Many years ago

This was me building a new transceiver in the back of the garage in our old house at a guess in 2011? 

Sunspots - Wednesday February 8th 2023

Solar flux is 185 and the SSN 110. A=20 and K=2.

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

As usual when I am on 8m, my 10m antenna is available, so I have gone on 10m WSPR with my 500mW W5OLF TX beacon. So far, the usual local and the Canary Is station spotting me.

UPDATE 1355z:  11 stations have spotted my 10m WSPR QRP so far today with the furthermost F61695 (9729km).

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

At about 0930z my 8m FT8 QRP on 40.680 MHz was turned on. At 0940z, unsurprisingly, no spots. At the moment, my only real hope is aircraft scatter or a very good F2 opening with a high enough MUF. Those with higher ERPs have a much greater chance of success.

UPDATE 1340z:   EA8/DF4UE (2876km) has spotted me very strongly (+2dB S/N) and I have spotted Eire and Croatia.

UPDATE 1359z:  Still no news from OFCOM about my T&I permit for after April.

UPDATE 1515z:  No further 8m FT8 spots today.

Bark - NOT amateur radio

This bark was seen yesterday at Hare Park at Chippenham near Cambridge.  

There is different Chippenham in Wiltshire.

QDX status

Hans Summers from QRP Labs has been away for a few weeks, so the status of built QDX transceivers has not been updated for a while. 

Looking at my place in the queue (updated Saturday), I think I should get mine in March. This will certainly be in time for the 2023 Es season, although I expect to span the globe this year with it by F2 propagation.

Sunspots - Tuesday February 7th 2023

 Solar flux is 158 and the SSN 139.  A=18 and K=3.

What a difference a day makes - NOT amateur radio

 

In the last day, the price of this zoom monocular camera has dropped by £60. 

I am glad I waited.

2m QRP FT8 (Monday)

When my coffee is finished, I intend to try 2m QRP FT8. It is daytime, so some people will be at work. Hopefully, some will be on. 

On 2m FT8 I can run 2.5W to the omni big-wheel antenna. The 2m FT8 frequency is 144.174 MHz. 

Usually, I monitor the 2m FT8 RX online at G0LRD about 25km from me to make sure all is working and my signal is clean. This is very useful.

UPDATE 1159z:  My QRP FT8 was spotted by 12 unique stations and I have spotted 10 with the furthermost being F6FGQ (564km) in Brittany. On SSB I would have great difficulty spotting furthermost Brittany and Germany. Not with 2m FT8!

Stations spotted today on 2m FT8 RX
with the big wheel omni antenna

UPDATE  1645z:  57 unique stations spotted today on 2m FT8 RX. 7 countries. 2m dead? I think not!

Bye bye Christmas tree - NOT amateur radio

We have had a real Christmas tree that has lasted 2 Christmas times. Sadly, it is looking tired and will be put out for composting later. This means getting another for the next Christmas. 

In the past, we have had artificial trees, but prefer a real one.  In the photo it does not look too bad, but I can tell.

It is odd to think we will blink and it will be Easter!! Blink again and it will be Christmas again!

10m WSPR TX

My 500mW WSPR beacon was turned on about 0930z.  So far, the Canary Is and a local have spotted me.

UPDATE 1201z:  5 unique stations have spotted me this morning with the furthermost FR1GZ (9724km).

UPDATE 1804z:  29 unique stations have spotted my 10m QRP WSPR today.

Plans for today (Monday)

Shortly, I hope to turn on my 10m WSPR 500mW TX beacon. Later, I might try again on 8m FT8, although I have not achieved much success very lately apart from by aircraft scatter. 

The Almonry, Ely - NOT amateur radio

This is the cathedral cafe. They've been serving food here since the 1200s. 

Thankfully the cheese scones are not that old! 

The undercroft has vaulted ceilings and looks very, very old!

See https://www.elycathedral.org/plan-your-visit/eat-drink-shop/the-almonry-restaurant.

Sub 9kHz amateur radio

At one time I was very active monitoring amateur radio below 10 kHz. Stations from all over Europe were decoded. I also used to regularly run a website dedicated to amateur experiments at the very low frequencies. Some remarkable distances were spanned. 

To TX, very big antennas are needed. For RX an E-field probe, which is tiny, is very effective. Extremely accurate frequency control is essential. This is usually achieved by GPS locking or locking to a VLF MSK signal, which is what I did. Bandwidths are measured in uHz. Timescales are measured in hours or even days! Casual listening is extremely unlikely to result in success, except perhaps by earth-mode over much shorter ranges. 

Since my 2013 stroke, I have not been active below 10 kHz. Experiments continue and keen amateurs are still knocking on the boundaries and achieving what many thought was impossible.

