630m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

 At about 1745z, I turned on my 630m (472 kHz) WSPR. 

Cambridge today - NOT amateur radio

We went to a free lunchtime concert, and that involved walking though Kings. The photo shows Cambridge today. 

It felt more like mid-summer. - very warm and sunny.

Good and evil - NOT amateur radio

My religious feelings are almost zero these days. However, I think evil does exist in this world, sadly. 

It would appear after 2 world wars and many subsequent wars, humans have learnt absolutely nothing. The Russian-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas conflict/war seem to confirm this. 

Surely after all this time, we would have learnt something. It would appear not.

Jaw, jaw, not war ,war.

WSPRnet error

All seems OK until I press the "unique" button on the database page (to see which unique stations have spotted me). This worked fine in the past. It has only stopped working in the last few days.

I use Chrome on a Chromebook. It has worked faultlessly for nearly 3 years. I have not tried with other browsers.

UPDATE 0900z:  Just tried Firefox. Same error message.

UPDATE 1801z:  I think the problem may have been fixed.

Sunspot maximum

According to the forecasts, the solar maximum for cycle 25 is next month. It has been this for a long time. We are already seeing MUF figures above 41 MHz even on E-W paths. Usually the decline is far slower than the slope up. If so, conditions could be good yet for some while. It is not unusual to see a double peak. Enjoy the good times.

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 My 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on about 0800z. No spots.

UPDATE 0850z:  Spots by local G4WSZ (12km).

UPDATE 1549z:  F2 conditions are the best I have known. My 2.5W and dipole FT8 were widely spotted in the USA and Caribbean. I have also spotted several transatlantic stations on 8m as well as 2 South Africans.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Tuesday)

At about 0800z my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on. So far, a local spot and what I think are F2 spots from eastern Europe.

UPDATE 1840z: Today, 64 stations have spotted me.

History - NOT amateur radio

 This was a FB memory today.

Sunspots - Tuesday October 10th 2023

Solar flux is 166 and the SSN 129. A=8 and K=2.

Kingfisher - NOT amateur radio

It is some years since I last saw a kingfisher. Usually you just see them skimming low over the water or on a branch overlooking a stream. 

The blue appears iridescent. They are spectacular. Photos rarely capture how magnificent they are.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/kingfisher .

WSPRnet still faulty?

This morning, WSPRnet still reports an error, so I went on WSPR Rocks instead. I do not know what the problem is.

10m 500mW WSPR TX

My beacon has been on all morning. Local G4KPX (14km) and J41PAN the special station in Greece spotted me early on. There seems to be quite respectable European 10m propagation at the moment. This could be Es.

UPDATE 1715z: The map shows where my 10m QRP WSPR TX was spotted today.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My 8m 2.5W FT8 has been on for about an hour this morning. So far just local G4WSZ (12km) spotting me. As usual, I am on 40.680 MHz, DF about 1950 Hz, TX first.

UPDATE 1142z:  Spotted by LX5JX (468km) tropo or aircraft?

UPDATE 1442z:  Today, I had my first transatlantic spot (F2 I assume) this autumn on 8m QRP FT8 with a spot by WW1L (4976km).

Sentimentalist - NOT amateur radio

At the moment, I am reading a book about swifts in which it says these have been around since the Eocene era i.e. about 50 million years. It is hard to grasp. This means these birds were flying high in the sky before humans came on the scene. I find this quite humbling.  I guess other migratory birds like swallows and martins go back a very long time too.

Most swifts, swallows and martins have now embarked on their long journeys south. I also keep an eye out for the first to come back each spring, probably as they have done for millions of years before me.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

Overnight, I left my 630m QRP WSPR gear running. 

LA3EQ (769km) and OH1LSQ (1733km) both spotted me. The station in Finland has now spotted me on 3 days running despite my low ERP and Jan in Norway seems to get me consistently. 

Other, closer, stations also spotted me. Although I was hoping to spot some new stations overnight, I was not successful.

VLF upconverter

Many people want to take a peek at what is on VLF. The problem is that many receivers do not tune that low. One answer is an upconverter so that VLF is translated to a frequency covered by a conventional receiver. 

For amateur VLF signals, this is extremely unlikely to be useful as VLF amateur signals need great frequency accuracy, extremely narrow bandwidths and long integration periods measured in hours or days. 

For VLF utility stations this upconverter will be useful.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vlf/vlf-converter

Sunspots - Monday, October 9th 2023

Solar flux is 157 and the SSN 149.  A=7 and K=2. 

