Plans for today

 When I get back from my U3A course in Cambridge after lunch, I shall try 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR and try to better match my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground using the NanoVNA as a guide. Let's hope WSPRnet is working!

Sunspots - Thursday December 7th 2023

 Solar flux is 130 and the SSN 125. A=10 and K=0.

NanoVNA

Well, I think I know how to drive it, so I may try to better match my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground tomorrow after I get back from Cambridge in the afternoon.

For the price it is some instrument.

WSPRnet sick?

This afternoon, I have failed to access WSPRnet. It looks like there is a fault. 

Without this, I cannot continue my 10m 500uW experiments. Tomorrow, I may try 10m FT8.  I can try this with 50mW if need be.

Is there an alternative to WSPRnet?

It looks like WSPRrocks is working.

2200m QRP

 Apart from an abortive try last year with my CW beacon, I have not tried this band for many years. 

With my NanoVNA I can (in theory!) match my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground perfectly on that band, so I may repeat my beacon test at 2200m to see if I get more success. Last time I was trying reception with a mag-mounted EFP antenna. I guess this also needs checking.

Looking back through Google Photos I came across my old 2200m transverter, that I used for LF WSPR tests. I guess this would have been 2012? This is shown in the photo. It is not pretty, but it worked!

Christmas shopping - NOT amateur radio

Just before lunch my wife and I did some shopping for food in Newmarket. 

We usually do our food shopping there, varying the shops.

8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

 At about 1430z my 2.5W 8m FT8 and a dipole was turned on. For some reason, my dipole has gone high SWR and it is actually lower on my triband V2000, so I am using this at present. Not quite sure what has changed.

UPDATE 1445z:  Just local G4WSZ (12km) has spotted me.

Winter garden - NOT amateur radio

There is debate when winter starts. Personally, I go along with the UK Met Office that has winter starting at the beginning of December. To me, winter is December, January and February with spring in March, April and May.

Using the Met Office definition, we are already in winter. During the winter, many trees lose their leaves, grass stops growing or grows very slowly, and everywhere looks dead. Under the ground things are sleeping, waiting to come to life on warm, spring days.

Calendars - NOT amateur radio

My wife enjoys making calendars and posters. Every year she does a calendar for the hall and one for the kitchen, plus a poster to remember the last year. I do one for the radio shack. The one in the photo is an extract of the hall calendar.

10m 500uW WSPR tests continue Wednesday

Judging by the results yesterday, it is possible some stations may have spotted my 500uW (0.5mW) WSPR TX yesterday, so these tests, at 500uW, will continue today.

UPDATE 1440z:  No spots at 500uW.

UPDATE 1630z:  Checking on WSPRrocks, I can see that EA8/DF4UE (2786km) spotted my 10m 0.5mW test today. Even though the beacon is hard wired to report 0.5W, the output with the PA of is 500uW.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

In all, 9 stations spotted my 10mW ERP in the last 24 hours. No great DX.

Sunspots - Wednesday December 6th 2023

 Solar flux is 142 and the SSN 133.  A=11 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

My gear (10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground) was turned on at about 2045z.  

Looking at my NanoVNA the SWR is far higher than it should be. Tomorrow, I shall see if the match may be improved.

UPDATE 2136z: 8 spots of me.

NanoVNA

Recently, I purchased one of these, mainly to measure the VSWR of my various antennas. At the moment, I am still learning to drive it. 

There are a few YouTube videos that help too. You seem to get a lot for your money.  I am also charging the battery. At the moment, I am still learning.

On my "to do" list is measuring the VSWR of all the antennas I use. 

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 My 2.5W and dipole was turned on about 1500z. This is later than usual. No spots.

UPDATE 1735z: Just local spots by G4WSZ (12km).

Please explain in plain English - NOT amateur radio

This morning I received this from Google. 

"Google Cloud BigQuery works with Google Analytics 4 to help you become more data-driven and unlock AI. Bringing Google Analytics data into BigQuery can help you reveal business insights across more data and build ML-based audiences to increase marketing ROI."

I have no idea what ML means and many will not know what ROI means!  

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

My 10m WSPR TX beacon is back on at 500mW.  500mW seems like QRO compared with 500uW!!  At 1045z, no spots.

