Sunspots - Wednesday August 16th 2017

Solar flux is 74 and the sunspot number 21. A=4 and K=2.

6m FT8 QSO with Spain

Earlier this morning, I worked EA5WU (1381km) on 6m FT8. I have worked a few stations before using this mode, but mostly I am RX only. On 6m my ERP is about 1W.

UPDATE 0910z: 8 countries spotted so far on 6m FT8 RX. Es good today.

6m FT8 RX spots today

UPDATE 1620z: 14 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX so far today.

UPDATE 1856z: With 24 countries spotted here on 6m FT8 RX today, this is a personal record. This mode certainly has "taken off". Good 6m Es again today.

PSK Reporter Maps - working again?

When I tried PSK Reporter Maps, it was working again. All my 6m MSK144 and FT8 RX spots for the last day appeared. I hope they have fixed it.

UPDATE 2004z:  These are the FT8 RX spots on 6m today as reported by PSK Reporter Maps. It seems it is fixed.

Sign of the times? - NOT amateur radio

Apart from getting cash from a machine, we rarely use our local bank these days. Not surprisingly, it is closing on November 10th.

There is a Post Office just across the road where you can pay bills to any bank, get foreign exchange and cash.

To be honest, I am surprised the only bank in the village has lasted as long as it has. We've been in the village since 1975 and the bank has been here all that time. I expect they will build yet more posh houses on the plot!

72 Group (QRP)

In the last hour I received an invitation to join the 72 group.

See https://groups.io/g/72/topics

UK Pound versus Euro exchange rate - NOT amateur radio

As I write this, the UK pound is close to its worst exchange rate in the last 12 months against the Euro at 1.096 Euros to the UK Pound. Instinctively, this "feels" wrong. Maybe the Euro is stronger than it was, but this feels untrue. Surely the Euro still has all its inherent issues that have not suddenly gone away?  No, I think this is a blip. Time will tell.

UPDATE 1525z: My personal view is the UK pound will rise in value against the euro. As I have said very many times, I am no expert and time may prove me totally wrong! My prediction was this would happen before the end of the year.

Blog visits up again

Even without the "probes" from a certain eastern European nation, visits to this blog have been up in recent weeks. Content is much the same, so I have no idea why this should be.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

About 2 minutes ago I started my 10m WSPR beacon producing 500mW. If I get any spots at all, it usually takes about 15-20 minutes for things to settle. As the Es season is waning now, I may get no spots all day.

UPDATE 0925z: Surprise! Already been spotted in Poland and Spain on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 1042z: 4 unique 10m WSPR spots of me so far.

UPDATE 1052z: With spots from Italy just in, this brings the score to 6 unique spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR today. All Es I assume.

Return to 6m FT8 RX

This morning, I switched to 6m FT8 RX from 6m MSK144 RX. I think PSK Reporter Maps are still not working, so I  have to monitor WSJT-X on the shack PC to see what is being spotted.

I may try 10m WSPR RX later as this uses no PC, a separate rig and a separate antenna.

UPDATE 0906z: Best DX on 6m FT8 RX is Germany.

UPDATE 1340z: Best DX on 6m FT8 RX today is EA8 in the Canary Is. PSK Reporter Maps still looks in trouble.

Sunspots - Tuesday August 15th 2017

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number 12. A=5 and K=1.

Southgate News and BBC Local AM radio

Southgate News reports that a number of BBC Local Radio stations are to go QRT on medium wave early next year. Personally I find this sad.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/august/bbc-to-switch-off-am-local-radio-transmitters.htm#.WZIFPbpFzIV

PSK Reporter Issues - still

Yet again, PSK Reporter Maps is not working. As far as I know this is the longest period of trouble I have known. Usually it is very reliable and I use it a lot. I hope they soon fix it.

2m UKAC results

The latest results are out and I see my position in the AL section is unchanged. As I was only on for a very short time (poor voice) with 5W and an omni antenna, I am quite happy with this.

Archetypal Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

In winter, Cambridge is usually quiet, but at this time of year there are plenty of visitors. This year, we seem to have more Far East visitors, probably because of the good exchange rates. The photo shows punts at Scudamore's boatyard off Silver Street.

6m MSK144 RX continued

Yet again, I continue to monitor 50.280MHz MSK144 RX during the Perseid meteor shower. PSK Reporter Maps is still not working properly, but I can see from my WSJT-X screen on the PC that I am copying stations from all over the place.

Sunspots - Monday August 14th 2017

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 11. A=7 and K=1.

PSK Reporter Issues

At first I wondered if I had a problem uploading spots to PSK Reporter Maps, then I saw they were 32 hours behind and were trying to fix the issue.

Up to now, it has been very reliable. The weekend of the Perseid meteor shower it falls over, which is a pity.

