More like spring

We are still in winter yet it feels more like spring is coming. 

The evenings are lighter and the weather today has been mild with some sun.

Xiegu G106

The DX Explorer YouTube channel has a video on the Xiegu G106 QRP rig. The rig is a very compact 5W QRP transceiver. It very modestly priced. It is about 3 years old.

There are quite a few transceivers from China now. I expect we will see more in the years to come. I think the Japanese monopoly on amateur rigs is drawing to a close.

QDX-M on 10m FT8

This is an impressive rig. 

It has only been used on FT8 but it seems to copy loads (over 1100 stations yesterday).  

I run mine via suitably rated diodes in the power lead to ensure I am below 12V when using a 13.8V PSU so I reckon the output is about 2.5W. 

At this power it has been spotted in the USA multiple times, although sometimes you get clobbered by a QRO station.  Unlike my WSPR beacon it does not change frequency randomly between TX bursts. 

It is very small and probably is smaller than a pack of cards. If, like me, you have a poor voice, it is ideal.  I think the 10m version also covers 12m and the 11m CB bands, although I have not explored these.

See https://shop.qrp-labs.com/qdxm

10m 2.5W FT8 (Sunday)

Although I was briefly on TX I am mainly on RX. The gear was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE 2025z:  373 stations spotted on RX. 10 spots on TX. Now QRT. 

See map of stations received today on 10m FT8. Even though there are stations from all over the world, I think conditions were better yesterday.

Sunspots - Sunday February 22nd

 Solar flux is 110 and the SSN 11. A=16 and K=5.

Is there a world outside of ourselves?

We (I think!) experience the universe as if we are just a small part of it, yet when we die all our senses (I think!) die with us. This raises a philosophical question about "is what I perceive the same as you?".

Does anyone know of anything that proves the universe exists beyond ourselves? This question has been asked here before. Perhaps it is a tautology and impossible to prove.

As an aside, when I was at university a fellow student was set an essay question:

"Are all truth functional schemas primarily analytic?"  

I did not understand the question then and am still no wiser!

ATS Mini RX video

 This video is available from Tech Minds.

10m 2.5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at about 0715z. At the moment TX is enabled.

UPDATE 1029z:   2 English stations have spotted me and I have spotted 97 stations on RX with the best ZS2DL (9836km). Just on 10m FT8 RX for the last hour.

UPDATE 1336z: Been back on TX for about 20 minutes. On TX spotted by 17 stations and on RX 425 stations.

UPDATE 1504z:  Back to RX only. 668 stations spotted on RX. At the moment we are experiencing very good conditions on 10m. In a few years time it will be very different. Enjoy it!

UPDATE 1952z: 1105 stations spotted here on RX today on 10m FT8 RX. See map. QRT soon.

Near Islands

No, I'd never heard of these either!  

Apparently, they are part of the Aleutian Islands off Alaska and they belong to the USA. 

They are in the Baring Strait dividing Russia and the USA by just a few miles.

They came up when I was wondering why the International Date Line was not straight!

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_Islands

What is gravity?

For years, scientists have been trying to understand gravity. Both Newtonian and quantum theory appear to give different answers. There's a New Scientist video that tries to explain this puzzle.

I think it's true to say we really understand very little about things.