Sunspots and 10m - Sat Sept 12th 2015

Sunspot number has risen to 79 (K=3) but 10m conditions are expected to be "poor" again today.

Still Es on 10m WSPR

It pays to have a WSPR beacon running on 10m. Even this late in the season, there is still some Es about and at unusual times. The following stations managed to copy my 500mW WSPR beacon in the last 12 hours:

Unique stations spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon in last 12 hrs

In may cases they copied me several times. These are just the unique stations, not all the reports. In the meantime, 6m WSPR has been very quiet.

For those prepared to look, there is Es at most times of the year. OK, not as common as in the main Es the season, but it is there at times. This is where WSPR beaconing really shows its worth. I hope to continue 10m WSPR beaconing whenever the antenna is available. The overnight results last night convince me more than ever the worth in doing this.

Still quiet on 10m and 6m WSPR

I have been on 10m and 6m WSPR all day but only local G4IKZ (18km) has been spotting me on 10m. No signs of Es on either bands, so far.

Simple 28MHz WSPR (or PSK31) RX

Facebook is throwing up memories from 3 years ago and one of these was a schematic for my WSPR RX for 10m, using low cost 14.060MHz crystals with a Polyakov mixer (injection at half signal frequency) The circuit worked well and could also be used for PSK31. Essentially this is a direct conversion receiver, but it mattered not. Even if you bought all parts new it is very inexpensive.  3 years later I would replace the 2 diodes by Schottky ones as these are now low cost and need less injection than the silicon ones shown.

More rallies

I have been informed of more radio rallies:

"Sunday 13 SEPTEMBER : ANDOVER RAC BOOT SALE
Wildhern Village Hall, SP11 0JE. CP, £2 - Buyers, £8 - Boots, £10 - tables in the hall (book ASAP). OT 9:30/10am, TS, CBS, C, DF, WIN. Martin, M0MWS 07776 181 646

Sunday 13 SEPTEMBER : BRITISH VINTAGE WIRELESS SOCIETY MURPHY DAY
Mill Green Museum, Hatfield AL9 5PD. www.bvws.org.uk.

Sunday 13 SEPTEMBER : TORBAY ANNUAL COMMUNICATIONS FAIR
Newton Abbot Racecourse, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 3AF. B&B, C, DF, RSGB book stall, OT 9.30/10am, £2. Mike Dixon, leave message on 01803 557 941, rally@tars.org.uk.

Sunday 13 SEPTEMBER : WEST KENT ARS RADIO AND ELECTRONICS FAIR
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, St John's Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9XB. TI, CP, £3, 9.45/10am, TS, B&B, C. Dave, G4OTV, 07795 211 166, rally@wkars.org.uk. www.wkars.org.uk.

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

Sunspots and 10m - Friday Sept 11th 2015

Sunspot number is 42 (K=7 which is disturbed) and 10m propagation is "poor".  It is very unlikely 10m will be any good today. Unless there is some rare Es, 6m is likely to be a total dead loss again today.

10m and 6m WSPR

Just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me on 10m WSPR today and, so far, no spots at all given or received on 6m WSPR today.

Magnetic Loops on HF TX

It is some while since I used a magnetic loop antenna on HF TX, but these antennas work well, if you can accept their very narrow bandwidth. In fact the sharper the tuning, the more efficient it is likely to be. I used a small magnetic loop made with small-bore central heating copper pipe and was amazed how well it worked with WSPR spots from Japan on 20m with the loop in the shack, which was an upstairs bedroom at the time. Ideal applications are where frequent retuning is not needed such as PSK31, JT65 or WSPR. On 10m they can be very efficient. Even on 20m I was very impressed. Bandwidths are usually measured in kilohertz. Losses have to be kept low if they are to be efficient. Even thin wire will work but the antenna will not be as efficient. As a minimum coax cable or copper pipe should be used for the loop. At QRP powers ordinary air-spaced capacitors work fine to bring the loop to resonance. At 100W these may well arc over.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/magloop .

Aldeburgh trip - NOT amateur radio

Cottage next to Ufford Church

Today we went to Aldeburgh on the East Coast of East Anglia. We stopped at Snape Maltings for lunch and stopped at Ufford Church on the way there and Blythburgh Church on the way home. Both are famous. At Aldeburgh we saw the famous shell sculpture on the beach. Some hate it, but it is quite dramatic. I like it. It stands about 4m high. At 154 miles, round trip, this was my longest drive since my stroke. At the end I was tired, but it was a lovely day out in the September sunshine.

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

Shell sculpture on beach at Aldeburgh

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Sept 10th 2015

Sunspot number is 49 today (K=1) but 10m is expected to remain "poor".