10m FT8 (Wednesday)

As usual, I am on 10m FT8. After a brief period on TX with spots only from G0FWX (160km) I am RX only. At 1045z 19 stations spotted. 

UPDATE 1703z:  33 stations spotted with the furthermost FR4NT (9726km) on Reunion Is..

Network radios

One of my Facebook memories today was about network radios. These look like VHF handhelds or mobiles with PTT and antennas. 

They use the Internet as a backbone and are basically Android phones. These are available from several dealers. I suspect dealers see the future with fewer radios sold, many of us getting older and frailer, more of us in care homes and unable to access conventional radio. 

They are ideal for Echolink and similar. I have one, but find it oddly unsatisfying. In 20 years? 

See MLS for typical examples.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 8th 2021

Solar flux is 101 and the SSN 85. A=8 and K=4.

Visit - NOT amateur radio

We had a visit for lunch from my wife's cousin and his wife. We had to take a photo with the windmill in the background! She had not seen them for several years. 

They are doing a tour around the country visiting friends and and family.

10m WISPY TX WSPR beacon TX

Many years ago I designed and made this TX beacon for 10m WSPR. You might like to try it as a winter project. 

If you want more power, just add more 2N3904s in the PA. This is far cheaper than a dedicated PA device. Even with QRPP you can expect plenty of spots when 10m is good. It is getting better again now the sunspots and solar flux are climbing.

The photo shows the first breadboard. 

It is a DSB design using low cost 14.060MHz crystals. I was surprised by the vast amount of 10m WSPR this summer.

As I recall, I used matched germanium diodes in the balanced mixer, but I am sure Schottky diodes would be fine. Do not be afraid to experiment! As with all my circuits, use these designs as a starting point. If you can make them better, great.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-wispy for more details and a clearer schematic.

Windmill - NOT amateur radio

Many time before, I have mentioned that we live next door to a windmill (see photo). Since this photo was taken all the sails and slats have been repainted and replaced and the whole mill re-tarred. 

Sadly, starlings stop on the sails before flying off to their roost. They do make a mess! 😒

10m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

It is now 0755z. I have been on 10m FT8 for about 1 hour. 

So far, despite 2 TX sessions with 2.5W for a few minutes (2.5W), and RX all the rest of the time, no spots at all on PSKreporter. Being suspicisious of an internet blackout and loss of accurate timing, I re-synced the PC clock again - still no spots! I am beginning to wonder if the issue is at the PSKreporter end?

On 10m FT8 RX for now .

UPDATE 0821z: Just one spot of me by G0FWX (160km) near Birmingham. 2 spots on RX - OK1UU (1009km) and IK0FKE (1467km).

UPDATE 0903z: 7 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX . 

UPDATE 1526z: 15 stations spotted today, all within Europe.

Sunspots - Tuesday Sept 7th 2021

 Solar flux is 100 (the first time for many years I think) and the SSN 80.  A=6 and K=1. Things are getting respectable again - promising.

WSPR Snake

Jay, W5OLF has produced a new version of his WSPR beacon (see photo). It is simpler than his earlier version, the WSPR-AXE-CW.

He writes:

 "I have finished my WSPR-Snake stand-alone transmitter. The snake name is because it is programmed in the ‘Python’ language and, as with the WSPR-AXE-CW, the repeated random 2min intervals on the spectral display to me look like the trail of a snake.  Differences between it and your‘s are that it only puts out 375mW (on 10M) but runs off of USB 5V sources. One can plug it into the common wall cell phone charger or into the cell phone recharge batteries they sell. It uses the Adafruit Trinket micro board which has a 3.3V regulator on it for the VCO.  Like yours you turn the PA off when not actively checking propagation and you can even put in a switch to turn the VCO off (reducing standby current to 10mA). That allows transport (say backpacking) without loosing the precise time you set back at the shack. Speaking of the precise clock, this version uses the clock circuit for both WSPR symbol timing (exactly) as well as 2min interval timing; expected drift when set - and the crystal aged - is about 0.5sec per month. Otherwise, I use the same single 2N7000 for the final in a class-E, high efficiency, design. "

Crab Apples - NOT amateur radio

We have one small crabapple tree. Every other year it gives a decent crop. 

