Starlings on the windmill - NOT amateur radio

For some reason we have had a lot more starlings stopping by on "our" windmill next door today. They fly off to their roost, but I don't know where this is.

This photo was taken earlier.

Latest HAARP WSPR test tweets

The HAARP team in Alaska tweeted this an hour ago:

HAARP WSPR plan for 31 July 2018 UTC
2340: WSPR vert 02 var gain const power 80m 3.5926 MHz
2348: WSPR vert 01 var gain var power 80m 3.5926 MHz
2356: WSPR vert 02 var gain const power 80m 3.5926 MHz
0004+: WSPR vert 01 var gain var power 40m 7.0386 MHz
0010+: END OF EXPERIMENT

80m FT8 and HAARP experiments

As I was already on 6m FT8, I thought I'd try 80m FT8 for a total change. At first, no-one was spotted, then I copied G8IHT (257km) in IO94 square calling CQ. I soon went back to 6m as stations were working the USA.

I have a theory about the HAARP WSPR experiments on 80m. Perhaps they know lots about HAARP but little about WSPR, particularly how important timing is. To get no reports at all on 80m WSPR last night with over 1GW ERP seems impossible to me. OK, I may be wrong, but with this huge ERP and so many monitors, it suggests something fundamental must have been wrong. OK it could have been poor propagation, but I just wonder.

UPDATE 1805z: Now gone back on 80m FT8 RX. Most 15 second periods I am getting spots.

80m FT8 RX spots so far today

UPDATE 1940z: I am back on 80m FT8 RX. There are lots and lots of stations active. My guess is this is twice as popular (at least) as WSPR.

UPDATE 1956z: A45XR (5794km) is currently the best DX spotted. This station is being widely spotted in Europe and in India, so I think this is genuine.

Magnetic loops

With high power transmitters, magnetic loop TX antennas often require special capacitors for tuning as the voltages can be high if these antennas are efficient. With QRP this is not the case and great success can be had with "ordinary" parts.

I have been amazed in the past how well they work, especially considering how small they can be. The secret is to use thick wire, ideally copper pipe or coax for the coil. For modes like WSPR, FT8 and PSK31 where big changes in frequency are not needed, these can be perfect.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/magloop

10m WSPR TX again (500mW)

As the antenna is available, I have just (at 0904z) turned on the 10m WSPR beacon. It is very unlikely I'll get any spots for a while, even if there is Es around. It usually takes 15-20 minutes for things to settle.

UPDATE 0930z: Surprisingly, already 6 German spots even though the crystal in the beacon is still settling.

UPDATE 1134z: So far today, 68 spots by 11 different stations, of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon with best DX EA8BFK (2880km) in the Canary Is..

Return to 6m FT8

At least for the day, I have returned to 6m FT8 using the V2000 vertical omni antenna. A brief CQ much earlier (2.5W) brought spots from the UK and Portugal, but no QSOs. Since then I have been RX only with 17 different stations in 7 EU countries spotted, mostly presumably by Es.

UPDATE 1420z: 73 different stations in 22 countries spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1615z: Although I have not spotted any today yet, the better stations in the UK and The Netherlands are working the USA on 6m FT8. I shall remain on 6m FT8 RX until later this evening.

80m WSPR HAARP test

Well, it appears the HAARP test from Alaska last night was only on 40m and not on 80m after all and they were only copied in North America on 40m.

Overall, using the earth-electrode "antenna" I spotted 51 different stations with best DX spotted on 80m WSPR being KC2WUF (5599km). Fellow local David G0LRD spotted 60 stations and more USA stations. Not sure what antenna he was using.

Overall I was quite surprised what I could copy on the earth electrode "antenna" in the ground. I shall have to try this on 160m WSPR or FT8 sometime. I think it acts as a loop so may be more directional than a long wire

UPDATE 1257z: According to John (see comment) they were on 80m WSPR. I shall try again tonight. See more recent post about the schedule for July31st.

Sunspots - Tuesday July 31st 2018

Solar flux is 67 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=5 and K=2.

80m WSPR RX

Well, I am all set to monitor 80m WSPR late this evening for the HAARP experiment from Alaska. Best results seem to be on the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. The map shows the stations spotted in the last hour. It seems to work remarkably well as an 80m RX antenna.

