Yet again, I am trying 8m FT8 RX on 40.680 MHz.
UPDATE 1158z: G8VER (66km) and CT7BIZ (1422km) spotted on 8m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 2016z: QRT.
25 Nov 2025
24 Nov 2025
Times Radio on YouTube
Personally, I find the interviews on Times Radio very informative. I aiways advice seeking your news from many sources to avoid bias.
How small can you go?
This is a video about making a really tiny Pixie transceiver and some portable antennas.
Not been on TX today
As today was a family birthday, I was not at home much of the day. Instead, I stayed on 8m FT8 RX all day. I should be on TX on Tuesday.
23 Nov 2025
Ukraine
This is being written before Ukraine, the EU and Britain have responded to President Trump's 28 point peace plan, that seems to be heavily weighed in Russia's favour. I hope a mature discussion ensues and it ends with a fair (to all) settlement.
Personal view : I do not trust President Trump
Many people in the USA voted for President Trump. As far as I am aware, this was fair and they elected the person they wanted. I am in no position to comment on matters in the USA.
However, I am perfectly at liberty to express my personal view of his role on the world stage. Others may think very differently.
On the world stage I personally think President Trump has performed badly. This is my personal view. In the Ukraine and Gaza it would appear that the views of the common people have not been well considered.
He seems to be in the thrall of President Putin, the Israeli government Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyaho and Mohammed bin Salman. I get the impression he sees world stage diplomacy as real estate deals, rather than the lives of real people.
Can the IC-705 be widebanded without uncasing?
As many know I have held a TX permit for 8m in the UK.
In the past I have owned an FT-710 which can be put into "engineering mode" by pressing a combination of buttons without the need to uncase the rig and without invalidating the warranty. This allowed TX on 8m, although I never used the FT-710 outside the amateur bands. Instead I used my FT817ND that was widebanded by MLS. On the FT-710 it meant I could TX on 8m if I needed to, but never did.
I am wondering if there is a similar trick with the IC-705 (i.e. just button presses) which would give me TX on the IC-705 at 8m.
I am aware of the diode mod, but do not want to go inside the rig as I no longer trust my fine motor skills!
8m FT8 receive (Sunday)
My gear was turned on before breakfast.
UPDATE 1654z: Just G8VER (66km) spotted again. This is the Verulam Club in St.Albans.
If I get no more spots today, I may return to another band tomorrow.
UPDATE 1908z: No further stations spotting me. QRT.
22 Nov 2025
8m FT8 receive (Saturday)
My 8m dipole was taken down some months ago. This afternoon, just for fun, I am on 8m FT8 receive with my end-fed long wire. I have no idea at all how this works on 8m. Let's see if I get any spots. Also, I have no idea how sensitive the IC-705 is at 8m.
UPDATE 1621z: G8VER (66km) spotted. It works.
I remain extremely disappointed that so many PTTs seem to have a very negative attitude to 8m. A few PTTs have granted access to 8m, some for a limited time. As far as I know there have been NO reports of interference caused by those granted access. I object to having to pay to do valuable research especially when my own PTT (OFCOM) seems so negative.
UPDATE 1935z: I shall probably try 8m FT8 RX again tomorrow.
Bullies?
It appears to me that Ukraine is "between a rock and a hard place".
It looks like they are being offered a very poor deal over their heads by Russia and the USA.
If they do not accept the USA is likely to stop intelligence sharing and just walk away.
The world seems to be run by selfish individuals who are more interested in their own enrichment rather than that of their citizens.
Where are the leaders who put the interests of the common person ahead of rich billionaires?
10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)
My beacon was turned on at about 1008z.
UPDATE 1932z: 14 stations so far spotting me. See table and map.
6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)
My gear was turned on at about 1010z.
UPDATE 1014z: So far, 6 English stations have spotted me.
Saturday plans
Today will probably be a repeat of late yesterday with 500mW 10m WSPR and 5W 6m FT8, but I have not decided yet.
21 Nov 2025
10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)
My beacon was turned on mid-afternoon.
UPDATE 2200z: Spotted by 6 stations. Now QRT.
6m 5W FT8 (Friday)
UPDATE 2150z: 19 stations have spotted me. QRT. See map.
View from the kitchen
We had our first heavy frost this morning. It was cold, but it is now sunny. We are lucky to look out of the kitchen and lounge on to a windmill and village museum.
Hope Cove, Devon, UK
My family can be traced continuously back to the mid 1500s in this Devon village. Most days I look at the webcam at the Cottage Hotel there to see the weather.
10m 2W FT8 (Friday)
My gear was turned on just before breakfast.
UPDATE 1520z: 249 stations have spotted me in 5 continents. Now QSYed to 6m FT8.
The nature of consciousness
We live in a world where of space and time where time seems to flow from the past into the future. What if time is an illusion and everything we have ever experienced is always there? We have a lot to learn!!
20 Nov 2025
6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)
UPDATE 1825z: 18 stations have spotted me. The furthest is ZS4TX/6 (8766km). See map.
10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)
My beacon was turned on at about 1300z.
UPDATE 1646z: 8 stations spotting me with several in the USA.
London theatre trip yesterday
19 Nov 2025
London trip
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.
18 Nov 2025
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)
UPDATE 1832z: So far, spotted by 354 stations. See map.
FT710 and IC7300mk2
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.
17 Nov 2025
Another day off the radio
As I was in Cambridge most of the day, I decided not to go on the radio today.
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.
16 Nov 2025
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
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