8 Oct 2015

"Give us a Nadiya" - NOT amateur radio

"I can and I will". 

If you live in the UK and have a TV then the chances are you saw Nadiya, the 30 year old mother of 3 from Leeds, win "The Great British Bake Off" last night. She was the delightful girl who wore the world on her face and in her eyes. Her expressions of sadness and joy were just wonderful. She deserved to win, although they were all good.  All day my wife has been saying, "give me a Nadiya" whenever I have been pathetic with my stomach bug. Perhaps this will become an expression?

Wouldn't it be good if our politicians could let their guards down and show us the real people behind their facades? Go on David Cameron, UK Prime Minister, "give us a Nadiya".

See http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/08/great-british-bake-off-nobel-prize-acceptance-speeches-nadiya-hussain .

The image below is at http://ichef.live.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1376xn/p034mtz9.jpg and NOT on this blog. The link and image will be removed if showing it is a problem.

Great post! - like heck!

Well, being human, I can spot these a mile away these days. You read on a bit more and see it refers to an old post and goes on to advertise something. It has nothing at all to do with the post. Thankfully "dodgy" comments go to my email and simply get deleted before they appear on the blog.

Should you see any comments, especially on older posts, that got through, please let me know so I can delete.

If you are a spammer - get lost - play your silly games somewhere else or jump in a river?  You are wasting your efforts on this site.

10m WSPR - blank here today so far

My 10m 500mW WSPR beacon has been on most of the day. So far, it has been copied by no-one at all, with not even a spot by the locals. I'll leave it running,although I am not too hopeful!

If you are a G why not see if you can spot me by tropo/aircraft? This works, especially when planes are in the right places. Inter-G on 10m is very interesting. Yesterday it was copied in North Devon, which is quite away. The more usual range for G stations by tropo/aircraft is 120-200km away.

Sometimes signals can be strong but will not decode. Other times you may see multiple reflections - 6 is not uncommon. The Doppler just has to be right.

RSGB Convention - Oct 9 to 11th (this weekend)

The convention programme of lectures (all interests) is available on the RSGB website.  The principal sponsor is Martin Lynch and Sons.

What a pity that the RSGB depends on sponsors, but I guess they need them these days. No doubt MLS, and other sponsors will have some good deals.

All rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Yet more Sputnik QRP QSOs

This from Oleg:

"Dear Space Friends,
today I logged two "vanguard" QSOs on my new DC TRX 50 mW on 14060 kHz
- UR7VT (2 watts) and UR5FEO (4 watts). Both gives me 539 reports.
I looking for any Sputnik/Vanguards/SWLs reports, please.

72! beep-beep-beep...
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB"

472kHz antennas

One of the last things I managed before being taken ill with my stomach bug was to use my end-fed Par long-wire HF antenna, suitably matched, via the preamp on 472kHz RX.  My very unscientific test conclusions are that none of these compromise antennas are much different. All copied about the same number of different WSPR stations at much the same strengths. As the tests were done on different nights conditions may have been different. The earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground is the easiest, so, for now, I shall continue using this on MF.

Maybe I should go back to bed as I still feel unwell.

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Oct 8th 2015

Forget it! Go and cut the grass instead.

With a sunspot number of 24 (K=6) and 10m propagation (in fact all HF) expected to be "poor" today HF conditions are not expected to be any good today.

Yesterday I was not on the radio at all -I was ill and I still feel well below normal - and "Sod's Law"applied: my absence corresponded withe the best MF propagation in years.

Anyway, the 10m 500mW WSPR beacon has been turned on and is active, more in hope than expectation.

7 Oct 2015

Poorly - no amateur radio

Most of today I have been in bed with a nasty stomach bug. It has meant no amateur radio today. To be honest I slept a lot and have eaten nothing. This is the first time since my stroke that I have been ill from anything other than the stroke.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Oct 7th 2015

Sunspot number is a bit higher at 24, but conditions are disturbed (K=6). 10m propagation is again expected to be "poor".

6 Oct 2015

OFCOM email - NOT amateur radio

This is the latest email from OFCOM. It looks like it was written by a bunch of bureaucrats who probably have never used a radio. To me it is a quango. Sorry, WHAT do they actually do that adds value?:

"This update provides a list of selected recent Ofcom publications. For all latest documents, please visit: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/
This month’s update covers:
  • Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator Update 
  • BBC Significance Test: Radio 5 live Sports Extra
  • BT Undertakings: BT’s temporary use of the Enterprise Cloud for specified Openreach operational support systems
  • Made out of London register
  • PSB Nations and Regions compliance reporting
  • Radio licensing monthly update
  • Television broadcast licensing update
  • Consumer Protection Test
Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator Update
The Independent Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA2) has published its update for September 2015. At the end of September 2015, the number of unbundled lines stood at 9.81 Million. There were 5.50 Million WLR lines and the number of telephone numbers using CPS was 1.97 Million.
BBC Significance Test: Radio 5 live Sports Extra letter
Ofcom has published a letter providing input into the BBC Trust’s significance test of proposals to increase BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra programming. Ofcom has considered the potential impact of the proposals on other players in the market. Ofcom’s input forms a specific part of the BBC Trust’s significance test but any decisions are made by the BBC Trust.
BT Undertakings: BT’s temporary use of the Enterprise Cloud for specified Openreach operational support systems
Ofcom has published an exchange of letters between BT and Ofcom concerning BT’s use of the BT Enterprise Cloud, which is shared across BT, for specified Openreach operational support systems. The letters include Ofcom’s agreement to a request from BT to allow it to use the Enterprise Cloud in this manner on a temporary basis until December 2015.
Public Service Broadcasters’ nations and regions compliance reporting, 2014
Ofcom has a duty under the Communications Act 2003 to ensure certain public service broadcasters comply with quotas for programmes made and shown in the nations and English regions. Ofcom has reported on ITV, STV, UTV, S4C and BBC programmes made and shown in the nations and English regions. The report also sets out the delivery of original and independent productions by ITV, STV and UTV.
‘Made Outside London’ programme titles register, 2014
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are required to broadcast a proportion, range and value of programmes made outside the M25. This report sets out the programmes the broadcasters have certified as ‘Made outside London’ broadcast during 2014.
Radio licensing monthly update
The monthly update provides information about Ofcom’s broadcast radio licensing activity with regard to both the commercial and community radio sectors, including news of the planned advertisement of a new local analogue commercial radio licence in Scotland.
Television broadcast licensing update
The latest broadcast licensing update provides information about Ofcom’s broadcast TV licensing activity, including details of new licences issued and changes to existing licences.
Consumer Protection Test
The Consumer Protection Test for telephone number allocation focuses on communications providers that have used numbers to cause serious or repeated harm to consumers. Ofcom will not allocate 070 personal numbers, 0871/2/3 special service higher-rate numbers or 09 premium rate numbers to anyone who appears on either of two lists. Ofcom strongly encourages all providers that assign telephone numbers to others to take best use of numbers and consumer protection into account, and to refer to the following two lists when making assignment decisions. "