Sunspots - Monday May 18th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=3 and K=0.

More from our walk - NOT amateur radio

On our walk earlier we also saw these.

Poppy - NOT amateur radio

We saw this poppy on our walk earlier.

WRC-19 final outcomes

There is a publication available summarising the final outcomes of the last world radio conference in 2019 which looked at spectrum issues globally.  As you might expect quite a bit is about satellites.

It is clear that the main focus is now on microwave frequencies with far less on HF.

See https://www.itu.int/en/itunews/Documents/2019/2019-06/2019_ITUNews06-en.pdf

Yesterday's walk - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went on a delightful walk around the village of Dalham. The photo shows where we went.

We have done far more walks since the lockdown than we ever did and it has helped us to see the beauty all around us and to live in the moment. It has also kept us fit!

6m FT8

Overnight I stayed on 6m FT8 RX but no transatlantic DX was spotted.

A few moments ago (0620z ish) the TX was turned on but only Gs spotting my 10W so far today.

UPDATE 1315z:  111 stations have spotted my 10W FT8 so far today.  I have lost count of the QSOs today.

Stations spotting me to
1900z on 6m FT8 TX
with 10W 

UPDATE 1901z:  Now 204 stations have been spotted here on 6m FT8 RX.  My 10W 6m FT8 has been spotted by 141 stations in the last 12 hours! Quite remarkable considering the V2000 vertical omni used fed with low cost CB coax. Absolutely not a DXers station. All EU stations, most by Es.

DX Summit

You may find this helpful. Filters can be set so spots on certain modes or bands can be searched.

See: http://www.dxsummit.fi

Sunspots - Sunday May 17th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0.  A=4 and K=1.

Dalham - NOT amateur radio

Dalham near Newmarket is a delightful village. We went for a good walk in this area this morning.

This pub is currently closed like all in this country. In the past we have eaten there.

6m FT8

Stations spotting me at 1156z

Yet again, I am puzzled. Despite just running 10W to a vertical V2000 omni fed with cheap CB coax, I have already been spotted today by 41 stations. In the same period, with a good sensitivity RX and a low noise floor, I have spotted just 12 stations. My only conclusion has to be there are far more RX stations than those on TX.

UPDATE 1156z:  Now 58 stations spotting my 6m FT8 10W so far today.

UPDATE 1855z: Now 88 spots of me.

UPDATE 1907z: For the first time in ages I am spotting more stations than are spotting me.

UPDATE 2124z: Now QRT for the night, but remaining on RX only, hoping for some transatlantic DX!

Young owls - NOT amateur radio

This is a photo of one of our grandchildren with three young owls. He is a natural with all sorts of animals.

JVC - Kenwood

How did I miss this? Apparently as long ago as 2008 these two companies merged. I had no idea!

Sunspots - Saturday May 16th 2020

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

Sub-9kHz amateur radio

One of the websites I host is the Sub 9kHz Amateur Radio page. This tries to have recent news although many times it is better to look on the .io group in case I miss things. Most work is being done in Germany.

137kHz DX

Today one of my Facebook memories was this screenshot from 2011 of my 50uW ERP signal on 137kHz as received in Holland. I had forgotten this! As I recall it was using the wire loop in the garden.

OFCOM consulting on 5G frequencies

Apparently OFCOM is consulting on the use of some spectrum for 5G services. See the OFCOM website for more details.

As you know, far more base stations are likely for 5G. It would not surprise me to see base stations on several lampposts in every street. I wonder what will happen with 5G in rural areas?

5m (60MHz) in Australia

Southgate News has some encouraging news about possible access to the 5m band in Australia.

It would be good if more administrations allowed access to the 8m (40MHz) band. At the moment there is very limited access in just a  handful of countries to 8m. Sandwiched between 10m and 6m, it would be a great band for true experimenters.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/may/60-metres-moves-closer-in-vk.htm#.Xr6HpmjYq00

6m FT8 overnight and Friday

In the hope that there might be an opening "across the pond" I was on 6m FT8 overnight. Although there is early Es on 6m here (even at 0530z), no transatlantic signals were spotted overnight sadly. I had a funny feeling about last night, but I was wrong!

