My war

It would appear that the world is entering recession, has higher fuel costs and Iran will emerge stronger and the USA weaker.

Iran is considered an evil state, but if a war is undertaken it is wise to think about how it might end.

WSPR versus FT8

It is now about 3 months since I got my 10m QDX-M FT8 transceiver and the Zachtek 200mW WSPR TX. Much to my surprise, I am getting more fun from the WSPR beacon than the FT8 transceiver.

There are more people (I think) using FT8, but overall I find 10m WSPR more fun. Most days on WSPR my 200mW gets spotted at amazing distances.

How to win friends

 This was a quote from the BBC website. I will let you guess who said it!!

"You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us."

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jke9v9xv9t  .

Economic emergency

 It is clear that the war against Iran is having consequences across the planet.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0750z. 

UPDATE 1340z: 4 stations spotting me.

UPDATE 2001z: 7 stations have spotted me. Now QRT.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

In all yesterday I was spotted by 5 stations. 

See map from WSPR Rocks by VK7JJ. 

The spots from the German research base in Antarctica seem almost daily.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 31st

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 143. A=12 and K=2.

Zachtek WSPR beacon

I have a 10m 200mW WSPR beacon by ZachTek in Sweden. 

What I really like is that, apart from switching it on, nothing at all has to be done, Maidenhead locator and timing are all done by GPS. 

There is a much cheaper product from China, but this is inferior.

With a very average wire antenna it seems to get spotted widely around the world.

EV batteries - revolution about to happen?

It looks like the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has over 50% of the market share in sodium based batteries and the price of these will fall dramatically in the next few years. The battery life is greater too by a factor of about 2. 

Whatever happens with solid-state batteries, it looks like fewer EVs will need lithium. 

There is a great danger the USA will simply be left behind.

Time for a new reserve currency?

In my lifetime the US dollar has been the reserve currency. It has been regarded as a safe haven to invest in. Oil has been priced in US dollars.

It would appear the era of US dominance is drawing to a close and the USA appears to want a more isolationist stance. This appears to be the choice of the current US government, elected by the people.

If this is the case I can see the world looking for a new reserve currency. This would not happen overnight, but I can see things changing.

Whatever your views, certain other nations seem to be in ascendancy whilst the USA slowly declines. If I was a third world country I would not be looking towards the USA for inspiration.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

My beacon was turned on at 0836z.

UPDATE 0844z: Immediately spots by EA8BFK (2880km).

UPDATE 1946z:  Spotted by 5 stations with the best Antarctica.

Sunspots - Monday March 30th

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 125. A=14 and K=2.

Internet archive

In case you have not come across this treasure trove, the Wayback Machine has many snapshots of websites dating right back to the very early days of the internet. I managed to find a 1996 snapshot of one of my very first websites.

One amazing resource is the DLARC collection of amateur radio related documents. It truly is amazing. If you have not looked before I highly recommend it.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

My beacon was on before breakfast.

UPDATE 1942z:  Spotted by 10 stations with the best Antarctica (again). Now QRT.

British Summer Time

This is 1 hour ahead of GMT meaning we get lighter evenings. It changed last night. I think it was first created in WW2 so farmers had light in the evenings to grow food. It always takes me a few weeks to get used to BST rather than GMT .

Sunspots- Sunday March 29th

Solar flux is 162 and the SSN 116. A=10 and K=3.

10m 200mW WSPR (Saturday)

My beacon is on.

UPDATE 1318z:  Spotted by 5 stations.

Trump Report

These videos are on most days I think. Usually some high profile people are interviewed. 

Does he know his plan?

One could be forgiven for thinking the US President does not fully appreciate the implications of the war in Iran. 

Maybe I am totally wrong and there is some incredible plan being enacted. After all, I am a minion not privy to intelligence and security briefs.

These facts are clear already:

1.  Inflation is likely to rise across the world including in the USA.

2.  Many (most?) face shortages of fuel and many other things.

3.  This is an asymmetric war between those with power and those with certain levers.

4.  Many innocent people will suffer.

10m 200mW WSPR to Antarctica (Thursday)

Yesterday my tiny WSPR beacon was copied in Antarctica 11 times in 12 hours. I think this is a record.

Sunspots - Saturday March 28th

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 152. A=6 and K=2.

Joe Blogs videos

 

These videos are on YouTube and are very informative.

Sibling reunions

My wife's elder brother died last November and we have her remaining brother staying with us with his wife for a few days. 

