Time for reflection? - NOT amateur radio

Many of us are in lockdown, unable to do the things we once did. These times will pass.  Hopefully at the end of it we can all reflect on what things are really important in our lives.

We will realise that what we once thought was important is not and some things are far more important than we thought.

This YouTube video reflects on this.

Solar forecast page updated

My favourite page for solar forecasts has been updated.

It still shows that we have passed the solar minimum. Recent sunspot numbers suggest this is correct. If so, we can look forward to better conditions in the years ahead.

It is definitely worth keeping an eye on the FT8 frequencies.

Even around the solar minimum paths from the UK to South America open regularly.  People have worked South Korea on 10m around the solar mimimum from the UK.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/

Our view - NOT amateur radio

We are lucky having the view of a 200 year old restored windmill from several rooms in our house.

The photo shows the view from the lounge.

Sunspots - Sunday May 3rd

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=2.

FT8

This digital mode is like a certain UK yeast spread: you either love it or hate it!  Sadly, I think it has resulted in less SSB activity on HF and VHF bands. For me, with my poor voice, it is ideal as it only needs 50Hz of bandwidth, works with very weak signals and concentrates activity within a few kilohertz on each band. QSOs (albeit rubber stamp ones) can be completed very quickly. It works well with lower power and simple stations. Someone estimated it is about 17dB better than SSB. That is a lot!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hf-ft8

Dad - NOT amateur radio

Before now, I have mentioned that my dad was a Pathfinder flying Lancasters in WW2. I think he hated killing innocent people and this haunted him all his life. He died in his late 60s in 1987.

Today was his birthday and he would have been 102.

At the end of the war he dropped food over Holland and helped to bring prisoners of war home.

6m FT8

This morning I am on 6m FT8 with 10W and the V2000 omni antenna. Already lots of Es on RX and TX.

UPDATE 1058z:  My 10W has been spotted by 10 stations so far with 1 QSO. On 6m FT8 RX 18 Europeans spotted so far today.

Stations spotting my 10W
6m FT8 today to 1508z 

UPDATE 1410z:  37 stations spotting my 10W so far today.

UPDATE 1816z: 40 stations spotting my 10W 6m FT8 today and plenty of QSOs!

UPDATE 2120z: QRT.

Another funny video - NOT amateur radio

This Italian video made me laugh too. Watch it to the end.

Dawn chorus - NOT amateur radio

In the northern hemisphere it is springtime.  Because of the lockdowns in many countries, it is quieter and sounds can be more easily heard.

The RSPB has a good video on the dawn chorus for those of us unable to experience it at the moment.

Sunspots - Saturday May 2nd 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.

Moxon antennas

It was many years ago that I built a simple 70cm Moxon antenna in well under an hour from an old coat hanger.  I used this when out portable in a contest and it worked well.

Moxons have been made from HF to UHF. They are easy to make, have useful gain and bandwidth, a good front to back ratio and are quite broadband. In summary, they are useful antennas.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/70cm_moxon

Lockdown humour - NOT amateur radio

With many of us in lockdown we are sharing various funny clips to keep our spirits up. This one I have watched many times and I still find it funny as it could be so true! I hope you like it too.

Coleton Fishacre - NOT amateur radio

One of our favourite National Trust places is Coleton Fishacre near Dartmouth in Devon. It is a home once owned by the a famous theatre family in the mid 1900s with lovely gardens in a valley going down to the sea. The photo shows the sea at the bottom of the garden.

10m FT8

At about 0905z I turned on my 10m FT8 gear. As usual I was running 2.5W to the indoor loop. There looks like there's plenty of Es about already!

UPDATE 1255z:  86 stations spotted so far and my own 2.5W has been spotted by 6 stations. Nothing outside Europe yet.

UPDATE 1930z:  Now 15 stations have spotted my 2.5W to the indoor loop.  261 stations spotted on RX including 3 South Americans.

UPDATE 2200z:  QRT.

Wisteria - NOT amateur radio

This wisteria was growing up the walls of a cottage we saw on our walk yesterday.

See https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/wisteria/growing-guide

OFCOM's plan of work 2020-21

OFCOM has published plans of work for the next year on its website.

Rally News

The following have been received. Again, my apologies if the background makes this hard to see on some platforms, but this is how it came to me. As I have said before, it is safer to assume the rally is either cancelled or postponed until the current crisis is over.

