472kHz WSPR

Although the "season" is really well over, I decided to give 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP, 20% TX) with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground a go overnight. So far only G1GKN (99km) has been spotted.

FT4

Although release candidate versions of WSJT-X have been released including FT4, I think I shall now wait for the fully released version before installing. FT4 sounds like a useful Es mode with its shorter periods. It is not quite as sensitive, but with Es signals are often strong even with QRP.

See http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

8m Es QSOs

Southgate News relays EI7BL's blog about some exiting news of cross band Es QSOs on the new (in EI) 8m band.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/05/first-sporadic-e-crossband-contacts.html

Colourful Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Well, the centre of Cambridge is certainly entertaining! As well as the float in the photo we had buskers singing classical opera, which was very good (people applauded).

The downside is there are more homeless people now in the city. Some are definitely genuine (often with mental health issues) and some see Cambridge as a good hunting ground with plenty of visitors. These days we prefer to give directly to a homeless charity so we know the money will not be squandered on drugs.

No early 6m Es today

So far on 6m FT8 RX just a single station spotted HB9SJE (795km). Little sign yet of Es on the band.

UPDATE  1819z: Just 3 stations spotted all day today on 6m FT8 RX. Pathetic!

Sunspots - Friday May 31st 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=8 and K=2.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

Over the half-term holiday we have seen all 4 of our young grandchildren.

Today, our "London" grandchildren arrived for a few days. The photo shows them with my wife in our garden room.

Mess, but clean mess  😊

Currency oscillations - NOT amateur radio

At the moment the UK pound is up and down against major currencies. With BREXIT uncertainties and the likelihood of a new Prime Minister in the next month or so, this is hardly surprising. I guess the fact the UK pound has not tumbled dramatically is good news.

The UK must be the laughing stock of the world! How can we be so divided? I am struggling to see how rifts created in the last few years will be healed. Healed they must be.

Rally

Sunday 2 JUNE : SPALDING DARS ANNUAL RALLY

Holbeach Community Sports Academy, Pennyhill Lane, Holbeach PE12 7PR. Doors open at 9.30am and admittance is £3. The venue offers easy access from the A17, large area for boot traders and modern hall for indoor traders. There will be a Car Boot Sale, RSGB Book Stall, Special Interest Groups and trade stands. Catering is available on site and there will be a prize draw/raffle. Contact Graham Boor, G8NWC, 07754 619 701, rallysecretary@sdars.org.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

FT991A fan

Nobody gave me the answer I needed! Is the FT991A fan temperature controlled? Does it only come on when the rig gets hot? I think the IC7300 fan is always on when on TX. If I was to buy an FT991A it would mostly be used at QRP powers.

Julian G4ILO

Although a SK for several years now, I still get people coming to this blog via Julian's site. This is a fitting tribute to his memory. Although we never met "on the air", I considered him a good friend. Like many, I followed his struggle to the end. RIP. You are not forgotten.

6m Es

As is usual at this time of year, I am on 6m FT8 RX. So far today, 71 stations in 10 countries spotted, mostly by Es and all European.

UPDATE 1350z: Now 230 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today with best DX TA8A (3331km).

UPDATE  1520z: Now 232 stations spotted on 6m FT8 today in 22 countries. Plenty of 6m Es!

UPDATE 2034z: Now 244 stations spotted. Unless things suddenly change I suspect this is it for today.

First car - NOT amateur radio

We bought our first car in 1971. It was sold for scrap for £40 in 1978 as I recall. It was a Morris 1000. No radio, no aircon, very basic back then! We were quite sad when it went. It was bought by a local agricultural mechanic who did it up and had 2 more years on the road. The photo shows the day we sold it.

Sunspots - Thursday May 30th 2019

Solar flux is 66 today and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1.

BREXIT - NOT amateur radio

My dad who died in 1987 had a phrase, "they couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery". In his own colourful language, I think this sums up our attempts to reach a BREXIT deal before we leave the EU. Certainly the Conservative ruling party under Theresa May has made a total disaster of this. I'd like to think the main opposition Labour party would have done better, but somehow I doubt this.

We are now in a leadership contest to elect a new Conservative leader and Prime Minister. Whatever happens next, the UK remains deeply divided both in the country and in parliament.

I wish we had some answers. If anything I suspect we will be even worse after a new leader is elected. If we have a public referendum the outcome is likely to be far from clear cut. What then?