He is 80 in a few weeks so my wife made him a present of photos from our sibling reunions which we managed to hold every year for 22 years.

The photo shows my wife's brother holding the photo with my wife and I.

Wood spurge?

Most definitely I am not a plant expert. When it comes to trees, I am even worse! 

This plant, about 2cms across each flower head, was seen at Anglesey Abbey earlier. I think it is called wood spurge.

10m 200mW WSPR (Friday)

My beacon has been on since before breakfast.

UPDATE 1540z:  Spotted in Antarctica yet again today several times.

UPDATE 1630z:  5 stations in 4 continents have spotted me.

Antarctica again

 Yet again my 200mW WSPR was spotted at the German research base in Antarctica. It has been reported many times recently on 10m.

Sunspots- Friday March 27th

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 113. A=10 and K=2.

Brunch

My wife has a balance class in nearby Soham, so I do some shopping and have brunch. 

It is always very good.

See https://aromacafesoham.co.uk/

Joe Blogs videos

These are usually about economics and politics, but I watch them most days and enjoy them. This one was a bit different.

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0850z.

UPDATE 1231z:  Just one spot by a station in Kenya.

How?

AliExpress is selling a G106c HF QRP transceiver for £42.99. I think I read this correctly. The shipping cost is nearly as much as the rig! 

Even with VAT and any duty, this is still very low cost. 

I know labour costs in China are very low (the old joke about a bowl of rice...) but 2 companies are supposed to be making profits.

UPDATE 0912z:  Is this just the straps? It would seem not. See https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010477508773.html

Sunspots - Thursday March 26th

Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 103. A=17 and K=1.

First female archbishop

For the Church of England, this was an historic day. 

The very first female Archbishop was enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral.  

Many die-hard Anglican priests will be horrified, but many priests are now women. 

Whatever your beliefs (or none!) this is a moment in history.

Windmill fantail

We are lucky enough to live right next door to a fully restored 200 year old windmill. The fantail ensures the main sails always point into the wind. Today, the shadow of the fantail was on the museum next door (see photo).

See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/

Lady Day (March 25th)

This used to be a very important day in the UK. It is Lady Day, which marked the day of the annunciation of Mary in the Christian calendar.

In secular affairs it was a Quarter Day on which long contracts were often settled. 

I remember it as the day in 1959 when we moved house!

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

10m 200mW WSPR (Wednesday)

 Although my beacon has been on since before breakfast, no spots yet.

UPDATE 1611z:  Spotted by 4 stations with the best PP5ZX{10058km). See table.

Sunspots - Wednesday March 25th

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 113. A=16 and K=3.

Iran crisis

 Most days I watch the Joe Blogs videos. Escalation in the Iran war is a real risk.

 

Donut batteries - really a solid state battery with no lithium?

For weeks I have been following the 2 bit Da Vinci videos on the Donut batteries recently announced. It really looks as if this is real.

I truly think we are on the edge of a real breakthough at last.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 At about 1505z, I changed to 10m WSPR with my beacon.

UPDATE 1544z: 4 spots by EA8BFK (2880km).

10m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

 Later I hope to go on 10m FT8, mainly RX.

UPDATE 1505z: 24 stations spotted on TX. See map.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 24th

 Solar flux is 124 and the SSN 94.A=28 and K=3.

Pebble HF

 

A lot of excitement has surrounded the launch of a single HF band radio kit for less than $50.  It is multi-mode and is a 5W 20m rig. 

All being well it should be available in July. Most of the parts are already placed on the PCB.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6cWHiaaO9w&t=18s.

See https://www.pebblehf.com

Solid state batteries - almost there

In my view these are almost there. 

By next year probably several companies will be launching EVs with huge ranges and fast charging times. Many will charge their car overnight at home when needed.

Electric cars, if low cost and with >700 miles on a single charge, will transform motoring. Fast charging times are a bonus. 

At the moment China is ahead. In my view, the USA is in great danger of missing out on the coming revolution.   In my opinion, we are on the cusp of a revolution as big as the death of CRTs and film cameras.

Sold state batteries could be transformative.

See https://www.autonocion.com/us/solid-state-battery-race-continues/.

Meshcore and Meshstastic

These feel like the future. 

More and more people are looking for a means of communication that does not depend on the internet. These are mesh based messaging systems, so the more nodes the better.  In urban areas there are more and more nodes springing up. In rural areas, nodes may be far apart.

They use 868MHz in Europe (I think), licence-free LoRa. Units - including solar powered external repeaters suitable for mounting on houses - are available on-line at low cost.

