17 Dec 2025

Day off radio

 As we had a funeral on the other side of the country (my wife’s brother) I was not on the radio today.

Sunspots - Wednesday December 17th

 Solar flux is 117 and the SSN 81. A=12 and K=2.

16 Dec 2025

Times Radio and Ukraine

 Most days I watch Times Radio on YouTube about Ukraine It is usually informative.



10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0945z.

UPDATE 1312z:  7 stations have spotted me. These look like F2.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear has been on since about 0945z.


UPDATE 1155z: 
So far, 9 stations have spotted me including EI and GI. See map.

QDX-M

Hans at QRP Labs makes some excellent kit. 

As mentioned yesterday, I am having issues with my built QDX-M rig. Today is my last day trying to eliminate "finger trouble" issues. I really hope I am doing something stupid and I have a "Eureka" moment and I can say how stupid I was. If not, I shall have no choice but to return it, sadly.

As stated yesterday, I am open to things to try with my Windows 10 PC. If you have any ideas, please let  me know! At the back of my mind is "it must be me", but I cannot see anything wrong.

Tuesday plans

 Later, I expect to try 10m 500mW WSPR and 6m 5W FT8. Later I may try 10m QRP FT8.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 16th

 Solar flux is 118 and the SSN 73. A=6 and K=2.

15 Dec 2025

10m FT8 TX (Monday)

Just before tea I QSYed to 10m FT8  using my ready built 10m QDX-M. 

Although the TX works fine, I cannot work out what is wrong with the RX which appears to be totally deaf. Using Windows 10, I have (I think) exhausted everything I can try. The audio is not muted, the USB lead has been replaced, I have re-installed the drivers, the port has been correctly selected. I have tried starting the device again in case the PC is not recognising the device on RX. At the back of my mind is a hope that I will find something and it will spring in to life. Sadly, nothing tried has worked. 

Hans makes some splendid kit so I am reluctant to send it back until I am utterly convinced I am not doing something stupid, but I am at a loss. If I cannot find something tomorrow it will (reluctantly) be returned. 

If you have any suggestions of things I can try, please let me know.

Nearly

We always enjoy amaryllis plants growing at this time of year. 

One of ours is almost in flower and should be out at Christmas.

Bondi beach shootings

In my view everyone whether Jew, Muslim, Christian or otherwise has equal value.

Whilst everyone involved in the massacre at Bondi Beach deserves a lot of love and sympathy, I think President Netanyaho of Israel needs to answer some difficult questions. 

We all agree that the October 7th massacre of innocent people in Israel was evil and totally wrong, 

However I think the killing of nearly 60000 people in Gaza (including women and children) was evil too and the flattening of houses? Also, he should ask himself if the exclusion of the press from Gaza was wise?

What happened in Bondi was wrong and evil. 

Why can't we all live in peace, respecting every one of our fellow people on this planet?

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 1030z.

UPDATE 1541z:  5 stations spotting me with several "across the pond".

6m 5W FT8 (Monday)

 My gear was turned on at about 1030z.  

UPDATE 1119z:  So far, spotted by just 2 English stations, probably just normal tropo.

Philosophical question

Does anyone know of a philosophical experiment that proves there is a life beyond ourselves? We experience everything using our senses. Everything we experience is as we experience it.  We "think" things exist beyond ourselves. Can we prove it?

Monday plans

 Later I expect to try 6m 4W FT8 and 10m 500mW WSPR. That is if I dont change my mind!

Sunspots - Monday December 15th

 Solar flux is 119 and the SSN 78. A=7 and K=1.

14 Dec 2025

Shetland sun

 


One of my friends on 365.org lives in the Shetland Isles and posts some interesting photos.

8m FT8 RX (Sunday)

 At about 1345z I switched to 8m FT8 RX on 40.680 MHz.

UPDATE 2023z:  No spots.

Online QSL card

Yesterday I received an QSL card online from a station in Italy. I have still to check my log, but will confirm the contact if the details are correct. 

