My QMX+ is TXing QRP FT8 on 40.680 MHz.
UPDATE 1809z: No spots. QRT.
24 Jan 2025
"Our" windmill late yesterday afternoon - NOT amateur radio
The hedge in front is ours.
We get a good view when we have breakfast and in the lounge where this photo was taken.
Peace - NOT amateur radio
It saddens me that so many who were so badly affected in WW2 (6 million Jews were killed) are now able to inflict such horrors on innocent people in Gaza.
What happened to the Jewish people on October 7th 2023 was horrific, but nothing, NOTHING, can condone what has happened since.
It seems that mankind is incapable of living in peace. More and more I am saddened that so much hate exists.
How simple can you make a transceiver?
Before my stroke in 2013 I enjoyed seeing what could be done with almost nothing. This circuit was based on an earlier design for 40m CW by someone in the USA. Others made copies and some remarkable DX was worked.
23 Jan 2025
Rally reminder
This Sunday the following rally takes place:
Sunday January 26th - Lincoln Short Wave Club Winter Radio Rally, Market Rasen, LN8 3HT. Contact m5zzz@outlook.com .
Propagation guide
This may not be perfect, but it gives a general guide to HF conditions. It shows the F2 MUF goes way above 30 MHz at times in certain places.
See https://prop.kc2g.com/ .
Previous intelligent civilisations on Earth? - NOT amateur radio
There was a post on Facebook earlier that got me thinking.
The Earth is probably 4 billion years old and humans have maybe been around maybe 500000 years. What if intelligent civilisations existed in the distant past and then destroyed themselves without a trace? This is very unlikely as we would probably have found some evidence such as tool remains.
However, this could have occurred elsewhere in the solar system (Venus,Mars?) or on other planets in the universe.
Church tower (unusual angle) - NOT amateur radio
10m QRP WSPR TX (Thursday)
My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at 0932z.
UPDATE 1842z: 29 stations spotting me. Now QRT.
8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
My QMX+ (2W) to the low dipole was turned on at about 0934z.
UPDATE 1850z: HI0SDR (7062km) has spotted me again. No other spots of me. Now QRT.
22 Jan 2025
Refused pardon - NOT amateur radio
It amazes me that the USA president has pardoned so many people who stormed Capitol Hill 4 years ago. I see one woman has refused the pardon admitting that wrong was done that day.
I have no right to interfere with politics in the USA. However, I observe how the rest of the world looks on. The USA does not look like a role model for democracy.
In these troubled times everyone in power must project honesty, kindness and a concern for the greater good.
Kindness - NOT amateur radio
Each year, the Oxford English Dictionary chooses a word that sums up the year. Their most recent is KINDNESS. In these troubled times, we could all do with a lot of this.
Quiet village corner - NOT amateur radio
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Wednesday)
My beacon has been on for a bit under an hour.
UPDATE 1343z: Spotted by 14 stations so far.
8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)
When I got back from Cambridge I turned on my QMX+ on 8m FT8. Spotted by HI0SDR (7062km) in the Dominican Republic. Another 2W 8m transatlantic.
Why? - NOT amateur radio
Allegedly the USA president has used an executive order to overturn a conviction of a man who sold drugs on the dark web. This puzzles me.
21 Jan 2025
Village quiet corner - NOT amateur radio
.jpeg)
8m FT8 TX (Tuesday)
At about 1130z I QSYed to 40.680 MHz QRP FT8 with about 2W from my QMX+ into a low dipole. At 1551z
UPDATE 1916z: Just LX5JX (468km) spotted me. Now QRT.
6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)
10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)
My beacon was turned on at about 0930z. At 1100z, 9 stations had spotted me with the furthermost ZD7GB (7607km).
UPDATE 1915z: 26 stations have spotted me today. Now QRT.
That Yaesu FTX-1F
It was announced last summer and due to be released "early 2025" yet no specs have been forthcoming leading some to speculate if it will ever appear.
Certainly since the early 2000s market conditions are very different. Back then Yaesu had most of the market with almost no competition. ICOM and others are already in the market and the Chinese are coming up strongly with very keen prices. Yaesu more than ever know this could be their saviour or that it will soon be time to get out of this market.
In my mind it has to be a market leader in features and price, much better than the IC-705 at a much better price.
At one time Yaesu were way out front. Not any more!
In the past I have had many Yaesu transceivers. They have made some excellent products, but I remain skeptical about this product, knowing that in the end all they are asking is one question, "will it make us money?".
See https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/1hs9jwj/yaesu_ftx1f_is_it_real_or_is_it_vapor/
Tuesday plans
Assuming the QMX+ initialises in a reasonable time, my plans today are to go on 10m QRP WSPR and 8m QRP FT8. If I have problems still with the QMX+, I shall try 6m QRP FT8 with the IC-705.
