Farm shop and cafe

This is about 10km from us. It was very busy this morning. I guess it is the weekend.  It is very expensive, but the quality is good. 

We haven't been there since January.

10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 1030z.

UPDATE 1625z:  So far spotted by 29 stations, most in the USA.

UPDATE 1748z:  Yet again I was spotted in Antarctica. 

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at 1034z.

UPDATE 1800z:  25 spots mostly GW and G. See map.

Saturday plans

 Later I expect to go on 6m 5W FT8 and 500mW 10m WSPR. 

Fenland pub and the restaurant

This has been a pub since 1620!! These days it’s mainly a restaurant.

Sunspots - Saturday October 11th

 Solar flux is 121 and the SSN 87. A=9 and K=3.

USA call areas

Maybe I am just too old, but I remember when W7 or W6 was on the west coast and W4 was on the east coast. These days it could be anywhere! In many ways we have gone backwards not forwards.

Sinclair portable

This dates from the 1960s I think and was a medium wave AM radio in kit form.

10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)

 When on 6m FT8 I can go on 10m WSPR with my beacon.

UPDATE 1415z:  11 spots mainly from the USA and Canada.

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

I have now gone QRT on 10m FT8 and am now on 6m 5W FT8.

UPDATE 1540z:  33 stations have spotted me.

Wicken Fen

This is either the oldest, or nearly the oldest, National Trust reserve in England. 

It is about 6km from us.  It has a rich diversity of wildlife and they try to maintain the water levels so it is as the fens used to be before it became rich lands of agriculture. 

I have just been lent a book all about it. It is hard reading!

10m 4W FT8 (Friday)

For a change, I am on 4W 10m FT8 today. My gear was turned at breakfast time.

UPDATE 1222z:  Spotted by 202 stations with the best ZS2PA (9870km) in South Africa. See map.

Sunspots - Friday October 10th

Solar  flux is 122 and the SSN 87. A=5 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on at about 1150z. The USA is starting to come through.

UPDATE 2142z:   27 stations are spotting me, including most of these in the USA or Canada. Best DX was a spot by ZD7GB (7611km). Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

My 5W 6m FT8 was turned on at about 1150z.

UPDATE 2135z:  22 spots with the furthest SM4VBO (1310km). Now QRT.

Is Russia in deep trouble?

Apparently OPEC+ has agreed to increase production still further, which is likely to result in a further fall in oil price per barrel. Also Ukraine drone strikes have been targeted at Russian oil processing leading to shortages at pumps. As Russia depends heavily on oil exports, this could really hurt.

Thursday plans

 Later, I expect to continue with 6m 5W FT8 and 500mW 10m WSPR.

Reflective sun

This was the setting sun reflected in the window of our local museum seen from our window.  The hedge is ours.

Sunspots - Thursday October 9th

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 109. A=11 and K=0.

6m and 10m FT8 or WSPR beaconing

To just beacon on 6m or 10m FT8 is easier than a full QSO.  Just beaconing just requires a very brief opening, whereas a full QSO takes several minutes.  In this respect FT4 might be better.

WSPR takes far longer which is one reason WSPR can be harder. Another is activity: I get the impression there are far more people on FT8 than WSPR. Also, even though WSPR can be decoded at much lower levels, local noise may bury weak signals, so unless there is a low local noise floor some openings may just be missed.

My overall conclusion is to stick with 6m FT8.

VLF up-converter

Yesterday I had an email saying the link to this page on my website was not working. It turned out this link was to my old site anyway, so I have corrected the link to point to the newer site.

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

A reminder that this extremely unlikely to work with amateur VLF signals which need very narrow bandwidths and very accurate frequency. It is, however, suitable for general listening "down there".

Village cottage

Our village is a mixture of some old houses and new ones. This one is old, but I do not know when it was built. 

I guess it is 200m from our home?

8m operation

As I was not prepared to pay to do research I did not renew my 8m TX permit when it expired this summer. 

I was very disappointed by the very negative attitude of several PTTs even to very limited access to the band around solar maximum. I am told that it is still being used by some.  I really wish them well.

Instead, I have concentrated on 5W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna.  This autumn my QRP has been spotted by 2 stations in Brazil on 6m.

10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0820z.

UPDATE 1835z:  8 stations have spotted me today with the furthest KY4UI (6834km) in Georgia USA.

UPDATE 1925z:  When I went QRT the furthest spot was again by DP0GVN (13685km) in Antarctica. In the last few weeks my 500mW has reached the German research base down there several times.

Flatlights

Before my 2013 stroke got in the way, I was hoping to get much further over the horizon with 481THz red light. 