That new radio

Steve G1KQH has been encouraging me to buy a new radio. Any new radio would have to include 160m, 10m and 6m. Bands like 2m and 70cm would be useful. If the radio has a fan, it would have to be quiet.

I was holding back just in case Yaesu announced a real replacement to the FT817 at Dayton.  Neither Yaesu nor ICOM made any great announcements of new products of interest to QRPers like me sadly.

At the moment I am warming to the FT991A. The IC7300 is probably the better radio, and is SDR based, but I gather the fan is always on and some can be noisy. Yes there is a mod, but I am in danger of invalidating any warranty. The rig would be used at 10W most of the time, so a fan that comes on only when the PA is warm would be good. At the moment, there is a 3 year warranty with Yaesu and cash back on some models. Having had many Yaesu rigs over the years, I am pretty happy with this supplier. Knowing me, this rig would have to last for years!

If anyone has any strong opinions against the FT991A I'd like to hear them. As my voice is not too good these days, FT8 and WSPR would probably be the main modes used.

Specific questions about the FT991A. If the answer is in the manual, I cannot find it! Does the fan come on only when the radio is hot? If I run mainly QRP will I hear the fan?

USAF strength - NOT amateur radio

We live close to Lakenheath and Mildenhall airbases. I am not sure what was going on, but a few moments ago there was a big plane being escorted by smaller planes and helicopters. They made quite a noise as they went overhead, so much so that I had to look. I thought Trump was coming to the UK later. Perhaps this was a dress rehearsal.

Waitrose - NOT amateur radio

For some reason, my wife likes shopping at Waitrose, which is a food chain and part of John Lewis and Partners. I have several issues with Waitrose. Firstly I find this chain expensive. Secondly, I think they need to do more work to use recyclable or compostable packaging. Some packets can be recycled and some cannot. As a major UK food retailer, I think they should tell their suppliers or the business will go elsewhere. They have the power and they should use it!

Today when we went shopping there it was very quiet. The low cost free range eggs were, conveniently, out of stock.  Instead if you wanted free range eggs you had to pay far more. I expect the free coffee and paper will soon, quietly, go.

If you ask me I think they are in deep trouble. It would not surprise me if lots of stores were forced to close or John Lewis as a whole goes under. I may be wrong but in Newmarket, where we go, there is competition coming soon from a low cost supplier and that will really hit them.

The next few years will be make or break. At the moment, they depend on customer loyalty, but this is wearing thin. Old ladies die and young people want better value, so they shop around or buy online.

More from Chelsea Flower Show - NOT amateur radio

It seems hard to believe we went to the Chelsea Flower Show a whole week ago. This is the most important flower show in the UK. Although we went on an RHS members' day, it was very busy.

As I mentioned before (at least I think I did!) we had our tickets as a present for our 70th birthdays late last year.

Irish 8m band activity

Although there are a very few beacons operational around 40MHz, very few countries have an amateur band at 8m. I have lobbied the RSGB for a small slot to be negotiated, although, not too surprisingly, nothing has come of this. Being mid way between 10m and 6m it is an ideal band of Es and MS experiments. Even 100kHz and 10W would be useful to advance radio science. OFCOM has managed to find 2MHz for DATV work and I cannot believe they cannot allocate a small slot for serious work around 40MHz! No standard comercial gear is available for this band, so it would only attract serious experimenters, not  "black box" operators. So, the number of people using such a band in the UK would be small.

I quite like the Irish model of allocating wide chunks of under-used spectrum to amateurs. If they were not pen pushers it would be good for OFCOM to allow use of any spectrum on a strictly "non-interference" basis, even if the power was strictly limited. Sadly, I cannot see this happening. It needs people policing this and this costs money rather than generates money! Also, you have to understand RF.  I may be forgiven for thinking few now have this skill.

Meanwhile in Eire, one of the few countries to allocate spectrum at 40MHz to amateurs, work and QSOs continue.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/05/inter-ei-activity-begins-on-40-mhz.html

Garden of England - NOT amateur radio

Over the weekend we spent a few days with our "Kent" family and grandkids. We saw some places we'd not been to before with our son. The collage shows a typical Kent oast house (for drying hops) as well as several views of our younger grandson. Kent is known as "the garden of England".