UPDATE 1132z:  12 spots of my 500mW. Reports suggest 500uW would not be copied. 50mW would have got some spots, even 5mW.

UPDATE  1738z:  34 spots of me.

UPDATE  1915z: Quite a few stations might have copied me at 500uW (see table).

Earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Let me say from the outset that I have no firm conclusions on how this works, but work it definitely does.

My theory is that it forms a loop in the ground, so the effective loop area increases as the frequency is lowered. If the spacing between the electrodes is increased the effective loop increases in diameter. This structure has been used (by others) for amateur radiated tests at extremely low frequencies. In my case it has proved effective with QRP up to 60m. On 630m WSPR it has proved very effective with reports from Finland with low mW ERP. It is almost invisible, with the XYL and neighbours not even aware it is there! 

If the loop theory is correct a low impedance is needed as the electrodes enter the ground, but a high impedance between the electrodes so the effective loop diameter is large.

At present, I am using a mains earth (please check your mains earth is suitable) at one end, but tests at the old QTH showed that using 2 electrodes in the ground worked just as effectively.

Before anyone says that it is the wire back from the far electrode that is doing all the radiating, I tried putting the return wire on the ground with very little difference in performance.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/earth-electrode-antennas .

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

In all, 9 stations spotted my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground (see table).

Infected blood - NOT amateur radio

At the height of the AIDS epidemic, the UK government effectively gave infected blood to people suffering from hemophilia and other conditions.  Many caught AIDS. Many died.

Years later those affected are still awaiting full compensation. Last night the government suffered a defeat in Parliament as many MPs sided with the opposition parties on this scandal, demanding that compensation be paid within 3 months of the bill passing.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67615379 .

Unexploded bomb - NOT amateur radio

On the news was a piece about a couple that had an unexploded bomb in their flowerbed. It had been there for many decades and they always assumed it was safe. It was found to be live after all! The wife frequently used it to bang her trowel on!

Oscar 100 narrowband activity

Every few weeks I take a look at activity levels on Oscar 100, which is a geosynchronous amateur satellite. 

Personally, I was expecting activity to be far higher. Indeed, it has encouraged some to experiment with microwaves, but it has not really caught on with DXers. There are many advantages: DX without QSB at any time within the footprint of the satellite, no need for linears, neighbour friendly fixed antennas that could be at ground level, etc..

There are no rigs from Japan probably as the satellite does not cover the USA and Japan. I suspect this is one reason why they have not bothered.

See  https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

LoRa

LoRa modules are available from Amazon and I expect quite a few other sources. To my knowledge, two people locally have experimented with 868 MHz LoRa modules. I am not sure if this was for commercial reasons or just for fun. 

As far as I know, anyone  may use the licence free ISM bands (certainly in the UK) as long as the interface conditions are met. This often means low power and the acceptance of interference. At 868 MHz there are some odd duty cycle limits I think.

If you do not have an amateur radio licence, this may be a route to experiment.

Sunspots- Tuesday December 5th 2023

 Solar flux is 138 and the SSN 113. A=9 and K=3.

Packhorse bridge - NOT amateur radio

This bridge was once on the main route from Cambridge to Bury-St-Edmunds. It is in a village called Moulton, near Newmarket. Right next to it is a ford.

See https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/moulton-packhorse-bridge/.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on at about 1750z. 

UPDATE 2130z:  Spotted by 6 stations. Spots by Dave G4FEV (57km) make a change from 70cm SSB!! I am wondering if there are fewer WSPR 630m users as more people are using some of the newer modes in WSJT-X?

SAQ , Sweden

SAQ is a 17.2 kHz CW alternator TX at Grimeton in Sweden. It is the oldest alternator TX in the world at about 100 years old. They have test transmissions with the next one scheduled for Christmas Eve. It is a good test of VLF receive setups. It is usually widely heard in Europe, and sometimes further.

See https://alexander.n.se/en/the-radio-station-saq-grimeton/saq-transmissions/ .

University of the Third Age - NOT amateur radio

The U3A is an organisation to allow older people to enjoy learning just for fun. Unlike years ago, there are no exams and no swatting. Learning is purely for fun. I often choose things that I know little about. It makes so much difference just learning for fun.