Saturday 2 MAY : CANCELLED
CDXC CONVENTION, AGM & DINNER. 

Link Hotel, Loughborough. Non members welcome and there will be a partners' programme. Four DX & technical talks. Costs vary. Full details in January CDXC Digest. Chris Duckling, G3SVL Chris@G3SVL.com www.cdxc.org.uk.

Sunday 3 MAY : Delayed until September 2020
THORPE CAMP HAMFEST. 

Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, Tattershall Thorpe, LN4 4PL Open for traders from 6.30am and the public from 9am. Entry is £4 with children under 12 free. Hot and cold refreshments on site and car parking is available within the grounds. More information and bookings to Sylvia or Anthony on 0795 665 4481.


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

Sunspots - Friday May 1st 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 35, which is the highest for some time. A=2 and K=1.

6m FT8

Stations spotting me to 1300z today on
6m FT8 TX with 10W to the V2000 omni

For a few hours now I have been on 6m FT8.

There seems plenty of Es around and my low power (about 10W) to the V2000 omni is getting me plenty of QSOs across Europe.

In all (to 1305z) I have been spotted by 29 stations and I have spotted 41 stations so far on 6m FT8. Best DX spotted is probably EA8JK (3022km) on 6m FT8 RX so far today.

UPDATE 1325z: Now spotted by 32 stations and I have spotted 62 stations on 6m FT8. I keep getting called by Finns!

UPDATE 1745z: Now 46 spots of me so far today on 6m FT8 TX with 10W to the V2000 omni vertical.

UPDATE 2140z:   QRT.

Maggie - NOT amateur radio

This old horse has been part of village life for many years. Children feed her grass which she loves. She is very friendly.

DX Summit

In all my time in the hobby, I don't remember using this site. I was reminded of it by a fellow local earlier this week. It looks like a useful site.

See http://www.dxsummit.fi

Orchids - NOT amateur radio

My wife loved orchids.

They only need a thimbleful of water a week and are therefore easy house plants. We have 7 (I think) and there are usually 3 in flower at a time.

The collage shows the ones in flower at the moment.

The RSGB

Like the ARRL in the USA, the RSGB is the national amateur radio society in the UK. Like all organisations, it is not perfect.

However, they produce a monthly magazine for members and provide a lot of services behind the scenes. Its strength is its members.  They elect officers. I have been a member since 1962 - I must be old!!

See https://rsgb.org/

Sunspots - Thursday April 30th

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 24 (higher than for some time - hopeful!).  A=3 and K=0.

Operation Manna - NOT amateur radio

75 years ago today, food was dropped on Holland at the end of WW2 in something called Operation Manna. The Dutch were starved by the Nazis.

My dad, who was a Pathfinder flying in Lancaster 582 squadron as a flight engineer, dropped food on Rotterdam on May 7th 1945.

I hope these cruel times are far behind us, but they remind us that humans can be very cruel.

My dad died in 1987 and never really wanted to talk about the war. Looking back he must have been terrified on every mission. One of my greatest regrets was not talking with him about those days and telling him how brave he was.

Utility room pictures - NOT amateur radio

When we wash the dishes we see these pictures on our utility room wall. As you can see, we like to be reminded of good times.

Just out of shot is the windmill next door. We get quite a good view from the utility room window. At the moment the windmill is quiet. In the not too distant future it will be 200 years old. It is due for a repaint.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows a rose in our front garden. There are several now in flower.

Cycle 25 spots

Spaceweather.com reports cycle 25 spots are appearing. At the same time we are still seeing spots from cycle 24. It will still be a while before cycle 25 begins properly and we can confidently say sunspot cycle 25 is really motoring.

See https://spaceweather.com/

Global economy - NOT amateur radio

One thing the global pandemic has warned us about is over-reliance on long supply chains in the interests of low costs. Although it is unlikely globalisation will stop, I can see people in some cases paying a bit more for goods made nearer home. Over the next few years I can see China facing the impact of this. If we make more in the UK and EU I cannot see this being so bad. It reduces air miles, helps the environment and helps jobs.

Very old Fredbox photo

This photo of me having a chat on my 2m Fredbox must be over 45 years old!

It was taken at our Cambridge flat we moved from in 1975!

The Fredbox is a 10mW AM transceiver that I designed and built for 2m. As most QSOs were with Cambridge local Fred G8BWI, it had to be called the Fredbox! At the time I had hair!!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/fredbox for far more infomation, photos, schematic and a video.