Previously, I have had online QSL cards missing vital data like time, so I could not respond. As far as I can tell, this one included all the details.

These days I rarely send out real QSL cards by post.

6m 4W FT8 (Sunday)

 My 4W FT8 is on.

UPDATE  0910z:  9 stations have spotted me this morning (see map). I am unsure of the propagation mechanism but 4W FT8 and an omni V2000 vertical antenna seem to be enough.

UPDATE 2200z: 
39 stations have spotted me. See map. Is this Es? Now QRT.

Christmas comes early?

Retailers have had a hard time lately. 

Is it me or did Christmas come early this year? I am sure this was to make sure profits were maximised. 

To me, the Christmas season starts no earlier than December 1st. Some shops were having Christmas goods as early as September. It seems Christmas has morphed into a commercial business.

Sadly, I am glad these days when all the hype is over.

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0700z.

UPDATE 0855z:  3 spots by YO3IVV (2078km).

UPDATE 2025z:  7 stations spotted me today. Now QRT.

Sunspots - Sunday December 14th

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 76. A=14 and K=2.

6m failure!!


 Just for fun I let my IC705 on FT8 during the Geminids meteor shower, but copied not a single station!  Late last night a few stations spotted my 4W FT8 but I don’t think this was MS. One was in Germany. Oh well, I tried, ho ho. I know MSK144 would have been a better choice but wanted to see if anyone was copiable on FT8.

13 Dec 2025

6m 4W FT8 (Saturday)

 My 4W 6m FT8 was turned in at about 2030z.

UPDATE 2036z:  So far, 4 English stations have spotted me.  No great DX.

6m FT8 in the Geminid MS shower?

For MS most people (I think) use MSK144. I am tempted to leave my 6m FT8 on RX overnight to see what happens. I am wondering if I might copy some people on 6m MS on FT8?  In a big shower I would expect some bursts to be quite long, more so on 6m than 2m.

In my experience MS signals can be quite strong, but quite brief.

1W 10m FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at about 1200z.


UPDATE  2018z: 
So far 246 stations have spotted me. See map. QRT soon.

Sunspots - Saturday December 13th

Solar  flux is 135 and the SSN 124. A=28 and K=2.

12 Dec 2025

A good use of AI

AI frequently gets a bad press, but there are some things it is very good at. 

Today I chanced upon a movie on YouTube of London in the 1700s. It was created using old black and white prints from that time. 

The finished movie gives you a great impression of how it must have been.




Geminid meteor shower

This meteor shower peaks this weekend. I expect it will lead to enhanced MS propagation on 10m, 8m, 6m, 4m and 2m. 

See Geminid meteor shower.

8m FT8 RX (Friday)

 All day I am on 8m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1802z:  No spots.

Sunspots - Friday December 12th

 Solar flux is 146 and the SSN 123. A=26 and K=4.

11 Dec 2025

Royal Ballet

It is fair to say that our granddaughter did NOT get her talent for ballet from my wife and I!! 

Last year she performed in front of UK royalty in Westminster Abbey and this year she is in the Nutcracker at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden, London at the Royal Opera House. She makes us very proud!

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

 My beacon was turned on at 1248z.

UPDATE 1318z: So far, no spots. 

UPDATE 1328z:  It helps if there is power connected. Being suspicious I noticed the power wire had become disconnected!

UPDATE 1353z:  Spots from the Canary Isles only.

UPDATE 1827z: 4 stations have spotted me including 2 in the USA. Now QRT.

Ukraine peace?

 According to this video, around 60% of people in the USA believe the USA should be standing behind (my understanding) Ukraine to counter the Russians whereas the peace plan put forward by President Trump appears to favour Russia and not what the majority in the USA want.

We all want peace, but it would appear we don't want a sell-out to President Putin. In my view simply appeasing Putin is not the answer.

From an outsider's perspective, President Trump seems more focused on making deals to make himself even richer than safeguarding democracy? This is how it appears, although I accept I may be wrong.

