Durham Cathedral yesterday - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we visited Durham Cathedral and an old school friend of my wife.

Apparently this was where Scottish 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 prisoners were kept hundreds of years ago. To keep warm they burned wooden things, but spared the clock as it has a small thistle. 

Sunspots - Friday April 25th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 152. A=13 and K=1.

The tiny QDX is all you need?

 Because of my poor voice following my 2013 stroke I use WSJT-X digital modes almost all the time. I still use voice modes occasionally. Arguably, all you ever need is the QDX which is so small.

Newcastle artwork - NOT amateur radio

 This was seen in a shop window in Newcastle UK yesterday in the colours of Newcastle football ⚽️ team.

Sunspots - Thursday April 24th

 Solar flux is 167 and the SSN 132. A=7 and K=2.

Kitchin regenerative RX (more)

 I am a great fan of regen receivers as you get lots of “bang for your buck” in that they work well yet are simple.

Newcastle cathedral - NOT amateur radio

This was Newcastle cathedral earlier. The people are extremely friendly.

3D printed CW key

 This was on the DX Explorer YouTube channel earlier. I like this channel. There are lots of very informative videos on this channel.

Millennium bridge , Newcastle UK - NOT amateur radio

 This links Newcastle and Gateshead .

Sunspots- Wednesday 23rd

 Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 142. A=12 and K=1.

Train food - NOT amateur radio

This was the meal I had on the train from London to Newcastle. Only 3 hours and 10 minutes- really good.

Glasshouse - NOT amateur radio

 This is in Gateshead on the banks of the River Tyne, UK.

Sunspots- Tuesday April 22nd

 Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 137. A=35 and K=3.

Really low power WSPR

VK3YE is well known in amateur radio circles. This is his video on very low powered experiments with WSPR.

Pope dies - NOT amateur radio

Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I can understand the profound pain that must be felt across the globe on the death of the Pope announced earlier. He had been gravely ill, but appeared to be recovering.  His death must have been a shock to many people.

See Home - BBC News

Hmmm.. - NOT amateur radio

 Even if I was a Republican in the USA I would be concerned about this.

Hegseth shared Yemen attack details in second Signal chat, reports say - BBC News

10m QRP FT8 (Monday)

After breakfast I expect to be on 10m QRP FT8 again. I run the IC-705 at 6W.

UPDATE 1047z:  7 stations have spotted me (all near - tropo or aircraft?) and I have spotted 6 stations.

UPDATE 1458z:  Spotted by 20 stations and I have spotted 17 here with the furthermost Indonesia.

UPDATE 1910z: Spotted by 26 stations with the furthermost Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Now QRT.

Sunspots - Monday April 21st

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 108. A=14 and K=4.

Faroes - NOT amateur radio

As mentioned before, one of the joys of 365project.org is seeing different parts of the world, such as this collage by a friend up in the Faroe Islands. 

I expect auroras are far more common up there.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 10m 6W FT8 was turned on late this afternoon. I think there was an issue getting spotted on PSKreporter earlier, so I gave up. 

UPDATE 1621z:  So far, 38 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1944z:  58 stations have spotted me. See map. QRT soon.

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

 Just spots by EA8BFK and EA8/DF4UE today in the Canary Is..

Knitted Bible - NOT amateur radio

 Whatever our views on religion, Easter is a time for peace and kindness. So, I wish everyone a very happy Easter. There is an exhibition of knitted bible figures that is currently in our church. It is currently going around the country.

DE G3XBM JO02

I have been experimenting with formats that show up on PSKreporter when I am beaconing. 

The above format seems to work and does not show that I am actively seeking out stations for a QSO as "CQ de G3XBM JO02" does.

In future, when beaconing,  I shall use this format on FT8.

 "BCN de G3XBM" is another format that seems to work, but does not show my location.

Sunspots - Sunday April 20th

 Solar flux is 157 and the SSN 114. A=20 and K-=5.

The future of AI - NOT amateur radio

To say I am amazed and frightened by AI is an understatement. 

Recently I watched a video imagining a street scene in 1897. I have used AI every day to get the daily sunspot number. I put a few placenames in AI and got back huge amounts of accurate data. A friend said he used AI for most of his software coding. 