UPDATE 0740z: There must be far more people receiving 6m FT8 than transmitting. My own signal has been spotted by 23 stations yet I have only spotted 7. This is despite me only using 10W to the V2000 omni vertical antenna!

UPDATE 1200z: With 51 stations spotting me, today has been a decent day so far on 6m Es. At the moment the Es seems to be favouring northern Europe.

Sunspots - Friday May 15th 2020

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=3 and K=1.

Another rally cancelled

Earlier I had confirmation that the Dunstable Downs National Amateur Radio Car Boot Sale has been cancelled. With everything being so odd at the moment I doubt anyone is surprised!

Iris - NOT amateur radio

On our walk earlier we saw these iris. They bring joy to all of us.

They were beside Burwell Lode. There were two clumps about 100m apart.

News - NOT amateur radio

In recent weeks every time you turn on the news it seems like there is only Covid-19 and nothing else. Yes, we all know that this is important, but knife crime, BREXIT and everything else seem to have disappeared! It is worth remembering that news is the stuff they want us to know about. Often lost are good news stories. Sensational stories sell papers and make people watch certain channels. Cynical, me?

More on 8m (40MHz)

Southgate News has a bit more on the Irish 8m beacon. In the article it says there are only 2 beacons operational. I thought this made 3 adding to the ones in England and Denmark. I have since found out that the UK beacon is not operational.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/may/additional-information-on-the-new-40-mhz-beacon-in-ireland.htm#.Xr0ITmjYq00

Certainly, there has been at least 1 cross-band QSO 8m-6m between EI and OE. This looks a bit like the early days on 6m.

I do hope 8m becomes more widely available. It is ideal for Es and MS research. Maybe a few more should apply for special access even on spot frequencies and with power limits on a non-interference basis? This may be the first baby steps we have to take? There has been at least one 8m QSO between EI and LY with the LY getting special permission.

A very good resource seems to be John EI7GL's blog at  https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html.

6m FT8 again

At 0825z, I again switched on my 6m FT8 gear. As usual, 10W to the V2000 omni vertical. Just 4 G spots so far with no evidence here of Es at this time. Best DX spot so far was by M0DEP (224km).  On 6m FT8 RX just M6KOG (48km) spotted so far.

UPDATE 0857z: Best spot of me is by G4AMT (485km) on the tip of Cornwall. 7 spots of me so far today.

UPDATE 1512z:  49 spots of my 10W 6m FT8 so far today. Es seems to be favouring Scandinavia so far.

UPDATE 1850z: Now spotted by 57 stations today so far. Best DX spot was by an EA8.

UPDATE 2015z:  76 spots of my 10W 6m FT8 TX today.  Every time I get my CQs answered my WSJT-X goes to RX only until I turn on "enable TX" again. Still nothing from "across the pond". More stations are spotting me than I am spotting. As most stations will be using quite a lot more ERP than me (more power, gainy yagis) I find this surprising. My 6m noise floor is low.

Sunspots - Thursday May 14th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K =1.

ICOM IC-705 delayed?

OH8STN reports that the long awaited ICOM IC-705 SDR QRP transceiver has been delayed. Apparently he saw this in a post by ICOM.

Reach Port - NOT amateur radio

Most lockdown days we try to do a local walk. Today it was around sleepy Reach. The port here was made by the Romans nearly 2000 years ago (see photo).

These days Reach Lode is used mostly by pleasure boats and fishermen. As far as I know, their is no commercial traffic.

OFCOM news

Gosh, I get so excited I must watch my heart! OFCOM has announced that Jonathan Oxley is standing down. Contain yourselves. Rush to the OFCOM website for more stunning news.

6m FT8

In the hope that some transatlantic DX might be spotted, I stayed on 6m FT8 overnight. Sadly, no DX from "across the pond" was spotted.

This morning, there is already evidence of Es on 6m with 27 stations already spotting my 10W to the vertical omni as well as 1 QSO. It is 0915z.

UPDATE 1101z: 37 spots of me so far, mostly Es.

UPDATE 1450z:  Now 103 spots of my 10W FT8 so far today on 6m FT8. No signs here of DX from outside Europe.

UPDATE 2235z: I am now QRT, so 6m is likely to see the biggest transatlantic opening this century tonight!!!