Micro80


This was my Micro80 transceiver  built many years ago. From this the famous Pixie transceiver was developed. It is on my main website.

Sunspots - Thursday December 11th

 Solar flux is 168 and the SSN 134. A=23 and K=4.

6m CW DX


 My best ever 2-way 6m DX was a QRP CW QSO with K1TOL when I was using 1W and a V2000 vertical omni antenna. This was Es. I think his antenna helped!!

10 Dec 2025

Pure evil

In recent days I have been watching a series of programmes on the history of the British Empire. What comes across is how evil Britain was. I cannot believe how bad we were. 

The real purpose of the British Empire seems to have been exploitation.  We are in no way able to dictate how other countries should behave when we have been so bad in the past, and even quite recently.

Hair!!

 Back in the 1970s I still had hair! This is me using my 2m AM Fredbox to make contacts in Cambridge. It worked really well.

10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)

My stand-alone W5OLF (SK) 10m WSPR beacon has been on since about 0930z.


UPDATE 1515z: 
23 stations spotting me. See WSPR Rocks map.

Maps in your head?

People have different ways of remembering .  When I am awake at night one strategy I use is to travel from A to B using the map in my head. I am surprised how many places are in my head!! For example places where I have lived or worked.

Sunspots - Wednesday December 10th

 Solar flux is 183 and the SSN 134.  A=5 and K=3.

QRP Fun

This video is 7 years old, but it might inspire you. Basically it is a 1 transistor transceiver by Dave Ingram K4TWJ from the book "International QRP Collection". 

I would expect the RX to be deaf so probably best to use on a sked rather than calling CQ on a frequency already occupied by a station that you cannot hear.



9 Dec 2025

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 1053z.

UPDATE 1409z:  So far, 8 British Isles stations spotting me. See map.

UPDATE 1936z: 11 stations have spotted me. See logbook. QRT soon.

10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)


My beacon was turned on at about 1052z.  

UPDATE 1411z:   Spotted by 15 stations. See table.

UPDATE 1518z: Spotted by 18 stations now.

More on Sable Island DXpedition

The dates for this are expected to be March 19-31 2026. I imagine the pile-ups will be massive! I hope to hear them, but my days of chasing DX are gone! I am not sure what modes or bands they plan.

See https://t-rexsoftware.com/cy0s/

OFCOM and satellites

Today OFCOM announced its final decisions about direct to smartphone communication via satellites. This could allow ordinary smartphones to use satellites to communicate giving coverage at sea and in very remote areas. Currently this needs special satellite phones.  I am not sure what antennas will be needed as special satellite phones currently have bulky antennas.

How this develops remains to be seen.

Tuesday plans

 Today I expect to go on 10m 500mW WSPR and 6m 5W FT8.

AD and BC

Has the world gone stupid?  

The "politically correct" phrases are now BCE and CE (common era).  Whether we believe in Jesus Christ or are of some other faith or none, why the heck change it?  

In my view this political correctness gone mad.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 9th

 Solar flux is 186 and the SSN 146.  A=2 and K=0.

8 Dec 2025

Sable Island 2026 DXpedition


Sable Island is a small island of shifting sands in the North Atlantic belonging to Canada. There is a DXpediton there in 2026. I think there are no people permanently living there. 

There are wild horses there. It is continually changing shape.

Change of plan

 In the end I decided to go on 10m 500mW WSPR TX. 10 stations have spotted me 6 of which were in the USA.

UPDATE 2010z:  Spotted by 12 stations. Now QRT.

zBITX

 You may like this transceiver from India. For the price it is remarkable. It is built around a Raspberry Pi.



Monday plans - no radio?

 As we have to go into Cambridge for some Christmas shopping, I may not go on the radio today.

Museum at Christmas

This weekend, our local museum had a "Santa's Grotto" in the windmill. The children loved it and were told a story (in groups) and were each given a gift. To them it was magical.

In the main museum, there was face painting, mulled wine, minced pies  and much more. We helped with the raffle.

