Solar flux is 96 and the SSN 71. A=8 and K=2.
29 Jun 2022
28 Jun 2022
8m DX QSOs
Both EI2IP and G9PUV have managed USA 8m FT8 QSOs. This was after a lot of hard work and patience.
En Route - NOT amateur radio
For the first time since 2019 I am off to Devon by coach to see my brother. I usually go by train, but industrial action is making this hard at the moment. The photo shows the coach. I prefer the train, but have little choice.
27 Jun 2022
10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)
Most of the morning, I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon. After a promising start, just spots by 3 unique stations so far.
UPDATE 1808z: 22 spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR today.
8m experiment (Monday)
After 2 sessions on QRP FT8 TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial, I have been spotted just by EA3ERE (1153km) so far.
Oldest human in a photo? - NOT amateur radio
Oscar 100 commercial gear
Apart from the DX-patrol offering diplayed at Friedrichshafen, I am unaware of any complete turnkey solutions to operating on Oscar 100.
In particular not one of the Japanese manufacturers has offered anything. To me, this speaks volumes, literally. They cannot see volumes and hence profits.
If DX-patrol can do it for €650 surely the Japanese will have considered it. There is no home market or market in the USA, so they are not interested.
In my view the Japanese amateur manufacturers will be looking hard at the amateur radio market and asking if the effort is worth it in the coming years.
26 Jun 2022
Oscar 100 box
This was seen at Friedrichshafen. I have no details about price or availability, but I cannot imagine it being low cost.
Swaffham Prior - NOT amateur radio
It is unusual having two churches in the same churchyard. I think originally 2 parishes met here.
Our grandson had hoped to ring the bells here, but they changed the day.
10m Es
Since 0734z, my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been on. Already HB9TMC (905km) and IU1DZZ (973km) have spotted me. A promising start.
UPDATE 2041z: 47 unique station spots of my 500mW WSPR today.
8m experiment (Sunday)
After breakfast I hope to be on 8m QRP TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 QRP. It cannot be worse than yesterday when there were no spots at all! There are too few people monitoring on 8m, so it can be very hard going.
UPDATE 0751z: 8m gear turned on at 0734z. I get the impression that those active on the band have proved what is possible by Es and are now turning their attention to 6m and 4m instead until the autumn. I shall try a bit longer.
UPDATE 0807z: Spots of my QRP by EA3ERE (1133km) and HC02 (1808km). Promising.
UPDATE 2016z: 6 spots of my QRP 8m FT8 today. With spots from 12 different countries, I am pretty pleased so far this Es season, although disappointed not to be copied further than the Canary Isles. I wonder if I might manage the USA on F2 later in the year?
Colourful garden - NOT amateur radio
This garden is opposite Ely Cathedral and usually is a riot of colour.
25 Jun 2022
ICOM IC-7300 transceiver
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/icom-ic-7300 .
RF engineer shortage - NOT amateur radio
What the situation is like in other countries I do not know, but in the UK it is acute. There are far fewer RF designers than there once were. When I started in RF design, most were radio amateurs with a total fascination for RF.
In my professional life, I saw many CVs from aspiring RF engineers. Most were hopeless! Graduates that knew really very very little. At 73 years I have been offered 2 jobs this year already! They must be very desperate!
Personally, I feel that many have lost the "magic" of RF. This is where amateur radio "self training" could help. We need more good, intrinsically motivated RF designers in the UK. We must do everything in our power to encourage RF design in the future.
Trim time - NOT amateur radio
When we moved here in 2013 this border was pretty bare. Now it is in need of a trim!
8m experiment (Saturday)
Although I have been on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 TX for about 40 minutes, no spots given or received so far. It is now 0918z.
UPDATE 1853z: No spots at all today on 40.680 FT8. You get the impression that 8m, with far fewer monitors than 10m and 6m, is on the wane. Yes, there will be good days, but now we are beginning to see more days with no Es propagation. It seems amazing that next week is July!
10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)
Yet again, I am on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW. It is now 0920z and I have received reports from 4 unique stations already. I think these are by Es.
OFCOM and 8m
OFCOM is consulting ahead of WRC23. See the OFCOM website for details.
As you probably know, I am APPALLED by the very negative attitude by OFCOM and the RSGB to self training (what the amateur licence is meant to be about!!). Their position is utterly stupid by making us pay £50 annually to experiment at 8m.
My proposal is:
- 5 kHz wide only 40.680-40.685 MHz amateur band at 8m
- narrow digital only (e.g. WSPR, FT8, CW, but no speech)
- by NoV
- strictly for real experiments , not "more of the same"
If you feel inclined, write to OFCOM and copy the RSGB. The current situation WRT 8m is so so stupid!!
I am conscious that RF engineers are in very short supply so why are we not encouraging self training?
24 Jun 2022
Rose Pride - NOT amateur radio
One of the houses in our village has a splendid garden filled with roses in which they take great pride.
Es selectivity
So far today, I have had just spots from Austria on 10m WSPR and nothing at all on 8m FT8.