HF conditions

Although there is debate about exactly when solar minimum is, we can be sure of one thing: HF conditions on the higher bands are not great.

It never fails to amaze me how some bands spring into life when there is a contest. Quite often it is people thinking conditions are poor, when the problem is often a lack of activity. How often has the CB band been busy when 10m appears dead?

It looks like the next solar peak, about 2024 or 2025 will be similar to the last one. This is far lower than the peaks in the late 1950s.  Nonetheless, 10m will once again emerge as a great DX band in daylight.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hfcondx

QRPguys DSB rigs for digital modes

Practical Wireless has a piece on a tiny, low cost, DSB rig kit that is ideal for digital modes like FT8. The article is written by Martin Peters G4EFE.

This is a QRP transceiver producing the equivalent of 500mW at least of SSB. On digital modes like FT8, this is capable of worldwide QSOs.

Being DSB, half the power is wasted, but this makes the rig very simple. On WSPR it would be even better, although there are far more people using FT8 than WSPR.

See https://qrpguys.com/

Sunspots - Wednesday May 13th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

70cm activity contest

Every month there is an activity contest on 70cms. As I was using the main rig on 6m FT8, I used the FT817ND at 2.5W to the 2m big-wheel omni antenna. I stayed on for about 35 minutes as my voice was poor. No speech processor was used. In all, just 2 QSOs were had, both on SSB. A few were "got aways" which would have been worked had I stayed on longer.

Springtime - NOT amateur radio

Each of us probably has a favourite season. Mine is spring with blossom and fresh green leaves. Blossom soon goes and the green on the trees soon starts to have a summer tired look. Right now, things are at their very best. Winter is behind us and days are getting longer. This collage was from our walk earlier.

6m FT8

Today, I chose to go on 6m FT8. As usual running 10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna. Plenty of stations spotting my 10W so far today from the Canary Islands to Iceland. Es presumably.

UPDATE 1501z: Already my 10W has been spotted by 125 stations on 6m FT8 TX today. People keep answering my CQs and the rig automatically goes RX only until I tell it to go on TX again! I just hope it opens by Es to North America or the Caribbean.  I see that Italians are calling "CQ NA", which is a hopeful sign.

UPDATE 1534z: Already loads of QSOs and spotted by 135 stations so far on 6m FT8 with 10W to the omni V2000 vertical antenna.

UPDATE 2100z: Now 151 stations have spotted me. Nothing from "across the pond" copied and no transatlantic spots of me. I keep hoping!

Shakespeare - NOT amateur radio

To many, I must seem a total heathen. Every time I hear Shakespeare, I turn off and want to sleep!  Ever since I first read any Shakespeare as a child, it has had this effect on me. The traditional view is that Shakespeare is wonderful and very deep.  To me, it is sleep inducing. Don't ask me why I feel this way. Over the years I have tried, without success, to read Shakespeare. The effect is invariably the same. At my age I guess I shall never "get it".

Am I alone?

Heathkit Lunchboxes

Back in the 1960s I coveted the HW30 Twoer transceiver. These days, they look very dated with their simple super-regen RX and 5W AM TX.

Ranges of 15km would be considered good, whereas on 2m FT8 I regularly get copied well over 400km irrespective of conditions with less power!  These Heathkit Lunchboxes can still be found on eBay, but they are really collector's items these days.

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

Sunspots - Tuesday May 12th 2020

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN 0.  A=5 and K=1.  This really is the pits! Personally, I think we are very close to, or actually at, the sunspot minimum between cycle 24 and 25

Wild flower verge - NOT amateur radio

On the approach to our local farm shop there are lots of wild flowers in the verges. On the photo they are quite hard to see.

E-field probes (EFP)

It is some years since I have tried these antennas. They are RX only and can be very effective at VLF, LF and MF. Some use them on RX up to 30MHz. They are very small.

Positioning can be important to minimise man-made noise pick-up. Normally they are placed as far as possible from houses and electrical noise sources.

In the past I would have made my own but as my fine motor skills are not what they once were I have bought one from PA0RDT.

Next winter, I may erect this high up in a nearby tree and have a serious go at 137kHz and 472kHz RX. It would probably be effective on 1800kHz too.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/mflf/winter
See also https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/efp