Every Thursday, I attend a talk about the Low Countries. Last week it was about Bruges.  The speaker is excellent. We are lucky in Cambridge to have a very wide choice. Often the lectures are by ex University of Cambridge lecturers!

Walk - NOT amateur radio

 These ducks were on the river when we went for a walk last week.

Minced pies - NOT amateur radio

In the run-up to Christmas nothing beats minced pies and a piece of cheese. My wife makes her own and these are so much better than shop ones, with thinner pastry. I roll out the pastry.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

At 1110z I QSYed to 8m FT8 with my 2.5W and dipole.

UPDATE 1450z:   No spots on TX. Just ZF1DM (7752km) on RX.

Me in the shack

 

This must have been a few years ago after a tidy-up. At the moment it is badly in need of a clean!!

630m FT8 overnight

Overnight (last 12 hours) my 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was spotted by 8 stations (see table). I think there was another station spotting me earlier. 

At the moment, I am still on 630m WSPR.

10m WSPR 500uW TX test - last day

Although I shall run my beacon at 500uW for another day, I shall probably go back to full power (500mW!!) tomorrow. Even with 500uW (0.5mW), it is enough to get some spots if conditions are good, even with my low antenna.

UPDATE 1242z:  No spots of me at 500uW (0.5mW).

Sunspots - Monday December 4th 2023

 Solar flux is 139 and the SSN 107.  A=11 and K=2.

Why? - NOT amateur radio

As much as I think the massacre in Israel on October 7th was totally wrong, I cannot see long-term good coming out of the response. All that is achieved in the end is yet more hatred.

Although unsure of the answer, it surely has to be based on mutual respect and talking, not bombs. Many of my best friends are Jewish and I am sure they hate the present situation as much as I do.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67605703 .

Hairpin bends - NOT amateur radio

Back in September we went on a trip to Montenegro. It was a great place to visit with some great scenery. 

We went up this road by coach (glad I only saw this afterwards!) and got some amazing views from the top.

500uW 10m WSPR TX (Sunday)

My QRPP tests continue.

UPDATE 1418z:  No spots today.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

 My 2.5W to the dipole was turned on at 1100z. So far, no spots.

UPDATE 1145z:  Although ZS3/V51PJ (9081km) has spotted me this morning, no QSO sadly.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

Just 9 stations spotting my 10mW ERP overnight as the table shows.

Sunspots - Sunday December 3rd 2023

 Solar flux is148 and the SSN 92. A=14 and K=3.

630m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on about 1855z this evening. So far,  2 stations have spotted me at 1905z.

Village Christmas Fair - NOT amateur radio

About this time every year there is a Village Christmas Fair with profits going to local charities. It was held today. The atmosphere was great with plenty of people and stalls.

Winter - NOT amateur radio

 This frosty cobweb outside the shack says it all!

446 MHz licence free transceivers - NOT amateur radio

 

As an ex-PMR engineer, I am amazed how they can produce a pair of these radios with chargers so inexpensively. There are plenty on Amazon for not much more than £20 a pair. Both the manufacturer and Amazon will be making profits on these too!  In other countries than the UK, there are probably similar licence free UHF bands.   

Had these been available 60 years ago I wonder if I would have got a ham licence?

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 My 8m FT8 gear (2.5W and dipole) was turned on at about 1030z. So far just spotted by local G4WSZ (12km).

UPDATE 1245z:  Spotted by HI0SDR/3 (7008km).

UPDATE 1440z:  Spotted by 5 stations today, with the most in the Caribbean.

UPDATE 1528z:  No further spots. Is that it for the day?

10m 500uW WSPR tests continued (Saturday)

Yet again, I am TXing with my 10m WSPR beacon with the PA off. Even though the beacon is programmed to report 0.5W, the actual power is 0.5mW some 30dB less!!

I0UVN (1542km) reported me this morning, for the second time this week. Will there be others?

UPDATE 1320z: No further spots.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 Only 9 stations spotted me overnight including 2 in Germany. Still on 630m QRP WSPR.

Brrr - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our garden yesterday. It is very cold.

Interesting tree rings - NOT amateur radio

 

We saw this on our walk last week. Something looks odd with the tree rings. You may need to blow up the photo. Why are some rings white?

Sunspots - Saturday December 2nd 2023

Solar flux is 162 and the SSN 140. A=56 and K=4.

