4m and 60m

When I briefly owned a Yaesu FT710 I tried 4m FT8 and was copied all over the UK and mainland Europe despite not having a "proper" antenna and loading up my 2m big-wheel via the auto ATU. Outside the Es season activity was very disappointing. I was surprised.

Also, it is a pity we don't have the WARC 60m band like many others. Many are probably put off by the "bitty" nature of the UK allocations. No doubt we share this with the military who keep saying "no". I bet if we look at all the bands kept "just in case" for the UK military, it would be huge chunks of spectrum.

I fail to understand why radio amateurs cannot gain limited secondary access to some of these with very low power, by NoV, and us being asked to go QRT at any time there was heightened tension, war or interference. After all they know our callsigns and location! In the meantime huge swathes of spectrum ripe for experimentation stay fallow.

If you ask me .... stupid.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

 My gear was turned on about 0730z . 

8m monitors earlier

UPDATE 1505z:  No spots yet. There are more people monitoring 8m FT8, although I think I miss out with just a few watts and a low dipole. I imagine if I had 20W to a Moxon beam I would be copied more easily and more widely.

UPDATE 1954z:   QRT.  Just one station spotted me today EI3KF (574km).

10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

 My 500mW beacon was turned on about 0730z . 2 stations spotting me at 0822z .

UPDATE 1957z:  49 stations spotting me today. QRT.

1930s TX

 

Someone made a very close copy of this 1930s TX for 40m CW.

Sunspots - Sunday February 23rd

 Solar flux is 199 and the SSN 215. A=6 and K=1.

FT8

Some like it and some hate it. 

I agree that if you believe amateur radio is about 2-way chats, possibly with stations across the world, then FT8 is not for you.  Also, with FT8 people will not chance upon amateur radio as many of us did on AM years ago.

In my own case, I have little alternative as my voice is very poor these days!  FT8 works with very weak signals and only occupies about 50Hz whereas SSB takes about 2.3kHz. With FT8 exchanges are very basic.

I am "on the fence" over FT8. There is no way without FT8 nearly 900 stations would have copied my 5W on 10m  today. 

At the same time, I really believe modes like FT8 could lead to the end of amateur radio as we know it.

LORA DX

On Amateur Radio Weekly yesterday was a small yagi to extend the range of LORA systems. They were claiming a range of 40km, although I expect that was line-of-sight. LORA is a long range, licence free, data system using spread spread spectrum techniques.

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

Norwich - NOT amateur radio

 

Yesterday, I mentioned going to Norwich by train. It is a journey of about an hour. We love Norwich. The photo shows the arrival at the station in Norwich. It is about 1km walk to the splendid Norman cathedral.

Almost spring - NOT amateur radio

 

After what has seemed like a long, wet and dull winter, today felt more like spring. 

For the first time in months it felt mild outside so much so that I pruned my roses. Every year they grow well for a hard prune early in the year. Opinions vary about when and what to do, but I shall stick with what works.

We have had no snow, but several frosts. It is also wetter than I remember. I am sure we have not done with winter yet, but at least there is a hint of spring.

10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 At the moment I am on 10m QRP FT8 with 5W from the IC-705.

UPDATE  0958z:  So far, I have been spotted by 39 stations, despite only being on for a few minutes.

UPDATE 1030z: Spotted by 114 stations. On RX the furthermost is the Solomon Is H44MS (14814km) in the Pacific.

UPDATE 1803z:  774 stations have spotted my 10m 5W FT8  today. 1549 stations have been spotted today on 10m FT8.

Sunspots - Saturday February 22nd

Solar flux is 197 and the SSN 138. A=6 and K=0.

Norwich by train - NOT amateur radio

Today we went to Norwich by train. It’s about an hour by train. Norwich is a fine city with a good Norman cathedral. 

Sunspots - Friday February 21st

 Solar flux is 184 and the SSN 123. A=7 and K=0.

Rally on Sunday

 Sunday February 23rd - Red Rose Winter Rally, Leigh, WN7 2PJ.  Contact lesjackson@ntlworld.com .

Human consciousness - NOT amateur radio

We hear a lot these days about AI. One of my Cambridge University of the Third Age courses is about AI. It is very good and thought provoking.

At the moment AI is not very good with irony or jokes. No doubt with time and better training this will improve.

I guess what we fail to really understand is human consciousness. Just what makes us able to think, become aware of ourselves etc.? In my mind there is a huge difference between the accumulation of all the knowledge on the internet, and of wisdom.  AI can learn all about all the knowledge on the internet, but still not be wise or be able to contemplate its very existence.

At some point I wonder if we will be able to say exactly what human consciousness really is?  In many ways this is a philosophical question.

Milder? - NOT amateur radio

In this part of the UK it is meant to be getting much milder, with a hint of spring. It is quite windy here and I have not noticed it getting milder yet.

Roll on spring!

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

Once again, I am on 40.680 MHz FT8 with the FT817ND hoping for some spots.

UPDATE 1134z:  Just one spot by EA8RCP (3022km) of me so far today. I estimate about 2.5W to the low dipole.

UPDATE 1411z:  Now also spotted on 8m FT8 by EI4DQ (580km).

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 1139z:  Just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting me. It seems the single hop F2 to the Canary Is is often open. Interesting that reports of me vary from -25dB S/N to -5dB S/N on this path. This implies he could still  copy me with microwatts at times!

WSPRrocks by Phil VK7JJ

UPDATE 1640z:  26 spots of me with the furthermost Brazil. 

Sunspots- Thursday February 20th

Solar  flux is 178 and the SSN 119. A=20 and K=2.

