6m - only just gone on

I have not been on 6m WSPR most of the day.   In fact I have only just gone on after our regular 2m sked in East Cambridgeshire on 144.575MHz FM.

At this late time I only expect to get spotted (or to spot) GDX stations off aircraft, or locals. I have been on 10m all day TX only. On 6m I expect I will have missed any Es that may have been around. It was my error that the 6m kit was off. I had not planned to be off 6m.

UPDATE 1938z:  No spots given or received on 6m so far this evening.

USA 10m WSPR spots - none today,so far

Mainly locals and EA8BVP (2986km) spotting me today on 10m WSPR. A slight Es opening to Italy but, so far at least, no sign of  any 10m WSPR spots from the USA yet again today.

Fredbox - 2m transceiver

Many years ago I designed and made the 2m AM Fredbox 2m AM transceiver. At the time it was the smallest 2m transceiver I'd ever seen or used.  Several close copies were made.  It worked some impressive DX including several 60 mile handheld contacts and one over 100 miles to Brittany from the South Devon coast.  All these were with whip antennas on the rig and not beams. Most QSOs were with locals. The power was only 10mW AM. It was ideal for contacts around Cambridge where I lived at that time.

Some years ago, I rebuilt the transceiver and had some decent QSOs yet again.

As with the Sixbox, I would suggest the design is taken as a springboard for your own version. It is certainly ripe for further development.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/fredbox .

Sunspots and 10m - May 4th 2015

With a sunspot number of 25 (K=3) and 10m expected to be "poor" we cannot expect great things on 10m today.

6m Es

GM4FVM (428km) spotted me on 6m Es at 1112z this morning. He must be monitoring several bands as this was the same time as the Es spot on 10m.  This is the first Es I have experienced on 6m this season. Apart from the GM, M0MVB (30km) spotted me a few times this morning. Otherwise very quiet on the 6m band, at least as far as WSPR was concerned. Last Es season 4X1RF and a CN8LI appeared in the logs several times. Not yet this season! I am hoping that the Atlantic will be spanned on WSPR this season on 6m. I've done it on CW before with the same ERP, so WSPR should be easier as long as there are active stations on WSPR. Last Es season there were far too few stations active on 6m WSPR.

GM by 10m Es

GM4FVM (428km) was perhaps the most interesting spot of me today at 1112z. This was quite short skip and almost certainly Es. Apart from EA8BVP (29886km) who spots me just about every day on 10m WSPR it has been very quiet with no other F2 in evidence. Certainly no signs, so far, of USA stations spotting me.

Over the months I notice that my nominal 10m  frequency has lowered. I guess this is the reference aging. It means some of the randomised transmissions are just LF of the WSPR window.  At some point I need to reset the 10m slightly higher. Not a major issue.

Sunspots and 10m - May 3rd 2015

Sunspot number is 25 today (K=3) and 10m propagation is forecast to be "fair". Not quite sure what 10m will be like today. So far just locals spotting me today, although Es will no doubt liven things up a bit.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

We have 2 of our 4 little grandchildren staying (on their own) for a couple of nights, so amateur radio takes a back seat until Monday evening. We love them all to bits and want to make their young days with us happy and memorable ones.

No 10m USA WSPR spots today?

It is currently 2046z and, so far at least, no sign of any 10m WSPR spots by stations in the USA. EA8BVP (2986km) has been spotting me yet again this evening. This path seems to be open just about every day.

UPDATE 2050z:  6m has been quiet again apart from 3 spots of M0YOU (116km) via plane reflections.  Signals were quite strong, as if often the case with aircraft reflections.  Nobody spotted me.

Sixbox QRP rig for 6m

Sixbox 6m AM rig - a simple design

Several years ago I designed and built a derivative of my 2m Fredbox but for 6m AM. The same basic design would easily translate to a 10m version.  Both bands could be useful for cross-town natters, especially when both 10m and 6m behave like VHF bands, which is in the quieter sun years and at night on 10m. The Sixbox is simple and certainly capable of further development.

Treat the design as a starting point. A 10m version of the RX has copied transatlantic USA AM stations well, but this is NOT a rig for DX use. It is better suited to cross-town/inter-village natters.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/sixbox .