ICOM IC-705

Apart from the price (too high), this is "my" sort of radio.

It produces 5W with the supplied battery pack and 10W with an external power supply. It covers all HF bands, 6m, 2m and 70cm with all modes. It may support 4m in a later firmware update. 5W is enough to work the world, even more true with FT8, even with simple wire antennas.

It also supports wireless LANs, D-STAR and Bluetooth. It has a built-in GPS receiver and micro SD slot. It is now on sale in Japan and soon will be across the world. Often there are a few bugs in early releases that are corrected with hardware or firmware changes. It is worth waiting for these to be corrected.

If I have missed any recent videos try searching for IC-705 on YouTube.

I am quite surprised that other manufacturers have not announced a rival. At the moment ICOM have this world beating marketing scoop all to themselves, so they set the market price. If Yaesu made their version the price would drop. It seems Yaesu have yet again missed the boat. The ICOM product was announced a year ago and Yaesu would appear to have done absolutely nothing. The FT818, when it eventually appeared, was a huge wasted marketing chance. In my view Yaesu have become followers and not the leaders they once were.

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

Sunspots - Thursday July 16th 2020

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=0.

Anglesey Abbey earlier - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows some of the things we saw in the grounds at Anglesey Abbey earlier.

10m FT8 (5W)

Just now I decided to go on 10m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop antenna and 5W. Plenty of stations spotted across Europe and 3 spots of me already from Scandinavia.

UPDATE 1915z:  37 unique stations have spotted my 5W 10m FT8 TX today. All were in Europe. On RX, 206 stations spotted with the best DX being J69DS (6840km) in St Lucia, West Indies.

DATV in the Netherlands

According to a piece in Southgate News VERON is encouraging operators to demonstrate DATV (digital amateur TV) on 2m in August.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/july/datv-in-2m-band-on-august-22.htm#.Xw6884jYq00

Facebook memory

The photo shows the sky 2 years ago. It appeared as a FB memory today.

Shack photo

The photo shows the shack earlier with the tiny indoor 10m band loop antenna on the left.

Collapit - NOT amateur radio

When I lived in Devon a long time ago one of my favourite spots was Collapit Creek on the Kingsbridge Estuary. This photo is probably over 100 years old and shows some people in a rowing boat. As a teenager I regularly saw kingfishers there.

Last night on 70cm

Every 2nd Tuesday in each month the RSGB holds an activity contest on 70cm. Although I normally stop on for less than an hour because of my poor voice, I usually submit a score in the AL (low power) section. I run 10W to the 2m big-wheel as I have no suitable 70cms antenna.

In the end I managed 5 QSOs with 2 at 105km. Although I have no chance of ever winning, I usually submit a score.

10m WSPR TX (500mW to the indoor loop)

10m WSPR spots of 

me last night to 2050z

As I needed my main rig (used on FT8) for the 70cm UKAC contest last night, I decided to put my W5OLF beacon on 10m WSPR.

Much to my surprise, I was spotted by 10 different stations all after 1900z.

Sunspots - Wednesday July 15th 2020

Solar flux is 69 today and the SSN 0. A=11 and K=0.

East Anglian skies - NOT amateur radio

A variation of this photo has been on before. This part of the UK has few hills but big skies.

Dithering - NOT amateur radio

The English response to the Covid-19 pandemic is best summarised as "dithering". Now, I have no wish to criticise our politicians who have a thankless task, but I have a few observations.

• Politicians rarely admit to mistakes.
• We seem to make up policies "on the hoof" and weeks too late.

Sudden spike - NOT amateur radio

Just now I looked and supposedly I had more visitors than all day yesterday and it is only 0700z!

Now, it would be very nice if these were all genuine visitors, but somehow I doubt this! I shall have to check my other blogs to see if they have had similar spikes.

Yep, several of my other blogs have similar spikes, in some cases a few days ago.  Usually this is a result of hackers probing for vulnerabilities.  Go away!