To that end I purchased some very bright LEDs called Flatlights. These take (I am told) 8A from the power supply! The photo show the Flatlight that, sadly, did not get used.

In my earlier tests at just under 9km over the horizon there was no sign at all of a red light in the sky, yet the signal from my beacon was very clear on the PC.  

Even with that, far further would have been possible. As the sky was cloudless, I assume this was clear air scattering off dust particles. I did not try cloud-bounce where signals are reflected off the base of clouds. 

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at about  0820z.

UPDATE 1939z: Spotted by 40 stations. See map.

10m QRP WSPR yesterday

As I was on 6m FT8 yesterday, my 10m antenna was free so I went on 10m 500mW WSPR.  See table of the stations that spotted me. Furthest was Brazil.

Sunspots - Wednesday October 8th

 Solar flux is 131 and the SSN 109. A=15 and K=3.

More gobbledygook

 I have just received this from Google Absence. As is usually the case, I cannot understand a word!

"Overview of changes: To ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of our systems, all publishers will soon be required to provide the referrerAdCreative parameter (RAC) when traffic arrives to a Related Search for content page from a source that is under your control. This includes any third-party network, service or affiliate that you partner with.

In such instances, you're required to set the parameter to the precise and complete creative text of the advertisement or link source. To elaborate, 'precise and complete creative text' signifies a literal transcription.

For example, within an upstream video source featuring an influencer walking down a street, speaking to the camera, with background music also present, the full transcript of the speech, the song lyrics, and any visible text on street signs, among other elements that might appear anywhere on the user’s screen, must be provided verbatim and in their entirety."

Plain English? I don't think anyone told them about that!

10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My QRP beacon was turned an at about 0600z. 

UPDATE 0915z:  So far spotted (again) in the Canary Is..  It seems this single hop F2 distance is often spanned.

The nature of time

We experience time as flowing from the past to the future. 

According to Einstein, time depends on the observer. What is "now" to us is not "now" to others.  If correct, this means in an infinite universe all time exists "now". This is also the case with quantum mechanics where things may be described as wave functions that exist in all time and space.

Concepts of time and infinity are extremely hard to grasp. It means that to some observers the past has not yet happened and the future already exists.  Really, we know so very little.

Already some really counter-intuitive ideas have been proven. For example, tunnel diodes only work as a result of quantum mechanical tunnelling.

What appears "real" to us may not be.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0600z.

UPDATE 2052z:  48 spots so far .

Sunspots - Tuesday October 7th

 Solar flux is 133 and the SSN 136.  A=6 and K=3.

Central Cambridge

 This was Bridge Street, Cambridge yesterday.

10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)

My beacon was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE  2050z:   24 stations have spotted me. See table.

6m 5W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE 2058z:  37 stations have spotted me including 2 in South America. See map.

Monday plans

 Again today I  expect to go on 6m QRP FT8 and 10m QRP WSPR.

Homemade cheese scones

For a first attempt, these turned out well. They looked good and tasted good. 

See https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-cheese-scones .

Harvest Festival time

In many places, this is the traditional time for Harvest Festival. Our church had a display on Sunday.

Sunspots - Monday October 6th

 Solar flux is 148 and the SSN 127. A=9 and K=0. 

Spitting Image

Years ago I used to enjoy watching Spitting Image on TV. I think it is a sign of a mature society if we can poke fun at our leaders without fear.  In some places making fun of your leader would have you imprisoned or even killed.

It is sometimes "near the bone" so I see it is now on YouTube. I think it reflects how society is these days. 

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

Usually, 10m starts to come to life after lunch, but my TX WSPR beacon is on anyway as the antenna is available when I go on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1910z:  Spotted by 8 stations today. See table.

6m this autumn

Most times I have been on 6m with 5W or 3W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna I have been spotted in mainland Europe. I shall stick with 6m FT8 QRP today.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at 0834z.

UPDATE 1812z: 21 stations in 5 countries spotting me. No continental stations have spotted me today. See map.

Thermidor

Having bought these from a UK store I decided to try my own. There was too much tomato so next time I'll get my wife to do the sauce. 

Not bad for a first attempt. 5/10 and a star for effort.

Comparing regen and direct conversion receivers

In this video VK3YE compares these types of receivers. In my view, both have their places.

Sunspots - Sunday October 5th

 Solar flux is 158 and the SSN 137. A=20 and K=3.

The garden in autumn

 

Although most trees still have their leaves, they will soon lose them. The colours this autumn are great.

SSB on the QMX and QMX+

These radios from QRP Labs now support SSB. I see there is a video on how to wire up an electret mic to use with the QMX.

Yucca

This is in a neighbour's garden.