8m experiment (Thursday)

My QRP TX has been on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 TX since just after 0800z. Already spotted by HC02 in southern Portugal. 

UPDATE 1121z: 3 spots of my QRP FT8 so far today. Currently QRT as rig cools. Hope to be back on FT8 TX at 1130z.

Poor Es day?

Certainly here, today was a very poor Es day, with no spots of me at all on 10m WSPR or 8m FT8. 

As the season progresses, I guess we will get more poor Es days.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better, although with sporadic-E (Es) things are "sporadic". 

I have seen 6m Es QRP SSB as late as September. The main season is May, June and July.

10m QRP WSPR TX

Although I have had my 500mW beacon on most of the afternoon, nobody has yet spotted me. It almost feels as those long days of Es are coming to a close. Es will still be around, but we have to expect days when it will be absent.

In my experience, I have worked 6m SSB QRP DX as late as September.

Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks, I give an update on activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. The last time I checked was early evening in Europe on Wednesday. Activity is still low. 

As an example, 3B8GL was calling CQ on SSB with a decent signal for ages with no takers!

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Friedrichshafen

 This is the biggest amateur gathering in Europe and runs from June 24-26th.

See www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de

8m experiment (Wednesday)

Later, I hope to be on 8m TX on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 (first). It is now 1243z. 

UPDATE 1439z: Now on 8m FT8 TX. Intensely frustrated that in the UK we have to pay for access to 8m, when OFCOM could have allocated 40.680-40.685 MHs (just 5 kHz), by NoV, to the amateur service, narrow digital only, no speech, to encourage self training and research. Frankly I find the OFCOM and RSGB position totally and unbelievably bizarre! No, totally STUPID!!!

Ely Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

 

A view across the meadow. 

Tallinn - NOT amateur radio

This photo shows the capital of Estonia 4 years ago. 

Accessing DMR via your PC for free ?

There are great opportunities with DMR. However, like many, I have no wish to get a DMR portable or external to the PC unit to act as a bridge. 

What I am wondering is is it possible to access DMR via the PC alone using some kind of gateway? If you know of a way, please let me know. 

Sunspots - Wednesday June 22nd 2022

Solar flux is 139 and the SSN 104. A=8 and K=2.