Sunspots - Tuesday June 29th 2021

 Solar flux is 89 and the SSN 50. A=4 and K=0.

Replacing the slats - NOT amateur radio

The 200 year old windmill next door is being repainted. Today, they've started to put the slats back on the sails. 

Backscatter compendium

The microwave bands are an area of amateur radio that I have never got seriously interested in, although we can only do so much I guess. Quite a few people are doing ATV at 5.6GHz using low cost modules.

Years ago I bought the "Backscatter compendium". This is now available free to download. 

See https://www.microwavers.org/backscatter.htm .

30THz tests

 Working on optical frequencies at 481THz seems easier!

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

We are lucky to see quite a lot of some of the grandchildren. 

Here two of them are with their granny. 

eBay fan - NOT amateur radio

Talking about eBay made me think about a fan my wife bought off eBay many years ago. See photo of the fan.

PFX Manual

 Years ago, I worked on the Pye PFX.  An old friend has just pointed me to a PFX service manual for sale on eBay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pye-PFX-Pocketfone-VHF-UHF-FM-Transceiver-Reference-35-06-2021-/133800248662?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

I have just spotted that it was my personal copy with my name on it!

No, I shall not be bidding, HI.

The PFX was widely used by the UK police and some were used on 70cm. It was the first synthesised portable Pye Telecom ever made. It had a few false starts, but was very successful in the end. The PF85 was a crystal controlled handheld using many of the same modules.

10m FT8 RX with the indoor loop

At about 0750z, I turned on the 10m FT8 RX with the 50cm diameter indoor loop. So far, 2 Iberian spots on RX.

UPDATE 1022z:  Now 30 stations spotted on RX with furthermost 5T5PA (3791km).

UPDATE 1142z:  59 stations spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1545z:  86 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

Sunspots - Monday June 28th 2021

 Solar flux is 87 and the SSN 32.  A=4 and K=0. 

Earth-mode VLF

Earth-mode is a form of VLF communication that is open to all. With 5W I managed to cover 6km, although far further should be possible even with the same gear. I have updated my webpage to include a link to my earth-mode blog showing my experiments some years ago. 

My understanding is this does not require a UK licence, but check with OFCOM as I cannot give legal advice.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vlf/vlf-earth-mode .