It has not been used here as I have not been DX hunting actively for many years.
12 May 2021
DX Summit
10m FT8 RX
In the last few days I have started to have an S8 noise level on the higher HF bands on AM. Up to now, these bands have been fairly quiet. I guess someone locally has a new gadget with a noisy PSU.
I don't think it is a problem with FT8. Maybe the noise is on specific, narrow, frequencies? At the moment I am on 10m FT8 RX with the FT817ND and the tiny indoor loop. It is now 0715z and no spots yet.
UPDATE 1510z: No spots yet.
11 May 2021
70cm UKAC
OFCOM Communications Monthly - May
As usual, OFCOM has updated its "Communications Monthly" with the latest statistics it holds. See the OFCOM website for details.
15m FT8
It is now 0750z. At the moment, I am on 15m FT8 RX using the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop.
Yesterday, on 10m FT8 I did not have both pre-amps on. This may have reduced sensitivity and may have resulted in fewer 10m FT8 spots being obtained.
UPDATE 0717z: No 15m spots yet.
UPDATE 1247z: 17 15m FT8 stations spotted on RX. I am back on the FT817 at the moment. I am suffering horrendous local noise for the first time too. The USB lead from the PC to the IC-705 was introducing noise, although I think it was the external noise that was the real culprit. NN4X (7001km) is the furthermost.
UPDATE 1438z: 30 stations in 4 continents spotted today on 15m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop.
160m FT8 last evening
Tame pheasant - NOT amateur radio
Obviously not feeding it enough.
10 May 2021
Californian lilac - NOT amateur radio
Changing times
Mechanically, they were lovely with a great case and a dial with silky smooth tuning.
Electrically, they were dreadful. As I recall, the whole 10m band occupied about 1.5cm of dial. With a low IF the image rejection on 10m was appalling. It used OC171 germanium transistors.
By comparison with modern receivers it was bad, really bad. It is some time since I looked, but at one time the second hand price was about twice the retail price when they were first launched, which was £48. I have no idea why I wanted one looking back.
There is a page about these receivers on my website. See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ec10 . Please be aware this will change when the "new" site is released. If in doubt use www.g3xbm.co.uk as this will always point to the right pages.
The photo shows the Mk II version with an S meter. I had the Mk I version.
UPDATE 0845z: A quick look on eBay showed a Mk II at £78. No doubt the transistors would have become leaky and in need of replacement, unless this has been done. I suspect most are bought as collectors items these days.
Odds and bobs shop - NOT amateur radio
They always manage to have an interesting window display as the photo shows.
10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna
Since before breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop on the shack windowsill. It is now 0815z. No spots yet.
UPDATE 1540z: No spots so far today. On the local WSJT-X screen there are a few stations showing, but these were not loaded to PSKreporter maps. This could be problem at their end or the internet was off here. I have restarted WSJT-X "just in case".
UPDATE 1630z: 2 stations spotted. I am suspicious that when I restarted WSJT-X I started to see my spots on PSKreporter. G0LRD has had 155 spots today on his dipole. Even assuming my loop is several dB poorer than David's dipole, I would still have expected better here.
UPDATE 1655z: Now 9 stations spotted, most in the last hour. Odd. Must try to get my dipole up this week!
First swifts seen - NOT amateur radio
On a walk about the village yesterday we saw 4 swifts. These are migrant birds back from Africa. These were the first seen this year. Usually these are heard before seen. Not this time.
IC-705 goals this week
This week, I have 2 main aims:
- To get D-star (DV) working;
- To get WiFi working.
9 May 2021
160m FT8
This evening, I am on 160m FT8 with QRP and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. 12 stations have spotted me with the furthermost IZ2QPP (956km). On RX 11 stations spotted with the furthermost UA3GT (2630km).
Oscar 100 (geosynchronous) activity
Every few weeks I take an unscientific look at the narrowband transponder on this satellite. There is still plenty of space!
My last look was on a Sunday afternoon in Europe, when you might expect activity to be probably quite high, not that it was!
My impression is you could easily double the number of stations at least.
 |
| Quite low activity really |
Sex in older years - NOT amateur radio
Have you noticed that most leaders in politics are old men?
The current president of the USA is 78 and his predecessor was 74. This is older than me! There is no way I'd want to lead a country at my age.
As a younger person, sex was important. In old age it is less so. If you had told me this 10 years ago I would not have believed it. I am sure this is not universally true, but it is probably far more common than is talked about. I often wonder if our leaders really connect with younger people to whom this is so important?
Some would say with old age comes wisdom.
Propagation predictions
When I operate I tend to take pot luck. Others make use of propagation predictions, in which case this site may be of use. There are others.
Swan on nest - NOT amateur radio
Swans seen on our walk earlier.