In all, it was a great. happy, occasion for all, especially the children.

Sunspots - Monday December 8th

 Solar flux is 194 and the SSN is 133. A=8 and K=0.

7 Dec 2025

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)


My beacon has been on since about 1115z.

UPDATE 1607z:  12 stations have spotted me. See table.

UPDATE 2138z: QRT

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 1115z.

UPDATE  1132z:  Spotted by 2 English stations.

UPDATE  1603z:   13 stations have spotted me. See map.

UPDATE 2140z:  18 stations spotted QRT.

That time of year!

The museum and windmill near us is having a Santa’s Grotto weekend. 

We’re helping today.

Sunday plans

 Probably 500mW 10m WSPR and 5W 6m FT8 later.

WSPR?

The impression I am getting is that WSPR is going down in popularity whereas FT8 is going up. I was considering buying a dedicated multi-band WSPR TX and WSPR RX.  I am having second thoughts.

WSPR needs less bandwidth (about 6Hz) than FT8 (about 50Hz) but WSPR is more sensitive by about 10dB. Maybe many cannot make use of this because of local noise. Also FT8 allows 2-way QSOs.

Last evening I tried 40m WSPR  and FT8. On WSPR I spotted nobody, whereas on FT8 I spotted 12 stations in a similar period.

Sunspots - Sunday December 7th

Solar  flux is 200 and the SSN 129. A=16 and K=3.

.

6 Dec 2025

AI crappery

At one time I enjoyed YouTube, but sadly you no longer can be sure that anything is real. 

I watched a very long video supposed to be by Brian Cox. It was clearly not by Brian Cox. Last week I watched a video that was meant to be the thoughts of Einstein.

The message is clear: you cannot know what is real and what is AI. The only thing you can do is assume everything is generated by AI unless you can be absolutely certain of the source.

Is there a universe?

This is a philosophical question. 

Is there any way of proving anything exists outside of ourselves? 

We observe everything through our senses and neurons. What happens when these are no more?  Does the world and universe still exist or is it only there because we observe it?

Ralph Waldo Emerson quote

" Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

This was a quote I cam across earlier from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

ZachTek WSPR transmitter

These are handmade in Sweden, although there is a Chinese rip-off that is available for much less. I think if files are available on the internet there is always a danger of this happening. 

I am not sure what protection registering the design gives, but I guess it must offer some help.

As I understand things, the Chinese rip-off does NOT contain switchable low pass filters, so the harmonic output is unlikely to be very good.

See https://www.zachtek.com/product-page/wspr-desktop-transmitter 

Saturday plans

 Probably 10m 500mW WSPR and 6m 5W FT8, although I am not sure.

Sunspots - Saturday December 6th

 Solar  flux is 206 and the SSN 133.  A=13 and K=4.

5 Dec 2025

Oscar 100

MLS, one of the large UK distributors, is selling the DX Patrol Ground Staion for QO-100. I guess you have to add a GPS external reference, a LNB, a dish and a TX antenna.  

Probably you would still get change from £2k, which is less than the cost of many HF transceivers, a linear and a beam on a tower plus rotator. I guess operators now have confidence in this after many years.

The advantages are many.  The dish is small, fixed and no HF rig is needed. Within the footprint of the satellite DX is always available and without QSB. In many ways I am quite surprised many DXers have not gone for this option already.

I prefer experimentation.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ if you want to take a peek.

Incidentally, I heard recently about someone in the UK working a German station who was mobile on Oscar 100!! I think the station in the car was listening on the webSDR but using the 2.3GHz uplink to the satellite.

I suppose a low(er) cost option is to make or buy a TX transverter and helix and listen on the webSDR.

10m 2W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 1245z 

UPDATE 1330z: So far, 59 stations have spotted me. 

Really low cost kit

Steve G1KQH has brought to my attention a very low cost SSB/CW 40m kit from India. It really is exceptional value. 

As a club project you can even buy 5 kits (yes five kits!!) for $150 total. Individual kits are just $39.

