getting the feeling that Yaesu is "tweeking" the design or was just testing the market to judge whether or not it would make any money. 

From what we have seen already it has fewer features than the 5 year old ICOM IC-705, meaning it would be unlikely to make Yaesu much, if any, profit.

As I have said many times, it has to be feature-rich and keenly priced to be a real winner. There are many loyal Yaesu fans, but the market place has become far more fierce since the FT817 was launched.

Come on Yaesu! Where are those specs?