Yaesu FT818

Like many, I found the FT818 a real disappointment.

It looks like Yaesu "copped out" and simply upgraded the FT817ND to overcome parts obsolescence. No attempt whatsoever has been made to actually upgrade the radio such as adding a Lithium Polymer battery, speech processor or auto ATU. Basically it is still an FT817ND. What did the FT818 development cost? $10?

However, it is about half the price of the IC7300 which is 100W and a much better radio, so I am told. Maybe Yaesu will introduce an SDR QRP radio soon? That is, if they don't go bust first! Now, I love Yaesu products and have owned many over the years. But, it seems Yaesu has lost its way in recent years.

Had Yaesu wanted to, they could have developed a world beating radio with thousands selling their FT817s and upgrading to FT818s. It seems to me very unlikely anyone will sell their FT817s to buy an FT818. To me, this is a disaster and shows the market intelligence of a 5 year old. My views and others are free to disagree.

The best I can hope for is Yaesu is beavering away on a QRP SDR radio with everything we want. If they don't, I give them 5 years or less and they will be dead - gone forever.

Stones hidden - NOT amateur radio

Over a year on, the craze in our village for hiding painted stones or pebbles, which are found, then photographed and posted on social media, then rehidden, is still going on. Only today we found one which we photographed. We left it where it was so someone else can find it.

472kHz WSPR RX

About 5 minutes ago I QSYed to 472kHz WSPR RX. Already 3 stations spotted with best DX  LA8AV (1035km). It is still quite light here.

UPDATE 1608z: Now 4 different stations spotted on this band this afternoon.

UPDATE 2053z: 11 different stations spotted this evening on 472kHz WSPR RX.

10m FT8

As is usual, I am on 10m FT8 mainly RX. So far, no spots.

UPDATE 1535z: No spots yet. Soon be time to QSY, probably 472kHz WSPR RX at least until bedtime.

Rally

Sunday 27 JANUARY : HORNCASTLE AMATEUR RADIO & ELECTRONICS RALLY

Horncastle Youth Centre, Cagthorpe Buildings, Willow Row, Horncastle LN9 6DZ. 

Doors open 10am and entry is £2. Traders tables are £5 per 6ft table. There is free parking at the venue. The usual traders will be there. Catering is available onsite. Details from Tony, G3PZU, 01507 527 835, tony.nightingale@yahoo.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

160m FT8 RX overnight

Quite a decent night on 160m FT8 RX with 8 North Americans, 3 Caribbean and 3 South American stations spotted with best DX PY4AZ (9012km) in Brazil. All received using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This does work remarkably well at 160m and exceeds my expectations. At the moment 160m FT8 is brilliant, helped by the S0 noise floor with this "antenna".

FT8 is very impressive! In most 15 second periods there are about 10 stations in a 2kHz chunk of the 160m band.

Stations spotted here overnight on 160m FT8

Sunspots - Thursday January 24th 2019

Solar flux is 72 and the sunspot number 18. A=3 and K=3.

160m FT8 RX

A few moments ago (1608z) I QSYed to 160m FT8 RX. So far just 9A4T (1343km) spotted.

UPDATE 1830z: Now loads and loads of Europeans spotted on 160m FT8 this evening. North Americans later? Yes, I expect so.

UPDATE 2300z: 300 stations so far spotted this evening on 160m (yes 160m!) FT8 RX. Nothing yet from "across the pond".

Joining the dots - NOT amateur radio

Maybe this is another after-effect of my stroke 5 years ago. Perhaps it is another artefact of getting older!

Yesterday we had tree surgeons in and I could have sworn blind that one said tea with one sugar and the other tea with 2 sugars, My wife said they both wanted one sugar. The simple fact is I cannot rely on my memory. It is almost as if my brain fills in the dots and sometimes this is wrong.

Flowers - NOT amateur radio

Sometimes our friends joke that our house looks like a florist shop! Indeed my wife likes flowers around the house. As well as lots of orchids we have others such as these carnations and gypsophila.