QRP and QRP Club

As usual, Oleg's weekly report:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly Rendezvous and Parade (WRP) Report (August, 13, 2017)

Keep attention, please!
For  all  active  QRP  operators, for all Rendez-Vous and Micro Radio
Parade  Frequenters and Visitors, for all simplest radio constructors
and milliwatt operators - new "72" e-mail reflector and on-line group
created. To enter the "72" group send empty e-mail to address -
72+subscribe@groups.io
see the group on-line -
https://groups.io/g/72

Visitors  of  the  week:  IT9IFI,  UR7VT, EW1CY, G4SSH, RV3GM, RV3UF,
UA1CEG/p,  ON6WJ, OH6NPV, RA7RA, DL3HXX, ON4ADR, DK1HW, DJ2DW, DL9FI,
I2QIL,  R1CAN,  RU3NJC,  YO3BL, IK2UZQ, IZ5IOU, US3EN, US5ERQ, UY1IF,
7X2EZ,  SM2FIJ,  F5SSI,  Z35M/p, UA1CEX, ON6KZ, G3XJS, RW3DF, RX3DOR,
R2FAE, G3JFS

Micro Radio Parade visitors -
EW1CY (200 mW), RV3GM (300 mW), UA1CEX (300 mW)

New RV visitors -
I2QIL, YO3BL, IK2UZQ - you are welcome!
See full Frequenters and Visitors lists on the Club 72 page, please.

Comments...
see full WRP Report including comments and pictures on the page -
https://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
That's all Folks for now!
See you all QRPers on the next RV and MRP!

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.

Swifts (birds) - NOT amateur radio

Well, I thought they'd all gone now until next year. As this evening was so nice, we had tea in the garden. 6 swifts were on the wing high above us. These may be northern birds passing through, but it made my day.

Swallows and house martins usually stay until well in to September, but there are few locally.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/swift/

Next UK Prime Minister? - NOT amateur radio

Since the last General Election the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, is hanging on by a thread. It is rumoured that Jacob Rees-Mogg would like to be considered for the post. I have few doubts that he is an honourable man, but I doubt he would really understand "the common man". This is a personal view, and I may be wrong.  If elected in a vote, I think this would bring an end to Conservative rule in short order.

Sadly, we lack charismatic leaders in any political party in the UK. Looking around, we have career politicians, but few real leaders. Hopefully this will change.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40916687

Parsonage Farm - NOT amateur radio

This started as a workers co-operative where everyone was paid the same. It is still going strong today (Delta-T) making scientific kit mainly related to plants. This is in our village (Burwell, Cambs, UK).

6m MSK144 RX again

As mentioned yesterday, the Perseid meteor shower is peaking, so I am monitoring 6m MSK144 (50.280MHz) all weekend, hoping to catch some meteor scatter activity.

UPDATE 0916z:  MS spots from all over the place including Norway, Germany and Italy.

UPDATE 1906z: Now spotting Switzerland on 6m MSK144.

Sunspots - Sunday August 13th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today. Sunspot number is 11. A=11 and K=2.

Reviews - NOT amateur radio

It seems that almost everything you do on the phone or internet now is followed up by a request for feedback asking how good they were. Being a cynic these days I refuse to complete these. Some may well be genuine, hoping to get feedback so they can do better, but I suspect many sell your details on so you can be targeted with junk mail and junk phone calls.  So, I just delete these. Call me a boring old fart, but I am not increasing my chances of being a target.

If I get very good or bad service I am quite happy to write an email. Many years ago I wrote to the MD of Dell. Within days I had a phone call back from their head office and my PC was fixed. Sometimes this works. The last thing big companies want is adverse publicity. When you get very good or very bad service you tell people. They prefer you to tell others when things are good.

4m QRP transverter

It is some years since I was active on 4m.  Several years ago now, I designed and built this transverter as I had no gear for this band. I worked a few stations in a 4m contest with it and just a wire dipole.

Of course, these days the IC7300 from ICOM covers 4m.  These days there are lots of EU countries on the band, so it can be good in the Es season.

Years before I recall working ZB2VHF with 4W of AM in my university days by Es.

At some point I intend to get on 4m again.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/4m_tvtr .

Birds

One of our grandsons in Australia. He loves all animals and looks in his element with these birds.

Perseid Fireballs?

This weekend the Perseid meteor shower peaks. According to Southgate News relaying a post on spaceweather.com the Perseid shower produces more fireballs than any other shower.

See http://spaceweather.com/  .

Nostalgia - SW interval Signals

Well I am pretty sure I've posted this link before, not that it matters.

When I started in the 1960s my first experiences were with short wave broadcast stations.  There was no such thing as TV live from the USA or Australia. Skype and FaceTime were in the far future.