10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop
At 0900z, I went on 10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and the tiny indoor loop. Even with ferrite chokes on the USB lead I was still getting RF feedback from the loop to the rig on 10m, so I am RX only on that band until I get the outside antenna up. 2 French stations spotted after 10 minutes.
UPDATE 1104z: 14 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today so far. All Es.
UPDATE 1350z : 21 stations spotted on RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna and the IC-705.
Crabapple - NOT amateur radio
2m FT8 QRP
Just before 0700z I turned on my 2m FT8 gear with 5W from the IC-705 and the big-wheel omni antenna. No QSOs yet, but spots by 5 G stations so far. It is now 0710z.
UPDATE 0832z: One QSO with G4IVV (18km) who offered plenty of help when I had problems with the IC-705 yesterday (many thanks - true ham spirit) and I have been spotted by 9 Gs so far. At the moment I am RX only. Probably going on 10m FT8 RX shortly with the tiny indoor loop. Once again the grabber at G0LRD has been useful. See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/ . David also offered me some suggestions - thank you too.
Salcombe, Devon - NOT amateur radio
8 May 2021
2m UKAC activity contest last Tuesday
10m FT8 RX with the IC-705
Since about 0820z, I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna and the IC-705. No spots yet.
UPDATE 1037z: No spots.
FT8 TX and the IC-705
My new USB leads have come and I still can't TX FT8 with the IC-705. This is most probably finger trouble. It is just possible it is a rig issue. When less tired I shall investigate. CAT control seems fine and RX.
UPDATE 1604z: I am still struggling! I have had two offers of help, but so far no luck. One person has offered help over Zoom, and I may have to avail myself of his help if all else fails. I have reloaded the drivers, swapped leads to make sure they are carrying data, rechecked settings in the IC-705 and WSJT-X. At the moment, I just cannot understand why it does not work. RX works fine. Darn my muddled brain! Years ago this would have been so easy to fix, or at least understand why it is not working.
UPDATE 2045z: Solved!! My problem was RF getting back into the rig. When I tried 2m on the external antenna all was well. It seems that 10m on the internal loop is not acceptable. Now I know what the problem was, I can try chokes on the USB lead. It seemed odd that despite everything I was doing seeming OK things still would not function. First 2m QSO on FT8. Now QRT.
South Hams - NOT amateur radio
7 May 2021
South Africa - NOT amateur radio
Some years ago we had a holiday in South Africa with Saga. It was one of the best holidays we have ever been on.
Hotels and food were excellent and we were quite unprepared for the huge variety of scenery. In some parts it was like Scotland, others like the Med and others scrub.
We saw "the big five" wild animals and many more. I still can't get over seeing monkeys and ostriches on the beach on the way to the Cape.
I expected to see lots of insects, but we see far more in our garden!
G3XBM website progress
All being well, I shall swap my website to the new format in the next few days. It is mostly done, although I need to find a way of attaching some files and making some schematics clearer. On the old pages, clicking a schematic usually brought up a "pin-sharp" image. There must be a way to do this, but I have still not found out how yet, HI.
At some point I shall swap over, but some pages may not be complete yet. As time goes by I hope to iron out any omissions or errors.
Please give me feedback on the site when it "goes live". When the new site is ready I shall say so on this blog.
In the end, it should be at least as good as the old site and, I hope, better. Converting the pages appears to have been easier and faster than I expected.
You should still be able to go to www.g3xbm.co.uk as before. It is just that the pages you see will look different.
Shopping - NOT amateur radio
This morning, we went shopping at one of the larger UK supermarkets beginning with T. It wasn't too busy. We stocked up on the wine I like, which was very inexpensive. I do not have great tastes!
My wife drove as I was too giddy.
Also she was unable to find a certain yeast extract at the shop beginning with W. There were huge stocks at this shop today so we bought a jar!
10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and indoor loop
Since breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the indoor loop and IC-705. 2 stations spotted so far by 1002z.
UPDATE 1532z: So far today, 53 stations have been spotted on RX. My new leads (USB to USBmicro) are due before 1900z. I hope this solves my FT8 TX issue. Otherwise it is finger trouble or even rig trouble.
UPDATE 1732z: 111 stations so far spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.
6 May 2021
FT8 on the IC-705
It works on RX, but not (yet!) on TX. The drivers have been correctly installed on the PC and appear in the device manager. The audio CODECs appear too. Yet it still says the TX does not work as it cannot see the TX audio CODEC.
Perhaps the lead does not have the TX audio connection? I have a new lead (USBmicro to USB) coming and will try this tomorrow.
It could be finger trouble!
Looking busy
I speak to him on 2m FM most weeks.
He is using a Marconi 995 signal generator. These were common in the early 1970s. They drifted a lot and we had to wait hours for these to settle down!
Voting - NOT amateur radio
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