See www.hfsignals.com  .

Friday plans

 Probably I shall go on 10m 2W FT8 later.

Dark breakfast!

In the UK early mornings are dark. Our grandson stays with us on Thursday night as he has an early start on Friday and relies on me to get him up although so far he has been very good for an 18 year old. Thankfully things get better after Christmas.

Sunspots- Friday December 5th

 Solar flux is 220 and the SSN 165. A=32 and K=3.

4 Dec 2025

10m 2W FT8 (Thursday)

 

At about 1830z I QSYed from 8m and instead went on 10m FT8 with 2W. 

UPDATE  2021z:  10 stations have spotted me with the best PU2YFR (9602km). Now QRT.

Future plans

Already, I am thinking about 2026. Sunspots and solar activity should still be good although declining. 

My instincts are to go mainly on 10m QRP FT8, although I shall go on 6m FT8 in which case I shall go on 10m WSPR wth my 500mW beacon that does not need the PC at the same time. 

Still tempted by 8m, TX,  although I think most of the activity would be in the Es season. If I was to reapply for a TX permit, I would time it to coincide with the Es season, so leave any new application until late March, so the permit would be in place in time for the Es season. I may decide not to bother.

2m activity contest (December)

Although I cannot stop on long because of my poor voice, I try to come on the 2m UKAC sessions with my 10W SSB to the big-wheel omni antenna. I only worked a couple of stations in the short time I was on, although I am sure many more would have been worked had I stopped on longer.

AI dangers

There is no doubt that AI will have a huge impact on the lives of everyone in the future. It will get better and better and will have impacts for good and evil.

In many ways I have been impressed with AI. For example I asked it to colourise an old black and white photo of my dad in his RAF uniform during WW2. The colourisation was excellent.

On the downside I asked Gemini to "make a picture of Roger G3XBM" as an experiment. I tried this both in "fast" and "thinking" modes.  On both attempts the person looked nothing at all like me. It created a radio shack (far more extensive than mine, HI) and a plaque with my callsign, but the person was totally wrong. I suppose it has to find a photo of me to learn from.

This is one of the dangers of AI. People may believe what they are being told. Often it will be correct. At the same time it can be very wrong! For now, it is best to treat AI with some caution knowing it can go "rogue" and give totally false results. It can only be as good as the sources it learns from.

8m FT8 RX (Thursday)

 I have QSYed to 8m FT8 RX on 40.680 MHz using my end-fed long wire.  We'll see if I spot anyone today.

UPDATE 1626z:  No spots. At the moment 8m is disappointing.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

 My beacon was turned on just after breakfast.

UPDATE 1016z:  Just 2 stations in the Canary Isles spotting me so far.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear has been on since just after breakfast. 

UPDATE 1914z:  So far, spotted by 5 English stations.

Christmas cheer

 

Rather than 1 large Christmas tree we have 3 small ones. This one in the lounge we have had since 2019 and has fibre optic "leaves" and is always changing colour.

Thursday plans

 As the sunspot count is so high I shall stick with 6m QRP FT8 and 10m QRP WSPR.

Sunspots - Thursday December 4th

 Solar flux is 209 and the SSN 227 (high) . A=33 and K=5.

3 Dec 2025

2m FT8 activity contest UKAC (Wednesday)

This is a contest I do not submit an entry for. I gave a few (very few!) CQ calls and was copied in southern Eire. There is no doubt there is a lots of activity.

Stations that spotted my 2m 10W FT8 this evening

UPDATE 2102z: 
Now QRT. Worked 4 stations in the 2m FT8 UKAC contest.

QMX out portable on SSB

 The QMX is a popular SOTA radio as it is very compact and works on SSB with a firmware update.



10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)

My stand-alone beacon was turned on at about 1015z.


UPDATE 1333z:
19 stations spotting me.

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

 My gear (5W to the V2000 vertical omni) was turned on at about 1015z.

UPDATE 1324z:   18 spots so far. See map.

