You can see what I am spotting on PSKreporter.
As I mentioned earlier, I reckon this loop (the old Whizz Loop) is probably 10dB down on an external dipole. I hope to get a 10m dipole up this week, possibly with a 6m dipole too.
UPDATE 1914z: 185 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.
This video was made in May 2013, but I have only just seen it. This is definitely pushing the boundaries. Makes my efforts seem distinctly average, HI.
My guess is the loop currently used is about 10dB down on a dipole. This is an estimate based on the stations I am not spotting. Nonetheless it works quite well for something so small with just a wire inductor about 50cms across. The "proper" 10m loop has a much thicker made of central heating pipe. It is far sharper, but harder to tune, but probably several dBs better.
What has surprised me is it the Whizz-Loop has even spanned the Atlantic several times with QRP FT8 on 17m.
I hope to get a 10m dipole up outside next week. I could make it cover 6m as well.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/magloop .
"What goes around comes around".
This is a phrase I know well. When I was at work people were always finding newer, better, ways to work. The only trouble was we tried these 30 years earlier!!
So it is with equality.
Let me say from the outset that I am all for equal opportunity. To me, it matters not whether your skin is black, white, red or purple. It does not matter whether you live in the worst slums in the world or the poshest house. Gender does not matter. What gender your partner is doesn't matter. Also, I do not agree with privilege as a result of who you are or the wealth you inherited. We all should have equal rights as human beings.
At the moment, we seem to seek equality, yet many are afraid to speak out in case they are labelled as politically incorrect.
We should work towards a fair society, but learn from the past.
 |
| Stations spotted with the loop on 10m FT8 yesterday |
Despite this, 185 stations were spotted including many in South America. OK, this is NS and propagation is usually better than EW, but I get the feeling things on HF are improving.
Better equipped stations were spotting the southern USA on 10m FT8.
This is a preview of my new webpages. I have not yet connected it to my main web address. I tried, but for some reason it did not work. Must be finger trouble. 😒
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home .
Any comments would be welcomed. Remember, use the sub-menus from "home" to navigate!
Some pages are incomplete or missing at the moment. I intend to correct these.
This antenna must be very old now. I have had it for a very long time and it would not surprise me if it was 20 years old.
Either it or the coax has failed as the VSWR has gone over 3:1.
I may try a whip (with counterpoise) on the rig to see how much worse this is. Repairing the V2000 is a major issue these days.
Have you noticed this reply when people don't know how to answer? It is a favourite with politicians, although they rarely answer the questions!!
We are now on the up-slopes towards the solar peak of cycle 25. I have not seen very recent forecasts but this forecast suggested it looks as if it will be very similar to the last peak i.e. quite low.
10m is wide open this morning with Es. I am told 6m is good too, It would not surprise me if Band 2 FM broadcast opens too. 2m? Probably too high.
I am on 10m FT8 RX at the moment after a brief period on QRP TX with 2.5W, then 1W, and the indoor tiny loop. 115 stations spotted on RX and 16 stations spotted me in my very brief TX period.
UPDATE 1028z: 255 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today and I have been spotted by 27 stations on TX, most with just 1W to the tiny indoor loop antenna. Probably going down to 500mW soon.
UPDATE 1055z: Now TXing with 500mW. 2 spots of my TX so far. 280 stations spotted so far on RX.
UPDATE 1222z: 338 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. Even with just 500mW TX I have been spotted by 4 stations.
UPDATE 1342z: 397 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX with just the indoor tiny loop today. Fantastic Es conditions. Just a handful in Asia and Africa (probably Es).
UPDATE 1439z: 517 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop. This is definitely the best day yet this Es season. One was W1JR (5267km). This latter one was probably Es.
 |
| Spots of my 1W (sometimes 500mW) 10m FT8 TX with the tiny indoor loop |
 |
| Stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX |
There are vast numbers of webcams around the world allowing locked-down people to travel the world virtually. One of these is the webcam of the peregrine falcons at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, UK.
See https://www.elycathedral.org/welcome/peregrines-nesting-in-the-cathedral .
See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/ for a local (to Cambridge) 2m FT8 grabber.
 |
| Stations spotting my 2m FT8 QRP to1256z today |
UPDATE 1256z: Now my QRP has been spotted by 13 stations.
The number of visitors to this blog has jumped today.
I am not aware that my posts have suddenly attracted new people. I try to post things of interest, but I have already seen more visits today than I would normally see by teatime! I suspect, again, hackers are seeking soft targets. This happens quite often.
The Exeter rally has been postponed until September 12th. Hopefully by then things will be more normal in the UK.
For a long time I have suspected that scatter modes might be better on 70cm than on 2m. Last night there was a sort of contest.
