Sunspots - Monday June 16th

 Solar flux is 148 and the SSN 141.  A=11 and K=2.

Crystal receivers

This was one area of radio that fascinated me, although I have not explored it recently. At one time, my ambition was to build a crystal set that covered VLF to over 1 GHz with maximum sensitivity. 

Remember, crystal sets are passive receivers generating all their power from the TX. Some designs use the rectified signals from many stations to bias the detector on or to power a small amplifier.

These days there are fewer English language broadcast stations on short wave.

In my time I have received stations from all over the world, not via relays that can be much nearer. I have heard amateur and commercial stations too.

Most crystal sets can copy about 1mV signals, although I expect optimised systems can receive far weaker signals.

There is a page on my website about these.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/crystal-set-dxing

Galloping - NOT amateur radio

 

The horses were seen from the top of a bus last week in Stratford upon Avon, UK.

Father's Day - NOT amateur radio

It may be different across the world, but in the UK it is Father's Day. 

One of my sons bought me some red wine and a special card.

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon has been on since breakfast and just spotted by EA1FAQ (1249km).

UPDATE 2053z: Also spotted by V51RS (8481km).

6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 5W FT8 was turned on at about 0645z.

UPDATE 2051z:   My 5W 6m FT8 has been spotted by 122 stations around Europe and the Canary Is..

Sunspots - Sunday June 15th

 Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 136.  A=24 and K=2.

Trains - NOT amateur radio

This was part of a photo on 365project.org earlier. 

Apparently the North York Moors Railway (a private preserved railway in the UK, usually steam) has a diesel weekend.

10m 500mW WSPR TX

My QRP 10m WSPR beacon has been on since 1115z.

UPDATE 1232z:  No spots of me. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that 10m WSPR is rarely worth the effort.

UPDATE 1341z: Just EA1FAQ (1249km) spotting me today.

UPDATE 1850z:  13 stations spotting me around Europe.  WSPR gets me spotted around the planet, but I always get far more spots on 6m FT8. I get the feeling that if the noise floor is poor it is harder for the RXing station with WSPR. Signals are buried deeper in the noise. QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at about 1115z. 

Stations spotting me

UPDATE 1853z: Spotted by 255 stations. 282 stations spotted here on RX. See map for stations spotting my QRP. Most look like Es. Furthermost on RX is OD5KU (3468km).

UPDATE 2108z:  On 6m FT8 RX D2UY (6525km) and many stations in Florida spotted here. Now QRT.

Seen on our walk earlier - NOT amateur radio

These flowers were seen on our walk around the village earlier.

Sunspots - Saturday June 14th

Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 134.  A=66 and K=3.

6m DX

Way back in 2007, I worked a station in the USA on 6m CW with just 1W to my vertical V2000 colinear. I see Lofty had a big antenna which must have helped!

As yet, I have not seen any Far East stations on 6m FT8 RX. This regularly happens about now and is thought linked to the formation of noctilucent clouds.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/super-dx .

Lightning risk

So far this year, we have escaped thunderstorms and torrential rain. As thunderstorms could strike us overnight, it is probably wise to disconnect everything. Of course, if I do this we'll get no rain and no  thunderstorms! It is worth checking the lightning maps to assess the risks.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/

Is WSPR declining in popularity?

When I go on 10m WSPR it is not uncommon to get few spots these days. On the other hand my 6m 5W FT8 gets loads of spots. The difference in power means that they are about equal in S/N ratio at the receiver as FT8 is roughly 10dB less effective than WSPR. Perhaps WSPR gets buried in local noise more often?

The major reason for using 10m WSPR is the PC is not needed and the 10m antenna is available when I go on 6m FT8.

I am seriously wondering if it is really worth carrying on with 10m WSPR.

Visiting a new place - NOT amateur radio

When we go somewhere new we like to go around on a "hop on, hop off"  bus to get the "feel" of a place and then stopping off later where we know what to see. 

This week we went to Stratford upon Avon and this is one of the bus stops. We bought a ticket that lasted a day.