The photo shows my reception of DK7FC in 2011. In more recent times he has been testing on ever lower frequencies and with earth-electrode antennas.

Sunspots - Monday February 5th 2023

 Solar flux is 144 and the SSN 53. A=5 and K=3. 

Ely cathedral - NOT amateur radio

Ely Cathedral today. Just how did they make this in medieval times without modern tools?

DX soundbiites 2022

Although I do not actively seek DX these days, you may like to hear the DX soundbites recorded in Ohio last year.

See http://hamgallery.com/dx2022/ .

8m FT8 (Sunday)

For the last few hours, I have been on 8m (40.680 MHz) QRP FT8. At 1206z, no spots on TX or RX. 

UPDATE 1956z:  No spots.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)

My 10m WSPR beacon has been on much of the morning. So far, 4 unique stations have spotted me. 

UPDATE 1735z:  25 unique stations have spotted my QRP today.

23cm aircraft scatter

It looks like my best chance of copying beacons on 23cm is via aircraft scatter. This is reflection off aircraft in the correct part of the sky. I have not tried this yet. 

I am told that using software like Airscout allows one to predict when paths might be possible. 

Of course, this is no guarantee of success, but at least tells you when it is worth a try. I have no idea how strong such signals might be. Based on lower frequencies, I would expect such signals to be quite good. I expect there would some Doppler as the plane is moving across the sky. I guess how much depends on the path and plane direction.

This should be interesting. I wonder which beacons I can see? From here, I hope I can see the beacons on Dunstable Downs and at Martlesham Heath.

Dropbox (nasty) - NOT amateur radio

Just received an email from Dropbox saying my free account is over limit. The page is very intimidating and almost forces you to pay an extortionate £95 plus a year for extra space. All their stuff seems designed to take money off you or send you emails you really do not want. Even cancelling is made difficult.

I think I have deleted my account. I do not like their approach at all.

For information, Google offers all the file storage that I need for far, far less.

Sunspots - Sunday February 5th 2023

Solar flux is 139 and the SSN 66. A=6 and K=2. 

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

Despite my 2.5W FT8 to the dipole on 40.680 MHz being on since mid morning, no spots at all have been recorded on PSKreporter. I think this is the situation, although it could be delays at PSKreporter.

UPDATE 2148z:  QRT. No spots all day.

10m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR beacom by W5OLF was turned on about 1010z. So far, at 1045z,  spotted many times in the Canary Isles.

UPDATE 1229z:  So far today, my 500mW 10m WSPR has been spotted by 5 stations.

UPDATE 1712z:   20 stations have spotted my 500mW WSPR on 10m today.

UPDATE 2150z:  QRT.

"It is all too much?" - NOT amateur radio

Many years ago (5?) a doctor said these words to me.  I replied "of course not". 

Now I am less sure. As I get older, I feel my strength waning, people around me are dying (friends and family) and I live in an almost constant state of near exhaustion and giddiness. Life is no longer such fun. As a younger person, all my life was ahead of me. My sex life was healthy and meant a lot. These days, my drive is no longer there.  Ahead of me is (probably) ill health and death.

We once went to a party, mainly of older people. The host said, "you are not allowed to discuss your illness or medication". She was very wise!

Most of the time, I remain positive doing what still gives me fun, and there  are plenty of things.  On the whole, I am a "glass half full" sort of person i.e. positive.

..... but I now know what that doctor meant.

Oscar 100 narrowband

Every few weeks I take a peek at activity levels on the narrowband transponder on Oscar 100 using the on-line SDR at Goonhilly Down. Although I cannot comment on the wideband transponder, the narrowband transponder is very under used. My last look was early weekend in Europe.

Early optical experiments

This was a whole 11 years ago. Later, I went on to much further over the horizon.

Tempted? - NOT amateur radio

After Christmas, quite a few people go on diets to lose some weight after eating too much over the break. 

My wife saw this display in Cambridge yesterday. She was very tempted!

RF modules?

Sadly, the days when I can build things have long gone: instead I concentrate on experiments that I can (mainly) do at home without building.

It has long fascinated me that many RF modules for various bands are available at low cost. People have used these for low cost 5.6 GHz ATV links. In fact a whole /P culture has grown around /P ATV at 5.6 GHz.

What I have not seen is other such RF modules put to use on VHF and UHF frequencies for FM or AM transceivers. In principle, people could make whole rigs without any RF knowledge!

The modules shown may be bought as a set of 4 (RX and TX modules) i.e. 8 for just £10!!!

Sunspots - Saturday February 4th 2023

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 74. A=9 and K=3.

PSKreporter - sick or overloaded?

