Sunspots - Thursday November 20th

 Solar flux is 123 and the SSN 60. A=3 and K=2.

London trip

We went to London on a coach with our village theatre group to see the musical "The Devil Wears Prada". The coach dropped us and picked us up quite close to the theatre. It was a good, happy, performance. We always have time before the performance to get a meal.

No radio today

 As were in London much of the day, I was not on the radio today, but hope to be tomorrow. Probably 6m 5W FT8 and 10m 500mW WSPR.

Kierkgaard quote about life

 There is a famous quote by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard about life. It is pretty profound.

"Life can only be understood backwards. But must be lived forwards."

AI voice?

As many know, I had a stroke in 2013 that left me with a totally poor voice that many find hard to understand. Before my stroke I made quite a few YouTube videos, so I have quite a few samples of what I used to sound like.

My wife has suggested I use these to create an AI voice of me as I once sounded. I have never tried AI for this, but it sounds a good idea. The first stage will be to collect some audio samples from YouTube and then recreate my old voice using an AI tool.

If you know of suitable (preferably free) tools,  please let me know as soon as possible.

Sunspots Wednesday November 19th

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 66. A=5 and K=0.

More from Times Radio

This video was on YouTube earlier.  It includes a piece about the disappearance of Sergei Lavrov who is the Russia Foreign Minister who seems to have "dropped off the radar" in recent weeks. Apparently he is very bright and has been a real supporter of President Putin of Russia.

Search engine gripe

Have you noticed that when you search for something often the site at the top of the search (which many people click first) is NOT the main site you are looking for?  

Unless you are very careful, you are linked to some other site. I noticed this recently when I tried to donate to a charity. The first site was nothing at all to do with the site I was after.

Today, I was looking for another site and the first link (presumably paid for) was nothing at all to do with the site I was after.   Personally I find this morally wrong and sneaky.

AI and data centres

There is no doubt that AI consumes hugs amounts of power. We have some way to go to match the memory and processing power of the human brain. I am sure this will get better with time although we are a long way away at present. 

So far I have been very impressed with Gemini AI that renders old black and white photos in colour in just seconds.

This creates a moral dilemma: we all want the benefits of AI without its power-hungry nature.

10m 2W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 1020z.

UPDATE 1832z:  So far, spotted by 354 stations. See map.

FT710 and IC7300mk2

ICOM has announced the mark 2 version of the IC7300, which has sold well across the world. 100,000 units have been sold. 

The FT-710 scores very highly on the Sherwood tests. I do not think the latest ICOM rig has been tested, although the mark 1 was somewhat lower down. For most people most of the time these numbers are academic.

Both rigs cover up to 70MHz. I know the FT710 can be widebanded without uncasing. I am not sure about the IC7300mk2.

The Yaesu radio is considerably less expensive in the UK and comes with a Yaesu cashback. I think Yaesu offers a 3 year warranty.

I am sure both are good radios.

Sunspots - Tuesday November 18th

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 45. A=11 and K=2.

Another day off the radio

 As I was in Cambridge most of the day, I decided not to go on the radio today.

Sunspots - Monday November 17th

Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 66. A=12 and K= 2.

VHF magnetic loop antenna

VK3YE is a real experimenter. This is a recent video describing the use of a tin can as a VHF loop antenna.

Times Radio on YouTube

Most days I try to watch TimesRadio on YouTube.  I find watching these most informative. They tend to interview lots of different people who have views on the international affairs.

Day off radio

 This morning we went shopping and our son and grandson came for lunch, so I am having a day off the radio.

6m 5W FT8 yesterday

In all, 20 stations spotted me on 6m QRP FT8 yesterday.  See map.  This included several continental Europeans although I am not sure of the propagation mechanism.

Sunspots - Sunday November 16th

Solar flux is 132 and the SSN 97. A=9 and K=3.

10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)

My beacon was turned on about 1645z.

UPDATE 1940z:  Spotted by 20 stations.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

 At about 1645z, I QSYed to 6m QRP FT8.

UPDATE 1650z:  Spotted by 3 English stations.

10m 4W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on  late morning.

UPDATE 1653z: So far, spotted by 519 stations today. See map. Now QSYed to 6m.

Sunspots - Saturday November 15th

 Solar flux is 145 and the SSN 114.  A=5 and K=1.

Frontline for Times Radio

This is a YouTube channel I look at quite often for world news. They frequently interview some important people on the world stage. 

As I often say, it is important to get your news from multiple sources to minimise bias.

CB and amateur radio

It is a while since I listened on 11m CB, but in the past the CB band was busy when the 10m amateur band appeared to be dead. 

It is my view that at some point in the future there will be a merging of amateur radio and CB. I have come across an online SDR which monitors the CB band from the UK.

10m 4W FT8 (Friday)

My gear has been on since breakfast.

UPDATE 1915z: So far, 594 spots of me.

Sunspots - Friday November 14th

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 104. A=59 and K=1.

Born in a stately home!