Last year we had 15 crabapples. This year we probably have over 500, so some nice crabapple jelly!

Over a century ago - NOT amateur radio

In my teenage years I lived in Kingsbridge, Devon. This photo was taken well over 100 years ago. There are no cars visible! 

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

Before breakfast, I was briefly on 10m FT8 TX with 2.5W, but was spotted by nobody. It is now 0722z and I am RX only. Unsurprisingly, no spots yet!

UPDATE 0750z:   Just 2 Gs spotted so far in the Birmingham area at 160km.

UPDATE 1300z:  Just before lunch I had a very brief period on TX with 2.5W. No QSOs  resulted, but I was spotted by G0FWX (160km).  On 10m FT8 RX 28 stations have been spotted with the furthermost  ZS6NJ (9115km).

UPDATE 1916z:  34 stations spotted on RX today.  A brief TX period (2.5W) resulted in 3 Es spots of me from Southern Europe, but no QSOs.

UPDATE 2023z:  43 stations spotted today with the furthermost PY2VCS (9593km).

Me in 1967 - NOT amateur radio

One of my Facebook memories today was this photo of me in 1967 when I had hair and most of my life was ahead of me. 

I lost most of my hair a few years later! 

Sunspots - Monday September 6th 2021

Solar flux is 94 and the SSN 66.  A=6 and K=1. 

630m (472kHz) WSPR RX using the indoor active loop

 At the moment, I am on 630m WSPR RX with the Wellgood active loop. So far no spots.

UPDATE 2136z:  Still no spots this evening. I have to turn things off soon too and go QRT.

160m FT8 RX with the indoor active loop

At about 1435z, I turned on 160m FT8 RX with the indoor Wellgood active RX loop. It is still very clearly daylight here for several hours, so I am not expecting much until darkness falls. 

Last night, it was quite late in the evening before much European DX appeared.

UPDATE 1735z:  2 Gs spotted so far. Furthermost is G3VAO (229km).

UPDATE 1952z:  It is dark now, so plenty being spotted! 28 stations spotted with the furthermost R5DT (2541km).

The Wayback Machine - NOT amateur radio

This is an incredible resource that archives billions of old pages that no longer exist. They even have a website of mine from the 1990s! Needless to say, things have changed a bit. I think my very first website was on Compuserve in the early 1990s - not found this yet!

See https://web.archive.org/web/19981111190213/http://www.lapr.demon.co.uk/ .

Abbey Gardens - NOT amateur radio

These gardens in nearby Bury St Edmunds are often a riot of colour, as they were recently. We often go there whilst shopping in Bury St Edmunds that is a charming East Anglian town.

Optical 481THz line of sight

It is some years since I seriously worked on optical communications. My main "thing" was over the horizon, so called non-line-of-sight (NLOS) beaconing. I was surprised that with very simple, homemade gear I could get well over the horizon, with no clouds to help. If my poor health had not got in the way, I am sure far greater ranges would have been possible. The record (in Australia I think) is an incredible distance.

I only had one speech contact over 11km line of sight and that was with G4HJW. All my gear was made in the back of the garage and it was very simple. The optics used low cost PVC drain pipes and the lenses were made from magnifying glasses obtained from a local Poundland store. The electrical gear was very simple and low cost. It was not worth making PCBs. Test gear is very simple. Optical experiments are low cost and fun.

My main G3XBM website has much more on my gear and experiments including NLOS tests.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/optical-nanowaves/line-of-sight .

Lincoln meal - NOT amateur radio

Last week, we had a few days in Lincoln, UK. 

On the second evening we ate at Wildwood. I had the burger as shown in the photo and a red wine.

On the first night we ate at the famous pie shop. We ate here some years ago.

10m WSPR TX with 500mW (Sunday)

At 0806z, I turned on my tiny 10m WSPR beacon designed by W5OLF.  Although 100% TX, this changes frequency randomly every slot to prevent being clobbered by a mega-station. 

So far just spots by local G4KPX (14km).