The QMX+ is excellent once it initialises. I hope this is fixed in a software release.
Sunspots - Tuesday January 21st
Solar flux is 230 and the SSN 277 (is this an error?). A=20 and K=1.
20 Jan 2025
11 years ago - NOT amateur radio
I was in hospital for 3.5 months with a brain bleed. My brother came to see me regularly from Devon. He also raised lots of money for Headway, a charity for brain injured people.
Unlike many I made a pretty full recovery. Apart from giddiness and poor speech most of me still works!
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/non-amateur-radio/stroke .
US presidential elections - NOT amateur radio
The people of the USA have elected their president for the next 4 years in an election.
The outgoing president has, allegedly, issued preemptive pardons to prevent the incoming president "going after" those who opposed him in the past.
I truly hope the incoming president is above such things and continues to uphold all that is best about democracy and sees peace around the world as an honourable aim.
Pititico 1 transistor transceiver
You may be interested in this (and other) videos on the Pititico transceiver on DX Explorer.
As there is no amplification of the audio on RX I imagine it is not very sensitive so probably safer to call stations you can hear. Putting out a call you might squash another station already there that you cannot hear!
6m QRP FT8 (Monday)
At the moment I am on 6m FT8 with the IC705 (10W) and the V2000 vertical omni antenna. At 1200z, just 9 English spots of me.
UPDATE 1543z: 28 stations in 7 countries have spotted me today on 6m QRP FT8.
8m QRP FT8 with the QMX+ (Monday)
Once my QMX+ has initialised (with software -019 it can sometimes take ages! I was holding off upgrading software until SSB is available) I intend to go on 8m QRP FT8.
UPDATE 1140z: As my QMX+ failed to initialise (is this just a problem with -19 software version?) I shall not be on 8m FT8 today.
10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)
My stand-alone beacon was turned on at about 0930z. So far (at 0947z) no spots of me.
UPDATE 1244z: 19 spots of me.
19 Jan 2025
LED Christmas Tree
With January in the UK being generally cloudy and dull, we had withdrawal symptoms, so we bought a small LED tree.
World Radio Television Handbook (WRTH)
At that time the WRTH was a great help. It is still going strong, but I have not seen a copy for many years. I would imagine it is now far thinner.
8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
My QRP 8m FT8 was turned on at about 0955z. Yesterday my QMX+ was spotted by 4 stations including one in the Caribbean. On 8m I run about 2W to a low dipole.
UPDATE 1433z: So far just a single spot of me by EI3KF (574km) today.
UPDATE 1910z: QRT soon.
10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)
My QRP WSPR beacon was turned on at about 0950z. No spots of me yet.
UPDATE 1047z: Spots of me by EA8BFK (2880km) , EW1LN (1812km) and OH3FR (1756km).
UPDATE 1731z: Spotted by 28 stations so far today. Map courtesy of WSPRrocks by Phil VK7LL.
UPDATE 1905z: The last spot of me was at 1818z so QRT soon.
Evil - NOT amateur radio
With all that is happening in the world I can only conclude that evil is alive and well. We can argue about why it is there, but it IS there. It would seem evil is part of the human condition.
18 Jan 2025
10m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
At about 1600z, I swapped to 10m QRP FT8 with my QMX+ rig.
UPDATE 1652z: Spotted by 60 stations including many in the USA. In the last few minutes I have been spotted by ZD7GB (7607km).
Our local windmill - NOT amateur radio
We are lucky to live right next door to a fully restored windmill. We can see it from the lounge and breakfast table.
The windmill is part of our local museum, which is probably one of the best local museums in the whole country.
Wayback machine
Amateur Radio Weekly reminded me that the Wayback Machine has loads of stuff of relevance to radio amateurs. For those unfamiliar with this, the Wayback Machine archives old websites and much old material such as magazines.
8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
As 6m FT8 was good, I decided to switch my QMX+ to 8m QRP FT8. The output on 40.680 MHz is about 2W.
UPDATE 1223z: LX5JX (468km) has spotted me. I have spotted him too - with my deaf RX he must have been strong! Also spotted by a station in Austria.
Amaryllis - NOT amateur radio
We had one much earlier that grew very tall.
They are great fun.
6m QRP FT8 with the QMX+ (Saturday)
My QRP gear was turned on at about 1015z.
10m QRP WSPR (Saturday)
My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at 1010z.
UPDATE 1242z: 44 stations have spotted me so far.
17 Jan 2025
6m QRP FT8 (Friday)
For a very brief time before turning my QMX+ off, I went on 6m FT8 for about a minute. In all, 3 English stations spotted me.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
