Sunspots - Tuesday March 26th

 Solar flux is 178 and the SSN 163. A=11 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on at about 2115z.  So far a few spots of me of which the best was by PA1LSB (326km). So far, no great DX.

Archetypal Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This is a view beloved of visitors. It shows King's College Chapel from the lane in King's at springtime. 

We walk through here most Tuesdays. 

Daffodils were early.

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

Today, I am on 6m QRP FT8 with 2.5W to the V2000 omni vertical antenna.

UPDATE 2122z:   21 stations have spotted me including a station in Norway and one in Germany. I am unsure of the propagation mode, as there was little propagation on 10m WSPR. Perhaps it was aircraft reflection?

QRO (well QRO for me!) 10m WSPR (Monday)

As conditions looked even more disturbed on HF, I decided to increase my power by 30dB on my 10m WSPR beacon. So, today I am trying with the PA on and 500mW for a change. 

UPDATE 1826z:  2 local stations spotted me.  Neither would have copied me at 500uW. There were just 2 DX stations.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

11 stations spotted my 10mW ERP overnight. No great DX but I think one was a new station in Germany.

Sunspots - Monday March 25th

Solar flux is 190 and the SSN 145. A=24 and K=2.

VLF RX loop

This was the RX VLF loop antenna I used for my earth-mode tests when I was fit. It was tuned to the RX frequency that was usually about 8-9kHz. The best orientation was with the loop  on the ground. The pre-amp in the blue box was tuned to the RX frequency.

As I recall, it was about 30 turns of 0.2mm PVC covered wire.

It is still in the back of the garage, I think. It is many years since I did any tests at VLF.

AA7EE

Dave is a real wizard at home construction.  The photo shows his version of GM3OXX's OXO QRP rig. 

It goes to show how neat "one off" constructions can be, even without a PCB. It is my view that PCBs are not needed for one off designs. 

Clearly this is different where many are to be made, such as for a club project. What is always a good idea is a solid ground plane with all RF constructions. Dave is a great fan of me squares. Stuck on a solid piece of PCB material a very neat construction is possible as Dave shows.

See https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/2024/03/22/the-gm3oxx-oxo-transmitter/.

See https://www.qrpme.com/?p=product&id=MES .

8m CEPT band?

Belgium and Eire have amateur allocations at 8m. Luxembourg may have one soon. South Africa has one.  I am unsure about Slovenia and Croatia.

In many countries we have the stupid situation where radio amateurs have to apply for, and pay, to do research and experimentation at 8m. 

The RSGB seems dead set against even a tiny allocation by NoV at 8m as does the FCC in the USA. 

Much like 6m was in the 1980s, I hope that national authorities see sense and allow radio amateurs to apply for 8m permits. What would be good is if CEPT allowed national authorities to permit amateurs access.

I am pretty sure OFCOM in the UK is parroting the RSGB line. 

Personally, I think radio amateurs could really contribute to radio science at 8m. We are not asking for much. Even an allocation just 5kHz wide only, digital only, low power, limited times, by application only, would be a start.