6m FT8 RX in the last day

Stations spotted here since mid-afternoon 

yesterday on 6m FT8 RX on the FT817 and V2000 vertical

Since we got home yesterday afternoon, 441 stations (a huge number) have been spotted on 6m FT8 RX. Even this morning there is early Es.

Last evening, I copied my first transatlantic station this season J69DS (6840km) on St Lucia in the Caribbean. My antenna is still the V2000 vertical omni.

UPDATE 1445z: 60 stations in 10 countries so far spotted on 6m FT8 RX in the last 12 hours. Plenty of Es about on 6m.

UPDATE 1821z: Now 154 stations in 21 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX in the last 12 hours. Will there be any Caribbean or North Americans later on 6m FT8 RX?

UPDATE 1922z: Much to my surprise a single 15 second 6m FT8 CQ was responded to by an Italian. A subsequent series of 2.5W CQs was copied by 26 stations!

UPDATE 2137z: So far 248 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX in the last 12 hours. No "real" DX. Mostly single hop Es.

Sunspots - Wednesday May 29th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the sunspot number still 0. A=10 and K=2.

Dayton roundup

There are probably several roundups of the recent Dayton Hamvention on YouTube of which this is just one. As an outsider who has never been, and never likely to go, this is useful.

Did someone say this mainly an old MAN's hobby? Watch the video!

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1pQ1H7YhNo

MLS cashback on Yaesu

Certainly MLS (and probably other dealers) are still offering cashback on certain Yaesu products. The next few weeks looks a good time to buy. Unless I am mistaken dealers are offering 3 years warranty on Yaesu.

Climbing the ruins - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, we were with our son and family in Kent. They enjoyed climbing over the ruins of this old church at Reculver by the coast. In the photo you can just see our son trying to take a photo of his children.

6m FT8 - amazing

Although we have only been home for 30 minutes, my 6m FT8 2.5W to the omni vertical was spotted by 18 stations all over Europe and I have spotted 47 stations in 12 countries. Most of these were Es.

UPDATE 1514z: Now 108 stations spotted on 6m FT8 in the last hour or so with best DX EA8ACW (2988km).

UPDATE 1817z: 360 different stations so far spotted on 6m FT8 RX this afternoon with best DX spotted on 6m being OD5YA (3466km) in Lebanon.

Sunspots - Tuesday May 28th 2019

Solar flux is 66 today and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1.

Simple pleasures - NOT amateur radio

This morning we went to the Kent coast with 2 of our grandchildren enjoying simple pleasures such as hunting in rock pools.

IC7300 book

The RSGB bookshop is now stocking a new book about the IC7300. This is a popular radio with many.

European elections - NOT amateur radio

The results are out and as expected the Conservative party has done very badly with the Liberal Democrats coming second. This shows how divided the country is over BREXIT.

Sunspots - Monday May 27th 2019

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN 0.  A=5 and K=3.

European elections - NOT amateur radio

Later today when every country has voted we may get the first results of the European elections. In the UK the main political parties are expected to do badly.

Meteor showers

Southgate News has details of an upcoming meteor shower. At peak times the ionised trails support brief VHF propagation. Random meteors support such propagation but openings are far less frequent.

Sunspots - Sunday May 26th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=1.

Solar cycle 25

At the moment experts seem to have differing views on the next cycle. Some people think we have passed solar minimum whilst others think we are still falling. At the moment it is hard to judge.

See https://www.weather.gov

Early 6m Es again

When I looked earlier there was widespread Es on 6m at 0845z, which is early. I can't wait until the band really opens up to long distance E layer DX.

Most July JAs come through to western Europe on 6m. I have a theory this is due to mesospheric E layer ionisation due to noctilucent clouds that form at this time of the year.

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

Sunspots - Saturday May 25th 2019

Still rubbish!

Solar flux is just 66 and the sunspot number 0. A=5 and K=1.

6m Es

At the moment I am on 6m FT8 RX and, even though it is very early (0830z), there is widespread Es. My best DX on 6m FT8 RX is TA9J (3463km) among the 95 stations already spotted. At the moment this looks like the best day this spring.

UPDATE 0953z: Now 176 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX with the best DX still the Turkish station.

UPDATE 1142z: Now 236 stations spotted with best DX EK7DX (3590km) in Armenia.

UPDATE 1702z:  Now 380 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX with best DX still the Armenian.

160m FT8 RX

Overnight, I was on 160m FT8 RX and was pleased to see one transatlantic station in the log along with hosts of Europeans.