After WW2 Flete House in Devon was a nursing home. This is where I was born. At the time we lived in a council house.

4m transverter

 This was designed and built some years ago and is on my main website.  It was also in GQRP SPRAT.

Old photo

The validity of this photo is not known. I first saw it well before AI!  If correct, it is probably a photo of a human being born in the 1700s

Working Antarctica

 This may be a rare chance to work a station in Antarctica although you might have to be quick as I think the station is only active for a few days.

Soham

 Soham is a fenland town about 8km from our village. This was a view earlier with the church behind the trees.

Autumn in our village

Many trees in our village have lost their leaves until the spring when new buds will form and the cycles go on as they have for millions of years.

70cm FT8

 

Last evening 34 stations were spotted in the activity contest on 70cm FT8. See map. This is typical . Amazing. 

Sunspots - Thursday November 13th

 Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 150. A=127 and K=6.

70cm FT8 activity contest (Wednesday)

This evening is the 70cm FT8 activity contest organised by the RSGB. I think the contest in Europe starts earlier.

UPDATE 1813z: Already spotted 8 stations with the furthest PA2WDR (280km). My antenna is just the 144MHz big-wheel omni.

UPDATE  1946z:  29 stations spotted with the most distant EI8KD (518km). See map,

UPDATE 2047z: 9 stations spotted my 10W 70cm FT8 with the furthest PI4VPO (337km). Not bad for a 144MHz omni antenna!

More on solid state batteries for electric cars

Last week I mentioned solid state batteries. 

For years, we have heard a lot of hype about these that promise lower costs, greater range and no rare earths. 

It would appear we are now getting closer. I saw this video which compares various approaches.

IC-705 Portable?

If I was ICOM develepment now I would be working on a true handheld version of the IC-705. They have the electronics, so just need to re-develop the mechanics. There has never been a decent replacement of the FT817 by Yaesu.

Should such a product come to market, ICOM could make a killing.

New DX Explorer video

 

There is new video on the PY2OHH inspired Pititico transceiver on the DX Explorer YouTube channel.

The Pititico is a really simple 1 transistor transceiver.

See https://yo6dxe.com .

Christmas cactus

 

This always starts to flower about now. We put it in our hallway yesterday.

Sunspots - Wednesday November 12th

 Solar flux is 168 and the SSN 131. A=7 and K=8.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

To finish today, I went on 6m 5W FT8  with the V2000 vertical omni antenna.

UPDATE 1904z:   Just the usual English spots.

2m 10mW FT8 (Tuesday)

After going QRT on 10m I went to 2m 10mW FT8  using to big-wheel omni antenna. Although barely visible on the grabber at G0LRD (25km) the other side of Cambridge, it was decoded.

What can you believe?

If you look on YouTube you could believe anything.

Many of the videos are now created using AI, so the only thing you can be sure of is "this could be incorrect". It is getting harder and harder to tell what is real and what is fake. 

Unless you are absolutely sure it is safer to assume everything is fake!

Son's 1998 prank

Recently, quite by accident, I found an old letter supposed to have been written by the editor of RSGB RadCom inviting me to write a series of articles. I recall being very flattered at the time and boasting to my family.

Then the boys told me it was an elaborate hoax!! They made a very convincing letter as I was quite taken in!

Sunspots - Tuesday November 11th

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 128. A=14 and K=1.

QSL cards

In recent years I have not sent out many QSL cards, but I have received several recently by email. 

Most have been useless as the date is shown as 0000.00.00 which must be an error as in this example. I am happy to confirm the contact as long as the details are correct, not otherwise. 

I think these are sent out by email when the amateur subscribes.

10mW 10m FT8 (Tuesday)

Today, I am on 10m FT8 with 10mW to see how it goes. The gear was turned on about 0945z.

UPDATE 1020z:  No TX spots. It is interesting that I am receiving stations from all over the planet. This implies they could run 15dB less power and still be copied if the attenuator was not there. I guess at 10mW I am more likely to be crushed by a stronger station or be below their noise floor.

UPDATE 1125z:  Spots by YL3NF (1567km) and IZ0EWJ (1546km) . Even 10mW FT8 works! I think 5W is far easier, but I shall leave it at 10mW all day.

UPDATE 1420z:  Spotted by 7 stations when I was running 10mW FT8 today.

UPDATE 1555z:  Spotted by 9 stations today with my 10mW FT8 TX. See map. QRT soon.

Is Russia heading for recession?

With oil prices falling and increasing sanctions causing China and India to think twice before buying Russian oil (its major export) there is a danger of the Russian economy being in serious trouble.

Solid state batteries

Most agree that electric cars are not there yet. 

Early adopters have to contend with lithium-ion batteries, where lithium is in short supply (and often mined by children), limited range, high prices and long charging times.

If ranges were significantly improved, charging would be needed less often.  Also price puts many off currently. One answer that always seems to be "just around the corner" are solid state batteries. These promise greater ranges, lower prices and no rare materials.

These seem nearly there, but not quite. With all the research it is likely this will come, but when?