Crystal Set DXing

Many of us "cut our teeth" by making crystal sets on medium wave to receive a local station. As you know, crystal sets require no power. All you need is a sensitive headset or earpiece as all the power comes from the transmitter.

What is less well known is that a short wave crystal set can be made and great fun had.  This is totally different from conventional SWLing. Signals have to be mV, not uV. It is possible to hear amateur and utility signals as well as broadcast stations. Sadly, there are fewer English language broadcasts to be heard.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/crystal-set-dxing

Mis-shapen, but home grown - NOT amateur radio

Earlier this year we were given some pepper plants grown from the seeds inside a pepper by a friend. 

She had no luck, but one of ours has grown into a (mis-shapen!) pepper. 

At some point soon we will eat it. It has been on a windowsill most of the time.

Palestine and Israel - NOT amateur radio

Any aggression is dreadful and the taking of hostages unforgivable.  I wish that the people of Palestine could be treated fairly by Israel and that people (both Arab and Israelis) could all live in peace respecting their differences.

When I was taking my A levels in 1967 there was a war between Arabs and Israelis . After a lifetime of work and 15 years of retirement, the bad feeling is still there. Peace, please.

Blog numbers - NOT amateur radio

For several weeks I consistently had blog visitor numbers about 10 times more than normal. Occasionally I know numbers are higher as a result of bot probes. This was different. Numbers are now back to normal. I can only assume numbers were being wrongly inflated.  

Moral?  Do not believe all you read!

Have we gone mad in the UK? - NOT amateur radio

Let me say right away, that I have absolutely nothing against gay or bisexual people. Some of my best friends are gay and some are happily married.  One (female) couple have a child and they are all happy and loved.

What I have a problem with is attacking (often by words in the media) of conventional couples. Yes, the overriding thing is everyone regardless of colour, gender or religion has the right to be happy. We have no business to interfere.

What I am asking for is toleration. We are all different. Let's respect this.

Simple 10m FT8 RX

It is amazing that something so simple works so well. I found a very low cost source of crystals and this does not tie up the "big rig". With 10m so good at the moment, this is a really low cost way of monitoring the activity.

I wish someone would do a simple PCB. It would make an ideal club project or Buildathon.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10ft8r-rx

Cheap crystals? See https://kc9on.com/product/14mhz-hc49u-tall-crystals/   $1.75 each!

Yesterday's walk - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife made a collage of our walk at Quy near Cambridge yesterday. It was a pleasant walk down to the river and lake.

It is here for the record.

630m WSPR (Sunday)

Now that my 630m station is working well on "split", I can be on both TX and RX on 630m WSPR. For a change, I am sticking with 630m WSPR in the daytime to see what happens. I am surprised by the activity that is there. Perhaps it is because it is a weekend? 

UPDATE 1411z:  QRT on 630m. On again this evening. In the last day I have been spotted by 11 stations with the furthermost OH1LSQ (1733km). Pleasing with a very low ERP and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.  Some while back, I measured the ERP as 10mW.  The transverter produces 10-15W into a 50 ohm load. See my website for details.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/630m-472khz-transverter

UPDATE 1555z:  630m WSPR gear turned on again at 1554z.

UPDATE 1905z:  At the moment WSPRnet seems not to be working, so I am looking on WSPR Rocks. So far this evening these are the stations spotting me (see map).

UPDATE 2125z:  OH1LSQ (1733km) and a station in Norway have spotted my 10mW ERP 630m WSPR this evening. The station in Finland has spotted me for 2 days running.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

My 500mW beacon is on again. Spots from the Canaries as well as some stations in Europe are again being received. I guess these latter ones could be F2 backscatter or Es. 

UPDATE 1326z:  So far today, my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon has been spotted by 34 stations (see table).

UPDATE 1511z:  46 spots of me today.

UPDATE 1806z:  Spotted by 53 stations today.

Yesterday on 630m WSPR

Now "split" is working I am fully active on 630m WSPR. DX spots with the earth-electrode antenna in the ground are as good as ever. Great to be back. 

Sunspots - Sunday October 8th 2023

Solar flux is 157 and the SSN 145.  A=4 and K=2.

LoRa devices at 863-870 MHz

 As far as I can gather, this band is licence exempt in the UK and may be of use to experimenters. I have not read the regulations wrt ERP etc.. 

It may be of use for short-range experiments over a few kilometers. I expect there are several RF modules available. 

Helsinki, Finland - NOT amateur radio

In all, I have been here 5 times, 2 for work and 3 times on holiday. On holiday it was summer time and mild. For work, it was once in winter and very cold and once in May. We travelled north to Oulo where there was still ice in May!  

