The Dayton Hamvention is usually one of the biggest amateur events on the planet. People usually travel there from all over the world. This year, like last, it is a virtual event sadly. These days will end.
Often, the big manufacturers announce new products here. It is an important date in the diary. If you want to attend virtually, there is a link below.
See https://hamvention.org .
They are already selling tickets for 2022, which hopefully will not be virtual.
In the last few days the BBC has come under a lot of criticism for the underhand methods used to get the 1995 interview with Princess Diana. My understanding is they forged bank statements to show that people in whom she trusted were spying on her. I may have my facts slightly wrong, so please check the sources yourselves. What is not at doubt is that Diana was deceived to get the interview and some at the BBC apparently knew about this.
In my view the UK royalty will be history within 50 years unless great changes are made. I think the UK queen has done a pretty good job in difficult circumstances. The whole royal family could have done an even better job if it "came of age".
Many royal couples have divorced and some of the royal traditions are plain wrong. I am not a great royalist, but fear the person we could choose as a president if we ever became a republic. Can you think of anyone?
My vote is for a continued royal family, but with great changes. Hangers on would have to earn a living, and many of the privileges would go. Many look up to the royal family as pillars of society. It is a delicate balance between "otherness" and us.
This is one area of our hobby I have not done much with.
I once borrowed a 23cm RX converter and did some tests one night with a homemade 4 el yagi in the room. I also, many years ago, made a 10GHz Gunn oscillator. I had the wrong sort of waveguide and, apart from some very short range tests, did not take it further. These days you can buy some very low cost wideband FM modules that all but eliminate the hard microwave bits. See https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aihasd-Wireless-Microwave-microwave-detector/dp/B00VVDFOHO/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3AXH2GP3143S0&dchild=1&keywords=hb100&qid=1621586561&sprefix=hb100%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-8
One of the things that put me off was the test gear. I know some have fabricated homebrew measuring gear, but I found optical gear much easier to design, build and test.
The above link allows you to buy the HB100 units from Amazon within days for under £5 each. I am sure you will be able to get them cheaper.
Maybe I should have a go at 10GHz wideband FM?
UPDATE 0852z: A very quick look on eBay found these HB100 units on sale for £1.72 each with quite modest postal charges. See https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143788841984?hash=item217a7b9c00:g:VPEAAOSwY31a1FE~. If you buy more than 1 they are even cheaper!
UPDATE 1214z: I have created a 10GHz webpage. See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/10ghz .
At 0800z, I again turned on my 10m FT8 RX using the homebrewed 10FT8R RX and the tiny indoor loop. No spots yet.
UPDATE 0826z: So far 1 spot on RX probably by Es - OE3FVU (1189km).
UPDATE 1334z: 25 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R RX and the tiny indoor loop.
At 1919z I QSYed to 160m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Already there are Germans coming through strongly after just a few minutes. I guess it is now dark over much of the path.
UPDATE 1948z: One spot of my QRP TX by G4UDU (160km) and 9 spots so far on 160m FT8 RX.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-lesser-chirpy .
See www.g3xbm.co.uk .
At 0745z, I turned this kit on. Already, 10 stations spotted by Es.
UPDATE 0847z: 48 stations spotted so far today.
When gardening a few days ago I heard swifts overhead screaming. This a very English sound of spring and summer. They feed on the wing and are often heard before being seen.
OFCOM has just put the latest amateur licence conditions on its website including an EMF calculator. Running 10W or less, I am not too concerned.
What does concern me are the UK slots at 60m. I am sure I cannot be alone in being totally confused. Yes, we may have more spectrum and higher power (100W) than the small WRC slot, but unless you are a regular user, these slots are messy and confusing. I counted 10 slots!!
Personally, I'd settle for a narrow contiguous allocation than the mess we currently have, and with lower power. I would also like to see more access to much more spectrum with very low ERP limits on a strictly non-interference basis. I guess that is too much to think about. Why can't we follow the Irish example?
See the OFCOM website for more details.
Just after 1800z, I QSYed to 160m FT8. Very briefly I was on QRP with 2.5W TX and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. At the moment I am on RX only. As it is still daylight, I am not expecting any great DX until after dark.