Es can be very selective. Sometimes a station a few kilometres away spots a lot, whereas at your QTH there is nothing. Also, the openings can be widespread or in just one direction.
Although I may be factually wrong, my impression is openings to more northerly directions are more common later in the Es season. Southern stations are there, but the feeeling I get is that more northern stations are more frequent.
My free PDF book
Although I hope to have every page complete before I go to see my brother next week, I shall still need to check things and order the pages, so it will not be available until some time in July. I am making no deadlines as I always seem to miss them!
One thing is sure: there will be a link on my blog and website and I shall send the link to the main radio mags. Whether they decide to print it is another matter!
It should contain all my projects and a bit more that may be of interest. As it is a brain-dump as much for me as others, I cannot charge anything for it. What would really please me is if others experimented for the first time and some of my unfinished projects were finished.
Over the years, I have had lots of fun and I hope you do too.
10m QRP WSPR TX (Friday)
I have been on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW for about an hour. Multiple spots by OE3XOE (1233km), but nobody else as yet.
UPDATE 1606z: 19 spots of my 500mW QRP today.
Barnacle geese and young - NOT amateur radio
These look similar to Canada geese, but are smaller. In the UK we do not see young ones. This was Helsinki in 2018.
23 Jun 2022
Salcombe in the mist - NOT amateur radio
Salcombe, Devon is where I grew up as a child. The photo shows the harbour in the mist.
10m QRP WSPR TX (Thursday)
Already at 0836z, today is far more promising than yesterday. 3 stations already spotting my 500mW QRP WSPR beacon.
UPDATE 1118z: Spotted by 6 unique stations today widely across Europe. Far better than yesterday.
8m experiment (Thursday)
My QRP TX has been on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 TX since just after 0800z. Already spotted by HC02 in southern Portugal.
UPDATE 1121z: 3 spots of my QRP FT8 so far today. Currently QRT as rig cools. Hope to be back on FT8 TX at 1130z.
22 Jun 2022
Poor Es day?
Certainly here, today was a very poor Es day, with no spots of me at all on 10m WSPR or 8m FT8.
As the season progresses, I guess we will get more poor Es days. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, although with sporadic-E (Es) things are "sporadic".
I have seen 6m Es QRP SSB as late as September. The main season is May, June and July.
10m QRP WSPR TX
Although I have had my 500mW beacon on most of the afternoon, nobody has yet spotted me. It almost feels as those long days of Es are coming to a close. Es will still be around, but we have to expect days when it will be absent.
In my experience, I have worked 6m SSB QRP DX as late as September.
Oscar 100 activity
Every few weeks, I give an update on activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. The last time I checked was early evening in Europe on Wednesday. Activity is still low.
As an example, 3B8GL was calling CQ on SSB with a decent signal for ages with no takers!
See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .
8m experiment (Wednesday)
Later, I hope to be on 8m TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 (first). It is now 1243z.
UPDATE 1439z: Now on 8m FT8 TX. Intensely frustrated that in the UK we have to pay for access to 8m, when OFCOM could have allocated 40.680-40.685 MHs (just 5 kHz), by NoV, to the amateur service, narrow digital only, no speech, to encourage self training and research. Frankly I find the OFCOM and RSGB position totally and unbelievably bizarre! No, totally STUPID!!!
Accessing DMR via your PC for free ?
There are great opportunities with DMR. However, like many, I have no wish to get a DMR portable or external to the PC unit to act as a bridge.
What I am wondering is is it possible to access DMR via the PC alone using some kind of gateway? If you know of a way, please let me know.
21 Jun 2022
OFCOM consultation
OFCOM is consulting on extentions to the Ku band spectrum available to satellites. See the OFCOM website for details.
10m QRP WSPR TX
My QRP (500mW) beacon was turned on at 0808z. No spots yet of me. Yesterday, I only had spots from the Canary Isles on 10m. These could have been F2.
UPDATE 0824z: One spot from Denmark.
UPDATE 1326z: 11 stations have spotted my QRP WSPR today. These look like Es.
8m experiment (Tuesday)
My QRP TX was turned on at 0807z on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8.
UPDATE 0815z: No spots.
UPDATE 1257z: 3 stations have spotted me so far on 8m FT8.
UPDATE 1932z: This will probably not happen with my low ERP, but I still hope for an FT8 spot by a station in the USA. I live in hope!!
East Anglian skies - NOT amateur radio
East Anglia is famous for not having hills. Well, there are some!
However, we have some great skies as the photo shows.
Super DX at VHF, UHF and microwaves?
On my website there is a page about super DX on VHF and UHF. Most, or every, summer there are 6m openings from Western Europe to the Far East. These are thought to be linked to noctilucent clouds in the mesosphere. It is possible these openings may occur at far higher frequencies. I am surprised nobody seems to be trying as there could be new records galore.
I am not sure how FT8 works with noctilucent clouds, although I have certainly copied Japanese stations on 6m FT8 by this mechanism with a very poor setup.
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