6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at 0932z.

UPDATE 2130z:  37 stations from all over western Europe.  I am sure FT8 is catching very brief patches of Es. Now QRT. 

Sunspots - Sunday September 21st

 Solar flux is 166 and the SSN 158. A=5 and K=1.

Optical communications

The last time I did serious field work on 481THz over the horizon optical communication was before my 2013 stroke. Since then I have been too wobbly. 

This photo shows the gear used in these tests.

Micro80 QRP transceiver

This must date back about 40 years! Looking through some old photos, I came across this one of my 80m Micro80 transceiver. 

As I recall my first contact was with a station about 200 miles away and before it was cased and the Morse key was just tapping a wire onto the chassis!

I cannot recall the antenna.

Spitting Image

This was a BBC TV show (1980s?) that made fun with puppets of politicians, who sometimes take themselves far too seriously. It is now available on YouTube.

In my view, it is a good thing to lampoon politicians and is a sign of grown-up leaders and countries.

Corfu 2016

 

We enjoyed this Greek island and went there several times with my brother-in-law and his wife.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 1757z: So far spotted by 26 stations . Furthest is V51RS (8481km). Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 1756z: So far spotted by 32 stations with the furthest  OH7XM (1714km). Now QRT.

Sunspots - Saturday September 20th

 Solar flux is 160 and the SSN 158. A=3 and K=2.

FX-4c transceiver

This video was on the DX Explorer website. There is now a new version available with a small fan and USB-C socket. It is available via Ali Express for about £500-600. It gets good reviews although I have no personal experience.

Crane Flies (Daddy Long Legs)

In the UK, this must be the time of the year when they mature. Today there was one on the bus and there is another on the lounge window.  They are harmless and fun bumbling into windows. Many years ago we had no less than 15 at once in our bedroom.

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

Seasonal photobooks

For many years, my wife has produced a photo-book each season.  It documents what we, our children and grandchildren have been up to. It's surprising how soon you forget.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

My beacon has been on since about 1330z.

UPDATE 1739z: So far, 19 spots, all transatlantic apart from a couple in the Canary Is.. and one in Austria.

UPDATE 2017z:  23 stations have spotted me with the furthest  K6VZK (8719km). QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 ( Friday)

My gear has been on since about 1330z.

UPDATE 1735z:  So far, 19 stations spotting me. Furthest is I3VWK (1105km).

Quiet time

In Cambridge this is a quiet time. There are fewer visitors and the university students are not back yet.

Sunspots - Friday September 19th

 Solar flux is 150 and the SSN 119. A=6 and K=0.

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon was turned at about 1140z.

UPDATE 1805z:  Spotted by 8 stations with several in the USA. QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on at about 1140z.

UPDATE 1804z: 14 stations have spotted me. See map. QRT soon.

Seccumbed

In the end I ordered a UV5r mini (transparent). At the very low price with a discount it was a bargain. Even if it goes wrong after a while it is far less than one meal out. 

Talking of meals out we really like Cote Brasserie which does an excellent fixed price menu.

Thursday plans

10m QRP FT8 yesterday

Yesterday my 10m FT8 QRP was spotted by 63 stations on 4 continents. See map.  

I have not yet decided what to do today, but my inclination is to try 6m FT8 later.

Sunspots - Thursday September 18th

 Solar flux is 147 and the SSN 119. A=12 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Wednesday)

 When I am on 6m FT8, like now, I can go on 10m QRP WSPR as my antenna is available and my beacon does not need the PC.

UPDATE 1343z:   No spots.

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

 At 1330z, I switched to 6m QRP FT8 from 10m QRP FT8.

UPDATE 1344z: Spotted by 4 English stations.

Early Halloween?

This was a shop window in our village earlier this week. It looks like this is a Halloween display. Personally, I think it is far too early.

Beofeng UV5R-mini

This product s available at ridiculously low prices (from China I think), although I have no personal experience. 

Looking at Ali-express, the price varies depending on the colour, accessories and whether you want 1 or 2 units. I am very tempted!

10m 3W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear has been on since about 0545z.

UPDATE 1236z:  59 stations have spotted me. See map.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 17th

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 130. A=21 and K=2.

Sunflowers dying

These have been a real surprise. The seeds came with some flowers my wife got for Mother's Day. I planted some in a tray and some in the ground. Most germinated and have looked good for several weeks, but they are now dying.

Some of the seeds will be kept for next year and the birds will have the rest.

Better Regen RX

Dave Richards AA7EE who makes some excellent projects very neatly has done a regen RX which he will add to his blog soon. He is a real experimenter!

If you want to see neat layouts without a PCB, look at Dave's blog and be inspired.

See https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/

More autumnal

 

The grass has just been cut and it feels more autumnal. We have had high winds and showers and there are more leaves on the ground.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Tuesday)

 At about 0930z I decided to try 10m WSPR as the antenna was free when I went on 6m FT8.

UPDATE  1030z:  No spots yet.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

 At  about 0930z, I QSYed to 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1025z:  Spotted by 8 stations, some in mainland Europe.

Gaza

Politically, I have always been a "floating voter"  voting for the party that best represents my views.

Whilst fully understanding the revulsion felt by Israel for the horrific acts by Hamas on October 7th and the wish by its enemies to see the destruction of the state if Israel, I am sickened by the apparent wish to destroy and drive out the people of Gaza. The Israeli government will claim their only wish is to destroy Hamas.

In the eyes of the world, Israel is seen as the aggressor in Gaza. You would think after the sheer horror of the holocaust in WW2, they would not want innocents to suffer.

The aggression and killing must stop. 

The only long-term peace will come from talking around a table. All sides will have to make some compromises.

Does Israel really believe they will defeat Hamas?  Their actions are likely to result in even more people turning against Israel.

Give peace and reconciliation a chance!

WSJT-X

 Although the officially released version is 2.7, my friend Steve G1KQH has pointed out that there is a release candidate of version 3.0. This is designed for experimenters and beta testers and may be unstable. It is usually released as a "proper" version some months later.

See https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html .

10m 3W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 0830z:  9 stations spotting me. Some Es?

UPDATE  1347z: Back on 3W 10m FT8 after a spell on 6m QRP FT8. Just a single spot from a local.

Sunspots- Tuesday September 16th

 Solar flux is 130 and the SSN 110. A=48 and K=5.

Noise floors

Most times I have no issues with QRP, but we all know that in many built-up areas noise can be an increasing problem. Over the years we have more gadgets in our homes which can produce RFI. Over time this is likely to get worse.

Weak signals can sometimes be masked by this noise, meaning QRP signals would be harder to spot. It will be interesting to see if QRP operation gets more difficult in the years ahead. 

With narrow modes like FT8 (50Hz wide only) and WSPR (6Hz wide needed) this can be less of a problem as we can avoid noise on certain frequencies. Often man-made noise can drift.

Often people are surprised how low the noise floor can be when out /P.

Windy!!

For this early in the autumn it is unusually windy here. 

Winds in October are common, but it is very unusual to get strong winds here when the trees are still with green leaves. 

It would not surprise me if we see some trees in the UK uprooted.

10m 2W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 0832z.

UPDATE  1030z:  Spotted by just 1 local and a station in Israel. Power increased to 3W and re-synced clock.  One station in Zambia on RX, but not on PSKreporter.

UPDATE 1826z: Just 6 stations spotted me all day. See map.

Really low cost HF radios

There are some very low cost radios available (I presume) from China. This review was on YouTube and the writer on YouTube feels the quality is improving. This is available from Banngood for about £60!!