Helesinki is a fine city with a nice feel.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki .

Quy Hall near Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This morning, we went for a walk to Quy Hall, near Cambridge. 

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My 2.5W to the dipole was turned on at about 0830z. Already spotted by G4WSZ (12km) , but really hoping for some excellent F2 propagation and transatlantic spots like last F2 season. 

UPDATE 1319z:   Still just the local spot. I think for F2 it has to be good with just 2.5W.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at about 0830z. It seems almost every day I get spotted in the Canary Islands. 

UPDATE 1129z:  So far today, 16 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1803z:   50 stations have spotted me today.

630m split?

I can't remember the last version of WSJT-X I used on 630m. It appears a problem with split may be linked to a earlier version, so later today I may try split with WSJT-X v2.6.

UPDATE 1310z:  First problem - locate the FT817ND manual to find how to set up split as I cannot remember how to do this!

UPDATE 1755z:  Split seems to be working so I can both TX and RX on 472 kHz WSPR.

UPDATE 1900z:  OH1LSQ (1723km) is the furthermost spot of me in the last few days (see table). Not bad with the low ERP (10mW) and earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This REALLY works and nothing is visible.

UPDATE 2012z: These are the stations I have spotted on 630m WSPR RX in the last few weeks (see map).

10m WSPR TX yesterday

In all, 41 stations spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon yesterday. 

Sunspots - Saturday October 7th 2023

Solar flux is 155 and the SSN 138. A=9 and K=2. 

630m antenna current meter fixed

Just mended my 630m antenna current meter. G0VQH (15km) is reporting me 2-3dB stronger. I think there were dry joints. I am finding soldering much harder nowadays- a combination of old age, eyesight and my 2013 stroke!

As my modified FT817ND does not allow me "split" operation for some reason, I am currently TX only with WSPR on 22% TX.

UPDATE 1841z: 6 spots of me so far this evening. I think my ERP is about 10mW.

Ely Cathedral Art Exhibition - NOT amateur radio

Today, we went to Ely. There was an art exhibition in the Lady Chapel at the cathedral.  It was very good and free.

Platlights

These very powerful LEDs were bought in 2012. They were going to be used on 481THz tests over the horizon. Sadly my stroke got in the way. 

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

 My 10m WSPR TX beacon was switched on just after breakfast. So far, spots from the Canary Is..

UPDATE 1635z:   29 spots of my QRP 10m WSPR beacon.

8m QRP FT8 (Friday)

 At the moment, I am on 8m QRP FT8 with my 2.5W and dipole. Just  local spots by G4WSZ (12km).

Fixing the 630m antenna current meter

As reported yesterday, it appears I have a fault with my antenna current meter. Today I must find the fault. I shall go on 630m WSPR TX tonight. I'm finding fault finding and soldering harder these days. 

Sunspots - Friday October 6th 2023

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 179. A=16 and K=2.

Christmas comes early? - NOT amateur radio

In the Cambridge M&S store I was appalled by this blatant attempt at commercialism. Even though it is only October 5th they are trying to tempt Christmas shoppers. To me, the Christmas period does not start until early December at the earliest. The sign says "Christmas Market this way". Bad humbug. 

630m WSPR TX (Thursday) - back on transmit!

I checked the transverter oscillator was working and power was being produced into a dummy load, but there is no current showing in the antenna current meter. Maybe the fault is with this?

So, I tested the transverter connecting it directly to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground (no matching transformer). Every TX period I received 4-7 spots per TX period. My ERP is at most 10mW, probably far less.

Furthermost was 209km.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Thursday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR TX beacon was turned on at about 0800z. At 0824z, no spots.

UPDATE 1635z:  21 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR today. There were fewer USA stations spotting me.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

 At about 0800z, I turned on my gear on 40.680 MHz.

UPDATE 0824z: Just spots by local G4WSZ (12km) so far.

UPDATE 1558z: 2 spots of me today - a local and S59F (1205km). On RX I also spotted RW6HP, but waiting to hear if he is genuine. Spotted in S.Portugal by HC02 yesterday again.

Sunspots - Thursday October 5th 2023

 Solar flux is 155 and the SSN 151. A=10 and K=5.

630m WSPR RX (Wednesday)

So far, a couple of stations spotted although I only turned about 2000z.

UPDATE 2141z:  6 stations have been spotted so far this evening.

Tree cutting day - NOT amateur radio

 

We had our local tree surgery out to do some trimming of our trees and a hedge. They grow very fast!