Rain at last - NOT amateur radio

 

After almost a month with no rain, this week has been dull with some rain as this photo from a friend on 365project.org shows.

6m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

My IC-705 at 5W was turned on at 1030z.

UPDATE 1550z:   493 spots of me so far, with plenty of Es. See map. When Es is good all Europe and North Africa is possible with 6m QRP.  On 6m Es I get far more spots than I did on 8m sadly. On 6m FT8 RX  the furthest is UN7AM (3816km) in Kazakhstan.

Sunspots - Wednesday May 28th

 Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 116. A=15 and K=4.

Cold War radio broadcasts

 Many of us will recall the radio broadcasts by countries during the cold war. All sides tried to outdo the other with  propaganda. I recall getting some excellent gifts from Radio Peking, even though I had no interest in their, or anybody else's, propaganda!

One of the  famous ones was Radio Moscow. I heard this very well with my shortwave crystal set and remembering getting a QSL  card from this and many.  I have attached a link to their interval signal. It is quite a large MP3 file (22M) so may take a time to come through.

Hornet or wasp? - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, my son sent me this photo from Kent.  

He says it was huge and thinks it was a hornet, although I am less sure.

Sporadic-E (Es)

 In the late spring and early summer we get sporadic-E in the northern hemisphere. Bands it most impacts are 10m-4m with occasional openings on Band 2 FM and rarely on 2m.

When Es is good there are widespread, strong openings and, QRM allowing, only really low power is needed. Indeed last year I was spotted across Europe on many occasions on 6m FT8 with less than 10mW ERP.

It usually starts in early May and disappears around early August, with the best months being May and June. Occasionally multi-hop or chordal hop Es can cover astounding distances, which is one reason 6m is called "the magic band".  Many years ago I recall working the USA with QRP one summer on 6m CW

Es can occur at any time of year but is best in late spring and early summer.

UK National Health Service - NOT amateur radio

Since 1948, the UK has had a health service free at the point of delivery. 12 years ago I had a stroke and was hospitalised for 3.5 months and the care was very good.

However, I am aware of many inefficiencies. Things (hopefully!) have improved. It appeared that the same information was asked for again and again. I am aware of a neighbour that cancelled a hospital appointment weeks in advance and yet an ambulance came to pick up the patient!  It was as if the right hand did not know what the left was doing. Things were not joined up! 

This very morning my wife tried to phone a local hospital multiple times to cancel an appointment. She gave up.

You are left with the impression that this is a totally inefficient service that must waste millions each year. I am sure the doctors, nurses and support staff are overworked and underpaid and this is part (but not all) of the problem.

In my view the UK National Health Service wants looking at anew and made fit for the nations in the years ahead. 

We like our NHS, but like all organisations, it has to work well. Also the social care service is poor, yet every government seems to "kick the can down the road" rather than fixing it.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

My IC-705 was turned on at about 0755z. Already spotted by 36 stations this morning.

UPDATE 1237z:  Spotted by 193 stations, mostly I presume by Es.  See map.

UPDATE 1727z:  Spotted by 222 stations today. A very good 6m Es day.

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

 My 500mW beacon was turned on at about 0755z. 6 stations spotting me via Es already.

UPDATE 1100z: 26 stations have spotted me. Furthest is Namibia.

Goodbye 8m

My 8m TX permit expires soon.

As it would cost me £50 annually to continue my research and the RSGB, OFCOM and others seem so against (not even neutral) even a small band, I have taken down my 8m dipole and have no intention of carrying on. Sad. 

As I have said many, many times, the best time for research would have been around the solar peak, which has passed. Instead I am concentrating on 6m and 10m.

Life is too short to battle on. 

I hope in the end we will see a very tiny allocation at 8m, but I can't see this happening soon. If it does come about, I shall return to 8m.

Sunspots - Tuesday May 27th

 Solar flux is 133 and the SSN 113. A=8 and K=2.

Internet archive - NOT amateur radio

In looking for something else I came across the Wayback Machine. This is a vast resource of old internet material. 

Just one example is this broadcast by Lord Haw Haw from Germany to England during WW2.

Can AI be conscious? - NOT amateur radio

Human consciousness is a real puzzle.  We are aware of ourselves but do not know how.  

Some think AI can be conscious. If true, this makes world religions even more of a puzzle. Some religions believe that something that makes us "us" continues after our bodies dies.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k3700zljjo .

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

Stations spotting
me this morning

My 5W FT8 was turned on after breakfast.

UPDATE 1027z: 24 stations have spotted me this morning with the furthest Switzerland.

UPDATE 1241z: 46 stations have spotted me today.

UPDATE 1842z: 94 stations have spotted my 5W 6m FT8 today. All were European.

10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)

My QRP beacon has been on since just after breakfast

UPDATE 1739z:  14 stations spotting me.  Furthest is the German research base in Antarctica.

1923 crystal set

This was crystal set was made by BTH . 

Imagine the thrill in those early days of radio. 

When I retired some years ago I was bought a Gecophone 1920s crystal set that worked.

I had a webpage for the Gecophone on my old website that I must put on my more recent site.

My old website is still there, but the links may not work as this site is not being maintained.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/home/other/gecophone-crystal-set

Sunspots - Monday May 26th

 Solar flux is 133 and the SSN 90. A=6 and K=1.

R1155 receiver

With its companion TX the T1154, these were the main radios in Lancasters in WW2. I expect they were a familiar sight to my dad!

