Solar flux is 127 and the SSN 84. A=27 and K=4.
4 Feb 2022
3 Feb 2022
8m NoV? - zzzz
Nearly 4 weeks ago I asked OFCOM for an update on my application submitted in October. 2021. I am still waiting for that update!! A WSPR TX needs about 6Hz (yes Hertz) of spectrum and FT8 about 50Hz. DATV experimenters have been granted 2000000Hz of VHF spectrum. Come on! At this rate I shall be pushing up daisies before I hear.
Wake up OFCOM as the Es season will soon be here!
In the USA and Canada those with experimental 8m licences seem to be having some success on WSPR.
Reflections - NOT amateur radio
It still looks great though. This is a photo of the lake.
Rally cancelled
The Red Rose rally, due to be held this Sunday Feb 6th, has been cancelled I understand.
It is always worth checking the status with rally organisers in case I am wrong. I only pass on what I have been told and you should not take what I say as always correct!
10m WSPR with 500mW QRP (Thursday)
At the moment I am on 10m WSPR TX with my W5OLF beacon. So far, 3 local spots by G4KPX (14km).
UPDATE 1517z: 10 unique stations have spotted me today.
6m FT8 (Thursday)
At the moment I am on 6m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the V2000 vertical. I was on TX for about 5 minutes, but am RX only now. No spots yet on TX or RX.
UPDATE 1515z: 17 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost 9H1TX (2318km). This looks like Es.
Interesting art - NOT amateur radio
I was sent this by Steve G1KQH. Turn it 180 degrees and take a look. I have no idea where it came from originally.
2 Feb 2022
2m FT8 activity contest
If you are interested, there is a 2m FT8 activity contest from 1900-2100z tonight, organised by the RSGB. See the RSGB website for more details. Activity is very high.
UPDATE 2102z: 4 QSOs although I spent much of the time I was on RX. On RX 150 stations spotted (remember this is 2m!!) with the furthermost EA2XR (1024km) in northern Spain.
Remember, I am just using the omni big-wheel and 2.5W, sometimes 1W!!
10m WSPR TX and RX
At the moment, I am on 10m WSPR. On TX I am using 1W for 20% of the time with the rest on RX. So far, 1 station spotted here and I have been spotted by 6 unique stations.
Working DX
To some, it is trying to work all countries available today on SSB, perhaps with the full legal power (or more!) and a big beam on a tower. To others it is working across town with uW powers.
Back in the 1980s I owned a Yaesu FT7. This was an HF only 10W rig. I worked DXCC with it and simple antennas (mostly dipoles) on SSB.
These days I am on RX more than TX. I still prefer QRP! If DXCC chasing is your "thing" fine.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/yaesu-ft7 .
Cambridge punts - NOT amateur radio
10m FT8 RX (Wednesday)
My 10m FT8 RX was turned on about 0930z. So far (at 1002z), 61 stations spotted with the furthermost VK1MA (16904km).
UPDATE 1351z: 311 stations spotted.
160m FT8 RX overnight
With 487 stations spotted on RX overnight with the non resonant 10m antenna and several stations in the USA and one in Japan, it was a good session on 160m FT8 RX.
Slightly better solar cycle?
According to the updated solar data, it looks like this solar cycle is very slightly better than the last cycle. What does this mean? Expect the next solar cycle to be very similar to the last one.
See https://www.solen.info/solar/images/comparison_recent_cycles.png .
1 Feb 2022
160m FT8 RX (Tuesday)
I have just QSYed to 160m FT8 RX. 3 stations spotted so far including 2 Germans calling a station in the Far East. It is still daylight here. Probably things will get lively after dark.
UPDATE 1652z: 15 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX using the untuned 10m wire antenna with the furthermost RD9D (3664km).
UPDATE 1917z: 146 stations spotted.
UPDATE 2140z: 327 stations spotted.
University of the 3rd Age - NOT amateur radio
For about 14 years, I have been attending U3A courses. It is great fun learning new things just for fun. Some involve going into Cambridge and some are on Zoom. The Zoom talks are very effective, and far better than I ever expected.
This year I am studying Medieval History and quantum mechanics, the latter was last done in the late 1960s at university! It is hard!!
Quantum mechanics is spooky. One has to forget what we perceive as reality and accept that sometimes things can be quite different. One aspect is wave functions that seem to imply things exist in all space and all time, past and future included. Things are most probable now, but entangled things even at the extremes of the universe, know about each other instantaneously. Forget the speed of light - instantaneously means just that! Some of these things have been proven by experiments.
SPAM messages - NOT amateur radio
It is sad that, these days, we have to be on our guard against SPAM. On the whole, my SPAM filter does a good job. Just occasionally it thinks something is SPAM that is not, and misses some SPAM. Mistakes are rare.
Before deleting SPAM I usually do a quick check in case some important stuff is there. At a guess less than 1 in 1000 is wrong, which is pretty good. Without SPAM filtering, I would probably see more SPAM than genuine messages.
10m FT8 RX (Tuesday)
At the moment I am on 10m FT8 RX. It is now 1052z and, so far, 47 stations spotted. Furthermost is VK6AS (14459km).
UPDATE 1243z: 137 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.
I quite enjoy 10m FT8 RX as I can monitor propagation on a different PC in the lounge whilst doing other things. I suppose with remote software I could TX too from the lounge. PSKreporter allows me to see who is being spotted by my system.
UPDATE 1530z: 296 stations spotted.
UPDATE 1624z: 351 stations spotted. QRT soon and move to 160m FT8 RX.
15m QRP
A good DX band is 15m. This is mainly a daytime DX band, but evening openings are increasing as the sunspot count and solar flux go up. These days I am on RX far more than TX.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/15m-qrp-cw-pipit .