UPDATE 2119z:  40 different stations spotted so far on 80m WSPR this evening with the earth electrode "antenna" in the ground with best DX spot being SV8QG (2488km).

Cycle 25 hope?

"As of July 2018 the strength of the polar fields hints at a cycle 25 with a magnitude slightly stronger than that of cycle 24."

The above was on http://www.solen.info/solar/ . We live in hope!

East Cambridgeshire 2m FM Net

A reminder for those in the area of the East Cambs net on 144.575MHz FM at 1900z Mondays. Yes, one four four. This started out as an AM net. Newcomers are welcomed. We rarely stay on more than 30 minutes. Vertical polarisation. If the frequency is busy we usually QSY down 25kHz, although this is rare.

East Anglian Churches blog - NOT amateur radio

When we visit churches in East Anglia we try to update our East Anglian Churches Blog.

This has just been done to include Holme next the Sea in north Norfolk. This is a simple, light and airy church, not far from the coast.

I am afraid the updates to this churches blog are quite infrequent!

Rock strata - NOT amateur radio

Hunstanton is a typical English seaside resort about 50 miles north of us. The rocks there show very interesting patterns in the strata.

Sunspots - Monday July 30th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number 0 .  A= 5 and K=1.

137kHz E-field probe on the car mag-mount

Many years ago, I tried looking for my tiny 137kHz beacon with a small E-field probe mag-mounted on the car. After seeing the signal quite well on the far side of Cambridge at about 24km, I stopped the test. As you can see, the EFP used readily available parts and was very simple.

At some point I should rebuild this and try from the QTH we moved to almost 5 years ago, maybe using the earth-electrode "antenna" on TX. I have felt too unwell since my stroke.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/137efp

HAARP 80m WSPR test

A reminder that WI2XFX, in Alaska, will be on the air tonight on 3.5926 USB dial (2300z for about 30 minutes) with a huge ERP on WSPR using the HAARP antennas. See the ARRL site for more details. I may try looking for it using my earth electrode "antenna" in the ground.

10m FT8

For a change today I am on 10m FT8. Although an earlier CQ got no response I have already spotted an Italian.

UPDATE 0858z: Quite a bit of Es already today on 10m FT8 as the map shows.

UPDATE 1514z: 263 different stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today including the USA and Canada-  and we are approaching sunspot minimum. I shall probably remain on until about 1900z tonight when I need the rig for another band (2m FM net) and then the HAARP 80m WSPR test.

UPDATE 1710z: So far 342 different stations on 10m FT8 today in 5 continents. With FT8 who needs sunspots!

Now QRT

On both 6m and 10m I have now gone QRT and disconnected everything. I noticed a CT calling "CQ NA" , although I am not sure if he was copying stations from "across the pond" on 6m FT8.

Tomorrow I may try 10m FT8, although I want to see if I can see the 80m WSPR test from the HAARP station in Alaska in the late evening UK time.

Sunspots - Sunday July 29th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the SSN still zero. A= 5 and K=1.

6m FT8 RX

Well, I am glad I stayed on 6m FT8 RX last night! In the end 19 USA, Canadian and Caribbean stations  were spotted from Puerto Rico to Nova Scotia. This was just on my V2000 vertical omni fed with CB coax. No doubt better equipped stations will have spotted or worked far more.

This morning I am on 6m FT8 RX. So far, just EU and North Africa spotted.

UPDATE 1018z: So far 42 different stations in 17 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX this morning.

UPDATE 1552z: 152 different stations spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1906z:  Currently 217 different stations spotted in just the last day on 6m FT8 RX. 59 different DXCC countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX since Friday lunchtime. Not bad for a simple RX antenna (V2000 omni vertical) fed with CB coax.

Simple pleasures - NOT amateur radio

This was my granddaughter at the Norfolk seaside last week. If it's hot, simple pleasures please.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

As is usual, I am on 10m WSPR TX again. Best DX spot so far this morning is SQ3XZ (1113km). This is clearly Es.

UPDATE 1550z: 62 spots today by 7 different stations on 10m WSPR so far today.

LF transmissions with ferrite rod TX antenna

A week ago a unique LF test took place in Germany by Marcus, DF6NM.