10m FT8 (5W and indoor loop)

At about 0648z, I decided to go on 10m FT8. Normally I try 10m WSPR, but today I thought I'd start on FT8. So far, at 0700z, just one spot by G0LRD (26km). On 10m FT8 RX, 1 Spanish station spotted.

UPDATE 0722z:  Now spotted strongly by IZ0GIY (1529km). Another Spanish station spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1824z: 306 stations spotted on RX with best DX RM8L (4064km) in Asiatic Russia. On TX 28 spots of me (all European)

The new normal - NOT amateur radio

We have got in the habit of shopping early on Tuesday morning. I go to the local bakers and my wife does the food shopping in "geriatric hour". She never queues and has no problem with social distancing.

The photo shows the queue outside the door of our bakers just before the doors opened.

Back garden - NOT amateur radio

Earlier I mentioned that we thought our garden would look sparse this year. In fact it has been good. The photo shows another view of the back garden.

Tenner 10m transceiver

Many years ago I designed and made a simple 500mW transceiver for 10m CW. Much DX was worked with it. These days I have not used CW for a long time. It was VXO controlled and used a direct conversion receiver.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10m_tenner

Yesterday on 10m WSPR TX

Yesterday underlined the difficulty with 10m WSPR. Overall I am surprised that people are still using WSPR on 10m. At a guess, I would say activity levels are at most 10% of those of FT8.  Most days I get spotted on 10m WSPR, but FT8 spots and QSOs are easier.

FT8 is about 10dB worse than WSPR, but it does allow real QSOs with 15 second TX periods compared with 120 seconds for WSPR. This makes FT8 better for shorter openings.

In all, 6 unique stations spotted my 10m WSPR yesterday.

East Cambs net last night

Last night we had a record number of people on the 2m FM net on 144.575MHz. There were so many people I sometimes got the order wrong! Most people were good signals here.

This net is held every Monday night and all in the area are very welcome. We normally close the net at about 8.30pm local time, although often some stay on longer to natter.

Sunspots - Tuesday July 14th 2020

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=4.

Bees - NOT amateur radio

These bees were busy last week at Anglesey Abbey, which is owned by the National Trust. After many months, most National Trust gardens are again open.

We go to Anglesey Abbey quite often as it is very near. We are NT members, but you have to pre-book. Social distancing is never a problem.

Spring album - NOT amateur radio

Every three months my wife produces an album to help us remember what happened in each season. She has done this for many years. We have well over 40 albums now.

We also do the 365project in which we take a picture every day. We have done this since 2013. It is amazing to see how the grandchildren have changed. It is totally free although you can pay $19.99 a year for total privacy and more albums.

See https://365project.org/

The future of amateur radio

In recent years there has been a shift to digital communications using modes like FT8. Whereas in the past, radio amateurs focused on speaking to people across the world, there is far less of this now. People may make "rubber stamp"  brief contacts, but there is far less chatting. Most of us can enjoy video chats across the planet for free on the internet. Speaking across the world is no longer magic. What "turns on" younger people is not the same as in the 1950s or 1960s. We have to find out what this is and forget what attracted us.

Southgate News has a link to an interesting piece in IEEE Spectrum talking about the issue in the USA. I think this is mirrored across the planet.  The main issue is amateurs globally are getting older and there are fewer youngsters coming into the hobby. In 20 years' time the hobby we love could just fizzle out.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/july/the-uncertain-future-of-ham-radio.htm#.Xwxp2ojYq00

6m FT8

At about 1340z, the 6m FT8 gear was turned on. As usual, running 10W to the V2000 vertical omni. Already quite a few transatlantic spots on RX and TX. After 18 minutes, 42 spots of me!  Already 6 stations "across the pond" have spotted me!

Judging by the reports this looks like E layer.  It could be double or triple hop Es, but I suspect some other sort of E layer propagation.

6m FT8 RX spots from the USA at 1444z

UPDATE 1504z: Spotted by 8 stations in the USA on 6m FT8 today.  Best DX spot was by KX4R (6801km) and loads of USA stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX, far more than Europeans!

Late start on 10m WSPR TX

Rather later than normal, I have turned on my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon using the indoor loop antenna in the shack. Gear was turned on at about 1340z.