UPDATE 2005z: European DX coming through now now it is dark.
OFCOM is to allow more type approved mobile phone repeaters to be licence-free to get more reliable coverage indoors. See the OFCOM website for details.
This is a subject I have discussed before. Some estimates put the number of planets in the visible universe as capable of having intelligent life as as high as 1400000000000000. Others say intelligent life is incredibly rare.
As far as I know, we have been looking with SETI since the mid 1960s and have, so far, found zero evidence. Maybe we are looking in the wrong way? As time goes by, we have more sophisticated ways of looking with ever greater sensitivity. Mind you we only discovered electro-magnetic radiation a few hundred years ago. Maybe many societies have discovered something better?
One thing is certain: should we find any signs of intelligent life "out there", it could have profound effects on human life.
Just before breakfast I turned on the 10FT8R RX (4 transistors) with the tiny indoor loop antenna. It is now 0818z and 29 stations already spotted via Es.
UPDATE 0835z: 34 stations spotted so far.
UPDATE 0915z: 50 stations so far spotted today.
UPDATE 1131z: 101 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX with the little 10FT8R receiver and the tiny indoor loop.
UPDATE 1426z: 164 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX so far today.
As a precaution, I have disconnected my mains PSU and PC in my shack. My antenna that is connected to my little 10m FT8 RX is indoors (the tiny loop). There is thunder about. I think it is some way off, but better safe than sorry.
We have hail now at 1607z.
See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;z=4;y=35.8839;x=5.7931;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;
This appeared recently just below the signature. It made me laugh! 😊
"Cheer up, things could get worse..so I cheered up and, sure enough, things got worse!"
OFCOM has announced some changes to licence conditions. I think these are about EMF. They are sending revised licences to those affected. See the OFCOM website for more details.
This morning, I am again on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop. Late yesterday, I removed the last AF stage, but spotted no stations. There were lots of spikes and I am not sure what they were. Later, I shall stick the last audio stage back again to see if this was important.
UPDATE 1010z: Something is wrong. On the 10FT8R RX no spots, yet when I went back to the FT817ND spots right away. Some spots were strong. I must be doing something stupid. More investigation needed.
UPDATE 1206z: 9 spots so far.
UPDATE 1411z: I have put back the final audio stage on the 10FT8R RX and the spikes have gone (no idea why) and I am spotting lots of stations again with this little RX connected to my indoor loop. At the moment this is the RX being used on 10m FT8 RX. So far, since reconnecting it, 20 stations spotted.
At present, I am experimenting to see if I can omit the last audio stage. There seems to be plenty of spare audio. Being a DSB design, it is inherently 3dB down in sensitivity, but that has not been an issue hitherto.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10ft8r-rx.
Every few weeks I try to give an update on activity levels on the narrowband transponder on Oscar 100 using the on-line SDR at Goonhilly Down. I looked twice last evening at times that would have been European Sunday evenings.
My impression was that activity levels were quite low with plenty of space.
One of the things now possible on my new web pages is embedding. This has allowed me to add a grabber, so you can see what I am doing on PSKreporter maps. I think you can change the menus. Certainly I can. At the time of writing, I am looking at the last few hours on 10m FT8 RX.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/10m-ft8-grabber .
As much as I like the occasional fry-up, even I would struggle!
Some would be very much against this.
Ivermectin seems to have anti-viral properties against Covid-19 in helping to prevent serious illness.
Some governments (Goa in India and Ireland) are recommending this very low cost drug as a prophylactic. I regularly watch the YouTube channel of Dr John Campbell and he is puzzled why this is not being widely recommended. He always gives the source of his data. I recommend you check this out.
Always seek the medical advice of your own doctor!
For the last hour or so I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop. It is now 1210z and so far 92 stations have been spotted.
UPDATE 1327z: 120 stations spotted today so far on 10m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1358z: 132 stations spotted today.
www.g3xbm.co.uk is now pointing to the new site. If there are any issues or you notice wrong pictures or errors, please let me know ASAP. For a while things may be wrong. Overall, things should be at least as good as the old site finally.
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.
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| 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!!