At times, PSKreporter seems not to work. Sometimes there is a great delay adding spots and at other times it seems unresponsive. I don't think this is an issue with my end. I think it is at the PSKreporter end. 

Sadly, this makes it a far less useful site as you sometimes have to wait hours before you know if you have been spotted.

I am currently looking for 8m FT8 spots.

Promise of spring? - NOT amateur radio

At this dark time of the year, my wife likes to buy some bunches of daffodils. They are usually a bargain (still) and herald better days ahead. Spring is only a few weeks away .... along with grass cutting!! 

The bird migrants from Africa usually arrive in April.

Solar data

The latest information on solar cycle 25 is out. It still shows the peak as November this year, which is early.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/ . 

OFCOM updates

 Every week, OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc..  See the OFCOM website for the latest.

Savoury biscuits for dips - NOT amateur radio

On Monday our son popped around for "University Challenge" on TV.  He brought some dips and biscuits for dipping. 

Inspired by these biscuits, I made my own this morning. They worked out really well (see photo). I shall have to make them again adding a few more dried rosemary herbs. Looking at the recipe, I suspect any herbs could be substituted.

See flatbread crackers recipe.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

At 0852, my W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon was turned on. Already, plenty of spots from the Canary Isles.

UPDATE 1204z:  61 spots of me by EA8/DF4UE (2876km) today.

UPDATE 1255z:  USA starting to spot me now. See http://wspr.rocks/ .

XBM80-2 transceiver

One of my Facebook memories this week was of some QSOs over 100 miles by AA1TJ using my little XBM80-2 transceiver in 2010. I did not realise it was that old!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/80m-xbm80-2 .

Early start on 8m QRP FT8

Earlier than normal, I am on 40.680 MHz FT8 with my 2.5W and dipole. It is now 0914z and, so far,  no spots. I seem to get my spots via aircraft reflection mainly at this time of year. There was some winter Es earlier, but I think that has largely gone.

UPDATE 1200z:  No spots on PSKreporter. QRT for a while as things cool. Back on 8m QRP FT8 this afternoon. Sometimes I notice a delay with PSKreporter.

UPDATE 1355z:  Now on 8m FT8 again.

ATV via Oscar 100

Typical TV picture via Oscar 100

Every Thursday evening at 2000z, BATC has a TV net on Oscar 100. I am disappointed that the only people I have seen are UK stations, but this confirms that there are some very bright people about. I am very impressed.

See https://batc.org.uk/live/oscar100net .

Sunspots - Friday February 3rd 2023

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 56. A=6 and K=1.

Emanuel College, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This is the annex to Emanuel College in Cambridge. It is about 200m from the bus station.

See https://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/ .

That darn book!

Current email footer

In my email footer are links to my various websites. For the life of me, I cannot see why putting a link to the shared file of my free PDF book always included the file as an attachment as well!  

As this is a 12.8MB file some emails may reject it!  I searched the settings, but cannot see why it does this.

Instead, I have put a link to the book page on my website. So, clicking there is a link to the latest edition. This seems fine.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/book .

Rally this weekend

 The following rally has been notified to me.  As always, it is a good thing to contact first before travelling a long way.

Sunday February 5th 2023 - Canvey Rally, Essex, SS8 9QA. Contact sears.enquiries@gmail.com .

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

 It is now 1105z. So far om 10m QRP WSPR with my 500mW beacon, spotted by 2 unique stations.

UPDATE 1352z:   6 unique stations have spotted me today.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

 It is now 1102z. Having been on 8m QRP FT8 for about an hour, no spots on TX or RX.

UPDATE 1355z:  No spots today.

Grim times - NOT amateur radio

This photo was on social media and shows a city street in the 1800s. We forget how grim life really was for most people. 

Sunspots - Thursday February 2nd 2023

 Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 89. A=6 and K=1.

2m FT8 activity contest (Wednesday)

Starting at 1900z tonight is the 2m FT8 activity contest. I shall probably go on briefly at 1900z with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. I was on for about an hour.  66 stations spotted (see map).

UK strikes - NOT amateur radio

No bus strikes today
in Cambridge

For a long time, people in public services (as opposed to private industry) have had poor wage increases in the UK, if any. 

The UK government's position is that inflation busting settlements just stoke inflation so it becomes embedded for years. This happened in the 1980s and was not good for anyone. The trouble is few working today realise what high inflation and mortgage costs are like!  I seem to remember mortgage rates approaching 17%!!!

UK inflation is expected to fall this year. What is required is fairness for everybody and common sense.

8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

My 8m QRP FT8 was turned on about 1450z.  So far spotted (again) by WESSEXSDR (265km), I think this is aircraft reflection. Nothing on 8m RX.