UPDATE 1030z:   A single spot by OH6BG (1718km).

UPDATE 1140z:  Now spots by 3 unique stations (see photo).  G4KPX has spotted me 101 times!

UPDATE 1748z:  Still just 3 stations spotting me.  This is not a good day.You get the impression there is very little Es and just occasionally it appears for a few seconds and then is gone again. Unless things radically change in the next few hours, I shall put this down as a day best forgotten!

Sunspots - Sunday September 5th 2021

 Solar flux is 87 and the SSN 68. A=5 and K=2. 

160m FT8 RX with the active loop

In the end I gave up on 630m (472kHz) WSPR RX and went instead to 160m FT8 RX with the indoor Wellgood active loop. So far this evening, 3 spots including an EA and DO.

UPDATE 2136z:  9 stations spotted mostly in northern Europe.  QRT.

472kHz WSPR RX

 As last night, I am on 472kHz WSPR RX with the Wellgood active loop with the 1m diameter loop indoors on the shack window. It is now 1857z and, so far, no spots.

UPDATE 2136z:  No spots this evening. Very disappointing. I may QSY.

10m WSPR QRP TX (500mW)

At 1424z, I decided to go on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW from my 10m WSPR beacon by W5OLF. This is about the size of a pack of cards and 100% TX, although the TX frequency is randomised on each slot.

UPDATE 1437z:  So far, just local spots by G4KPX (14km). From Richard's spots, it looks like the crystal is still settling.

UPDATE 1500z: Still just G4KPX spotting me, although my drift has stopped. It looks like things have stabilised, as usual. This normally takes about 20 minutes.

UPDATE 1510z:  OE3XOE (1233km) now spotting me.

UPDATE 1635z:  No further stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1845z:  QRT. 

Lincoln cathedral - NOT amateur radio

We have been back from Lincoln about a day. It was a good break. 

The photo shows the cathedral from Steep Hill. As Keith said in a comment to an earlier post, it is very steep, especially with shopping. If you want to visit the cathedral it is worth the climb.

Lincoln is an interesting place. We have been there several times. We could probably get there and back in day trip on the train.

10m FT8

In the end I decided to QSY to 10m FT8 RX. 

At 1259z, 5 stations were spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX. I may try 10m FT8 TX with 2.5W shortly. My antenna is a Par end fed dipole antenna at about 3m above ground.

UPDATE 1304z: TX switched on. 1 spot of me on TX by G6TUS (18km).

UPDATE 1318z:  6 stations spotted on RX and 6 stations have spotted me on TX with the furthermost IS0AWZ (1598km).

UPDATE 1359z: So far this afternoon, I have been spotted by 8 stations on TX (as the map shows) and  I have spotted 15 stations on RX.

30m FT8 RX with the indoor active loop

I am trying FT8 on 30m with the Wellgood active loop. I think there is an internet connectivity issue as I am getting local spots, but these are not appearing on PSKreporter. I tried a reboot without success.

UPDATE 1023z:  Working now. 10 EU stations spotted so far.

UPDATE 1206z: 17 stations spotted with the furthermost UA3DPM (2893km).

UPDATE 1233z: 35 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost being JW4PUA (2952km).  Soon be time to QSY, but unsure where to!

40m FT8 RX with the active loop antenna

At the moment, I am on 40m FT8 RX using the Wellgood active loop stuck to the shack window. Noise level on the FT817ND is about S4.  So far, 8 unique stations spotted (at 0800z) with the furthermost TF5B (1813km) in northern Iceland. 

Although it will probably work at higher frequencies, I doubt it will seriously be used at HF.

See https://www.george-smart.co.uk/projects/wellgood_loop/ .

UPDATE 0858z:   32 stations spotted. The map shows the stations spotted.

UPDATE 0927z:  45 stations spotted.

Lincoln High Street - NOT amateur radio

To those unfamiliar with Lincoln, it is dominated by the cathedral on the hill that is approached by a very steep hill. By steep, I really mean steep. If you have weak heart, you will struggle. 

The photo shows Lincoln High Street before the steep climb starts. The cathedral can be seen and heard from a long way off.