A better way? - NOT amateur radio

It is understandable that the people of Israel were deeply traumatised by the Hamas attacks on October 7th. 

However, by attacking the Gaza Strip as they have been must surely be self-defeating. Many in the world will resent the Israeli actions for generations. Even if Hamas was completely eliminated, a new group would appear still hating Israel.

The only solution cannot be won with war. The solution has to be one based on negotiations and fairness in which everyone is respected mutually and is free to worship as they want.

In my view, what is happening now is genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Jaw, jaw, not war, war.........please!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67584895 .

Tenbox 10m AM QRP

Way back, one of my (many!!) projects was this simple AM transceiver for local natters on 10m, such as at sunspot minimum or at night. The RX is very sensitive, but quite broadband, so not really suitable for DX.  

Because of my 2013 stroke, it never got finished. It was based on the 2m Fredbox. I just wish someone would do a PCB and finish it. It could make a nice club project.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-am-tenbox .

COP28 Dubai - NOT amateur radio

The latest COP meeting (mostly of world leaders) has opened in Dubai. We are on target for a far warmer world. Hopefully renewables, like wind and solar which are now far less expensive, will help. We need a low cost way of storing this energy. We also need a much better way of powering cars with far more range. 

All these could be transformational if they come soon. There was a point when everyone swapped to digital cameras and flat screen TVs. If this happened with energy, it could make a huge difference. Investment is needed and fast.

Nuclear fusion may help in the future, although people having been trying to make this commercially viable since I was in infant school!

10m 500uW WSPR experiment (Friday)

 Although my beacon, with the PA off, has been on all morning, no spots today. Output is about 0.5mW (500uW).

UPDATE 1429z:  Still no spots.

8m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My 8m 2.5W FT8 was turned on about 1240z. Just local G4WSZ (12km) spotting me so far today.

UPDATE 1505z:   4 stations have spotted me (3 in the Caribbean) on 8m FT8, with one QSO with a station in the Cayman Is..  At the moment, my 2.5W and dipole seem to cross the Atlantic most days.

UPDATE 1547z:  I have to pinch myself to remind me this is with 2.5W and a low dipole on a VHF band!  The table shows the stations that have spotted my QRP 8m FT8 to 1545z today.

UPDATE 1657z:  17 stations have been spotted on 8m FT8 RX today.

Stations received on 8m FT8 today

Cold!!! - NOT amateur radio

For the third morning in a row we have had a frost. For us, it is very cold. Although 1011z, it is still below freezing. The photo shows our back garden.

Solar data

It looks like the peak of solar cycle 25 may have been reached. November 2023 was the month shown as the predicted peak of this cycle. This has not changed for months on my favourite site for solar data.

We can expect conditions to be for several more years.

Rallies this Sunday

 The following have been notified to me. As I always say, check before travelling any distance.

Sunday December 3rd - Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur  Club Rally Spennymoor Co. Durham, DL16 6DB. Contact bdingle@hotmail.co.uk .

Sunday December 3rd - Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and Auction, , Swindon, Wootton Bassett, SN4 8EN. Contact  not given, but check website http://www.bvws.org.uk .

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

14 stations spotted my 10mW ERP 630m WSPR overnight. See table.

Sunspots - Friday December 1st 2023

Solar flux is 167 and the SSN 138. A=5 and K=4.

630m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

My 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on about 1830z. So far, at 1848z, 6 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 2212z: 11 stations have spotted me this evening.

Australian beach - NOT amateur radio

This photo was posted on Facebook recently by a friend in Australia. It shows a beach in the south of Australia.

Baa Humbug! - NOT amateur radio

 

These were some of the Christmas displays in a big store in Cambridge.

Misty Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

When we went to Cambridge on the bus earlier, it was very misty. 

This soon cleared and it has been a lovely day. 

630m QRP WSPR overnight

16 stations managed to spot my 10mW ERP WSPR (measured) from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. See table. The furthermost was DL0AO (865km).

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on after lunch. So far (at 1442z) local spots by G4WSZ (12km), but no DX.

UPDATE 1500z:  First transatlantic 8m spot today by WW1L (4976km).

UPDATE 1534z:  4 spots of my 2.5W 8m FT8 with 3 "across the pond".