Radio Australia would fade in and out. Radio New Zealand was a good catch. Many broadcasters had English language services. On the hours and half hours we'd listen for the interval signals. Many communist nations tried to blast us with propaganda. All I wanted was a QSL card!

Anyway, grab a drink and listen to the past. Enjoy.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/interval.

In Australia - NOT amateur radio

At the moment a couple of our grandchildren are in Australia visiting their Australian grandparents with their mum and dad. The photo was taken on Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands. The grandparents live in Brisbane.

PF1 UHF

In my professional life I worked first for Pye Telecom. My first ever job (I think it was really a test of my capabilities) was converting the PF1 (a small UHF portable with separate RX and TX) to 12.5kHz channel spacing. In those far off days we had 995 signal generators and these took hours (really) to stop drifting! The task was completed OK as I recall.

The task was set by Mike Gotch , G0IMG, who is now a SK. At the time I had no idea Mike was interested in amateur radio. Apparently years before he had been a pirate and got caught! In the early days of UK CB he was a keen DXer and I last worked him on 6m I think.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf1.

6m MSK144 RX

As the Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend, I intend to stay on 50.280MHz MSK144 RX all weekend. Certainly here in Europe this frequency is much more used than 50.360MHz recommended by WSJT-x v1.8. So far, 9 countries spotted in the last 12 hours on 6m MSK144. Best DX so far is LA7DFA (1312km).

Sunspots - Saturday August 12th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number 11.  A=7 and K=2.

Insurances (car and home) - NOT amateur radio

House and car insurances - call me a grumpy old man, but a couple of phone calls to the SAME insurance company and I get £172 off.

If they wanted to keep me why not offer the best prices to start with? Don't answer, as I know the answer already. They assume most won't bother and will just pay up at the inflated prices.

Personally I find this STUPID. This is an immoral racket preying on the old and vulnerable.

Insurance companies - you should be ashamed!

70cm QRM

A friend of mine in Cambridge Richard G3TFX is getting QRM on the GB3OV repeater. OFCOM cannot help.

He writes:

Can anyone pin down the direction of a pulsing telemetry signal causing QRM on the OUTPUT channel of the St Neots repeater GB3OV, 433.125 Mhz? It's a pretty strong signal in the center of Cambridge and my guess is it might be a device on a crane.

Rally this Sunday

13 AUGUST 2017 : FLIGHT REFUELLING ARS HAMFEST
Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, near Wimborne, Dorset. BH21 3DA There will be a talk in station on S22 and the venue has free car parking. Doors open at 10am and admission is £3.50. There will be trade stands, a car boot areas and indoor and field pitches for traders. Lectures will take place during the day. there is catering and a licensed bar on site. Camping is available on Saturday night only in an adjacent field. More information from hamfest@frars.org.uk
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Eddystone receivers

When I first entered the hobby in the early 1960s, many here in the UK aspired to Eddystone receivers, made in Birmingham, UK. They were beautifully made with velvet touch drives.

I wanted an 840C, but never had one. When I started work a friend had a dad who worked for Eddystone. I was lucky enough to get an EC10 in the early 1970s. These were the first transistorised  receivers that they made. They sold for £48 when they first came out. 10m bandspread was appalling and in all honesty, by modern standards, they were not very good. I think the IF was very low. They still had lovely mechanical construction and velvet smooth drives, but the receivers were really average.

For quite a while I used mine on the lower HF bands and as a tuneable IF for VHF and UHF RX converters. As an IF they were fine.

They used germanium transistors and they occasionally turn up on eBay and similar. These days, I would not bother apart from nostalgia.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ec10 .

Sunspots - Friday August 11th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number is 11. A=5 and K=1.

Overnight and this morning on 6m MSK144 RX

As we are near the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, I have been on 6m MSK144 RX overnight and this morning. I decided to look around 50.280MHz rather than the "new" frequency recommended in WSJT-X v1.8. So far, 9 countries spotted on 6m, although not all of these will have been via meteor scatter as there is still Es on 6m.

UPDATE 1520z: 16 countries spotted on 6m MSK144 RX so far today.

UPDATE 2122z: "Just in case", I have just done a manual time sync in readiness for the overnight period on 50.280MHz MSK144.

Now on 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz

At about 1830z I turned off the 10m WSPR TX beacon (no spots all day) and moved from FT8 RX on 50.313MHz to 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz. I'll check the logs later and tomorrow to see if I see spots as a result of the Perseid shower. At this time of year it is sometimes hard to tell which is Es and which meteor trail reflections. If during the early hours, it is more likely to be meteor scatter.

UPDATE 1938z: No 6m MSK144 spots yet.

6m FT8 RX

Since mid-morning I have been on 6m FT8 RX. So far, 8 countries spotted. Although I have also been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW), no 10m spots today at all.