I have the feeling things will mature in the coming years. At the moment it feels like the early days of the internet.

In about 10 years' time I can see this getting there. It's not there yet.

It would appear there is far more experimentation (and licence free!) than with traditional amateur radio. In the future I can see ISM and other licence free systems replacing amateur radio.

10m 5W FT8 (Monday)

Today conditions seem a little down. 

On 10m FT8 RX South Africa spotted, but the band feels less lively than normal. 

Although on TX very briefly, spotted by a couple of European stations.

UPDATE 1138z: 8 stations spotted. Again I had problems with ChromeOS not displaying PSKreporter maps correctly. On Firefox all was normal. See map.

UPDATE 1604z: 76 stations spotted here. See logbook extract.

UPDATE 2130z:  QRT.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0915z.

Sunspots - Monday March 23rd

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 96. A=75 and K=4.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 1516z.

UPDATE 2142z: Spots lots of times by EA8BFK (2880km). Now QRT.

QRP drawbacks

Because of my poor voice, I mainly use WSPR and FT8 these days. Especially with FT8 there are couple of things making QRP operation harder these days.

Firstly, it is quite possible to be "clobbered" by a stronger station. Often this station is inaudible and a person does not know he or she is co-channel with a much stronger signal.

Secondly, in some places, the noise floor can be high due to all the noisy electronics many people use like switched mode power supplies in TVs, PCs and the like. Over time the noise floor, especially in towns and cities, is well above what it was even 30 years ago.

You are far less likely to be "sat on" by a stronger station with WSPR than FT8, but cycle times are nearly 2 minutes rather than  just 15 seconds.

Iran war

 "Poking the hornets nest" comes to mind. Let's hope those who started it know how to end it.

PSKreporter.info issues?

On 2 devices are different browsers pskreporter.info maps has been acting strangely this weekend. 

If it was just one PC and one browser I might suspect a local issue. Sometimes it is fine. 

Have others seen similar issues?

UPDATE 1104z: On the IC-705 no issues. I suspect the RX in the QDX-M is not always working properly. Now RX only using the IC-705. There is no issue with PSKreporter.

Chionoxa

 

These little blue flowers, carpeted under the trees last week at nearby Anglesey Abbey, are chionoxa, which look wonderful at this time of year.

10m 2.5W FT8 (Sunday)

 My QDX-M was turned on at about 0852z. Apart from a very brief TX period, I am RX only.

Sunspots - Sunday March 22nd

 Solar flux is 107 and the SSN 48. A=44 and K=4.

10m 200mW WSPR (Saturday)

 Once again I am on 10m WSPR TX. I may change to FT8 later.

Cambridge Botanic Garden last weekend

Last Saturday we went to the Cambridge Botanic Garden.  

It is owned by the University of Cambridge, UK.

End of longwave broadcasting by the BBC?

Yesterday Steve G1KQH passed on the news that the BBC is likely to stop longwave broadcasts later this year.  

The photo shows the Droitwich transmitter near Birmingham.

Mesh core repeater

This is a new meshcore repeater at Littleport, UK. Meshcore uses 868MHz.

This is licence free and does not need the internet. 

Instead I think it sends messages using a mesh network, so the more users the better.

Sunspots - Saturday March 21st

 Solar flux is 102 and the SSN  28. A=34 and K=6.

Cambridge sunshine

A few days ago I was in a sunny Cambridge. 

It really felt like spring at last. 

Solid state batteries

Recently there has been a great deal of excitement over Donut batteries and their claim to have produced a solid state battery with some remarkable properties. 

The only way to be sure about what it is would be a tear-down of one of these batteries.

Some independent testing casts some doubts on these claims. 

What is certain is that whichever company brings a solid state battery to market first will start a real revolution and make a lot of money!

President Madison CB transceiver

I think this is a mock up of how an SDR CB rig might look. 

If it ever came to market I would expect the price to be very keen as there could potentially be a huge market if it was programmable for different bands like all the flavours of CB bands, 10m and 12m amateur bands.

Different war aims?

 The Iranian war is what they call asymmetric in that you have the power and might of the USA and Israel against Iran that has many low cost drones and can choke off the Straight of Hormuz . 

Israel probably wants regime change whereas the USA is probably looking for an off ramp to avoid misery in the rest of this presidency.

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Friday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0630z.

UPDATE 2054z: Spotted by 48 stations.

YouTube and AI

Many of the videos on YouTube are now AI generated sadly. 

