70cm UKAC

As this was the second Tuesday in the month, it was the 70cm leg of the RSGB's activity contest. I was only running 5W to a 2m halo fed with lossy coax. Best DX tonight was just 105km, although I was only on for 20% of the time because of my poor voice.

IC7300, FT991A or KX2?

I am thinking of getting a new radio. The choices are the above. The KX3 is just too expensive in the UK. Any views?

5W would be enough for me, but sadly the ICOM and Yaesu transceivers are not available in QRP versions in Europe. At the moment I favour the FT991A, if the price is right. It would rarely be used at 100W but having 430MHz could be useful.

60m in Finland

Southgate News reports that the 60m WRC band (15kHz wide) is being allocated in Finland a year early. It is a great pity that a wider allocation is not being made in CEPT countries. 100kHz wide would have been so much better. Still, the 15kHz band will be allocated world-wide in the end. Of course, the FCC in the USA might eventually allocate this band, maybe in 2020? I joke not. The FCC has been unbelievably slow with the 137kHz and 472kHz bands.

Luddites? - NOT amateur radio

One can't help feeling really sorry for Southern Rail passengers who pay over the odds for season tickets and get a rubbish service, with crowded trains, cancellations and strikes. The dispute is over who oversees the closing of doors!  In this case my sympathies are with the commuter who is getting a poor deal. The unions are wrong. 

It is beholden on unions to act on behalf of their members, but they have to act responsibly. Yes, I know they are concerned about jobs, but this is plain stupid. If I was in charge I would sack them all (union members that is). Normally my political sympathies are left of centre. We cannot behave as if we lived in the 1800s. This is the 21st century for goodness sake.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38296623 .
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite . The Luddites were textile workers and weavers who destroyed machinery in the hope of preventing job losses. We have to be efficient - end of story.

Southern Rail union members - grow up!!

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday December 13th 2016

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number 13. A=6 and K=1.

10m JT65

Around 0815z, I went QRT on MF WSPR and started up on 10m JT65 again. FR1GZ (9724km) has already been spotted. It remains to be seen whether or not he spots me too. FR1GZ is on Reunion Island in the south Indian Ocean not too far east of Madagascar.

UPDATE 1326z: No other DX on 10m JT65 so far. I think this is more to do with a lack of activity than conditions. Please, use 10m. G4CJC (73km) has been spotted on 10m JT65 -  either tropo or aircraft reflection.

MF TX so far this season

So far this autumn on 472kHz (630m) WSPR I have been spotted by 20 unique stations in 4 countries (G, F, PA and DL). I am running 5mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I think this is fewer than last year, although I started much later this year.  My impression is that there are fewer active stations, although I may be mistaken. It will be interesting to see the total by Easter. Best DX is DK6XY at 723km.

PC update and 630m WSPR

My shack PC needed an update. When this happens it does not sync to an internet time server. This occurred during the day (probably after lunch) so no South Americans on 10m JT65 may have been because of timing being out rather than propagation.

Anyway, the PC is now updating and I shall be on 472kHz (630m) WSPR for the rest of the evening and overnight.

Smallest APRS TX

See https://git.scd31.com/laptopdude90/smallest-aprs-transmitter .

Looking for a small APRS transmitter? You might like this, which was on Twitter earlier. Although I have a Twitter account I rarely use it, but I get emails about Twitter most days.

The mystery of MH370 - NOT amateur radio

It is almost 2 years since this Malaysian Airlines plane just disappeared. Now relatives are looking for clues as the official authorities seem to have all but given up. One can imagine the nightmare these people have been though.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38257433 .

Sunspots and 10m - Monday December 12th 2016

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 13. A=15 and K=1.

Although the 10m propagation forecast is "poor" I have been spotted well over 9000km away using 2W 10m JT65 QRP and a very average wire antenna.

Take over? - NOT amateur radio

The company I used to work for may be the subject of a take over bid from a rival Chinese company. Watching the share chat you realise that most stock brokers are simply gamblers in for a gain. And to think these parasites earn big bonuses! For what? Makes my blood boil.

See http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChat.asp?ShareTicker=SEPU .

Cold Arctic

See http://www.spaceweather.com/ .

The Space Weather website has some great images of stratospheric polar clouds saying the Arctic Circle is getting very cold.

Mesospheric clouds (higher than the stratosphere) are often associated with 6m DX from Europe to Japan. I don't know if such propagation is possible at this time of year. These openings are usually in late June, I think.

I don't know if stratospheric clouds reflect radio waves as do mesospheric clouds.