2m UKAC activty contest (December)

Really, this is too hard for me now. 

After about 30 minutes I find my poor voice struggles these days in contests. I had to stop.  

I worked a new square for 2025 in the form of JO03, but I really could not manage any longer.

Sunspots- Wednesday December 3rd

 Solar flux is 200 and the SSN 177. A=9 and K=2..

2 Dec 2025

Sun through the trees

 


This was at nearby Anglesey Abbey earlier.

That season again!

Every year seems to go faster than the last. 

We put our tree up just now. 

I swear its only 5 minutes since we took it down last time!

10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon has been on since about 0945z.

UPDATE 2100z: 15 spots. See table. Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0945z. 


UPDATE 2056z:
13 posts. QRT.

Tuesday plans

After  breakfast I shall probably go out 6m QRP FT8.

Google spam filter

 

Yesterday I had a very painful lesson. Google puts in SPAM things it thinks are SPAM.  Usually it is correct . 

Daily I get told all my photos are about to be deleted -  but occasionally it gets things wrong.

G3ZQQ had apparently sent me an email that must have ended up in SPAM and been deleted. He sent a second yesterday that ended up in SPAM. Luckily I saw it and marked it as not SPAM.

The answer seems to be always check. I usually do see if anything is in SPAM by error, but his first email must have been deleted before I checked.

UPDATE Monday 1945z:  Since writing this I had an email claiming illness and asking if I shopped at Amazon. Definitely SPAM!! Now back in SPAM! Caveat emptor. There really was a reason it was in SPAM.

Rain

For the last 3 years, I have measured the amount of rain daily. This has been the driest of the three years. For the last few years we have had about 760mm of rain. This year we are on target for about 650mm.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 2nd

 Solar flux is 196 and the SSN 175. A=10 and K=2.

1 Dec 2025

10m 2W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE 0904z:  53 stations have spotted me.


UPDATE  1926z: 
488 stations have spotted me today. Even with 2W 10m FT8, spots from across the planet. See map. 

Advent service

 

Yesterday we went to a sung Advent service in the next village. 

This village is special having 2 churches in the same churchyard. The service was sung by the excellent Cambridge Voices .

Solar Activity

Near the start of the month my favourite site for solar data is updated. I have not checked yet but this is usually done early in the month. It is worth taking a peek so we can see how the cycle is progressing. 

We are on the down-slope, but conditions on the higher HF bands are likely to remain good for a few years. 

It is my view that with modes like FT8 we will find 10m open more than we thought.

See https://www.solen.info/solar .

UK weather

We live in the part of England where it is most dry. 

Yesterday was a glorious day here with bright blue skies and cold. 

That's the trouble with UK weather. One day it can be lovely and the next dull and wet.

Simple VHF receiver by Charles Kitchen

Charles Kitchen N1TEV is a well known designer in the USA and across the world. 

This is a circuit for a VHF receiver that can be adjusted to decode SSB, CW and NBFM in addition to AM.

See https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/9712039.pdf .

Keeping an eye on CB

 Although the CB bands are just below the 10m amateur band it is often busy on CB when 10m seems dead. This suggests it is a lack of activity rather than poor conditions. Hopefully FT8 will help to show us 10m is still good on some paths.

In the meantime, it may be worth keeping an eye on the CB bands.



Sunspots - Monday December 1st

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 108.  A=16 and K=1.

30 Nov 2025

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

 Briefly I went on 10m 500mW WSPR. No spots. Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

Late Sunday, I went on 6m FT8 with 5W to the V2000 vertical omni antennas. 5 English stations spotted me. Now QRT.

My favourite band - 10m

Over many years, I have had most fun on 10m. Initially, I was on SSB, AM and FM on that band with a low wire dipole. Of course, on 10m antennas are small and CB antennas usually work.

These days, because of my poor voice following my 2013 stroke, I use digital modes like FT8 and WSPR mostly.