When these allow you to imagine what life was like like maybe 1000 years ago they can be very useful. Some of these are very good.

Sadly, it is all too easy to create a famous person saying something that they would never ever say. The sad thing is people believe this is true.

The only thing is to assume the video is an AI creation unless you can be absolutely sure of the source.

Sunspots - Friday March 20th

 Solar flux is 100 and the SSN 38. A=3 and K=2.

Soham church, UK

 This is a fine church about 8km from us.

10m 200mW WSPR (Thursday)

 

Once again I am on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 0929z: 20 spots of me. See table.

St John’s College, Cambridge

 

In the sunshine yesterday.

We have had good weather yesterday and today.

Sunspots - Thursday March 19th

  Solar flux is 113 and the SSN 83. A=5 and K=0.

10m 200mW WSPR (Wednesday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 2232z: Spotted by 12 stations.

Puzzled?

Sorry but I can’t follow the logic of US President Trump. At one moment he declares he has won the war with Iran, then he is calling on NATO allies to clear the Strait of Hormuz, now he doesn’t need help. He seems to alter his position every day?

Sunspots - Wednesday March 18th

 Solar flux is 111 and the SSN 72. A=4 and K=1.

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Tuesday)

My beacon was turned on briefly at breakfast time.

UPDATE 1432z: No spots. About to change back from 10m FT8 RX to 10m 200mW WSPR TX.

UPDATE 1541z: So far, spotted by just 2 stations in the Canary Islands multiple times.

UPDATE 1919z: Spotted by 3 stations with the best PP5ZX (10058km). QRT soon.

Trump and Iran

I think most western nations see Iran as a potential threat. However, it would appear, allegedly, that the US president did not realise what he was getting in to. Like many, I do not know how this will end.

10m 2.5W FT8 (Tuesday)

After a very brief period on TX I am RX only.

UPDATE 1355z: 225 stations spotted. See map.

Nice surprise

Yesterday the post contained a nice surprise. 

It was a small package that I was not expecting and I had no idea what was inside. 

On opening it, I saw this which I was not expecting at all. They sent me a certificate and I thought that was it.

 Thank you GQRP Club so much.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 17th

 Solar flux is 111 and the SSN 66. A=10 and K=1.

Genes

Opinions vary over what happens to the essential “us” when we die. Many religions believe in some sort of afterlife, but we really don’t know.

What we do know is that is that our genes get passed down the generations. We probably have some sort of connection with our ancestors millions of years ago.

Cambridge Botanic Garden

 

This is owned by the University of Cambridge. 

It is very large and has some amazing plants and trees.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

 My beacon was turned on at 0850z.

Heathkits

In the past Heathkit produced some great QRP CW transceivers. 

The HW7 a QRP HF transceiver was produced first, then the HW8 (which I owned) and finally the HW9. 

Sunspots - Monday March 16th

 Solar flux is 109 and the  SSN 95. A=17 and K=3..

Lenovo Chromebook

In the last few days  I noticed that Amazon  was selling a Chromebook with 128GB memory, detachable tablet, keyboard and touchscreen for £149.  It is being used now.

For several years I have enjoyed my Chromebook. 

This one is supported with updates until 2034. It seems to work perfectly.

10m 2.5W FT8 (Sunday)

I changed to 10m FT8 at about 1515z.

UPDATE 1526z: Spotted by a couple of stations, but now RX only. 32 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1843z:   70 stations spotted here. Suggests conditions were probably not good.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

My beacon has been on until about 1510z

UPDATE 1523z: Only 2 stations in the Canary Is have spotted me. Now QRT .

Improving portable range

 This video shows a possible way to improve the range of a handheld by adding a counterpoise.

Real-world amateur radio

 I only came across this blog seeing a post in Amateur Radio Weekly.Maybe true experimenters are not in amateur radio?

See https://mw1cfnradio.blogspot.com/2026/03/868mhz-dx.html

Hellebores

In the UK these are definitely spring flowers. Sadly, despite their name, they mostly have their flowers down, so they can be hard to photograph. 

These were seen at the Cambridge Botanic Gardens on Saturday .

Sunspots - Sunday March 15th

 Solar flux is 112 and the SSN 85. A=40 and K=2.

Mini multiband, multimode tiny receiver

 This was posted on DX Explorer some 6 months ago. The receiver is available from China at a very low price. Watch out for counterfeit copies!

Fish and chips

 

Earlier, we ate at a shop in Cambridge on our visit to the Cambridge Botanic Gardens.