10m FT8 RX

Again I am now back on 10m FT8, mostly RX. The more active region of the Sun seems to be facing our way, but will this bring in any DX? As of 1035z, no spots.

UPDATE 1610z: Still no spots here on 10m FT8. today. Now QSYing to 160m FT8.

Back on 472kHz (630m) WSPR RX

As WSPRnet seemed to be working, I took a chance and went back on 472kHz (630m) WSPR RX overnight. In all, 12 stations spotted with best DX LA2XPA (1310km). No new stations were spotted overnight that were not spotted in the evening.  Unless I strike lucky and spot some USA stations, there is little benefit stopping on overnight.

Which dealers will survive?

Sorry if I sound like the grim reaper!

There is little doubt that many (most?) radio amateurs are getting old. Yes, there are younger people entering the hobby, but the vast majority are old men. This means several things.

1. We need to attract and keep younger people.
2. There will be fewer radio magazines. Even now, you have to look hard to find any in newsagents, whereas computer and gaming mags are breeding.
3. Those mags that survive are likely to be thinner with fewer adverts.
4. There will be fewer dealers.
5. Most new products will be made in China (even if designed in the USA or Japan).
6. There will be fewer manufacturers making amateur radio products.
7. There will be fewer new products.

This is my forecast (I very much hope I am wrong):

1. At least one major manufacturer will leave the amateur radio market or go bust.
2. There will be half the number of radio amateurs on the planet in 20 years.

In the same way that high street shops need to re-invent themselves or go under, so our hobby has to change. The next 20 years are crisis times for a great many institutions such as shops, churches and, of course, amateur radio.

It would not surprise me if many authorities just allowed all users to use any VLF, LF, MF, HF and VHF frequencies without a licence on a strictly "non-interference" basis, perhaps with a low power limit. If you were OFCOM or the FCC this would make life easy. It is called deregulation. In other words, copping out.  Radio amateurs that remain can sort themselves out!

160m FT8 RX (not)

Yet again, I was going to be monitoring 160m FT8 RX overnight. As WSPRnet was working, I QSYed back down to 472kHz (630m) WSPR RX

Once again, all 160m and 630m reception was on the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. With this antenna my noise floor is S0 on 160m and 630m. At 160m and 630m, I think this acts as a loop, with best reception E-W. It works well on 160m TX too with the best DX over 1000km with 2.5W from the FT817ND. On 160m the match is excellent.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 23rd 2019

Solar flux is 71 today and the SSN 18. A=3 and K=3.

Topband FT8 RX

As WSPRnet was not working (again), I QSYed to 160m FT8 RX (again). Lots of Europeans (again) with best DX so far RO9O (5145km).

Spots on 160m FT8 RX so far this evening (to about 1930z) 
using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

UPDATE 2030z: It surprises me how similar 160m FT8 RX is night after night. Most evenings, loads of Europeans are spotted with North Americans coming through later and overnight. I am no 160m expert, but it seems North Americans are being spotted later than a month or so ago. One Canadian station was being copied here well after daylight today.

Trump and his transgender military ban - NOT amateur radio

If nothing else, President Trump likes controversy. The latest, allegedly, is the Supreme Court has allowed him to stop transgender people serving in the US military. Now, I do not possess all the facts, but this sounds a backward step to me. If I am wrong, I an sure I shall be put right.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46963426

472kHz WSPR RX

WSPRnet seems to be working, so I have gone on 472kHz WSPR RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. G1GKN (99km) spotted.

UPDATE 1618z: Already 3 stations spotted on 472kHz WSPR with best DX LA2XPA (1310km) in JP33 square.

UPDATE 1635z: As WSPRnet seems flaky again, I think I'll try 160m FT8 RX again.