This morning I attempted to transmit from a small ferrite antenna. It consists of a number of 9 mm diameter ferrite rods, with 7 bundled in parallel. The bundles were stacked with overlap to ~ 35 cm total length, and n=47 turns of litz wire were wound around the middle. Total ferrite cross section is a=4.45 cm^2 and volume V=156 cm^3, weighing 0.77 kg (including the coil). The coil was resonated and matched by several 1 nF high-Q ceramic capacitors.

Under small signal conditions (-17 dBm), the electric parameters at 137.5 kHz were
 L = 0.50 mH, R = 0.62 ohm, Q = 690.

Applying about half a watt significantly increased inductance and losses, and the tuning became sharply hysteretic ("jumpy"). For fine tuning, a small rod was placed at a variable distance beside the antenna.

Then I connected my PA and drove about 25 Watts into the antenna. Losses and inductance increased further:
 I = 1.3 A, U = 867 V (rms), L = 0.77 mH, R = 14.8 ohmn, Q = 45,
with the Q-factor now so low that tuning jumps disappeared again. The central part under the coil became quite hot, so a tiny fan was added which held the steady-state temperature at ~55 °C.

From the induced voltage we can calculate the flux density in the middle of the rod as
 B = U / n / a / omega = 48 mT (rms),
decreasing approximately linearly toward the ends (similar to a small electric dipole). The average Bav=24 mT then results in a dipole moment of
 iA = V Bav / µ0 = 156 cm^3 * 24 mT / µ0 = 3.0 Am^2
which results in a radiated power
 EMRP = 62.34 kohm * iA^2 / lambda^4 = 25 nW.
Thus the efficiency of this transmit antenna is only 1 ppb !

Anyway I attempted to detect the tiny signal on the DL0AO LF grabber, 48 km from here:
https://lf.u01.de
Transmitting on 137.780 kHz (6:29 to 8:22 UT) indeed produced a detectable trace in the QRSS-60 window (below the Slonim Loran line on 137781.25 Hz). Then I attempted to send a 4-character EbNaut transmission on 137.510 KHz, which was successfully decoded with some margin.

Now if that's not QRP... anyway fascinating, considering that the small ferrite antenna might be carried in a handbag, buried in the ground or taken to a cave.

Best 73,
Markus (DF6NM)

Echolink QSO

Just had a very FB QSO with a USA station via a New Jersey repeater using Echolink. This was a chat. He even managed to understand my poor voice!

VLF DX tests with earth-electrode antennas

Stefan DK7FC is transmitting 75W into an earth-electrode "antenna" and seeing if he leaves a trace on the RX at Todmorden in the UK.

"Hi VLF,

I'm sitting in my car while writing this email. I'm in JN39WI96GX and i transmit on 8270.000 Hz with a GPS locked signal generator into an about 450 m long earth antenna using two guide rails as the earth electrodes on both ends. On each end there are 16 (18) massive T-T poles holding the guide rail, providing a super good earth coupling. I measured that they are connected to each other.
The transmitter is on the air since 9:08 UTC running 550 mA with just 75 W DC inout power into my hand warm lossy linear mode VLF PA!

I'm amazed about the low losses! At DC i got 447 mA at 50.9 V. The wire is 0.4 mm diameter so it has 63 Ohm. That means the ground loss is just 50 Ohm !!!! Amazing! And i have no efforts to build up a ground connection here, i just need to connect the wire. Since the wire losses are higher than the ground losses, i can get maybe 2 dB more signal when buying some better wire. I already found a source that offers 0.75 mm^2 100 m loudspeaker cable (i.e. 200m wire)for just 13 EUR....

BTW i even have an ugly old scope here which is battery powered. I can see that the phase of voltage and current is slightly inductive, maybe 30 deg or so. So i could series resonate the antenna with some C. This is for the next experiment...

The signal becomes visible on my grabber now, in 424 uHz and also some bright pixels in the 3.8 mHz window.

I'm going to stop the carrier at 10:08 UTC, after 1 hour. Then i'll continue on 5.17 kHz!
BTW the antenna , if it works like a real loop, is beaming directly to Paul Nicholson ;-)

73, Stefan"

WSJT-X version 2.0 coming

Amateur Radio Weekly points out that there will be some significant changes to FT8 and MSK144 when v2.0 is released, probably around the end of the year. Beta testing has still to be done. This news first appeared on the ARRL site.