DXCC was worked on 10m QRP SSB with a simple wire dipole over 40 years ago, so DX chasing is no longer important. I am more interested to see where my QRP is reaching. That's one of the joys of our hobby: there are so many different ways to enjoy it.

Before my stroke I enjoyed experimenting. I still do, but restrict myself to what I can do at home that does not require soldering or fine motor skills!

A real experimenter

Thanks to DX Explorer, I was pointed to the website of LA6NCA who is a true experimenter. I had not visited his site before. It also looks like he has a good range of test gear. Certainly a site for inspiration.

See https://www.laud.no/la6nca/

DX Explorer website

Just now I was watching a video on this website. Then I realised it was derived from one of my designs!  I am flattered and hope he really has fun. He is eventually making a tiny PCB for it.

Ely cathedral from the meadow

 


This was last week on a lovely cold and sunny day.

8m FT8 RX (Sunday)

Today, I am on 8m FT8 RX, more in hope than expectation, using my end-fed long wire antenna. I have no idea of the polar plot on 8m, but it has been used to copy CT, EA and G on 8m FT8.

UPDATE 1455z:   No spots.

Time and consciousness

We think of time as absolute, but we experience time differently when we sleep deeply and indeed as we age.  It may be that our understanding of time is totally wrong.

5MHz operation

Some years ago I tried WSPR on this band. 

As I recall I used the coax up to my 2m big-wheel antenna and a mains ground. It worked and I got quite a few reports. The auto-ATU in the rig was used to match the random antenna.

Unfortunately, this part of the spectrum is controlled by the military in the UK. As a result, the UK has a fragmented set of allocations and has never adopted the WARC allocation. Although we are allowed more power and more spectrum, I personally would prefer a contiguous, if narrower, allocation at lower power.

To me, it is all too confusing. I suspect many do not use the band because they are confused by the allocations. There is a band plan on the RSGB site.

See https://rsgb.org/main/operating/band-plans/hf/5mhz/ .

Sunspots - Sunday November 30th

 Solar flux is 160 and the SSN 74. A=20 and K=4.

29 Nov 2025

2m ultra QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 Although at 3.2mW I can see my 2m FT8  signal at the grabber at G0LRD, at 26km I cannot see myself on PSKreporter. I shall increase my power until I am I decoded.

UPDATE 1815z:  Increased to 6.4mW. No decode.

UPDATE 1829z: Increased to 12mW. Decode appeared on PSKreporter (just).

UPDATE 1837z:  Increased to 25mW. Decoding, but not reliably. I think both G0LRD and I have big-wheel omni antennas.

UPDATE 1900z: Increased power to  35mW. No decodes this time.

UPDATE 1917z:  Increased power to  45mW. No decodes.The other variable is S/N at the RX.  What I am looking for is what level I need to get reliable and repeatable decodes.

UPDATE 1928z: Increased power to 55mW. It would appear that I am being defeated by local noise. No decodes.

UPDATE  1940z: Increased power to 60mW. No decodes.

UPDATE 1958z:   Increased power to 65mW. 2 people now spotting me.

UPDATE 2117z:  Increased power to 100mW. A surprise QSO with M0WDN at 100mW with a 15dB attenuator in the input of the RX!! The S/N at G0LRD seems to vary widely suggesting he was pointing a beam in a different direction. I have now gone QRT. 

Getting harder?

In all the years I have been involved in amateur radio (it started in 1961!) my main interest has been QRP (low power). 

In recent years the local noise level especially in urban areas has gone up, mainly because we have more gadgets and chargers. These often use switched mode power supplies which can produce a lot of noise. Taken together these can increase the noise floor. The result is weak signals can be buried in the noise.

Sadly, this means QRP operation can be harder. 

The problem is not so much the low power but the noise floor at the receiving end. If you have an electrically quiet QTH, you can still dig these signals out. Such sites are becoming rarer.

Probably there is a power below which it gets much harder.  At very low power it is easy to be clobbered by a stronger station as well. 

Thinking of the future, I suspect 5W QRP will be a good choice.

