6 May 2020

Village walk - NOT amateur radio

We have just got back from a walk around the village. Plenty of swifts around. More cars than there were.

10m WSPR and 6m FT8

It dawned on me that I can be on 10m WSPR TX and 6m FT8 at the same time using my 10m WSPR TX beacon and the indoor loop whilst using the PC, FT991A and the V2000 vertical antenna on 6m.

UPDATE 0815z:  18 spots of me on 6m (10W to V2000), but nothing on 10m WSPR TX (0.5W to the indoor loop).

UPDATE 1100z:  Plenty of spots of my 10W on 6m FT8 but still nothing on 10m WSPR yet. Does this mean my antenna is inefficient or there are now far more people on 10m FT8? I suspect the latter.

UPDATE 1153z:  50 stations have spotted my 10W 6m FT8 so far. Nothing on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 1320z:  Still no 10m WSPR spots, but 58 spots of my 10W 6m FT8. I actually am surprised not to get any 10m WSPR spots. I know many have moved to FT8, but I would have expected something.

UPDATE 0754z:  The whole day without any spots at all on 10m WSPR. Tomorrow I shall try 10m FT8 with 2.5W to the indoor loop for comparison.


  • UPDATE 2030z:  QRT. 

Sunspots - Wednesday May 6th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=2.

5 May 2020

2m activity contest 1900z (8pm UK time) tonight

Stations worked this
 evening on 2m SSB
Tonight is the 2m activity contest (UKAC) sponsored by the RSGB. Earlier I said tonight was the 70cm activity contest. This was wrong as I got the wrong date!

I stay on for less than 1 hour because of my poor voice. This is a friendly contest. Although there are few (or no) portable stations, there could well be more operation from home.  I run 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna.

UPDATE  2037z:  9 QSOs this evening.

6m FT8

A few moments ago the 6m FT8 gear was turned on. There is Es about as 1 G is calling an Italian station.   So far, 3 stations have been spotted and I have been spotted by 8 stations (at 0915z) including 2 in Northern Spain. As usual, running 10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna.

UPDATE 1037z:  Several spots of my signal across Europe and one QSO with an Italian so far today.

UPDATE 1301z: 51 stations have spotted me today with QSOs from Finland to Italy with 10W FT8 on 6m.

UPDATE 1602z: Up to now 76 stations have spotted my 10W FT8 on 6m. It seems I call CQ and someone answers!

Spots of me today so far 
UPDATE 1847z:  Looks like a similar total to yesterday in terms of stations spotting my 10W.

UPDATE 1858z:  QRT.

Early walk - NOT amateur radio

This morning I went to the bakers early to get rolls and pasties. They had no flour today. The photo shows our green and windmill in the early sun.

East Cambs net

Last night, Monday, at 1900z (8pm), we had the 2m FM East Cambridgeshire net on 144.575MHz.

Not sure if this is a result of the lockdown, but we are regularly getting more people now. We are a friendly bunch and we are usually finished after about 30 minutes. If you are in the area feel free to join us.

We get joined by people that I would not expect i.e. they are some way away.

New SSTV software

Southgate News has a piece on some new improved software for slow scan TV. It is based on MMSSTV.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/may/new-sstv-software-yoniq.htm#.XrBf1WjYq00

Sunspots - Tuesday May 5th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=2.

4 May 2020

Dodgy marketing - NOT amateur radio

This sickens me.

About 10 days ago I spotted an advert on Facebook that I reported for abuse. It is still there. Their clever tricks are (a) to pray on Covid-19 fears, and (b) by saying there are only so many left in stock encouraging people to place an order immediately. Magically, the stock level suddenly goes up again. Every time I look this happens.

Do NOT do business with people like this!! 

I could name them, but I do not want to give them free publicity. They are selling a clip-on device to measure oxygen levels in the blood. Look up oxymetre . The company name starts with "oxy".

Swifts - NOT amateur radio

Amazingly, although I have not yet seen a swallow, a solitary swift flew over just now. This is the first time I have ever seen a swift before a swallow.

UPDATE 2015z:  Quite a few in the sky tonight. When they return, my heart rejoices.