10m 500mW WSPR

 Well, if you turn the PSU on the wall it helps. Yesterday, I got no 10m spots at all .I can see why now!

Today my 500mW beacon has been on since early morning with the PSU on!

UPDATE 1103z:  So far, just EA1FAQ (1249km).

How embarrassing!

The latest GQRP magazine SPRAT has arrived and I see there are 3 articles of mine! I was hoping they would spread them out. They must be desperate for articles. 

Usually SPRAT is excellent as a quarterly A5 colour magazine full of ideas. 

It is entirely done by volunteers without payment. As I have said many times before, if every magazine had to stop this would be the last to go. Perhaps not this one though!  

See http://gqrp.com/sprat.htm .

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 0846z.  So far, spotted by 12 Europeans, presumably Es. 

Incidentally,yesterday I forgot to turn on the PSU so I assume yesterday it was 50% of 5W, so about 2.5W FT8.  Not that I noticed!

UPDATE 1628z:  92 spots of me. Most are Es. 52 stations spotted on RX.

Sunspots - Friday June 13th

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 133.  A=18 and K=3.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

 Although my stand-alone beacon has been on since mid-afternoon, no spots of me.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

 

52 stations have spotted my 5W since arriving home mid-afternoon. Most were Es. See map.

What a disappointment!

 This was my grandson in 2010 when I had hopes of him becoming an electronics engineer like his  grandfather. I failed!

Anne Thathaway - NOT amateur radio

This was where Shakespeare’s wife lived before they married.

11 years ago

 Looking back I came across this photo from 2014 showing my loading coil for use at 472kHz.

Sunspots - Thursday June 12th

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 133. A=18 and K=3.

Sepura - NOT amateur radio

Before I retired in 2008 I was high up in the Development Department at Sepura and they have, unsurprisingly, managed very well without me!!😉

River Avon - NOT amateur radio

 

This is the River Avon in Stratford upon Avon,

Sunspots - Wednesday June 11th

 Solar flux is 129 and the SSN 105. A= 9 and K=2 . 

Declining sunspots

 Unless we have a sudden change, it looks like we are on the slow decline to the solar minimum. Numbers are dropping.

Shakespeare’s church

This is the church where he is buried in Stratford upon Avon, UK.

Shakespeare’s birthplace - NOT amateur radio

 This was where Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon .

Old QSL card

This dates from 2003 and shows me using the Miracle Whip antenna on the FT817. The best contact was Argentina on 10m SSB with QRP.  Especially on the higher HF bands it worked remarkably well.

Western Canada - NOT amateur radio

We went to western Canada in June 2012. We expected good weather, but had snow on the ground!  It was a good holiday combining the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver with a week of car hire. 

The west is far better than the east.

Sunspots - Tuesday June 10th

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 82. A=15 and K=1.

Crab apples - NOT amateur radio

We have just one crab apple tree. 

After masses of flowers in the spring, there are now lots of fruit. These are about 1cm diameter.  

All being well, I shall make a couple of jars of crab apple jelly as in past years. It is delicious with some meats.

See https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crab-apple-jelly .

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

My W5OLF beacon was turned on at 1124z.

UPDATE 2114z:  Spotted by 4 stations in mainland Europe. Looks like Es. QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 (Monday)

At 1120z, I QSYed to 6m FT8.

UPDATE 2112z: 60 stations have spotted me. Presumably Es. See map. QRT soon.

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

My IC-705 was turned on at 5W just before breakfast.

UPDATE 1118z: 107 spots of my QRP.

Comparing 6m and 8m

It is over a week since my 8m TX permit expired. Instead, I am concentrating on 6m FT8.  There are several differences:

• Activity on  6m FT8  is vastly greater than on 8m. This is because there are far fewer stations permitted to TX on 8m and few PTTs seem to be bothered.
• In the Es season it is quite easy to get all over Europe and with low power. This is almost certainly true on 8m, but there are far too few on the band.
• The MUF  seems to reach 8m far more often than 6m. This is especially true around sunspot maximum.
• I would imagine aurora would be better than 6m.