10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

 Most times, I start being spotted after lunch, but I put my 500mW WSPR beacon on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 1313z: 8 stations spotting me. Nothing yet from "across the pond".

6m 3W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 1233z: So far, spotted by 15 stations. See map.

UPDATE 1418z:   Spotted by 28 stations in 8 countries. Furthest Finland. Not bad with 3W 6m FT8 and a V2000 omni vertical antenna.

Sunspots - Sunday September 28th

 Solar flux is 164 and the SSN 172. A=6 and K=3.

6m 3W FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear was switched at about 1242z. 

UPDATE 1254z:   Just 1 English stations spotting me.

Antarctica on 10m

 In the last few days my 500mW 10m WSPR has been spotted 10 times in Antarctica by DP0GVN (13685km) on the German base down there.

10m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear was turned on  at about 0850z.

UPDATE  1250z: 256 stations spotting me so far today.

Sunspots - Saturday September 27th

Solar  flux is 165 and the SSN 137.  A=7 and K=2.

15m 5W FT8 (Friday)

 Earlier, for a change, I went briefly on 15m FT8. I did not stop on long.

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 1300z.

UPDATE  1328z:  So far today, spotted by 7 English stations. Reports suggest I might be copied at 1-2W, although this will depend on the local noise floor. In most urban areas this is getting worse. I think my chances of being spotted "across the pond" this autumn by F2 with my low ERP are very slim! It is very unlikely the MUF will climb this high and with my low ERP it is very unlikely I would be spotted.

"Our" tree

Every year we take a photo of the same tree at nearby Anglesey Abbey. 

I take a photo around this time when the leaves are changing colour before the leaves fall for a few months over winter.

UV-5R Mini

This was bought recently and I am now familiar with the menu and have successfully programmed some channels using Bluetooth. 

It will probably be used mainly on RX.

How much pull can you get with a VXO?

A VXO can be pulled more by adding an inductor in series with the crystal or putting more crystals in parallel. My own experience was that the more a VXO is pulled the less crystal control is obtained. So it is important not try to pull a crystal too much. DX Explorer has a video showing some experiments with pulling a VXO.

10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0815z.

UPDATE 1313z:   11 stations have spotted me today. This looks like F2 propagation. The furthest is K6RFT (6958km).

10m 500mW WSPR yesterday

As well as plenty of stations in the USA and Canada I was again spotted in Antarctica. 

I think I have been spotted in Antarctica 7 times this week.

Sunspots - Friday September 26th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 149. . A=8 and K=2..

The USA or China?

If I was a 3rd world country looking at the USA or China, which would I lean towards?  

The USA is in grave danger of failing on the world stage and it would not surprise me if the US dollar was overtaken as the world's reserve currency.

There is a lot wrong with China, but at the moment few would look to the USA as a beacon of freedom and democracy sadly. The USA is no longer able to hold the moral ground. I find this sad as every American I have known has been kind and generous. Individually every person from the USA I have known has been really nice.

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

UV5r Mini

Four days ahead of the expected delivery, this arrived from China. I am still reading the manual (very good English) and will try to program the radio later. 

Impressed so far? Yes.

Sunspots - Thursday September 25th

 Solar flux is 184 and the SSN 155. A=8 and K=1.

Con?

All the scientific evidence, and just looking around with my own eyes, shows that climate change is real and is happening. Surely the evidence is now overwhelming. Tell me, can anyone really deny this by looking objectively at the evidence?  

People may argue if this is because of man or is cyclical, but we definitely live in a warming world. "Drill baby drill" or migrate to a world we can sustain?

Renewables have dropped considerably in price.  Luddites or adapt?

10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)

My stand-alone beacon was turned on at 1314z. 

UPDATE 1602z:  21 stations have spotted me, of which 20 are in the USA. See map.

UPDATE 1712z:  25 stations have spotted me.

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at 1314z.

UPDATE 1740z:  So far, spotted by 7 stations. The furthest is Denmark.

AliExpress - a warning

On September 17th I ordered a Beofeng UV5 Mini via AliExpress. The money was taken from my PayPal account, but the order was not shown when I looked for it. I thought the order had been "lost in the system". 

I contacted AliExpress who told me the order had been placed in a different way (paying via PayPal?) and to log in again using Google. The order appeared thankfully. 

The goods are due to arrive in the coming days.

I have had no problems with AliExpress in the past. In fact I have been impressed.

10m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

For a change I am on 10m FT8 with 5W today. 

UPDATE 0927z: Spotted by 127 stations. With the sunspot count and solar flux high, even 5W FT8 gets you all over the planet on 10m.

UPDATE 1300z:  351 stations have spotted me. See map.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 24th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 172. A=14 and K=1.

10m QRP WSPR yesterday

As well as all the USA and Canadian stations spotting my 500mW, I was spotted by the German base in Antarctica DP0GVN (13685km) 5 times!

Tuesday plans

 As we have old university friends here, I doubt I shall be on the radio today. I shall try to be sociable!! 😄

6m QRP FT8 yesterday

Yesterday, I remained on 6m FT8 with my 5W to the V2000 vertical. 

Although not at the level in mid-summer, I was still spotted widely across Europe. See map. 

Imagine if I was running 50W to a decent beam i.e. with an ERP 20dB higher! If I can do it with QRP....

Fragility of life

Yesterday my brother was playing a game of golf when his partner just dropped dead whilst walking away from the 1st green. 

We have no idea when our time is up. 

Live life as if this is your last day and enjoy every minute.

Sunspots - Tuesday September 23rd

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 157. A=13 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

My stand alone beacon has been on since about 1312z.

UPDATE 1513z:   22 stations including many in the USA and Canada have spotted me. 

Sixbox revisited

 A few moments ago I had a nice email and video from Marcos PU2MBZ. In it he says he has built the RX of the Sixbox with a few changes, on a PCB. Thank you Marcos!

See  https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/sixbox

6m 5W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 1313z.

UPDATE 1500z:  So far, 8 stations have spotted me with one in Portugal.

Decreasing human contact

Just now I was invited to check my PayPal balance. They wanted to send me a code to my phone to verify it was me. I doubt a human was involved. 

Most chat bots are computers rather than real people.  At supermarket checkouts you are encouraged to use automatic checkouts.  Most bank transactions are getting cash from an ATM. If you are lucky you may get a call centre somewhere on the planet, where a person might understand you and you might understand them! You are just a sort code and account number - no personal contact.

More and more there is less human contact. All this is done in the name of "progress" and to save money or increase profits. 

In my view we are going backwards.

Monday plans

As I now know how 10m WSPR works, my plan is to continue on 6m FT8 QRP as well as 10m QRP WSPR .

Grandson sailing

 

It seems a blink of the eye since he was born! Now he’s sailing like a champ!

10m conditions

It seems we are moving to autumnal HF conditions with afternoon openings across the Atlantic with my 10m 500mW WSPR. These openings seem almost daily. 

I  think it’s very unlikely that my 6m 5W FT8 would make it this autumn, but you never know!

Sunspots - Monday September 22nd

 Solar flux is 176 and the SSN 157. A=6 and K=2.

Windmill fantail shadow

When the sun shines we get some great shadows from the windmill right next door. 

This was the shadow of the fantail on the museum.

4m FT8 RX?

Even though I have no antennas for 4m, I am tempted to try 4m FT8 RX at some point. My recollection was that activity outside of the Es season was low though. I am also unsure of the 4m FT8 frequency these days. 

I might be just wasting my time. I would have to use the V2000 or 2m big-wheel.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)

My beacon was turned on at 0932z.

UPDATE 2143z:  Spotted by 24 stations. Now QRT .