6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 1756z: So far spotted by 32 stations with the furthest  OH7XM (1714km). Now QRT.

Sunspots - Saturday September 20th

 Solar flux is 160 and the SSN 158. A=3 and K=2.

FX-4c transceiver

This video was on the DX Explorer website. There is now a new version available with a small fan and USB-C socket. It is available via Ali Express for about £500-600. It gets good reviews although I have no personal experience.

Crane Flies (Daddy Long Legs)

In the UK, this must be the time of the year when they mature. Today there was one on the bus and there is another on the lounge window.  They are harmless and fun bumbling into windows. Many years ago we had no less than 15 at once in our bedroom.

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

Seasonal photobooks

For many years, my wife has produced a photo-book each season.  It documents what we, our children and grandchildren have been up to. It's surprising how soon you forget.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

My beacon has been on since about 1330z.

UPDATE 1739z: So far, 19 spots, all transatlantic apart from a couple in the Canary Is.. and one in Austria.

UPDATE 2017z:  23 stations have spotted me with the furthest  K6VZK (8719km). QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 ( Friday)

My gear has been on since about 1330z.

UPDATE 1735z:  So far, 19 stations spotting me. Furthest is I3VWK (1105km).

Quiet time

In Cambridge this is a quiet time. There are fewer visitors and the university students are not back yet.

Sunspots - Friday September 19th

 Solar flux is 150 and the SSN 119. A=6 and K=0.

10m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon was turned at about 1140z.

UPDATE 1805z:  Spotted by 8 stations with several in the USA. QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on at about 1140z.

UPDATE 1804z: 14 stations have spotted me. See map. QRT soon.

Seccumbed

In the end I ordered a UV5r mini (transparent). At the very low price with a discount it was a bargain. Even if it goes wrong after a while it is far less than one meal out. 

Talking of meals out we really like Cote Brasserie which does an excellent fixed price menu.

Thursday plans

10m QRP FT8 yesterday

Yesterday my 10m FT8 QRP was spotted by 63 stations on 4 continents. See map.  

I have not yet decided what to do today, but my inclination is to try 6m FT8 later.

Sunspots - Thursday September 18th

 Solar flux is 147 and the SSN 119. A=12 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Wednesday)

 When I am on 6m FT8, like now, I can go on 10m QRP WSPR as my antenna is available and my beacon does not need the PC.

UPDATE 1343z:   No spots.

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

 At 1330z, I switched to 6m QRP FT8 from 10m QRP FT8.

UPDATE 1344z: Spotted by 4 English stations.

Early Halloween?

This was a shop window in our village earlier this week. It looks like this is a Halloween display. Personally, I think it is far too early.

Beofeng UV5R-mini

This product s available at ridiculously low prices (from China I think), although I have no personal experience. 

Looking at Ali-express, the price varies depending on the colour, accessories and whether you want 1 or 2 units. I am very tempted!

10m 3W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear has been on since about 0545z.

UPDATE 1236z:  59 stations have spotted me. See map.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 17th

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 130. A=21 and K=2.

Sunflowers dying

These have been a real surprise. The seeds came with some flowers my wife got for Mother's Day. I planted some in a tray and some in the ground. Most germinated and have looked good for several weeks, but they are now dying.

Some of the seeds will be kept for next year and the birds will have the rest.

Better Regen RX

Dave Richards AA7EE who makes some excellent projects very neatly has done a regen RX which he will add to his blog soon. He is a real experimenter!

If you want to see neat layouts without a PCB, look at Dave's blog and be inspired.

See https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/

More autumnal

 

The grass has just been cut and it feels more autumnal. We have had high winds and showers and there are more leaves on the ground.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Tuesday)

 At about 0930z I decided to try 10m WSPR as the antenna was free when I went on 6m FT8.

UPDATE  1030z:  No spots yet.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

 At  about 0930z, I QSYed to 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1025z:  Spotted by 8 stations, some in mainland Europe.

Gaza

Politically, I have always been a "floating voter"  voting for the party that best represents my views.

Whilst fully understanding the revulsion felt by Israel for the horrific acts by Hamas on October 7th and the wish by its enemies to see the destruction of the state if Israel, I am sickened by the apparent wish to destroy and drive out the people of Gaza. The Israeli government will claim their only wish is to destroy Hamas.

In the eyes of the world, Israel is seen as the aggressor in Gaza. You would think after the sheer horror of the holocaust in WW2, they would not want innocents to suffer.

The aggression and killing must stop. 

The only long-term peace will come from talking around a table. All sides will have to make some compromises.

Does Israel really believe they will defeat Hamas?  Their actions are likely to result in even more people turning against Israel.

Give peace and reconciliation a chance!

WSJT-X

 Although the officially released version is 2.7, my friend Steve G1KQH has pointed out that there is a release candidate of version 3.0. This is designed for experimenters and beta testers and may be unstable. It is usually released as a "proper" version some months later.

See https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html .

10m 3W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 0830z:  9 stations spotting me. Some Es?

UPDATE  1347z: Back on 3W 10m FT8 after a spell on 6m QRP FT8. Just a single spot from a local.

Sunspots- Tuesday September 16th

 Solar flux is 130 and the SSN 110. A=48 and K=5.

Noise floors

Most times I have no issues with QRP, but we all know that in many built-up areas noise can be an increasing problem. Over the years we have more gadgets in our homes which can produce RFI. Over time this is likely to get worse.

Weak signals can sometimes be masked by this noise, meaning QRP signals would be harder to spot. It will be interesting to see if QRP operation gets more difficult in the years ahead. 

With narrow modes like FT8 (50Hz wide only) and WSPR (6Hz wide needed) this can be less of a problem as we can avoid noise on certain frequencies. Often man-made noise can drift.