Swallows (migrant birds) - NOT amateur radio

Normally I see my first swallows by mid April.  It is now May 4th and I have still seen none!! Last year there were not as many, but this year is appalling. Usually swifts start to arrive about now. There are some swallows in Devon, but I get the feeling fewer.

Woodland walk - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, we did a nice walk partly through woodland at Landwade, near Newmarket.  It was very quiet - in fact we met no-one at all!

40MHz (8m)

It is some time since I caught up on who has access to the 8m band (40MHz). Southgate News reports on an FT8 QSO between EI and LY. I did not realise LY had access to the band!

Apparently LY does not have general access and this station had special permission to use certain spot frequencies. Others might like to try for similar access permits.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/may/first-contact-made-on-40-mhz-between-ireland-and-lithuania.htm#.XrALqmjYq00

6m FT8

V2000
As yesterday, I am on 6m FT8 with 10W and the V2000 omni vertical. At 0828z no RX spots yet, but 3 Gs have spotted me so far.


UPDATE 1036z:  45 stations have spotted me so far this morning. Most of the time I was running about 6W only to the V2000 omni vertical. With Es you don't need much power most of the time and simple antennas work well. This may well not be so for long paths when ERP can be critical to success.


Stations spotting me on
6m FT8 today to  1230z
UPDATE 1252z:  Now 79 stations have spotted me today on 6m FT8. Es is easy!

UPDATE 1337z:  Now 81 stations spotting me today on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1758z:  Now 98 stations have spotted my 6m FT8 today.

UPDATE 1843z: I have to go QRT on 6m shortly, but today has been the most successful this Es season.

2m FT8

After finishing on 6m FT8 yesterday, I went on to 2m FT8 with my 10W and the big-wheel omni. As usual, stations spotted in England, Netherlands, Channel Islands and Germany. My own signal was spotted by 10 stations in England and Wales. I was not on that long.

ARRL website - high sensitivity crystal set

The ARRL website has much to commend it, including this article that was in QST some years ago on a high sensitivity crystal set using a zero bias MOSFET.

There is more about crystal sets on my main website. They are capable of some quite remarkable results.

See http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/culter.pdf

Sunspots - Monday May 3rd 2020

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

3 May 2020

QRPver

Looking on this site (in the Ukraine) they have some interesting stuff. Never having bought any, I don't know about quality, warranties etc..

See https://qrpver.com/

75 years ago - NOT amateur radio

Already I have mentioned that my dad was an RAF Pathfinder. These were elite flyers, many of whom died.  75 years ago, at the end of the war, he was getting prisoners of war back home and dropping food on the starving people of Holland.

When he went on the Lubeck trip he requisitioned all the newspapers in the mess destined for officers and gave them out to the PoWs. Of course, some had not seen UK newspapers for years!

See https://raf-pathfinders.com/pows-brought-back-from-lubeck-may-1945/

10m FT8 again

On 10m FT8 (2.5W to the indoor loop) and being spotted in Spain and Scotland, presumably by Es.

UPDATE 1327z: 141 10m FT8 stations spotted, 10 stations have spotted me and 1 QSO with France so far today.

UPDATE 1338z:  My 10m band indoor loop is surprising me. Without a full-sized outside antenna it is hard to know what I am missing, but my impression is not much. Already this morning it is copying Es from all over Europe and a few days ago was spotting South Americans. For FT8, the sharp tuning is not a problem and might even be a bonus keeping strong signals and noise off frequency down in level. My impression is it is very little down on a full sized outside antenna. There should be some directionality, although I seem to copy, and be copied, in all directions. Perhaps if it was external this might be more obvious.

UPDATE 1458z:  184 stations spotted so far today and I have been spotted by 16 Europeans.

Stations spotting
me today on 10m FT8
UPDATE 1730z: Now 237 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX as well as 26 stations spotting my 2.5W to the indoor loop.

Minion SDR QRP transceiver

G1KQH, Steve, sent me some information about this rig. It looks interesting and very small.

See https://qrpver.com/transceivers/all-band-10-band-hf-sdr-transceiver-minion-sdr.html

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.

2 May 2020

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.

1 May 2020

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.