Sunspots - Sunday February 23rd 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 0. A=9 and K=0.

Back on 80m WSPR with the ferrite rod antenna

Yet again I am on 80m WSPR using the ferrite rod antenna. As of now I have still to get a single spot on TX! I suspect the signal is just too weak to be copied above the radio smog at many urban locations in Europe.

UPDATE 1842z:  Lots of WSPR stations spotted but still no spots of my signal on TX.

UPDATE 2025z:  At last! 3 spots of me by DK6UG (633km)!  At - 30dB S/N is marginal but with such a tiny antenna this is not bad.

Granddaughter - NOT amateur radio

This was our granddaughter earlier. She is 8 and keen on reading... oh and the iPad!

Grandson yesterday - NOT amateur radio

Our elder grandson climbing a tree at Hare Park yesterday.

No success on 80m WSPR TX with the ferrite rod antenna

Even though I remained on 80m WSPR overnight, not a single spot of my 2.5W transmit bursts received. It works well on RX but must just be too weak to be copied. I shall try for longer but fear it will be unsuccessful.

The table shows the unique stations spotted. Note that many were spotted multiple times.

Stations spotted on
80m WSPR RX overnight
with the ferrite rod antenna 

Sunspots - Sunday February 22nd 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=14 and K=3.

80m ferrite rod TX antenna

After removing the tape, I was able to resonate W5OLF's ferrite on the 80m FT8 frequency. On RX it is copying lots of stations (45 so far) with best a Russian at 3300km.

No spots yet on TX (1W) but I shall keep trying. Both the ferrite and fixed capacitor are cold suggesting the ferrite is well below saturation. The ferrite is just sitting on the shack bench oriented for best NVIS pickup. See photo.

UPDATE 1902z: 211 stations spotted on 80m FT8 RX with the ferrite rod on the shack bench. No TX spots. Power increased to 2.5W. Still NVIS orientation.

UPDATE 1912z:  Changed orientation of antenna to vertical. Still no TX spots. Remember that FT8 is about 10dB less sensitive than WSPR.  Surprised that not a single spot yet received.

UPDATE 2012z:  264 stations spotted on 80m FT8 RX, but no spots on TX (2.5W) so far.

UPDATE 2023z: Switched to 80m WSPR at the same power although I am unsure how much WSPR there is these days on 80m. SWR is excellent.

UPDATE 2100: I am puzzled. I reset the WSJT-X program and copied a DL station on 80m WSPR RX, but this failed to upload to the WSPR database. I am pretty sure that my internet is working. On another site all seemed well. No TX spots on WSPR. HB9AFZ (900km) was a strong -14dB S/N on WSPR just now. Also copied were a couple of German stations. None of these stations appeared, so I am wondering if the fault is at the WSPRnet end?

UPDATE 2124z: Fault found!  I had my callsign with a space behind the last character. When this was removed the RX spots appeared. Still no TX spots, but I am pleasantly surprised by the number of WSPR stations active on 80m.

UPDATE 2230z: Just gone back to horizontal orientation on the shelf above the rig. No TX spots. I shall leave things running overnight. Rechecked the match is best. As I have received not a single TX spot all evening with the antenna vertical and horizontal, I am wondering if my signal is just too weak to be copied in the noise smog that many stations suffer from? If there are any automatic RX stations spotting through the night when noise tends to be lower, I might get the odd spot.

Eating lunch at the local farm shop - NOT amateur radio

After visiting Hare Park, Chippenham near us in Cambridgeshire, we visited our local farm shop for lunch. It was very busy. The photo shows our elder grandson tucking in.

Simple 10GHz wideband FM transceivers

With the availability of very low cost HB100 10GHz Doppler radar modules on eBay, many are trying their hands at very simple WBFM transceivers on 10GHz.

It should be possible to make a complete 10GHz WBFM transceiver with no 10GHz engineering at all.

In Italy, some have put these at the focal point of parabolic dishes and achieved some incredible ranges on ATV.  If I was a bit fitter this would be something I would have a go at (WBFM). A pair of HB100 10GHz modules could be bought for less than £5! The cheapest I have recently seen is just over £5.

See https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/teardown-tuesday-hb100-doppler-radar-module/

2m FT8

As of about 1300z, I QSYed to 2m FT8 calling CQ initially, now RX only.

UPDATE 1350z: 10 stations spotted my CQ call with best DX a spot by GI6ATZ (479km). So far, nothing reported to PSKreporter on RX, although the internet has been off.

UPDATE 1520z: A solid 2-way QSO with GI6ATZ just now on 2m FT8. Aircraft reflection or flat band tropo? Whatever, this is amazing range possible at almost any time on 2m. On 2m FT8 RX it shows no spots on 2m today on 2m FT8. This is rubbish as I have copied Germany and several Gs already. Perhaps my upload is not working? Time for a reset!

UPDATE 1550z: Reset done. RX spots being reported now to PSKreporter. 5 spots in the last 15 minutes.