Often people are surprised how low the noise floor can be when out /P.

Windy!!

For this early in the autumn it is unusually windy here. 

Winds in October are common, but it is very unusual to get strong winds here when the trees are still with green leaves. 

It would not surprise me if we see some trees in the UK uprooted.

10m 2W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 0832z.

UPDATE  1030z:  Spotted by just 1 local and a station in Israel. Power increased to 3W and re-synced clock.  One station in Zambia on RX, but not on PSKreporter.

UPDATE 1826z: Just 6 stations spotted me all day. See map.

Really low cost HF radios

There are some very low cost radios available (I presume) from China. This review was on YouTube and the writer on YouTube feels the quality is improving. This is available from Banngood for about £60!!

Sunspots - Monday September 15th

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 75.  A=14 and K=5.

10 years time?

It would appear that amateur radio is mainly a hobby for older men, often with more disposable income than many. The hobby still attracts very few women and few young people. This may be different as I write this with a UK bias.

If we extrapolate to the next solar maximum in about 2035, many current amateurs will be dead, incapacitated, in care homes and NOT buying new rigs. The inevitable consequence is amateur radio is no longer a profitable business for many manufacturers or dealers. They will leave our market or go out of business, As I have said before, many magazines depend on a very few dealers to stay viable. I can see some magazines and dealers folding or magazines being published less often, digital only or smaller physically.

Many will say we have to attract and keep younger people. Perhaps.

There is little doubt that amateur radio is changing. 

My own view has been for some time that amateur radio as we knew it will disappear. PTTs will want to wash their hands of it, so deregulation will be the order of the day.

My prediction?   Amateur radio will combine with CB, amateur radio will become deregulated, fewer magazines , fewer dealers, manufacturers and national societies. Experimenters will continue in some other way.

10m 2W FT8 (Sunday)

Today I am on 10m FT8 with 2W. My gear was turned on at about 0907z.

UPDATE 1948z: Spotted by 54 stations. This looks like F2 propagation. See map. Furthermost is Reunion Is.. Now QRT.

The impression I am getting is "appliance operators" are moving down in frequency as the higher HF and 6m bands are now too hard without Es.

Sunspots - Sunday September 14th

 Solar flux is 118 and the SSN 43. A=6 and K=2.

The 21st century

Since the end of WW2 we have (sort of) lived in a fairly stable world. In many ways, the world seems to be changing in this century. 

We seem to be moving into a world of dictators with the USA now being more isolationist and China coming strongly onto the world stage.

Unlike in years past, the world seems less stable. We need to accept that other people may hold views different from ourselves. In small ways we have to be kind to each other and work towards a better world.

In the bath

At this time of year, spiders are more common in the house in the UK.  I guess the house is more inviting at this time of year.

Some hate spiders, but to me they are just fun.

This spider appeared in the bath this morning. It is about 5cm across. I think it is a giant house spider. It must have come up the plug hole.

In the UK, most spiders are totally harmless. I usually catch them in a glass and put them out of the window.

QRP operation

Ever since I started in amateur radio I have enjoyed QRP.  DXCC was worked with 10W SSB on 10m with a low dipole in the 1980s.  

These days with FT8 basic QSOs are even easier. In my experience 5W FT8 or less and simple antennas are all that is needed to work the world. Of course 1000W and a big beam would make things easier, but where is the fun?

There is a whole array of QRP radios available either as kits or ready built. I guess the choice now is greater than ever.

Quantum consciousness theory: is your brain connected to the universe?

This video is over 2 hours long! It explores consciousness from a quantum mechanical viewpoint. It is controversial, but worth watching. 

It argues that consciousness itself is an important component in the universe. It underlies just how little we really know.

10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)

My beacon was turned on at about 1000z. 

UPDATE 1830z: Spots by 4 stations. Best is EA8BFK (2880km).

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

Today at about 1000z, I decided to go on 6m QRP FT8.

UPDATE 1827z:  Spotted by 25 stations. See map.

Sunspots - Saturday September 13th

 Solar flux is 114 and the SSN 67. A=8 and K=2.

Allergies

It is noticeable that people in the developed world are more prone to allergies. As my mother-in-law used to say, "eat a peck of dirt before you die". 

It looks like she was correct with far fewer allergies with people like the Amish who live closer to horses and are more exposed to microbes. 

It would seem that we build up immunity by being exposed to these microbes which we are exposed to far less these days.

Made in China

It seems that most things I buy are "made in China". Often there is an importer, but the words "made in China" are marked on the goods.  I guess we are addicted to low prices and making in the UK prices would be far higher. 

It seems that prices of most goods in the USA imported from China will go up in price and that the price of products from other countries (like Japan) will go up in price there because of tariffs imposed by President Trump. I cannot see goods made in the USA will be as inexpensive with higher labour costs.

Red Admiral butterfly

Whist out picking blackberries for breakfast, I noticed this butterfly sunbathing near our front door. 

Of course as soon as I tried to take a photo it flew away. This was the best I could manage.

10m 5W FT8 (Friday)

Today, I decided to try 10m FT8 at 5W with my gear turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 1433z:  261 spots of me with the furthest CA6SNT (12447km). 

UPDATE  1808z:  285 stations have spotted me .  Since about 1500z I have been at 1W FT8.

Looking at the number of spots of me on 10m FT8 compared with WSPR, it suggests I am far more likely to be spotted on FT8. In future I shall go on 10m WSPR only when I go on 6m FT8.

Sunspots - Friday September 12th

 Solar flux is 115 and the SSN 92. A=10 and K=2.

Briefly on 10m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

Before a thunderstorm too close for comfort (everything disconnected!) I was briefly on 10m 5W FT8. 6 stations spotted me before my forced QRT. Best DX was a spotted by CX3VB (10791km).