In the years following the war they were popular with radio amateurs on the surplus market.

This is a photo supplied by John G3ZTY of it installed in a Handley Page Hampden (on its side as space was so tight!).

Internet time

Many digital modes need the PC to have accurate time. For several months now I have just used the Windows 10/11 system of linking to internet time. As far a I can tell, this works perfectly.

How do you do this?  On Window 10 there is a time/date shown on the bottom right of the screen. I cannot speak for Windows 11, but I assume this is similar. RIGHT click and the select "adjust time and date". Select "sync now" in the box that appears. I do this every morning, but I doubt you have to do it this often. Once the tick appears your PC is synced to internet time. Easy.

10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

When on 6m, it means my 10m antenna is free, so I go on 10m WSPR with my 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon (if I remember!). This does not need the PC. Once the time is set (I use an atomic clock) it is entirely stand-alone.

UPDATE 0921z:  No spots.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned at about 0900z .

UPDATE 1010z: 16 English stations have spotted me this morning. No Es seen yet.

UPDATE 1815z: 61 stations have spotted me today. Lots of Es.

Sunspots - Sunday May 25th

 Solar flux is 130 and the SSN 105. A=5 and K=1.

What is this?

This was on the QRPer.com website, but I don't know what it is. It may have been a concept model that never got to market? I like the looks. If anyone has more data, please leave a comment.

Hamvention 2025

This is now well and truly over. 

Dayton, Ohio, USA (where it is held) is probably the biggest ham gathering on the planet and often the place where new rigs are announced. I am not aware of anything from the major Japanese companies.

Often visitors come from other countries. It would not surprise me if foreign visitor numbers are down this year.

6m 5W FT8 yesterday

 In all, 58 stations across Europe managed to spot my QRP 6m FT8. As yet, I have not yet seen any super DX on 6m.

Yaesu FTX 1F unboxing

My own view is this radio is far too expensive and lacks many essential features (you pay extra for GPS and it lacks wifi!! I don't think it has Bluetooth either). 

The ICOM  IC-705 looks far better value even before they dropped the price. Hopefully the price of the FTX 1F will soon fall so that it becomes a market leader. 

I have the feeling ICOM will soon sell the IC-705A with some features that kill the FTX 1F. Often the price of radios drops before they sell a new version.  If so, I think Yaesu is finished or soon will be. 

Selling a competitor to the IC-705 with what seems like fewer features at a higher price? Are they stupid? If I was in charge of their marketing team I would sack the lot. In the last few years they seem to have made some daft decisions. They come across as followers rather than leaders, and poor followers too.

Many like it, so I have attached the video of it being unboxed.

Sunspot cycle 25

Cycle 25 now looks like it has passed the peak and is on the way down according to NOAA. See their graph.  The black is actual and red is their forecast. 

Usually the up-slope to the peak is quicker than the decline to the minimum. So conditions on HF should be good for some years.

See  https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression

10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)

 Although my 500mW beacon has been on since before breakfast, no spots of me. I suspect more people are now using other modes.

So fast - NOT amateur radio

This was a photo of 2 of our grandchildren taken some years ago. They are now teenagers with one almost adult. 

You think these days will last forever. They don’t! 😢. 

6m QRP FT8 ( Saturday)

My 5W has been on since just before breakfast.

UPDATE 0854z: 19 spots so far including a couple of German stations.

UPDATE 1613z:   36 stations have spotted me. See map.

UPDATE 1847z:  43 stations have spotted me.

Sunspots - Saturday May 24th

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 122. A=7 and K=1.

6m QRP FT8 (Friday)

 My 5W FT8 was turned on mid afternoon.  I went QRT at about 2025z.

UPDATE 2030z:   113 stations (all in Europe) spotted me today.

Another website - NOT amateur radio

 As a sideline, I maintain another website http://www.burwellhistory.org which is our village history society. This meets every month and meetings are well attended. Visitors are always welcome for a nominal sum.

10m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My 10m FT8 at 5W was turned on at about 0830z. 

UPDATE 0920z:   So far, 90 stations have spotted me today, all in Europe.

UPDATE 1233z:  360 stations have spotted my 5W 10m FT8 so far with the furthermost A71AE (5195km) in the Gulf. See map.

Sunspots - Friday May 23rd

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 99. A=8 and K=1.

Goodbye 8m

 Today, I took down my 8m dipole. This means I can no longer go on 8m TX. It marks the end of my campaign and experiments on the band. Everything I sought to find out has been completed and I refuse to pay £50 a year to continue. Instead I am QSYing to 6m and 10m.

It is a sad day, but life is too short to continuing my battle with the RSGB and OFCOM. In my view, their attitude is disgraceful.

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on at about 1037z.

UPDATE 1255z:  14 European stations spotting me.  Es I assume.

2m FT8

At 1037z I QSYed to 2m QRP FT8 using 5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. I am also on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon.

UPDATE 1333z: 26 spots of me on 2m FT8. Best DX is EI3KD (583km). It never fails to amaze me how far my 2m QRP FT8 gets!

No mow May - NOT amateur radio

One of our neighbours does not cut the middle of his lawn to encourage wild flowers to grow. 

It looks great: a mixture of kept, yet wild. The garden looks really good.

10m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

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

UPDATE 1028z:  46 Europeans spotting me.

UPDATE 1408z: Back on 5W 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1855z:  303 spots of me today. See map.

UPDATE 2112z:  325 stations have spotted me today. QRT soon.