Crab apple jelly - NOT amateur radio

Each autumn, I try to make crab apple jelly with the crab apples on our one tree. Last autumn was pathetic. Looking around the shops, we found it impossible to buy.

In the end we turned to Amazon who had some. We ordered it and it was delivered next day. Some are dead against online shopping. There is little doubt our shopping habits are changing. Having things delivered to the door next day is very convenient!

Having used them for many years, I have never been disappointed.

630m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

 My 10mW ERP WSPR was turned on about 1855z.

UPDATE 2145z: 10 stations have spotted me in the last 12 hours.

Clunch cottage - NOT amateur radio

Many of the older cottages in our village are made of clunch. This is a kind of chalk. 

On the way to the shops today, we noticed this cottage that had been stripped of its rendering. It looks really good. 

Clunch is quite strong, but needs to be protected to stop weathering.

10m 10mW ERP WSPR (Saturday)

 

Yet again, I am trying 10m with 10mW ERP. 7 stations have spotted me at 1257z. Every day for several days now DX spots have been obtained.

UPDATE 1450z:  It seems 10mW 10m WSPR gets me spotted in the USA daily!

Birdwatch - NOT amateur radio

This was last weekend in my shack counting birds in the garden. No small birds, yet there were plenty this morning!

22m ISM band

WSPRnet includes the 22m ISM band. In the last couple of weeks, there are plenty of reports, mostly from stations using a few milliwatts. I have never tried this band. I guess if you have a 20m antenna it will work just below the band.

Personally, I find this sort of propagation research far more rewarding than chatting on 80m about carrots with commercial gear. If legal, I shall give it a try next week with the call probably 22M3ISM.

UPDATE  1055z:  Reading IR2030 /1,/2 it would appear it is legal to run a device with an output less than 42 dBµA/m at 10 m in the 22m band. Does anyone know what that represents as an ERP please? In the EU the spec is EN300 330. I think if you later intend to place a product on the market (only) then you have to submit a product for type approval. Otherwise I think you can self-declare compliance.

UPDATE 1440z: According to Rik Strobbe ON7YD, this is equivalent to 7.5mW EIRP.

UPDATE 1444z: Starting tomorrow, I shall try WSPR beaconing in the 22m ISM band (so called HiFer band). Need to find out the best frequency for WSPR beaconing. 

UPDATE 1515z: It would appear 13.5539 MHz USB dial is the setting for 22m ISM WSPR. I shall start beaconing properly on Sunday, but it is on now.

UPDATE  1550z: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_radiated_power.

Sunspots - Saturday February 3rd

 Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 131. A =3 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR (Friday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on about 1950z. All the usual suspects have spotted me.

UPDATE 2138z: 2 spots already from Norway.

Evening light - NOT amateur radio

In the UK, the days have extended by almost an hour in the evenings since the shortest day. Even in the mornings things are getting better. 

It will be a few months before spring really comes, but the light has changed for the better. We may yet have snow and ice, but it is as if a corner has been turned. 

The end?

For several years now, I have been predicting the decline of our hobby. In this case I hope I am very wrong! An undeniable fact is that ours is (mostly) a hobby that interests older males. In itself, this is no bad thing: people retire, want new interests and tend to have more disposable income as children leave home and education.

What bothers me is we are all getting older. As we age fewer rigs will get bought, there will be little (or no) profit in our market. Dealers will disappear, magazines will shrink or stop.

Already our hobby is less about self-training and research and more about appliances and who has the deepest pockets.

What do I think will happen?

• Fewer new rigs
• Fewer and smaller magazines
• CB and amateur radio will merge (possibly ISM too).
• Amateur radio (as we knew it) will go.
• Callsigns (for those that want these) will be issued by national societies.
• Organisations like OFCOM and the FCC will wash their hands.
• A free for all will follow.

Am I worried?  No. 

Personally, I have always preferred research.  Those that want to do this will still carry on in a deregulated world. In some ways it could be better.

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