10m FT8

At about 0830z I turned on my 10m FT8 gear.

Almost immediately I was spotted by 2 locals when on TX and spotted 1 G and 1 Estonian station on RX, the latter by Es.

As usual, I am running 2.5W to my indoor loop antenna.

Yesterday, it was again spotting South Americans on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1037z: Now 4 spots of me on TX including 2 from Southern Europe, but plenty of Es on RX.

UPDATE 1310z: So far, 322 European stations spotted and 21 stations have spotted my 2.5W. A couple of QSOs too. Doesn't look like I am missing too much!

Stations spotting me today

UPDATE 1350z: Now 345 stations spotted today on RX and 25 stations have, so far, spotted my 10m FT8 2.5W TX today.

UPDATE 2011z: Amazing day! 58 spots of my 2.5W to the indoor loop and 629 RX spots including 5 South Americans. That loop really works!! Quite a few QSOs too.

Sunspots - Wednesday April 29th

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=1.

Flat 50 ohm coax?

An old friend has just bought some coax off Amazon so he can feed his aircraft band RX feed though his window without drilling holes. It is very short with just the bit through the window frame being flat. Both inside and out you feed it with "proper" coax and connectors.

Now, I have never seen these for 50 ohm coax and not sure these exist. I expect there is a very limited market, but I guess they could be very useful for some people.

Rain - NOT amateur radio

In the summer of 2018 a lot of our front lawn died. To prevent this I have watered the grass for an hour for the last couple of evenings. Of course, what happens next? You guessed! For the first time in a month it rains! I might have known.

Neighbour's garden - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the flowers in a neighbouring garden.

Easing lockdowns - NOT amateur radio

In many countries, citizens have had various extents of lockdowns with severe restrictions on business activity and people being asked to "social distance".  In some cultures where there is a lot of hugging and kissing, this is especially hard.

Whilst keeping social distancing measures in place, some countries are trying to relax lockdown measures. This is very very hard.

Naturally, people want things to return to normal, but at the same time governments are worried about things getting out of control again and Covid-19 really taking hold and spreading widely again. Governments are also worried about the economic harm.

Things are really hard and we are all feeling our way trying to steer a course which is best for all. I do not have the answers.

Antennas

Homebase-10 10m antenna

As I speak it is raining here for the first time in about a month!

What was going to say was as the better weather is now with us (at least in the UK) thoughts may turn to antennas, especially outside antennas.

You may like to look at the antenna page on my main website. Dig deeper and there are lots of ideas.

The Homebase-10 antenna for 10m is simple to make and, with the Es season just starting, now is a good time to make and erect one.

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

That view - NOT amateur radio

As a young child, growing up by the sea in Salcombe, Devon, I had no idea how lucky I was.

From my classroom, I could see the sea reflecting the sun on the ceiling, although it took me years to realise what this was!  Out of the window we could see the estuary and the boats and a view up South Pool Creek (see photo).

We just took it all for granted. As young children we just assumed everybody has something similar. To us, it was the normal.

I remember just before leaving the junior school walking all over town doing some sort of project. Imagine this today! Firstly the school would have to do a risk assessment, then get the parents written permission.  It just would not happen!

Early start on 10m FT8

As I was up early, the 10m FT8 gear has already been turned on at about 0715z. This is far earlier than normal. So far, just G4KPX (13km) spotting my 2.5W to the tiny loop in the shack. Unsurprisingly, no RX spots yet.

UPDATE 0742z:  Now M1BXF (13km) also spotting me. No Es seen yet!

UPDATE 0958z:   Now 4 Spanish , 1 UK and 1 Danish station spotted this morning on 10m FT8 RX with the indoor loop antenna. No more spots of me.

UPDATE 1200z:  Much more extensive Es. I have now been spotted by 10 stations with most being in southern Europe.  On 10m FT8 RX, 23 stations in 5 countries spotted so far today.

UPDATE 1335z: Now 24 stations spotted with 11 stations spotting my 2.5W to the indoor loop. The map shows where I have been on spotted so far today on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1808z: 3 South Americans spotted so far today. This could be pure F2 or Es plus F2.

UPDATE 2119z :  QRT.

Sunspots - Tuesday April 28th

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 12. A=7 and K=3.