UPDATE 1613z:  6 spots of me, of which 5 are transatlantic. Crossing the Atlantic on 8m is almost daily at the moment despite my QRP.

10m 500uW WSPR success

For several days, my beacon, with the PA off, was operating without an antenna because of a coax fault. Today, I repeated the 500uW WSPR test (with the beacon PA off), but with the antenna! I was copied, quite well, in Italy. According to my TinySA spectrum analyser the power is 500uW. According to the report I could have been copied at 100uW or less with a low RX noise floor. My beacon is hard programmed to report 0.5W, even though it was producing 0.5mW for this test.

Even  though the beacon is hard coded
to report 0.5W, it was actually 0.5mW

Sunspots - Thursday November 30th 2023

Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 164 .  A=5 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR (Wednesday)

My 10mW ERP WSPR was turned on at about 1715z.  So far, at 1746z, 4 stations have spotted me. On recent nights, I have not had spots from really distant Europeans. I wonder if this conditions?

UPDATE 2045z: So far this evening, 11 stations have spotted me. See table.

Much colder - not amateur radio

Today, we had our first real frost. We had one the day before, but not as cold. We are more used to mild weather these days, but today is bitter for us. It is about +2 degrees Celsius maximum, which is cold for here in the daytime. I can hear readers in Canada and Scandinavia saying," you think that is cold?".  It is sunny and bright, so I don't mind the cold.

Yesterday's walk - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, we did a lovely walk around our village. We call this route our "Muntjac walk" as we often see some of these deer on part of the walk. Incidentally, one just walked past the kitchen window a few days ago! 

See Muntjac.

8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

 My 2.5W was turned on at 0916z. So far spots from local G4WSZ (12km).

UPDATE 1201z: Spotted by G7PUV (158km) too.

UPDATE 1425z:  6 stations have spotted me including 2 in Florida, USA and 2 in the Caribbean.

UPDATE 1433z:   ZF1EJ was getting my 2.5W 8m FT8 at an amazing +21dB S/N. I don't think I have ever had a report this strong, from anywhere!!

UPDATE 1547z:   8 spots of my 8m QRP FT8 today. When F2 is good 8m behaves like 10m.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)

 My beacon is back to full power (500mW). It was turned on at 0914z. So far (at 0919z) no spots.

UPDATE 1230z:  No spots at all, despite a reset on timing. I am suspicious.

UPDATE 1345z:  My coax was open circuit - now fixed. It means my 500uW tests these last few days were invalid, so I may repeat these.

UPDATE  1348z: 5 immediate spots. The PA has been working into an open circuit all morning!

UPDATE 1356z:  At 1354z I turned the beacon PA off so the output is about 500uW. This time, I have an antenna connected!!

UPDATE 1530z:  No spots with 500uW.  I shall run at this power if I am around. Interesting test.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

9 stations spotted my 10mW ERP overnight. Furthermost was northern Scotland (see map).

Sunspots- Wednesday November 29th 2023

 Solar flux is 182 and the SSN 130. A=7 and K=2.

My 10m 500uW WSPR experiment

After several days without success, I shall end my experiment later today. I have had success in the past, but not this time. 

Tomorrow, if I use my 10m WSPR TX beacon, I shall turn the PA on again and run the full 500mW.

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

My 2.5W 8m FT8 to the low dipole has been on since mid-morning. Yet again, my signal has been spotted in the Caribbean. In the last 2 days I have had 8m FT8 exchanges with both ZF1EJ and PJ4MM. In all today, my 8m FT8 signal has been spotted by 7 stations with 5 "across the pond".

Whilst I am sure a small beam, higher up, and more power would help, this proves to me that even 2.5W can make it when F2 conditions are good.

Christmas Wreaths - NOT amateur radio

To me, these seem too funereal and I don't like them. Our village garden nursery is selling them.  I don't think I shall buy one!

The Elgin Marbles - NOT amateur radio

In the UK there is a row growing about the return to Greece of the Elgin Marbles . These were originally in the world famous Parthenon. 

In my view these should be returned. 

Although I stand to be corrected, these were essentially stolen! My suggestion is a copy of these should be made and displayed (this has been done before e.g. the Alfred Jewel in the Ashmolian Museum in Oxford). Their proper home is in the Parthenon in Athens, which is visited by millions.

