Sunspots - Tuesday October 21st

 Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 109. A=8 and K=3.

All change weatherwise

Last week we had a big high pressure system and lots of clouds in what they call "anticyclonic gloom". This week we have low pressure, sun and showers.

The photo show Cambridge in a shower.

Later maybe?

As I have my U3A course in Cambridge I shall not be on the radio until later. If I go on I shall probably go on 6m QRP FT8. There is some doubt as we have thunder forecast. 

Sunspots - Monday October 20th

 Solar flux is 149 and the SSN 103. A=18 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

 At 1552z I turned on my 500mW beacon. At first I (again) forgot to turn on the PSU!

UPDATE 1644z:  So far, spotted by no stations.  I am sure there are fewer people on WSPR now than FT8: 

UPDATE 2138z: 8 stations spotted me including one in Canada. Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

 At about 1400z I QSYed to 6m QRP FT8.

UPDATE 2020z:  44 spots of me so far. See map. Es?  Now QRT.

10m 2W FT8 (Sunday)

 My gear was turned on about 0900z.

UPDATE  0945z: So far, spotted by just 2 stations.

Sunspots - Sunday October 19th

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 105.  A=36 and K=3.

10m 2W FT8 (Saturday)

 

My gear was turned on mid-morning.

UPDATE 1750z: 588 stations spotting me. See map.

Where I come from

 The photo shows where I come from in South Devon.

Which type of simple RX is better?

This video by VK3YE compares regenerative and direct conversion receivers. The short answer is it depends on what you want to do.

Sunspots - Saturday October 18th

 Solar flux is 164 and the SSN 120. A=9 and K=4.

70cm activity contest last Tuesday

Every second Tuesday in the month I go (briefly) on 70cm SSB with 10W and my 2m omni antenna in the UKAC activity contest. Usually I work a few stations then stop because of my poor voice. Last Tuesday I worked 7 stations including one in Wales. See map.

10m 2W FT8 (Friday)

My 2W was turned on before 0500z. 

UPDATE 1020z: So far 146 stations have spotted me. The best is VK4YJ (15930km). See map.

Daddy Longlegs

Funny how at this time of year we see daddy long-legs (crane flies) bumbling into windows. 

To me, they are amusing. I guess this must be the time of year when they become adults.

Made in China

It would seem everything (or nearly everything!) is made in China. 

In the USA and Europe we are addicted to low prices. If the same things were made here or in the USA, or in continental Europe, it is very likely they would be far more expensive.

I do not know the answer. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer with the gap ever wider. Many young people the world over believe democracy has failed them. 

In the end something will change in the next 20 years.

Sunspots - Friday October 17th

 Solar flux is 161 and the SSN 132. A=4 and K=1.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on at about 1900z.

UPDATE 2111z:   9 stations (all in England) have spotted me. Now QRT. 

10m 2W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on at about 1255z.  

UPDATE 1300z:  Already 61 stations spotting me with many in the USA. Even at 2W still too easy!

UPDATE  1345z:  Spotted by 111 stations. See map.

Handheld QMX on 20m CW

 Want to try portable?  Amazing.

Ship of the fens

 This is the name often given to Ely cathedral. This photo was on social media recently. I didn’t take this photo!!

How the others live!

 I saw this recently. Imagine my neighbours having a field day if I had it in my garden!

Thursday plans

 Later I expect to try frequency hopping WSPR on 15m, 12m and 10m at 2W again after the success on Wednesday.

UPDATE 1305z:  I decided to go on 10m 2W FT8 instead. Too easy!

Sunspots - Thursday October 16th

 Solar flux is 162 and the SSN 106. A=12 and K=1.

70cm FT8 (Wednesday)

This evening is the FT8 activity contest (UKAC) on 70cm organised by the RSGB. The frequency used in Europe is 432.174MHz. 

Later I shall try TX with 5W although at the moment I am RX only. My antenna is my 144MHz big-wheel omni.

UPDATE 1528z:  Already, well before the contest, my signal has reached France, the   Netherlands, N.Ireland, Cornwall and northern England despite 5W and a 2m omni antenna! Currently gone back to RX only.

UPDATE 1620z: No RSGB 70cm UKAC contest this evening. I was wrong!

WSPR frequency hopping

 Today I am on WSPR with 2W.  I am hopping  on 10m, 12m and 15m.

Stations spotting my 2W 10m WSPR this morning

UPDATE 1353z:  Plenty of spots on all bands. Australia has been spotted on 10m,12m  and 15m.

2m 4W FT8 (Wednesday)

Earlier this morning I went on 2m FT8 very briefly. I must have been on for about 15 minutes. In all, I was spotted by 19 stations in 5 countries with the furthest GI6ATZ (491km).

Human memory

Nobody really knows what happens when we die. 

On a purely scientific basis, our neurons cease to work so we cannot experience anything: we just cease to exist.  Some estimates put the brain memory size as 2.5 million gigabytes, which is huge.

What amazes me are the maps we have in our heads (at least in mine!). One technique I use to get to sleep is to go from A to B on a journey. It is fascinating what is there.  I have a mental image of many of all the places I have been to. Some of these must be very old.  Also, it is surprising how a snippet of music triggers a memory.  You wonder what else lurks there waiting to be triggered. I guess one day, we will understand how the brain memory is so huge and efficient and make AI based on this.

Others with a religious persuasion believe something of "us" survives after we die.

The truth is nobody really knows. I am sure those with a deep faith (whatever their religion) will have faith that what they believe will be correct.

Long-tailed tits

These are fairly common UK birds. They are often heard with their high pitched squeak before they are seen.  

They often flit from tree to tree in flocks together. The photo shows one on our nuts a few years ago I think.

They are called log-tailed tits as they have long tails!

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/long-tailed-tit .

70cm UKAC last evening

Last night was the 70cm activity contest organised by the RSGB. 

I can only run 10W to a 144MHz big-wheel omni antenna, but I still worked as far as Wales. 

There was a station in N.Ireland, but I could not stay on long enough to work him because of my poor voice. 

In all, 7 stations were worked in about 45 minutes before I stopped.

Sunspots - Wednesday October 15th

 Solar flux is 154 and the SSN 108. A= 8 and K=3. 

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.