This was a generous helping.

I usually go there for brunch on Wednesdays.

Cambridge Botanic Garden

 

As the sun was shining we decided to go the Cambridge Botanic Garden. This bird of paradise plant look like it is taking a peek.

10m 200mW FT8 ( Saturday)

My TX beacon was turned on at about 0943z.

UPDATE 1553z:    Spotted by 4 stations with the best PP5ZX (10058km) in Brazil.

Sunspots- Saturday March 14th

 Solar flux is 120 and K=105. A=24 and K=6. 

10m 200mW WSPR (Friday)

 Late in the afternoon I switched to 10m 200mW WSPR  TX. In the end I went QRT at about 2030z.

UPDATE 2118z:   9 stations spotted today. See table.

2013 optical tests over the horizon

Before my 2013 stroke I enjoyed 481THz optical tests over the horizon. What surprised me at first was that, even when absolutely nothing was visible in the sky, clear signals could be decoded on a PC as long as the aim was correct. My tripod and aiming left a lot to be desired!  If I was fit enough to repeat these tests I think a much better tripod would be called for allowing better repeatability.

PC operating systems

The world of home computing is dominated by MS Windows and Apple Mac (to a lesser extent), whereas I understand Linux is used by the most powerful computers in the world.  

I mostly use a Chromebook that runs Chrome OS (using it now) and am so pleased with this OS.  It is fast and does almost everything I do. They also tend to be less expensive. The Chromebook has been used for years now.

A friend of mine did an external drive with a version of Linux, but I have resisted changing my Windows PC to Linux, for now at least.

I am  definitely not a PC expert, so tend to remain with what I know!

10m 2.5W FT8 (Friday)

 Today I am on 10m 2.5W FT8. Apart from a very brief period on TX (1 local spot) I am RX only.

UPDATE  1106z:  Just 4 spots so far with the best A71MM (5184km) in Qatar. Disappointing so far. I must check that nothing is wrong.

UPDATE 1143z:  Plugging the antenna into the IC-705  revealed lots of stations, I plugged the antenna back into the QDX-M and immediately spotted 67 stations!  I wonder if the coax plug is intermittent?

UPDATE 1337z:  Re-soldered the plug and again lots of stations copied on the IC-705 but remarkably few on the QDX-M, which is very odd. Looks like there is something amiss with the QDX-M. It also seems to be running somewhat warm, which I would not have expected RX only on the QDX-M. Has anyone seen anything similar?

Sunspots - Friday March 13th

 Solar flux is 121 and the SSN 116. A=8 and K=4.

RX mostly

Maybe it is as a result of having got 10m QRP SSB way back, that I seem to get as much pleasure from RX nowadays as TX.  I know everyone is different and this is a good thing. 

70cm FT8 (Thursday)

It never fails to amaze me how good 70cm FT8 is. Last evening was the 70cm activity contest. After having a couple of contacts (10W to a 144MHz big-wheel omni antenna) I was RX only .  

It never fails to amaze me how far away some stations were. Even my low ERP was spotted at 327km!! The map shows the stations spotted here.

10m 2.5W FT8 (Thursday)

I am on 10m 2.5W FT8 although I shall probably be mainly on RX.

UPDATE  1623z:  645 stations spotted as far as Japan and South Africa.

Questions

For years the Iranians have been considered the pariah state of the Middle East. 

I am not naturally a politician, but I have severe doubts that the USA and Israel will do any good and it looks like they are doing real harm. 

There are other examples of asymmetric wars such as Russia and Ukraine. This one has lasted 4 years already.

President Trump is saying the war will soon be over yet Iran still has loads of fast small gunboats which could cause havoc in the region to say nothing of the hacking harm they could do across the planet. My own view is the USA is entering its biggest crisis in nearly 100 years.

Sunspots - Thursday March 12th

 Solar flux is 123 and the SSN 120. A=9 and K=2.

Archetypal Cambridge

The photo is archetypal Cambridge with bikes and posters. It shows the university church Great St Mary’s, which is about 200m from King’s College Chapel. The Senate House, where many degrees are given out, is behind.

10m 200mW WSPR (Wednesday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0615z.

UPDATE 1622z:  7 stations have spotted me with (yet again) spots by DP0GVN (13685km) down in Antarctica. See table.

Special Lunch

On Monday our son had a special birthday so we treated him to a nice lunch in Cambridge.

RGO-One QRP HF transceiver

This was found on the internet the other day. 