Cambridge Street - NOT amateur radio
4m operation
Back in the 1960s at university I worked ZB2VHF on 4m AM with 4W and a ground plane. At this time there were very few countries on the band. In 1971, I went /P in a 4m contest.
Several years ago I made a QRP transverter for 4m that appeared in SPRAT (shown in photo). I have no antennas for the band, but a local has made a personal beacon, that I shall try to copy. It produces 10mW. He has a vertical colinear for the band.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/4m-transverter .
31 Jan 2022
2m FT8 RX
At 1945z my 2m FT8 system was turned on. So far, 8 stations have been spotted.
UPDATE 2148z: 14 stations spotted.
UPDATE 2235z: QRT.
8m NoV application - STILL no news!
It is now 3 weeks and a day since I asked OFCOM for an update on my NoV application submitted in October. Still no news!
I am only really after 50Hz of spectrum during the 2022 Es season at low power.
In the last few years OFCOM has released 2000000Hz of precious VHF spectrum for DATV experiments.
Come on!!!!
Oscar 100 activity update
Every few weeks I take a peek at the activity levels on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite by looking at the Goonhilly webSDR. This was at 1400z on a Monday. There were 6 SSB QSOs going on, which is better than the last time I looked. There is still plenty of space.
Solar data update soon
Usually on the first or second day of the month the solar data on my favourite solar data site is updated. Expect an update Tuesday or Wednesday.
Village cottage - NOT amateur radio
10m FT8 QRP (Monday)
After a very brief period on TX at 2.5W (spotted by 2E0VDS), I am RX only. So far, 75 stations spotted including several in Australia.
UPDATE 1559z: 620 stations spotted on RX.
UPDATE 1915z: 682 stations spotted on RX. QRT soon.
30 Jan 2022
10m WSPR TX beacon using 500mW
At the moment I am on 10m WSPR TX using 500mW from the W5OLF beacon. So far, 4 unique stations have spotted me.
UPDATE 2130z: 6 unique stations spotted me with the furthermost W4WLO/B11 (7271km). Now QRT.
2m FT8 RX
UPDATE 1559z: 64 stations in 7 countries spotted.
UPDATE 2130z: 93 stations spotted on RX. A brief 2.5W TX was spotted by 6 stations with the furthermost G4LOH (455km) in Cornwall.
Ickworth - NOT amateur radio
In the winter sun we went for a walk around the grounds at Ickworth near Bury St Edmunds. This is owned by the National Trust.
160m FT8 overnight
29 Jan 2022
On 160m FT8 RX again
This evening I again on 160m FT8 RX using the non-resonant 10m antenna. This clashes with a contest, so there is competition from CW stations. Despite this, lots of Europeans spotted so far.
UPDATE 2200z: 149 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX.
FT8 versus WSPR
Both these modes are part of the WSJT-X suite from Joe Taylor.
WSPR needs about 6Hz of spectrum (not much) and 2 minutes for the most common form of WSPR. WSPR is really a beaconing mode.
FT8 is a communications mode and needs about 50Hz with 15 second TX slots. WSPR works with signals much weaker than FT8. FT8 works with signals much weaker than SSB or CW.
Both offer the minimum exchange of data and neither are "chatting" modes. As they work with very weak signals and need so little bandwidth they have been transformative in amateur radio. They are not instead of speech modes, but as well as.
There are other modes also available in the free WSJT-X suite.
Personally, I enjoy both modes, especially as my voice is poor since my 2013 stroke.
War - NOT amateur radio
In my view, wars solve little. One wonders how many wars in history would not have happened had women been in charge.
During WW2, my dad was a Pathfinder. These were the bravest of airmen, the elite. He survived the war, but rarely wanted to speak about those times. He was lucky to have survived as many did not. One of my greatest regrets was not talking with him before he died in 1987 about those dark days .
He must have been so brave as were people who have fought in wars from the dawn of history.
Life and quantum physics - NOT amateur radio
One of the "takeaway" things from my university course on quantum mechanics (that seems a very long time away now!) was that things could also be described as waves. These waves exist in all space and all time, but are much more probable here and now. To all intents and purposes they are "things" here and now.
The intriguing thought is that in some sense we have always existed everywhere.
Now my understanding may well be flawed, but it goes to show that what we experience as reality may not be how things are. Reality for us is based on our experiences of life. It pays to be humble: we only know a very little. Be open minded.
Google "quantum entanglement".
One thing I am sure about: one hundred years from now we will look back at these times with amazement: did they really believe that and did they really drive around in vehicles that needed fossil fuels?
Hope - NOT amateur radio
We usually have a good show of daffodils under the trees in our close. Snowdrops are appearing everywhere now and these daffs are now pushing through. In a few weeks time, they will look great. Winter is still here, but there are signs of hope and new life.
10m WSPR TX (500mW)
Since just before lunch, I have been on 10m WSPR QRP TX with the W5OLF beacon. So far, 3 unique stations spotted.
Whenever I go on 10m WSPR QRP TX, I seem to get spotted by much the same stations. Local G4KPX always gets me if he is about as do a couple of stations in the Canary Is. Occasionally I get spotted in S.America. Rarely, others spot me.
In the last solar peak I was copied across the planet. However, more people seem to have swapped to FT8 for weak signal communications. There is more 10m WSPR than I was expecting though. If the 10m antenna is available, I go on 10m WSPR TX.
8m NoV - zzzzz
A week ago I got an email from OFCOM saying someone was chasing my 8m NoV application submitted last October. 3 weeks after chasing them I have had no progress update - zzzzzz.
If I was offering them £2M for a mobile phone licence I would have probably heard by return in October.
How can you be impressed by such shabby customer service? In my working life I was told customers are our most important asset. Such service from OFCOM would (rightly) get someone the sack.
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