Tree surgery - 10m antenna still in place

We had our silver birch tree lopped today. This supports the end of my Par 10/20/40m end-fed wire antenna. This wire antenna is not very high and I was expecting to lose this when the tree was done. As it happens all the tree work was above this, so it is still in place.

2m FT8

For about an hour, I have been on 2m FT8 using the big-wheel omni antenna. My 2.5W CQ was copied by 5 stations in 2 countries (best spot was by GI6ATZ (479km)) and on 2m FT8 RX 6 stations in 3 countries have been spotted so far.

UPDATE 1230z: Now 10 stations in 4 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 1544z: Now 26 stations in 7 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 RX.

Stations spotted so far today on 2m FT8 

with the big-wheel omni antenna

The post - NOT amateur radio

We get post delivered once a day. It has been arriving earlier recently, probably as we have a different person on our round who uses this van.

BREXIT mess - NOT amateur radio

Indeed this is a fine mess! Personally, I blame an arrogant, UK Prime Minister who will not listen.

Most want an orderly withdrawal from the EU. Some don't want to leave the EU at all.  I am pretty sure all the people of the UK really wanted was free trade and control over who lives and works in the UK, whereas the EU hierarchy seems to want more. I am less convinced this is what most EU citizens want. Sure, they want peace in Europe too.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46955437

Topband overnight

As you may remember, WSPRnet was not working so I QSYed from 630m WSPR RX to 1.84MHz FT8 RX. Overnight, 6 North Americans spotted with the best DX N9RC (6340km). VY2HH (4445km) was still coming through at 0926z!

Stations spotted on 160m FT8 overnight 

with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Sunspots - Tuesday January 22nd 2019

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number zero. A=4 and K=2.

Stars in the visible universe - NOT amateur radio

According to Google there are a huge number of stars in the visible universe. Estimates vary widely, but the number is extremely large. In our own galaxy the estimate is 100-400 billion stars! In the visible universe the estimate is 1 billion trillion! That is a huge, huge number!

And we are born at this moment on this little planet and after looking for nearly 60 years we have not found one single civilisation "out there". What happens when we die? Goodness only knows. What I do know is our brains are far too small to comprehend. Religions try to explain things, but their world views seem far too small.

The universe and life are real puzzles for mere humans.

Topband FT8 RX

A return to 160m FT8 RX was made at 2005z this evening. Yet again, the band was filled with Europeans. The best DX is currently UK9AA (5171km) in Uzbekistan. Within 15 minutes, no less than 45 stations spotted! As before, using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Stations spotted in the first 30 minutes this evening.

472kHz WSPR RX

Although I am monitoring 472kHz WSPR RX, I have to QSY to 2m FM for the East Cambs net at 2000z. I shall go back on 472kHz afterwards.

At the moment (1922z) WSPRnet cannot be reached.

UPDATE 1949z: WSPRnet is still unreachable.

UPDATE 2005z: As WSPRnet is still unreachable, I have decided to go on 160m FT8 RX instead. LA3EQ, PA0A, and F1AFJ were all good 472kHz signals on my screen, but not on WSPRnet.

New houses - NOT amateur radio

For some time now (actually about a year!) I have been watching the progress of these houses being built in the grounds of an old pub in our village that closed years ago. The old pub is now a private house and is on the market at last. The other houses are still being built.

D-Star from Android tablets and phones

Until this was mentioned on Southgate News I was unaware of this app. Apparently you can use an Android device to connect into D-star networks using some software called "Peanut". This may be useful to some, especially if your nearest D-star repeater is out of range. You can also use Peanut on a Windows machine with an Android emulator.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/january/android-peanut-app.htm#.XEXNcfZ2u00

Super blood moon - NOT amateur radio

At about 0315z, I awoke very briefly. I said to myself that if I awoke again at 0400-0500z I would take a photo of the moon. What happened? I slept until about 0730z. So, no photos of the moon. The next time it is this good is in 10 years' time. Of course, then it will be cloudy! There are lots of photos on the linked page.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46943592

10m FT8 RX - ever hopeful?