Cambridge bookshops - NOT amateur radio

At one time there were lots of bookshops in Cambridge. These days we buy many books online so there are fewer bookshops.  

This one has been around for a very long time. See the photo. 

Old work colleague

A few moments ago I sent an email to an old work colleague who now lives in Moscow. He is a very keen radio amateur who has done a great deal for the hobby.

This is one thing I really like about amateur radio. Whether the person lives in the USA, China or Russia matters not one bit. We are all human beings and all equal. In the days of the USSR it mattered not and Americans freely talked to stations in the USSR.

Amateur radio is above politics.

Let's hope the thought police don't come knocking!!

Ukraine - NOT amateur radio

The Ukrainian 🇺🇦 leader is not impressed with President Trump!! I can't say I blame him.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c62e2158mkpt.

Archetypal Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Whenever you think of Cambridge you may think of punts and fine weather. Well, today we had the punts, but not the fine weather! It was very cold.

Bite sized chunks - NOT amateur radio

 One of the things I remember from a time management course at work a long time ago was to think of issues in bite sized chunks. Every problem has a solution.

I am reminded of a famous quote by Descartes:

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible to resolve it"

See https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/rene-descartes-quotes.

Basically every problem, however complex, can be solved.

10m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

 Today, I am on 10m QRP FT8 with the IC-705 at 5W.

UPDATE 0915z:  59 stations spotting me with the furthermost ZD7GB (7606km).  An SV has his locator wrong as it appears he is in the Pacific Ocean!

UPDATE 1405z: 442 spots of me today. I doubt it can get much better with 5W FT8.

UPDATE 1625z: 625 spots of me today.

UPDATE 1900:  QRT soon.  755 stations have spotted me today. 

Chippenham Park, near Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went to Chippenham Park near Cambridge to see the snowdrops. There must be well over a million there.

Sunspots - Wednesday February 19th

 Solar flux is 178 and the SSN 187.  A=14 and K=3.

Famous quote - NOT amateur radio

Saw this earlier:

“The world is not static, and the status quo is not sacred.” Harry Truman

Oscar 100 narrowband activity

Every few weeks I peak at the activity levels on the narrow-band transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. As before, I find activity levels disappointing. 

I gather someone in the UK is selling a transverter now. Unless and until a "big name" does this, I cannot see activity levels increasing.

This is disappointing. By now, I was expecting the satellite to be really busy. The fact it is not says a great deal about the state of our hobby today.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Looking around, there are other tranverters on offer. For example, see https://www.leijenaarelectronics.nl/downloads/LE016-R5_System_Manual_13-09-2021.pdf .

See also https://www.passion-radio.com/satellite-qo-100/pack-dxpatrol-100-880.html .

Some have come up with "all in one box" solutions, but I guess this is too hard for most sadly. It requires engineering, rather than a cheque book. Engineering is a dying art these days in the amateur community. Full marks for those prepared to do it.

Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

This was Anglesey Abbey last week. 

For once it was sunny.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 Using my IC-705 at 7W, I am on 6m FT8. It was turned on just before breakfast

UPDATE 0923z:  16 stations spotting me with the furthermost EI3KD (583km) and the station in Brittany.  No "earth-shattering" DX today.

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR TX beacon was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 1608z:  36 stations spotting me. It looks like F2 propagation. Furthermost is Brazil.

Sunspots - Tuesday February 18th

 Solar Flux is 185 and the SSN 218. A=15 and K=3.

8m frustration?

Since I have been active on 8m (nearly 3 years now) I have tried again and again to get a tiny narrow digital only 8m amateur band in the UK. 

I was suggesting 5kHz, but even 3kHz would be enough to allow propagation research to proceed. In the past, just a Notice of Variation (NoV) would have been allocated, much as was done years ago when I started VLF tests.

Sadly, it would appear the RSGB and OFCOM just cannot be bothered: it is all too much hassle. Instead they are happy for people who want to do 8m research to pay up for doing so. In the USA the FCC seems equally blinkered. 

The most important things would have been found out around sunspot maximum. Sadly, it would seem self-training and propagation research no longer matter!  2000kHz of low VHF spectrum can be found for DTV work, yet just 3kHz can not be found.

After my 8m Trial and Innovation TX permit runs out, I do not intend to renew it.

RSGB membership? Why do I bother?

A just peace - NOT amateur radio

Both in the Ukraine and Gaza, peace is possible. 

Whatever the outcomes, it is essential that the peace is totally just for the inhabitants of those that live in these troubled lands. 

Peace cannot and must not be imposed on them.

8m QRP FT8 TX (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 1000z. 

UPDATE 1747z:  Spotted by EI4DQ (580km) in southern Eire.  This is the first 8m spot in several days. QRT.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

My beacon was turned on about 30 minutes ago.

UPDATE 1745z: 19 stations spotting me.  117 spots of me by EA8BFK (2880km).  Best DX a spot by ZD7GB (7607km). Now QRT.

Tree Hole - NOT amateur radio

This was in a tree at Anglesey Abbey seen last week.

One wonders what lives within! I expect the kids love it and imagine all sorts!

Sunspots - Monday February 17th

 Solar flux is 185 and the SSN 271 (high).  A=18 and K=2.

World order - NOT amateur radio

It would appear a new world order is emerging.  For over a century the USA was seen as the dominant world power. We are now seeing this change as China comes to the fore.

At one time the USA was seen as a beacon of democracy and one that could be aspired to. 

Recently, I cannot see many in the world wishing to follow the USA.

No political system is perfect.