It looks a very handsome rig, although I do not think it was ever mass produced. 

I have never seen it for sale.

Sunspots - Wednesday March 11th

Solar flux is 127 and the SSN 71. A=14 and K=3.

The windmill next door

This is the windmill right next door with the sails turning this morning. This was taken from the lounge window. They only have the sails turning occasionally. 

Electric cars - are we still waiting for a breakthrough?

It seems to me that we are still waiting for that breakthrough moment similar to that which moved us all from CRTs to LED displays or moved cameras to digital. 

In the case of cars it would be range and cost. Almost exclusively electric cars need batteries with lithium and have limited range. Imagine if we could charge at home infrequently and have huge ranges at a price people could afford.

There has been a lot of excitement about Donut batteries who claim to have produced a solid-state battery with some remarkable figures. If true, this could be the start of a revolution. I believe the Chinese company BYD has also released an electric car that does not use lithium batteries.

If we really could buy cars that no longer need petrol or diesel with similar ranges we would be free of the stranglehold of the oil market. 

It is coming, but just how soon?

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0815z.

UPDATE 1905z:   Spotted by 18 stations. See table.

UPDATE 2150z:   In the end my tiny beacon was spotted by 22 stations. QRT.

Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, UK

 

This was King's College Chapel in the afternoon sunshine yesterday.

It was nice to see visitors enjoying themselves.

King's Parade is a popular part of the city.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 10th

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 72. A=7 and K=2.

Google Nonsense?

Every day, I get a report about visits to this blog. 

In my view, they are total rubbish. Already today, I am supposed to have had more than ten times the number of visits I used to see in a whole day! 

I have no idea how this is obtained, but it feels wrong. Flattering if true, but highly unlikely!

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

My TX Zachtek beacon was turned on at 0836z.

UPDATE 0843z:  Just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting me.

UPDATE 1700z:  42 stations spotting me including 14 spots of me from the German research base in Antactica DP0GVN (13685km).

Putin and Iran - Times Radio

 Most days I watch the YouTube videos from Times Radio. They have some very well informed speakers.

uSDX Ultra

This transceiver is now some years old and I assume it is still being made. In the UK it is available from AliExpress for just over £85, which is very low for a QRP handheld covering many of the HF bands. In a tiny handheld form factor is amazing value. It is sold as a 5W radio, but 3-4W is more common.

There have been reports of bad audio unless the settings are adjusted but I have no idea if this has been improved in later models. 

On the face of it, it looks a bargain, but I have not used one.

I would imagine you would get stung for duty.

Sunspots - Monday March 9th

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 76.  A=22 and K=1.

Joe Blogs YouTube

In the world of politics and economics the videos by Joe Blogs are informative. Most days I like to hear what he has to say.  It's nice to see something that is not AI and that you can trust.   

That's the trouble these days: you can never be sure that what you see is what the person really said unless you definitely trust the source.

10m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

In the end I gave up on 8m FT8  RX and QSYed to 10m FT8 using the IC705 at 5W.

UPDATE 2020z: My 5W 10m FT8 was spotted by 19 stations mostly in the USA. On RX, I have spotted 484 stations with the best LT5X (13475km) in Tierra del Fuego in Argentina.

UPDATE 2022z:  QRT.

Mizuho transceivers

For many years I owned a 2m SSB handheld by Mizuho. It was used on 2m SSB and via a homebrew transverter on 10m where it produced about 1W pep. It worked all over the world. As I recall, the battery life was not good, so I tended to use it with a PSU mostly.

I think they made versions for 15m, 10m, 6m, 4m and 2m. Sadly, I think they are no longer available.

See https://www.mizuhoradio.com/ .

Spring colour

In the autumn we put in winter flowering primroses to give a splash of colour under our front windows. 

All are now in flower and they look very colourful.

They will be replaced by summer bedding plants later. 

Probably not visible are the weeds. I cleared them all about 2 weeks ago - honest!

8m FT8 RX (Sunday)

Today, I am trying 8m FT8 RX again.

UPDATE 1450z:  No spots. I think my antenna must be poor on 8m.  I might try the coax to my 2m antenna via an ATU if it works at 40.680.

Sunspots - Sunday March 8th

 Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 75. A=18 and K=3.

Shetland Is.

As mentioned before in this blog one of my friends on 365project.org lives way up north in the Shetland Islands and takes some very good photos of life up there. 

There are few trees, in the summer days are long and very short in winter, and it can be very windy. Being much more northerly, it tends to have weather colder than further south.