A few years ago AI often produced rubbish and could not be trusted. Now there are far fewer occasions when it "goes rogue". Today I discovered a painting produced by a humanoid robot that sold at action for over £1M. As time goes by AI will get even better! Imagine AI in 40 years' time.  It cannot be uninvented. There is little doubt that many jobs will be done in future by AI. 

We have to adapt.

See Meet the AI robot whose artwork sold for over $1m - BBC News

Lunch - NOT amateur radio

We quite enjoy thermidor for lunch occasionally. This one was king prawns.

Beaconing and PSKreporter?

Unless I am wrong, I do not think there is way of showing up on PSKreporter without calling CQ. It would be really good if messages like "BCN de G3XBM" would show up so stations could clearly see you are not currently looking for QSOs. On many occasions I just want to see where my QRP signal reaches.

More on regen receivers

 Yesterday I mentioned  just how effective regen receivers could be. They are especially suited to "first time" builders as they can be extremely simple, but remarkable receivers. If you have never tried one, I highly recommend you build one and try.

New life - NOT amateur radio

 

These horse chestnut trees in our village churchyard are very old. They were planted to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. 

Generations of children have collected conkers from these and I hope many more will do so. 

The rooks are busy mending nests high above.

More Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

 

This was another photo of Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, that we visited earlier this week.

10m 100mW FT8 (Saturday)

This morning I am trying 10m FT8 at 100mW. There is far more chance of being clobbered by a stronger station, but it's fun to try. I have my IC-705 set to 1% power on HF. My gear was turned on at about 0845z.

UPDATE 1149z:  3 spots of me. Furthermost is 4X5KS (3545km). Who needs power!!? 52 stations spotted here.

UPDATE 1403z:  6 spots of my 100mW 10m FT8. 

UPDATE 1920z:  15 stations have spotted me at 100mW. See map. Now QRT at 100mW.

UPDATE 1930z:  Now at 6W and signing "De G3XBM JO02" hoping this appears on PSKreporter.

ICOM IC-705 versus Yaesu FTX-1F

You can see what ICOM need to do as an upgrade to the IC-705. Let's call this the IC-705A.  They could include an ATU internally and offer 4m. If they did these, they would probably easily compete against the Yaesu FTX-1F if it ever does come to market. 

I am losing faith with Yaesu, who appear to be drifting yet again. The last I heard was they were planning a worldwide launch after FCC approval. With the goings-on in the USA, I cannot see the FCC approving it soon. Also, Japan now faces a 10% tariff in the USA. I expect all Japanese manufacturers are revisiting their business plans. We have heard nothing more about this product since it appeared under glass last summer in Tokyo. I expect (if not withdrawn altogether!) Yaesu is trying to see which features will make it a real winner.

In my view the FTX-1F was put out in Tokyo to judge reaction. Unless it comes to market very soon, it is dead. It is interesting that we have not even seen updated specs! 

Meanwhile, the IC-705 is already years old, has many features already and the only thing against it is price. Just imagine if ICOM dropped its price by £150. Yaesu would be scrabbling around in a right mess.

Sunspots - Saturday April 19th

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 113. A=13 and K=4.

Regen receivers

 Regen receivers are simple, but effective. I have designed and built several. See my website. One of the classics was by Charles Kitchen N1TEV. It appeared in QEX.

See also Kitchin Regen is Revealed #soldersmoke #vintageradio #retro #regen - YouTube

Our village - NOT amateur radio

 

This photo collage was taken yesterday.

FT4 and JS8Call

These are two digital modes I have never tried. The former is faster than FT8, but less sensitive. JS8Call allows chatting with a keyboard, but is basically the same as FT8. JS8Call is meant for real communications.

See JS8Call | The official site for JS8Call

Easter - NOT amateur radio

Easter is traditionally a time for families to get together.....and eat. All these were bought from our local bakers yesterday. Just cooked.

10m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My IC-705 at 6W was turned on at about 0530z. 

UPDATE 1732z: 62 stations have spotted me. The furthermost is Reunion Is.. Quieter than I was expecting. Maybe several people are away over the Easter weekend? 

Friday plans

 As conditions seem less disturbed I plan to go on 10m QRP FT8 later.

Sunspots - Friday April 18th

 Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 70. A=11 and K=3.