New website live

www.g3xbm.co.uk is now pointing to the new site. If there are any issues or you notice wrong pictures or errors, please let me know ASAP. For a while things may be wrong. Overall, things should be at least as good as the old site finally.

Cygnets - NOT amateur radio

This is the time of year when swans nest and have cygnets. They are at the mercy of foxes and similar predators. I doubt they will all survive. They look sweet but nature is cruel. 

Sunspots - Monday May 17th 2021

 Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 11.  A=5 and K=1.

10m FT8 RX

For about 30 minutes I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop (see photo). So far today I have spotted 84 stations including a number in South America and the Caribbean. 

You can see what I am spotting on PSKreporter.

As I mentioned earlier, I reckon this loop (the old Whizz Loop) is probably 10dB down on an external dipole. I hope to get a 10m dipole up this week, possibly with a 6m dipole too.

UPDATE 1914z:  185 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

77.5 GHz EME

This video was made in May 2013, but I have only just seen it. This is definitely pushing the boundaries. Makes my efforts seem distinctly average, HI.

Covid-19 humour - NOT amateur radio

 

Seen on social media earlier. 

Vegetables - NOT amateur radio

This year, I am trying my hand at growing tomatoes and runner beans. This is an experiment as I am definitely not an expert! 

It is probably cheaper to buy them at the nearest supermarket! The photo shows the runner beans just planted.  I have a few left over, so these needed putting in a suitable place.

Loops

My loop antenna works better than I expected. I stayed off 10m last year mostly as I did not have a suitable external antenna. 

At the moment I am using an old Whizz Loop on 20m-10m. It is easy to tune and just sits on the shack windowsill. I have a better loop that I have used in the past on 10m (see photo).

My guess is the loop currently used is about 10dB down on a dipole. This is an estimate based on the stations I am not spotting. Nonetheless it works quite well for something so small with just a wire inductor about 50cms across. The "proper" 10m loop has a much thicker made of central heating pipe. It is far sharper, but harder to tune, but probably several dBs better.

What has surprised me is it the Whizz-Loop has even spanned the Atlantic several times with QRP FT8 on 17m.

I hope to get a 10m dipole up outside next week. I could make it cover 6m as well.

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

Pendulum swings - NOT amateur radio

 "What goes around comes around".

This is a phrase I know well. When I was at work people were always finding newer, better, ways to work. The only trouble was we tried these 30 years earlier!!

So it is with equality.   

Let me say from the outset that I am all for equal opportunity. To me, it matters not whether your skin is black, white, red or purple. It does not matter whether you live in the worst slums in the world or the poshest house.  Gender does not matter. What gender your partner is doesn't matter.  Also, I do not agree with privilege as a result of who you are or the wealth you inherited. We all should have equal rights as human beings.

At the moment, we seem to seek equality, yet many are afraid to speak out in case they are labelled as politically incorrect. 

We should work towards a fair society, but learn from the past.

Soccer: UK FA cup - NOT amateur radio

Although not a great football fan, I watched the FA cup yesterday between Chelsea and Leicester.  Leicester won the game 1:0. It was good to see them win. They surprised many a few years ago by topping the Premier League and have done pretty well this season.