See https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html for details of atmospheric layers.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

WQR Report (December 11, 2016 - Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous)
Visitors  of  the  week:  UA1CEX,  EA2LU, DK1HW, US5ERQ, RW3AA, RD2A,
RA7RA,  UR0ET,  US3EN,  UA1ADF,  EW1CY, UA1CEG, DL3VZL, UR5EFD, R1OA,
OH7QR, OH5LP, SM7RYR, DF4JH, OH6NPV, UR7VT, PG4I, DK2SC, R1CAF, DL3XZ,
RV3GM,  RA1M,  UR8QV,  G3XJS,  OM6TC,  UY1IF, OK1AQW, UA1AFT, PD7CJT,
RU3NJC,  G4MLW, EA6BB, UA0SBQ, RA3PKV, SM2BYW, G3WCY, UA1CEX, RN4NAA,
RD6MZ,  ON6KZ,  SV2BBK,  DL4IA,  UA9SFQ, RA4NEW, DL1HTW, R3TR, DJ6GI,
Z35M, UR5IFM
Congrats!
OH7QR,  UY1IF,  PD7CJT,  UR5IFM  became  Honor  Frequenters  (regular
visitors) - Thanks!
Comments........
See full "rendezvous" report - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

This is a periodic Newsletter of the Club 72. Don't reply to Newsletter address! Send any requests or news to mr72@club72.su please.

10m JT65 - DX spots

As well as a German spot in the middle of the night, FR1GZ (9724km) spotted me in the last hour. 10m DX.

UPDATE 1948z: As a later post indicates, the PC needed an update installing, so the lack of spots this afternoon and early evening may have been due to timing rather than propagation.

Geminids meteor shower

Peaking around December 13-14th is the Geminids meteor shower. This will help with MS communications as there will be more "pings" and longer ones. Look at the constellation Gemini to see early signs. MS using digital comms is popular on 2m.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday December 11th 2016

There are no sunspots visible today so the sunspot number is zero. K=3 (quiet). See http://www.spaceweather.com/ . As you can see, I looked elsewhere for the data as it is already 1515z.

Stroke after-effects - NOT amateur radio

Even years after my stroke, I am still becoming aware of some of the after-effects. My short-term memory is poor and I seem unable to see quite obvious spelling and grammatical errors. Clearly my brain is not able to process things in quite the same way it once could. I try to correct mistakes as soon as I notice them, but if I miss things, you'll know why!

Yet again - no solar forecast, as yet

Yet again, the source of my solar data is still showing data for yesterday, so I cannot put up today's data yet. If this continues I shall have to look elsewhere. Please accept my apologies.

I'll update the data as soon as I get it.

10m JT65 overnight and Sunday

We have visitors and my shack involves walking through their room, so I remained on 10m JT65 overnight rather than moving to MF. It was interesting with LA9LOA (1414km) spotting my 2W QRP just after 0400z on 10m JT65. This is a very odd time.

UPDATE 1520z: G0LRD (25km) has also spotted my 2W QRP 10m JT65, but no DX as yet. Clearly David gets me better on 6m, as the antennas are somewhat better on that band.

UPDATE 1645z: G4CJC (73km) has been spotted on 10m JT65. As yet, no South Americans spotted on 10m JT65 here.

UPDATE 1944z: It looks like no DX on 10m JT65 here today. The chances of spotting South Americans, or being spotted myself, have probably gone for today. I'll stay on 10m overnight in case anything else pops up.

South Hams - NOT amateur radio

Until I went to university I was brought up in the South Hams of Devon where my family have been for centuries (definitely) and probably for millennia. I expect we were Stone Age farmers on Dartmoor thousands of years ago and we fished these waters long, long ago, probably when the coastline was quite different. The picture shows Bolt Tail  in the far distance from Thurlestone.

A and K indices

Some ask what these mean.

See https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/antennas-propagation/ionospheric/solar-indices-flux-a-ap-k-kp.php for explanations.

Blog issue?

At the moment I am experiencing an issue with my blog. I have tried to correct a post error using both Edge and Chrome but neither will allow me to make the correction!

In the 10m JT65 post it should say "using the format "B callsign locator"" and the bit in bold should not be. My apologies.

UPDATE 1500z: It appears the blog does not like me using the sort of brackets used in URLs. Changing these to colons works OK.  I have now corrected the 10m JT65 post.

Back on 10m JT65

Shortly before lunch, I went QRT on MF WSPR and started up on 10m JT65. As yet, no spots on 10m JT65 where I run 2W.

It has been fairly quiet of late on 10m, although the last week has seen 10m JT65 spots of my 2W signal from the USA and South America, despite the much lower sunspot numbers now and just QRP power. I only use simple wire antennas on HF.  JT65 really is a great mode without the need for much power or big beams.

My recommendation is switch to 10m JT65. The DX is harder to find these days, but using weak signal modes gives you the best chance of being copied.

Using the format  "B callsign locator" as a beacon when not looking for QSOs will show up on PSK reporter maps if you tick the "upload to PSK reporter maps" in your JT65 software.

WSJT-X V1.6 is stable and freely available. I've used this now for JT65 and WSPR for about a year.

UPDATE 1606z: 10m JT65 has been very quiet so far. I'd expect South Americans and maybe the USA to appear in the next couple of hours or not at all.