UPDATE 1455z:  No spots of me yet today.

Windmill next door - NOT amateur radio

This photo appeared as a FB memory today. It shows the windmill next door at 10.10pm local time.

Sunspots - Monday July 13th 2020

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

Rear garden - NOT amateur radio

Earlier in the spring we thought our garden would look sparse with the lockdown, but actually it looks better than normal! The photo shows our rear garden just now.

6m FT8

Since just before lunch I have been on 6m FT8 with 10W and the V2000 vertical omni antenna.  Mostly spotted in Scandinavia.

UPDATE 1550z:  Today, 97 stations have spotted my 10W 6m FT8 TX. Just one transatlantic station copied me VE1PZ (4501km) in FN85 square, Nova Scotia, Canada. On 6m FT8 RX I have spotted 106 stations so far. 3 of these were transatlantic.

UPDATE 2117z:  Several QSOs today, all in Europe. In all, 537 stations spotted today including 4 transatlantic. Most interesting was JW7QIA (2949km) in Svalbard in the high Arctic. My own signal was spotted in Canada and it almost feels incidental!

10m WSPR TX beacon

Since just before lunch I have been on 10m WSPR TX using 500mW to the tiny indoor loop antenna. No spots of me yet.

UPDATE 1655z:  A few spots received, but not many. With WSPR it is definitely harder to be spotted than with FT8 even though FT8 is less sensitive. There are far more people using FT8 now.

UPDATE 2145z:  7 unique stations spotted my little beacon today. QRT.

Hanging Basket - NOT amateur radio

We have just got back from a walk around the village. This hanging basket puts ours to shame!

Poppies - NOT amateur radio

My wife took this photo yesterday on our walk. It shows poppies beside a ripening cornfield.

Sunspots - Sunday July 12th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0 again. A=3 and K=1.

Swallows - NOT amateur radio

Swallows (barn swallows in some countries) have had numbers down this year. This could just be a blip or it could be a trend. It was good to see some on our walk earlier.

2m VHF NFD

Last weekend was the UK's VHF NFD. I have not taken part for years. They changed the rules this year because of the lockdown regulations. I entered the low power section on 2m SSB mainly to give some points away, knowing I have absolutely no chance! I restricted operating to 2 brief sessions. The stations worked are shown on the map. All fairly close, with no real DX.

Reach Port - NOT amateur radio

Reach is a sleepy village these days. At one time it was a busy port with a waterway built by the Romans. The photo shows a boat on Reach Lode today.

National Trust seat - NOT amateur radio

After years working for the local water board, my dad ran a job creation scheme for the National Trust in Devon mending coastal footpaths. He loved it. When he died in 1987 they erected two seats in his honour. This was me on one a few years ago.

East Anglian skies - NOT amateur radio

In this area of the UK (East Anglia) we have few hills. The compensation is the big skies. The photo was taken on our walk earlier.

6m FT8

It is now 1002z. After returning from our walk earlier I have turned on my 6m FT8 gear using 10W and the V2000 vertical omni antenna. 14 spots of me today so far.

UPDATE 1258z: 58 stations have spotted me and I have had a few QSOs. I notice that K1TOL (5083km) has spotted me on 6m FT8 TX. On 6m FT8 RX 89 stations spotted with 4 in the USA.

UPDATE 1424z: Spotted by 67 unique stations today so far on 6m FT8 with 10W and the V2000 vertical omni with the best being FG5GH (6691km).

Stations spotting
my 10W to 1550z

UPDATE 1550z:  78 spots of me today so far.

UPDATE 1714z:  131 spots of me so far today including 3 transatlantic ones. All the QSOs have been Europeans.

UPDATE 1810z:  172 stations spotted here today on 6m FT8 RX including 20 transatlantic stations (17 in the USA and 3 in the Caribbean).

6m FT8 stations
spotted here today

UPDATE 2020z:  Now QRT on 6m.  In all, I was spotted by 175 unique stations today. On RX 210 stations spotted here. In terms of "real DX" i.e. DX outside Europe, today was probably the best for me this season.