UPDATE 1302z July 31st: Title changed. I had it wrong!

See http://www.arrl.org/news/view/significant-changes-in-store-for-ft8-and-msk144-with-wsjt-x-version-2-0?utm_source=amateur-radio-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

Bob G3WKW has pointed me to the original source http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjt-x_v2.0.txt

80m WSPR using HAARP antennas and 80kW

Southgate News has a piece about 80m WSPR tests using the massive HAARP antennas and huge powers up in Alaska. This may well be worth looking for.

At one time this was a US government facility, I believe, and the centre of all sorts of conspiracy theories!

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/july/listen-out-for-haarp-wspr-80m-transmissions.htm#.W1xyh_ZFzIU

10m WSPR TX

Yet again, I am on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) as the antenna is free. No spots yet.

UPDATE 1340z: 23 spots so far today, all Denmark and Germany.

UPDATE 1834z: FY5KE (7110km) spotted my 10m WSPR beacon at teatime. This is my best DX today.

UPDATE 2010z: 14 different stations have spotted me today. Time to go QRT.

Granddaughter and strawberries - NOT amateur radio

We spent a week in north Norfolk last week on holiday. The picture shows our granddaughter enjoying strawberries with her mum and French grandma. We ate outside most days.

Sunspots -- Saturday July 28th 2018

Solar flux is 67 today and the SSN remains zero.  A=4 and K=2.

6m FT8

As there are no storms expected today I shall probably give 6m FT8 a go shortly.

UPDATE 0845z: Best DX on 6m FT8 RX is UT4XU (1963km).

UPDATE 0958z: Best DX on 6m FT8 RX is now A45XR (5794km) in Oman in the Middle East. As this station is being very widely reported in Europe and Japan, I think this is genuine.

UPDATE 1350z: Plenty of 6m FT8 Es with stations all over Europe, Israel, the Gulf States and the Canaries spotted on 6m FT8 RX. Nothing from the Americas spotted here yet today.

UPDATE 2004z: Even now there is Es on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2024z: I was going to turn the rig off, but there are still USA stations being called by "real" stations with beams, so I decided to stay on, at least for now.  I am hopeful that even my very modest station might detect some of these DX stations on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2107z: I was right. KB4MRX (7072km) in Florida, USA spotted. Now WP4G (6803km) in Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.

Rain at last - NOT amateur radio

The last time I saw rain here in Burwell was in May. Already the storm has arrived and we have rain.

A Toast - NOT amateur radio

Whilst in north Norfolk this week we celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary with one of our sons, his children and his French in-laws. The latter bought us champagne and a surprise hamper. It was a good week with excellent weather.

Storms

Whilst in north Norfolk, we had a very violent thunderstorm in the early hours. Apparently there was one here in Burwell too this morning, along with a brief power cut. More storms are due overnight.

A good place to look is https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?lang=en. This map can be placed anywhere in the world and zoomed in. Very useful to see how close the risk is. At the moment, I look OK to remain on until at least 1600z.

10m WSPR TX

Since getting home just before lunch, I have been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) although up to now no spots at all received. It is now 1433z.

UPDATE 1523z:  EA1FBU (1297km) spotted me several times this afternoon on 10m WSPR before thunder forced me to go QRT.

Return to 6m FT8

With no storms due until tonight, I have returned to 6m FT8 QRP. A brief CQ earlier was spotted by a few stations, but resulted in no QSOs. Since then, I have been RX only. There is plenty of EU Es about.

UPDATE 1534z: Still plenty of EU Es as the map shows.

UPDATE 1642z: As there is thunder and lightning, everything has been disconnected and I have gone QRT.

Back home - NOT amateur radio

We are back home after a week in north Norfolk. The postman said there had been a storm at 6am. There is a need to water the plants (this evening) and I hope to reconnect my radios for this afternoon.  For once our home seemed small!

OFCOM and small scale DAB

OFCOM is after "expressions of interest" on small scale DAB.

See http://ofcom.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/i/44995242F11646D32540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Sunspots - Friday July 27th 2018

Solar flux is 66 today and the SSN zero.  A=4 and K=1 .

Storms

We have had very high temperatures again today and it is quite possible that these will trigger some thunderstorms overnight or tomorrow. Maybe I shall be unable to go on 6m and 10m when I get home.