Are the days of the major Japanese manufacturers numbered?

Many people in amateur radio get a lot of pleasure from unpacking a new radio for the first time. 

Often these new radios come with some new feature that a person "must have". Sometimes older radios are traded in to pay for the new box.  In reality, this new feature will not be noticed or rarely used.

Of late, the Chinese, Indians and others have been producing transceivers that are superior at much lower prices. In my view, as the demographic of radio amateurs ages, many of the traditional Japanese manufacturers will think twice or even leave the market.

It would appear that many of these Japanese radios are still using conservative designs. In the past, I think I am right, the Japanese have not been so good on innovation.

Maybe the "big three" are about to get a bloody nose?

Sunshine

 

After what has seemed a long wet and dull period we had a lovely sunny day yesterday. 

This was one of the Cambridge University colleges in the sun.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0922z.

UPDATE 0937z:  Two spots of me.

Longest line of sight paths

This came as a real surprise to me. I was expecting the longest line of sight paths on the planet to be around 120km, whereas they are over 500km, which I find almost incredible. 

This was a link on the Amateur radio Weekly email that came yesterday.

See https://alltheviews.world/

See https://daily.hamweekly.com/

Sunspots - Sunday February 15th

 Solar flux is 117 and the SSN 60. A=11 and K=3.

Codetalker from AA1TJ

Looking back at my photos from 2009 I came across this innovative circuit by Mike Rainey AA1TJ. It is a voice powered 80m CW transmitter.  Mike has designed some very clever circuits over the years.

See https://web.archive.org/web/20100917032555/http://aa1tj.com/newenglandcodetalker.html .

10m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

At about 1410z I turned on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1502z:  57 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 195. See map for those received.

Central Cambridge in the sun

It would seem Cambridge was very popular today, probably as after weeks of rain and dull weather the sun shone! 

There are quite a few bikes in Cambridge!

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

 My beacon has been on since about 0945z. 

UPDATE 1440z:   17 spots of me with the best a spot from a station in Brazil.

70cm in the early days

This transverter has been on before, but we forget just how much things have changed in 50 years. I built a version of it to get me active on 70cm. It produced about 100mW AM.   It was used with either a 4el or 8el beam made from PCB material.  Best DX was 160km.

Back then 70cm was almost a frontier band with little commercial gear, so if you wanted something you probably had to build it rather than buy it. Most people (like me!) were fixed on a crystal frequency and people tuned across the band to get a contact. In those days, activity was higher , so you had a much better chance of a QSO. Most contacts were AM.  

70cm SSB? Never heard of it back then!

Sunspots - Saturday February 14th

Solar  flux is 117 and the SSN 50. A=14 and K=2.

10m 5W FT8 (Friday)

At about 1440z, I decided to go on 10m FT8 with my QDX-M transceiver. 

Currently I am 10m FT8 RX only.  

On TX it was widely spotted across Europe and North Africa. 

The map shows the stations received at about 1500z.

UPDATE 1848z:  21 stations have spotted me. See map.  Now QRT.

Leper Chapel, Cambridge, UK

This photo was taken from a moving bus earlier this week. The Leper Chapel is the second oldest complete building in the city and dates from the 1100s when it was a hospital.

See https://cambridgeppf.org/leper-chapel/.

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Friday)

 My beacon has been on since about 0940z.

UPDATE 1011z: Just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting me

Sunspots - Friday February 13th

 Solar flux is 129 and the SSN 82.  A=9 and K=2.

Seen on Facebook

 

This was seen on Facebook recently.

UberSDR

Many people get lots of fun from web SDRs experiencing amateur radio in various locations around the planet. Although I have yet to try it, you can also make your own SDR into a webSDR so others can use it too I believe.

See https://ubersdr.org/ .

Winter Olympics controversy

A Ukrainian athlete has been banned for wearing a controversial helmet showing people killed in the war with Russia.  Usually sport and politics don't mix. He has made his point.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c309pj8d8qqo .

Hopeful signs

Although we are still in the depths of winter in the UK, there are hopeful signs everywhere in nature. 

Snowdrops are out everywhere and daffodils are coming out. Nights are getting lighter and the birds are singing.

Of all the seasons I like spring best of all, but I like this time of year as it is filled with anticipation.

Thursday plans

 Later, I hope to retry 10m 5W FT8 with my QDX-M by QRP Labs.

10m 200mW WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on just before breakfast,

UPDATE 1525z:  So far, 15 stations have spotted me. See table.

UPDATE 1618z:  Spotted by 27 stations today.

From the moving bus

This photo was taken yesterday from a bus. It shows the village of Swaffham Bulbeck near Cambridge, UK.

Sunspots - Thursday February 12th

 Solar flux is 129 and the SSN 84. A=18 and K=2.

Hot pie

Yesterday we took our elder son to see the flowers at nearby Anglesey Abbey. He was hungry, so we treated  him to a hot pie. We are soft!!

30m WSPR RX (Wednesday)

 My Zachtek receiver is monitoring 30m WSPR.

UPDATE 0911z:  Spotted 5 stations.

10m 200mW WSPR (Wednesday)

 In a very short while I expect to turn on my beacon.

UPDATE 0742z: Beacon switched on at 0730z.

UPDATE 0915z:  No spots.

Sunspots Wednesday February 11th

 Solar flux is 142 and the SSN 105. A=10 and K=3.

80m WSPR RX (Tuesday)

 A few minutes ago I QSYed to 80m WSPR RX using the coax to my 2m big-wheel antenna via an ATU.

UPDATE 2107z:   5 Europeans spotted.

UPDATE 2150z:  16 spots of stations. See map by Phil VK7JJ.

Europe as a world power?

Today President Macron made a speech in which he allegedly suggested Europe should act like a world power on the world stage. 

