Ely - NOT amateur radio

It was not raining, so we decided to do a walk around Ely this morning. This is a delightful city (as it has a magnificent cathedral) with some lovely walks by the river and up to the cathedral. The first photo shows the view from near the Maltings towards the city. The River Ouse is just behind us.

The second photo shows the cathedral from a nearby meadow.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely,_Cambridgeshire

The next solar peak (cycle 25)

At the moment the indications are for the next solar peak to be the same or slightly larger than cycle 24. Of course it is still too early to be sure, but I hope the signs that we are not going to experience another Maunder Minimum are correct.

Compared with several years ago the solar peaks are much smaller, but at least 10m was pretty good for several years around even the last peak.

See https://solen.info/solar/polarfields/polar.html

FT817ND split

Someone has reminded me that the "split" mode on the FT817ND only works if VFOa and VFOb are on the same modes. It is just possible that after the resets I forgot to put the TX frequency on to DIG. Later I will try again. It is far more likely to be "finger trouble" than a fault. I do hope so.

UPDATE 1608z: Split still not working!

Sunspots - Sunday November 3rd 2019

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 13. A=2 and K=2.

Brain fog - NOT amateur radio

This may be old age creeping up, but I think it is another artefact of my 2013 stroke.

I am nearly always tired and my brain feels foggy, as if living in a bit of a daze. Of course, others are unaware, but I find physical or mental tasks much harder. Years ago, with a clear head, I would apply logical thinking to problems. It is much harder now.

Intermittent?

When fiddling with the split mode on my FT817ND I noticed no antenna current on 472kHz from my transverter. When I went back some hours later I checked the 3.2MHz oscillator was running by listening on another rig - it was. To my relief the antenna current was normal. Then it disappeared again. My brain was too foggy to investigate, but it looks like an intermittent in the antenna matching. I shall investigate tomorrow and make a few soldered connections.

Finger trouble with FT817ND?

For reasons I do not understand "split" seems to be working again on the FT817ND. I have not done anything, so perhaps it only works from just one of the VFOs? Anyway, with luck, I can be RX and TX on 472kHz WSPR again tonight. Mystery.

Without "split" my operation on 472kHz was restricted to TX or RX sessions. Now, I should be able to go TX for 25% of the time and RX for 75%.

UPDATE 1758z: Well the "split" ICON is back, but I cannot get it to program! This may be me (finger trouble) or a real hardware fault.

Rain - NOT amateur radio

Today looks like it will be "the pits" of a day.  Already it is raining heavily and there is strong wind forecast. A good day to stay home!

MLS "deals"?

As usual, MLS has sent me an email with their deals this weekend. I am not exactly excited.

The FT991A is selling at £1189.95 after a £135 cashback.  Seems to me like a price hike has been slipped in and this is not a great deal.

ICOM IC-705 transceiver

As many already know, I am a keen QRP man and low power suits me fine. In the past, very few radios have excited me, but the ICOM IC-705 does. When it eventually appears in the UK (late 2020?) I can see myself getting one.

It is 5W from the attached battery and 10W from an external PSU. It covers 160m-70cm including 4m in the European version. This is SDR based like the IC7300 and well suited to my sort of operating. My main bands are 10m, 6m and 2m using FT8.

I can see it appearing in Japan first and then in the USA and Europe. I hope they add an auto ATU in the production units as this seems an omission in a rig that is supposed to be used in the field. Maybe they should make it slightly deeper and include this and a better heatsink?

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/ic705