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

Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF)

Around the sunspot maximum we can see the MUF going much higher than we are used to. Take for example the 8m band, which is allocated to the Amateur Radio service in some countries and available to some on an experimental basis. Quite regularly, my 2.5W 8m FT8 is copied in the Caribbean, USA and Canada. This is on 40.680 MHz USB dial. This suggests the MUF is probably at 41 MHz quite often even on E-W paths. The MUF is usually higher on N-S paths.

For a long time, I have been advocating that 5 kHz at 8m be made available to the Amateur Radio service, narrow digital modes only, strictly non-interference, secondary, in the ISM band, low power, by application only.  I can see this only really appealing to true experimenters. It would appear the FCC and OFCOM (and the RSGB) are dead against, but I struggle to understand why when so much propagation research could be done. Even it permits were limited to around the solar maximum it would be useful.  Instead, in the UK we have to pay to do research - total madness and stupidity.

Selfie - NOT amateur radio

This was the selfie we took last Saturday with my wife, son and grandson.

Asian Eggs Royale - NOT amateur radio

We went out for brunch on Saturday to celebrate my wife's birthday. 

My son had Asian Eggs Royale, which is like Eggs Benedict, but with gin and salmon (see photo).

630m QRP WSPR overnight

Overnight I was spotted by 12 stations when using my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode “antenna “ in the ground.

Sunspots - Tuesday November 28th 2023

 Solar flux is 182 and the SSN 159.  A=7 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

Around teatime, I QSYed to 630m QRP WSPR with my 10mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. At 2030z, 7 stations had spotted me.

New Zealand reverses smoking ban? - NOT amateur radio

The BBC reports that New Zealand is to reverse moves which (hopefully) would have phased out smoking. They have supposedly done this to fund tax cuts.  This would appear to be a step backwards. I do not know all the facts.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-67540190 .

Brunch - NOT amateur radio

Last Saturday, we treated our younger son and his son to brunch. The photo shows this.  My wife, whose birthday we were celebrating, took the photo.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on at about 1025z. So far, spotted by nobody.

UPDATE 1208z:  Spotted by EI9KP (649km) and G4WSZ (12km).

UPDATE 1338z:   ZS3/V51PJ (9081km) has just been spotted.

 
UPDATE 1415z:   My QRP 8m FT8 now also spotted by WW1L (see map).

UPDATE 1445z:  On RX, I seem to spot South African stations far more often than stations in the Caribbean. N-S MUFs are often higher than E-W, but it could be my dipole is a few dB better in this direction. A few dBs could be the difference between being spotted and not.

UPDATE 1625z: 6 stations have spotted me including 4 "across the pond".

500uW 10m WSPR TX (Monday)

My 10m WSPR TX beacon remains on with the PA turned off. According to my TinySA spectrum analyser the power is about 500uW.  After several days I have still to be spotted.

UPDATE 1100z:   It worked at 50mW and has worked in the past at 500uW, but I think conditions have to be exceptionally good for it to work at this power level, especially with higher RX noise floors these days. I shall probably return to QRO for me tomorrow (500mW!!).

More Google gobbledegook - NOT amateur radio

This morning I received another (near incomprehensible) email from Google. It was about video policy on AdSense. As with all things Google why use 3 words when 23 will do!! I think those in charge of communications at Google need to go on a plain English course. 

Selfie stick - NOT amateur radio

Over the weekend, we treated our son and grandson to brunch. Here I am trying my selfie stick. 

I look like a Far East tourist, but they have their uses when trying to get everyone on.

630m WSPR overnight

 

17 stations spotted me overnight with 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Sunspots - Monday November 27th 2023

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 169.  A=10 and K=2.

23cms in 2024

Where did 2023 go? 

Earlier this year I bought a 2W 23cm transverter and my intention was to go /P in some UKAC activity contests. I have not been out /P once! Maybe in 2024?

On EI7GL's blog, there is some encouraging news about the 23cm band.

630m QRP WSPR (Sunday evening)

My 10mW ERP from thw earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground is being widely spotted.

UPDATE 2208z:  12 stations have spotted me so far this evening (see table).

Grandsons growing and wife shrinking - NOT amateur radio

Both our grandsons have grown, and my wife has shortened. The overall result is they now look very tall, although still not quite as tall as their dads! In the next few years I expect this will change!