As usual in the daytime, I am looking on 10m FT8 RX for some activity. Not unexpectedly, no spots yet. If I am lucky, there might be a few UK stations and maybe the odd European via aircraft reflection. If I spot any further, it would be a good day. However, I am watching! I suspect many more are watching too. As a band of surprises, anything is possible! With FT8, the impossible can be possible.

UPDATE 1340z: 5 spots so far including 3 Germans - aircraft?

UPDATE 1500z: No further spots. Best DX spotted remains DL3GD (714km).

UPDATE 1613z: Looks like there is a brief 10m opening to northern Spain. In all, 10 different stations spotted today on 10m FT8 in 4 EU countries. Best DX spotted is EB3DKE (1198km).

UPDATE 1910z: In the end 14 stations spotted. All EU. Time to QSY to topband or 472kHz.

Snow - NOT amateur radio

Michael Rainey posted a photo of the snow outside his house earlier on Facebook. We complain if we get a few inches as if it was a major disaster. By comparison, this snow in the NE USA was huge. I expect they just brush it off and carry on.

We really are a load of wimps over here!

Sunspots - Monday January 21st 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN still zero. A=4 and K=1. The pits!

160m pirate?

Overnight I was again on 160m FT8 RX. In all, 7 North Americans spotted as well as tons of Europeans. Supposedly, I copied D7XY (8876km) in South Korea, although the fact he was widely spotted in Europe, but not in Japan or other places in East Asia, makes me highly suspicious. I think this is a pirate. If not, this was my best DX last night. Otherwise KI5BLU (7656km) in Texas is the best DX spotted on 160m FT8 RX overnight.

Topband FT8 RX

At 1743z I QSYed down to 160m FT8 RX using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Immediately, all over Europe was spotted as usual. Best DX so far, within just a few minutes, is OH3NFD (1778km). 20 stations in 12 countries spotted almost immediately.

UPDATE 1812z: 40 stations in 15 countries spotted on 160m FT8 RX today. Best DX (so far this evening) is RU8W (3643km). So far, just Europe.

UPDATE 1913z: Now 136 stations spotted this evening on 160m FT8 RX this evening.

UPDATE 2216z: Now 292 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX. As yet, no North Americans spotted.

UPDATE 2237z: Still no North Americans spotted here on 160m FT8 RX this evening. I am not experienced on 160m, so this may be normal. On past days I would have spotted a few stations by now.

Anglesey Abbey walk - NOT amateur radio

This afternoon in the winter sunshine we did a walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey. Even this afternoon, it was still frosty, so it must have been very cold last night. Although there are now plenty of snowdrops in flower, we saw no daffodils in flower.

Today's walk - 1.1 miles

Moulton, Suffolk - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we went for a walk around the village of Moulton. It is a drive of about 8 miles there. It has an old clapper bridge, a stream, lots of thatched cottages and a fine old church (see photo). We ate afterwards in the Packhorse Inn.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulton,_Suffolk

2m FT8 RX

Amazing!! I remained on 2m FT8  RX overnight and have spotted loads of stations in the last 6 hours alone (see photo). I shall stay on 2m FT8 RX all day. Best DX is OM6DC (1360km). Seeing I just use a big-wheel omni antenna, I find this mind boggling.

Stations spotted here on 2m FT8 in the 

last 6 hours using just the omni antenna!

UPDATE 1330z: 52 stations in 9 countries spotted on 2m FT8 in just the last 6 hours! Quite incredible. Who said no activity on 2m?

UPDATE 1603z: Now 74 different stations in 10 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 in the last 12 hours.

Sunspots - Sunday January 20th 2019

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN zero. A=4 and K=1.

Cinema - NOT amateur radio

This afternoon we went to the cinema in Ely to see "The Favourite".  It was a good film about Queen Anne in the early 18th century. Actually, not a film I expected to enjoy, but I did.