10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 When on 6m FT8, I can go on 10m WSPR with my stand-alone 500mW beacon.

UPDATE 1322z:  So far,  9 spots with the beacon in the last hour.

UPDATE 1345z:  At the moment, 16 stations have spotted me in the last hour. All reports suggest 10dB weaker would be decoded, although I guess this assumes a low local noise floor.

Where I have been spotted today with 500mW 10m WSPR

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

At 1226z  I QSYed to 6m with 5W FT8.

UPDATE 1328z: So far, 15 stations in the British Is. have spotted my 5W.  

UPDATE 2041z:  22 stations have spotted me including 2 in Portugal and one in Kuwait. See map. Now QRT.

How times change

Today, we found a book we bought years ago from a second hand bookshop.  It was published in the late 1800s.  

At that time the British Empire was at its height.  

Today, things are different, but we must all remember that we are frequently wrong. We have been in the past and frequently are today. 

Every nation must be respectful of others.  

10m and 12m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

Today I am trying 2W frequency hopping WSPR on 12m and 10m.

UPDATE  0938z: Plenty of spots on 10m, and 2 stations spotting me on 12m with the furthest Brazil.

WSPR and frequency hopping

Yesterday I tried WSPR frequency hopping at 10, 12 and 15m with 2W. Furtherest was Antarctica. This could be really useful. 

24GHz radar module

 Yesterday I mentioned a very low cost 10GHz radar module ripe for hacking into a 10GHz WBFM transceiver. I see there’s a 24GHz version too! If only I was fitter 😢. 

Outside St John’s, Cambridge

 This was outside St. John’s College in Cambridge yesterday.

Sunspots - Tuesday October 14th

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 122. A=23 and K=1.

10GHz radar module

These are available very inexpensively (just £1.25 on Ali-Express!), so I am wondering has anyone adapted these to 10GHz wideband FM (WBFM) transceivers? These look as if someone will "hack" them!

WSPR and band hopping?

As we approach declining sunspot numbers, many just give up on the higher HF bands. 

Often, these bands are "open" (just listen to the CB band next door to 10m!) whereas a lack of activity is the real cause. Especially on N-S paths the bands are open far more often than we think. 

With WSPR we can check how good our higher HF bands really are. WSPR is widely monitored so we could send WSPR on several bands in sequence into an antenna that covers these bands (like an EFHW) and watch who spots us around the world on various bands using WSPRnet.

FT7 Yaesu transceiver

My very first HF commercial transceiver was the 10W Yaesu FT-7 bought second hand in the late 1970s. 

It was a great rig and allowed me to work 10m QRP DXCC with 10W SSB back in the 1980s. This was with low wire dipoles and a CB  half wave antenna. 

By comparison with modern rigs it was big but it was very quiet on RX. If I had to rate it I would give it 11/10. In all my years it was the best transceiver I have ever owned. No synthesisers, no memories, fully analogue …just great.

Sunspots - Monday October 13th

 Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 127. A=29 and K=4.

Times Radio

Quite often, I watch Times Radio on YouTube. They interview some interesting characters on the world stage and often, their views are full of incite, even if you may not agree. 

In my view it is worth getting world news from several sources as often one source  may be biased.

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

My beacon has been on since about 0910z.

UPDATE 0935z:  Spotted in the Canary Is. by 2 stations.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 0910z.

UPDATE  2010z:  29 spots of me so far today.  See map.

The current station

Mostly I am active on 6m QRP FT8 and 10m QRP WSPR with my beacon (which is out of shot). The photo shows my current setup.

Sunspot predictions

We are now on the downward slope of the solar cycle. NOAA has a graph showing their predictions.

See https://www.noaa.gov/

Rooster transceiver

Kanga UK make a range of simple QRP transceiver kits for either 40, 30 or 20m CW. All the SMD parts are already fitted leaving about 20 parts to be added. They are very reasonably priced. I have no idea how they perform.

Sunspots - Sunday October 12th

 Solar flux is 131 and the SSN 108. A=17 and K=4.

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.