He pointed out that Europe has a population of about 450 million people. It is a stable democracy believing in the world order and international laws.

With the isolationism and breakdown in world order we see now, there is some truth in this.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8n1zdnpd3o .

How much down is my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground?

Last night I re-looked at how far down my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground really is. 

At first I thought it was perhaps 1 S point worse on 630m than the coax up to my 2m big-wheel antenna via an ATU. With changing conditions it is really hard to be sure. 

If seems that it is far better than this on the LF bands. It seems to work well on 630m, 160m and 80m falling off as you move to higher frequencies.

Considering how simple and visually great it is (nobody knows it is even there!) I recommend it!

80m WSPR RX (Tuesday)

Whilst on 10m WSPR TX, I realised there is nothing stopping me going on 80m WSPR RX with my Zachtek WSPR RX and my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground, so at 1135z I turned on 80m WSPR RX.

Rich and privileged

Increasingly, we seem to be moving towards a new world order in which the rich and privileged have power over the common people. 

I have no problem if wealth comes fairly through hard work, but I have a real problem if this came at the expense of others or simply the person was just born into wealth.

I hope this is just a blip and we move to fairness and justice for all.

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Tuesday)

 My beacon was turned on at 1015z.

UPDATE  1046z:   2 stations have spotted me with the best UN7LCJ (4187km).

UPDATE 1201z:  Spotted by 4 stations  with the best HZ1SF (4939km).

UPDATE 1325z:  16 spots of me with 7 from DP0GVN (13685km) in Antarctica with about 10dB in hand!

UPDATE  1611z:  40 stations have spotted me with 10 spots from Antarctica.

Old magazines

Yesterday I came across these magazines which date to around the time I was born. Clearly amateur radio was very popular back then! 

In those days they were A5 size. It would not bother me if radio magazines were that size again. It reduces costs of paper and postage.

630m WSPR RX last night

 Last evening and overnight I was on 630m WSPR using my coax to my 2m big-wheel antenna via an ATU and a mains earth.

In all, 5 stations were spotted with the best Norway. See table, and map by Phil VK7JJ.

UPDATE 1036z:  My darn Windows PC wanted me to "finish setting up my PC" and turned off WSPRnet and WSPR-X so was probably off through much of the night.

Sunspots - Tuesday February 10th

 Solar flux is 144 and the SSN 107. A=6 and K=0.

630m WSPR with a different antenna

Last evening and overnight I tried 630m WSPR RX using my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. 

There were fewer stations received and the reports were weaker than the night before when I was using the coax up to my 2m big-wheel via an ATU.

It is hard to be categorical as conditions might have been different, the antennas better in some directions, etc..

My overall conclusion, with these caveats, is that the earth electrode was, at worse, about 1 S point inferior to the antenna used on the night before. I would expect this to be somewhat down on an antenna optimised for the band. So, maybe just 2 S points down. Considering the total lack of hassle, it is far from bad.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

 When I get home later I expect to go on 10m 200mW WSPR TX.

Sunspots - Monday February 9th

 Solar flux is 167 and the SSN 118.  A=8 and K=1.

630m WSPR RX - with a different antenna

 This evening and overnight I am on 630m WSPR RX with the Zachtek RX using instead my earth electrode "antenna" in the ground to see how this compares with the coax to my 2m big-wheel via an ATU

10m WSPR RX with the Zachtek RX (Sunday)

So far, I have not tried the Zachtek WSPR RX on 10m, so I am trying it now. 

The impression I am getting on other bands is good. It is small and works on all the bands I have tried.

UPDATE 1550z:  3 stations spotted on 10m WSPR RX this afternoon with the best W3HH (7005km).

10m FT8 RX with the Zachtek WSPR RX

 Even though there is a 400Hz wide audio filter I am still spotting lots of FT8 stations including the USA.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 1030z.

UPDATE 1050z: So far just lots of spots of me by EA8BFK (2880km).

UPDATE 1418z: Spotted by 23 stations. See table.

Burwell, UK

This is the village near Cambridge where I live. It is mix of old and new buildings. This photo dates from 2007, but not much has changed.

Sunday plans

Later, I shall probably try 10m 200mW WSPR TX with my Zachtek beacon. I have yet to try it stepping through different bands as 10m seems good at the moment.

Once set up the TX does not need a PC and gets all its timing and Maidenhead info from GPS. Ideal for /P operation.

Although the RX has a 400Hz wide audio filter I might try it later on FT8 RX. Some signals will go through the filter towards the middle of the pass band.

630m WSPR RX overnight

Last evening and night I was monitoring 630m WSPR with my Zachtek WSPR RX using the outer of the coax up to my 2m big-wheel antenna via a ferrite rod ATU and a mains plug ground. 7 different stations were copied. The RX certainly works with DX over 1000km with this poor setup.

Although more expensive, I preferred to buy from Zachtek in Sweden although I know there is a Chinese copy of the Zachtek TX and probably the RX now.

Sunspots - Sunday February 8th

 Solar flux is 169 and the SSN 128. A=15 and K=2.

Racism - no place

In my view, racism by anyone has absolutely no place in modern society.  Those in public office must always ensure it is not possible.

10m 200mW WSPR (Saturday)

 A brief TX on 10m WSPR this morning resulted in 14 spots of me by EA8BFK (2880km).

Heathkit HW8

For about a year I owned an HW8 2W CW transceiver. This transceiver covered 40-15m. It worked really well and made some great DX contacts. 

I think it was sold back to the original owner. I wish I still had it!

The image is copyrighted. It will be removed if using it is an issue, but the best site I have seen is at https://wd8rif.com/hw8.htm by William McFadden (who has the copyright), which is filled with useful information.