Trump pardons drug trafficker

Some times (many times actually) I question the motives of US President Trump. 

Allegedly, he has just pardoned the former president of Honduras who was jailed for 45 years on drug trafficking charges. I find this at odds with the "make America great again" movement and keeping drugs out.

Many Americans voted for him, so I would be interested to hear their views.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1kpm0rvxepo .

15m 100mW FT8 (Saturday)

At 1217z, I changed from 100mW 15m WSPR to 15m 100mW FT8. Now, FT8 is about 10dB worse than WSPR, but there is more activity on FT8 these days.

UPDATE 1340z:  Just. one spot of me by SP9WTC (1480km). Maybe I am being clobbered by a stronger station? Also, I suspect it is increasingly likely that QRP signals are now buried in noise, making QRP operation harder than it once was. Even with a 15dB attuenuator in circuit right next to the rig I am spotting 119 stations. This suggests an effective power of low watts if they were running 100W.

UPDATE 1708z:   Well it helps if you use a 15m antenna!  I discovered I was using my 2m big-wheel antenna rather than my end fed HF antenna. So I am surprised to have got any spots with 100mW 15m FT8.

Swaffham Prior

This is the next village from us going towards Cambridge. 

It is unusual having 2 churches in the same churchyard (don't ask me why!) and 2 windmills. 

It is a sleepy village on a rare "hill" overlooking the fen.

100mW 15m WSPR (Saturday)

For a complete change I am trying 15m 100mW WSPR.

UPDATE 1117z:  Just 6 spots from a station in Austria.  These days, although less sensitive,  there seems to be far more activity on FT8  than WSPR.

UPDATE 1212z:  Still just 6 spots of me from OE3GBB/Q (1233km). If I was starting out, I think you are more likely to have success with QRPP on FT8 rather than WSPR. QSYed to FT8.

Saturday plans

 Today I think I will try 15m WSPR at 200mW or less.

Ely Cathedral sun

 Earlier this week we went to Ely. 

The cathedral is at the top of the “hill “ and can be seen for miles around.

This was the sun shining through a stained glass window.

Sunspots - Saturday November 29th

 Solar flux is 132 and the SSN 87. A=22 and K=3.

28 Nov 2025

2m 5W FT8 (Friday)

At about 1715z, I QSYed tp 2m FT8 with 5W to the big-wheel omni antenna.  

So far 12 stations have spotted me with the furthest EI2FG (565km). 

I am convinced this is some kind of scatter.

Stations spotting my 5W
FT8 to the omni
UPDATE 1841z:  Since about 1835z I have been vertically polarised with my V2000 vertical omni. This is fed with CB RG58 coax, so I would guess the ERP is similar. It seems to make little difference which rather supports the scatter theory.

UPDATE 2125z:  22 stations in 6 countries spotted my 5W FT8 this evening. See map. Now QRT.

Talent

One of our friends made and decorated these cup-cakes by hand. 

If I had tried to decorate them, they would have looked a mess!

10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)

 

My beacon was turned on at about 1425z.

UPDATE 1522z:  7 stations have spotted me so far. See map.

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 1425z.

UPDATE 1531z:  8 stations spotting me, with the furthest EI4DQ (580km).

10m 2W FT8 (Friday)

 

My gear was turned on at about 0650z.

UPDATE 1430z: 335 spots of me.  See map of those spotting me. Now QSYed to 6m FT8 and 10m WSPR.

New cafe


Most  Thursdays I spend some time in a nearby village whilst my wife attends a class. Usually I go shopping. Yesterday I went to a cafe which served an omelette and coffee at very reasonable prices. Service was good. I shall go there again.

Sunspots - Friday November 28th

Solar  flux is 120 and the SSN 76.  A=27 and K=3.

27 Nov 2025

10m 2W FT8 (Thursday)

At about 1600z I QSYed to 10m FT8 from 8m. 

UPDATE  2105z: So far, 144 stations have spotted me. See map.

UPDATE 2139z: QRT. In the end 146 stations spotted me.