Shield bug - NOT amateur radio

This shield bug was on a post near Lincoln Cathedral. 

It seemed quite happy for me to take its photo.

These are quite common in the UK on roses. They are a kind of beetle usual less than 1cm long.

472kHz WSPR RX with the Wellgood active RX loop

Last evening I was active on 472kHz WSPR RX using the Wellgood active loop RX antenna. This is very similar to the Wellbrook active loop. I swapped my X80 HF vertical for one. 

In all, just 1 station was spotted - DC0DX (467km) - with the 1m diameter wire stuck to the window indoors. Noise levels are low. This is my first outing on 472kHz RX for some while.

I may try again this evening.

See https://www.george-smart.co.uk/projects/wellgood_loop/ .  George designed this as he was trying to mend his Wellbrook loop. 

Sunspots - Saturday September 4th 2021

Solar flux is 87 and the SSN 33. A=5 and K=1 . 

160m FT8 RX with the Wellgood active loop

For the first time, I tested the Wellgood active loop antenna briefly on 160m FT8 RX. This is a clone of the Wellbrook RX active antenna. I was only on for about 2 minutes, but spotted 8 stations from across Europe with a 1m diameter wire attached to the shack window indoors. Noise level seems low.

Scottish golf course near Aberdeen - NOT amateur radio

When the sun shines Scotland is beautiful. Conversely, when it rains it can be miserable. 

This photo was recently posted on 365project by a friend who lives in Shetland where it can be very windy. It is of a golf course near Aberdeen on the Scottish mainland.

"You'll be old yourself some day" - NOT amateur radio

My mother-in-law said this about 50 years ago. At the time life seemed to be endless. Now I am 72. 

As Michael Portillo (he was a famous UK politician who now is a well known UK TV personality) said, when you are old every year is a year nearer your end, or similar words. Certainly, I am far more conscious of being old. I get tired more easily and I can no longer do many of the things I took for granted all those years ago.

Things that seemed important at 22 no longer are at 72.

10m FT8 QRP (Friday)

After a couple of nights in Lincoln, I am now back home. Briefly I was on 2.5W TX and was spotted by 3 stations with the furthermost EA1FIR (1263km). On 10m FT8 RX just 2 stations so far. Currently RX only at 1400z.

UPDATE 1456z:  4 stations so far spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1922z:   QRT now. In all, 8 stations spotted. Pretty poor really.

Serious stuff - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows one of our grandchildren eating a pizza last evening in Lincoln. 

137kHz 10 years ago

This photo was taken in 2011 and shows my tiny 137kHz QRSS signal over 100km away. 

Rally news

The GQRP convention is again an online event on September 4th and the Telford Hamfest is September 5th. As far as I know this is still on although always check with organisers first to make sure before setting out. 

Sunspots - Friday September 3rd 2021

 Solar flux is 86 and the SSN 33.  A=4 and K=1. 

Birkitt

This is one of the most famous shops in the UK amateur radio world. They used to advertise regularly in the amateur radio magazines. I was so pleased to see it still there and in business in Lincoln. 

In the shack

This photo was taken some years ago and shows me in the shack. 

10m Phaser kit

A very kind amateur in Scotland is building this for me as my fine motor skills are not up to it now. He is making a very good job of it. Hopefully it will be used on 10m FT8. This frees up the main rig. It is a phasing SSB transceiver designed by Dave Benson K1SWL and sold by Midnight Design Solutions in the USA.

Walk - NOT amateur radio

This was my wife and 2 of our grandchildren on a recent walk. 

Sunspots - Thursday September 2nd 2021

 Solar flux is 84 and the SSN 35. A=4 and K=1. 

10m FT8 RX yesterday

 Although the Es season is winding down the F2 propagation to South America is there. Yesterday evening 6 South Americans spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost LU2MCX (11598km) in Argentina.

Me in 1968 - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows me in 1968 when I still had hair. 

Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks I take a look at activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. My last unscientific peek was Tuesday at about 2115z.  Activity levels remain low. 

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Sunspots - Wednesday September 1st 2021

 Solar flux is 84 and the SSN 37. A=7 and K=2.