UPDATE 1706z: LW2DAF (11211km) was spotted about an hour ago on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1758z: 3 South American spots so far tonight on 10m JT65.

Old friends - NOT amateur radio

This weekend we have old friends over staying with us. When I was in hospital, they regularly drove 90 miles each way to come to see me in hospital. Up until 2009 they lived in our village but moved to the Cotswolds, partly to be close to their daughter who has MS.

I have said many times that a real illness shows true friends. Sadly, a church-going couple next door never once asked how I was and never came to see my wife.  Some people just don't "do" illnesses. It is some years since I was in hospital for 3.5 months, but our Cotswold friends are as close as ever.

In a time of real crisis, some people "came up trumps".  Others just fell away.

Still on 630m WSPR

Usually by now I have switched to 10m JT65 (2W), but I am still on 472kHz (630m) WSPR with 5mW ERP. We have visitors and I'll probably change to 10m JT65 when they go out.

G0VQH (15km), G8LCO (58km) and M0XDK (80km) are all copying me on MF.

Amateur Radio blog

The Amateur Radio blog continues to provide lots to read most days. Every week they provide a summary Amateur Radio Newsletter by email if you subscribe. It is well worth checking in my view.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday December 10th 2016

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number 12. A= 24 and K=3.

Early success on MF

Only about 15 minutes ago I switched from 10m JT65 to 630m (472kHz) WSPR.  DL-SWL (701km) has already spotted me twice. As usual, I am running 5mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This very very early.

UPDATE 1855z:  DK6XY (723km) has just spotted me.  This is the best DX so far this season.

UPDATE 1922z: These are the spots on MF of my 5mW ERP so far this evening:

£11 for a dual band hand held?

This came from Steve G1KQH:

A Dual band HT .... wait for it £11.00!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BAOFENG-2014-UV-5RA-UV-5R-Dual-Band-136-174-400-480-MHz-FM-Ham-Two-way-Radio-/262743557532?hash=item3d2cbc859c:g:LWYAAOSwj85YPwGe

This includes free postage from China! Just how do they do it?

South Devon - NOT amateur radio

Many years ago I came from, and was brought up in, South Devon. The picture shows where our family lived for hundreds of years. The earliest record I have is 1428, although I am sure we've ancestors in this part of the world going back thousands of years. Very humbling.

WRC 2019

The next WRC is in 2019. I understand the IARU is trying to get a harmonised 6m band 50-54MHz in all parts of the world.

These are the things I'd like to see:

• a 500kHz wide 4m allocation worldwide
• a 100kHz wide allocation at 60m worldwide
• a small 8m allocation worldwide. 50-100kHz wide would do
• open sub 8.3kHz to all worldwide on a non-interference basis
• a small allocation worldwide at 73kHz.

I doubt these will happen. What would you like to see?

10m JT65

I am still using WSJT-X V1.6.  V1.7 download will have to wait, probably until next week.

About 30 minutes ago I turned on 10m JT65 again. Usually I try 630m at night, but as I was out I gave this a miss. We have visitors over the weekend, so I am unsure of activity this evening. and overnight.  On 10m JT65 I use 2W and on 630m 5mW ERP WSPR.

As yet, no 10m spots but I see Bas in Holland was spotted yesterday on 10m JT65 presumably by aircraft reflection?

UPDATE 1532z: Still no 10m JT65 spots given or received here today.

With my brother - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken earlier this week in the delightful Suffolk village of Moulton, which has plenty of thatched cottages. It show me (RHS) with my brother (LHS) who stayed with us for a few days.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday December 9th 2016

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number has fallen to 14. A=23 and K=3.

Packhorse Bridge - NOT amateur radio

On Monday, I mentioned in an earlier posting that we went out to nearby Moulton for a meal with my brother. Moulton is a small village not far from Newmarket. It has a famous, very old, packhorse bridge as it was once the main route from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds. Packhorses went over the bridge and horses and carriages went across the ford. The bridge dates from the 13th or 14th century and is a mix of brick and stone.

Geomagnetic Storms?

Southgate News reports that a minor geomagnetic storm (G1) which may result in good auroras is likely.

10m JT65 and overnight on 630m WSPR

Overnight I was on 630m (472kHz) WSPR but nothing new. I did get copied again (many times) by DL-SWL (701km) when using the 5mW ERP, but I am spotting, and being spotted, by the same few stations. There certainly appear to be fewer on this band and mode than this time last year. I wonder if I should try beaconing in JT9-1 on MF? Any advice?

For about 20 minutes now I have been back on 10m JT65 but no spots as yet.

UPDATE 1305z:  No spots yet today on 10m JT65 here.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday December 8th 2016

My source is around today!

Solar flux is 77 today and the sunspot number has dropped to 18. A=11 and K=3.

10m today? It should be no goos, but I am often surprised.  Keep 10m JT65 or WSPR running as you never know!

Solar data

As I have been  unable to bring you solar data from the normal source today, try this one: http://www.solen.info/solar/ .