Last evening 29 stations were spotted in 6 countries (see map) with just a 2m (144MHz) big-wheel omni antenna. 2 of these were 479km away! Imagine what would have been possible with even a small beam.
If there was regular 70cm FT8 activity I think surprising distances would be worked at any time.
I think there is a 70cm FT8 activity session this evening. So, I am on 70cm FT8 RX with the 2m big-wheel omni antenna.
UPDATE 1712z: 6 stations spotted so far. Furthermost is ON7ZJ (302km) in Belgium.
UPDATE 1828z: Now 16 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost DL5EBS (479km). Nobody has spotted my 1W on TX. I have had one QSO with G4NBS (22km). Now GI6ATZ (479km) spotted. |
| Stations spotted on 70cm FT8 RX this evening |
Before turning on my new webapages, I want to take a backup copy of my old pages. The old pages are in Google Classic Sites.
When I looked I could not see how to do this. I shall look again, but if you know how, please let me know.
UPDATE 1222z: I think you go to Classic sites and download to your Google drive as a zip file in "takeout". Haven't tried yet. This must have changed as I am sure this wasn't the case a few years ago.
UPDATE 1256z: I tried it. When I unzipped I could see the images but only some of the webpages! Now, this may just be me being thick, but..... So far, I am still trying to find a way. All I really wanted to do was make a backup copy just in case.
Last weekend I was hoping to "go live" on the revised web pages. There are still omissions and I want to find a way to have clearer schematics for those that want them.
My best estimate is in about a weeks' time.
See www.g3xbm.co.uk . At the moment this still points to the old pages. I shall say when it is done on the blog.
It has not been used here as I have not been DX hunting actively for many years.
In the last few days I have started to have an S8 noise level on the higher HF bands on AM. Up to now, these bands have been fairly quiet. I guess someone locally has a new gadget with a noisy PSU.
I don't think it is a problem with FT8. Maybe the noise is on specific, narrow, frequencies? At the moment I am on 10m FT8 RX with the FT817ND and the tiny indoor loop. It is now 0715z and no spots yet.
UPDATE 1510z: No spots yet.
As usual, OFCOM has updated its "Communications Monthly" with the latest statistics it holds. See the OFCOM website for details.
It is now 0750z. At the moment, I am on 15m FT8 RX using the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop.
Yesterday, on 10m FT8 I did not have both pre-amps on. This may have reduced sensitivity and may have resulted in fewer 10m FT8 spots being obtained.
UPDATE 0717z: No 15m spots yet.
UPDATE 1247z: 17 15m FT8 stations spotted on RX. I am back on the FT817 at the moment. I am suffering horrendous local noise for the first time too. The USB lead from the PC to the IC-705 was introducing noise, although I think it was the external noise that was the real culprit. NN4X (7001km) is the furthermost.
UPDATE 1438z: 30 stations in 4 continents spotted today on 15m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop.
Electrically, they were dreadful. As I recall, the whole 10m band occupied about 1.5cm of dial. With a low IF the image rejection on 10m was appalling. It used OC171 germanium transistors.
By comparison with modern receivers it was bad, really bad. It is some time since I looked, but at one time the second hand price was about twice the retail price when they were first launched, which was £48. I have no idea why I wanted one looking back.
There is a page about these receivers on my website. See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ec10 . Please be aware this will change when the "new" site is released. If in doubt use www.g3xbm.co.uk as this will always point to the right pages.
The photo shows the Mk II version with an S meter. I had the Mk I version.
UPDATE 0845z: A quick look on eBay showed a Mk II at £78. No doubt the transistors would have become leaky and in need of replacement, unless this has been done. I suspect most are bought as collectors items these days.
Since before breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop on the shack windowsill. It is now 0815z. No spots yet.
UPDATE 1540z: No spots so far today. On the local WSJT-X screen there are a few stations showing, but these were not loaded to PSKreporter maps. This could be problem at their end or the internet was off here. I have restarted WSJT-X "just in case".
UPDATE 1630z: 2 stations spotted. I am suspicious that when I restarted WSJT-X I started to see my spots on PSKreporter. G0LRD has had 155 spots today on his dipole. Even assuming my loop is several dB poorer than David's dipole, I would still have expected better here.
UPDATE 1655z: Now 9 stations spotted, most in the last hour. Odd. Must try to get my dipole up this week!
On a walk about the village yesterday we saw 4 swifts. These are migrant birds back from Africa. These were the first seen this year. Usually these are heard before seen. Not this time.
This week, I have 2 main aims:
This evening, I am on 160m FT8 with QRP and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. 12 stations have spotted me with the furthermost IZ2QPP (956km). On RX 11 stations spotted with the furthermost UA3GT (2630km).
Opening SPRAT 206 I was pleased and surprised to see my 6m Sixbox QRP transceiver. It was entered into the Constructors Competition . It is ...
.jpeg)
