4m FT8 (Friday)

 As HF looks to be disturbed, I am again on 4m FT8 with my makeshift antenna. At 1043z, no spots.

UPDATE 1245z:  No spots of me, but G4HGI (244km) spotted on 4m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1416z: GW8ASA (301km) has again spotted me at similar levels to yesterday.

UPDATE 1421z: Nothing outside of the UK so far on 4m FT8. Rather surprised there are not many more stations on 4m FT8. I expect this will change in the Es season.

Lightning

One of the pleasures of UK winter is the usual absence of thunder and lightning. In the UK they can occur, but they are far more common in the summer. 

Although I know the chances of a direct strike are low, they do occur. I know of 2 friends who had this. One of the more common things is a power surge as storms approach.

What I tend to do is keep a watchful eye on approaching storms. If there is any danger, I disconnect everything: antennas, mains plugs etc.. I have no idea if this is the correct strategy. My view is it is better to be safe than sorry.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/lightning-maps .

CME

It looks like the coming days (especially today) could see quite disturbed solar conditions due to a coronal mass ejection (CME) on the sun. I am not clever enough to know how this will effect HF and low VHF.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/ .

Red Kites (birds) - NOT amateur radio

Until these birds were re-introduced in England some years ago, you would only see them normally in Wales. Now they are a quite common sight especially near motorways where they seek out road kill.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/red-kite.

Sunspots - Friday March 24th 2023

Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 73. A=60 and K=7. Disturbed!! 

Low cost RF modules

A few moments ago I took a peek at RF modules on eBay. This is just one that will cover many bands. Someone much fitter than me could probably design some useful kit around these.

Signs of spring?

In the UK, clocks go forward an hour on Sunday morning to British Summer Time (BST). Already there are promises of better days to come. Weeping willow trees often have hints of green before most others. This one in Ely a few days ago thinks it is spring!

I like the spring as it is the season of new hope after a long, dark winter. The blossom does not last long, but it beautiful for a while. I prefer the spring to the summer.

Under water - NOT amateur radio

 

These were photographed by a friend earlier this week in Letchworth.

Unused spectrum - NOT amateur radio

OFCOM is consulting on the future use of the 1900-1920 MHz spectrum. See the OFCOM website for details. Apparently these frequencies are allocated, but not used. 

4m FT8

 At the moment I am again on 70.154 MHz FT8 with my big-wheel 2m omni and coax tuned via the auto-ATU in the FT-710.  At 1029z, no spots. I have yet to be spotted on 4m, although my "antenna" does not help!

UPDATE 1226z: Well, my 4m "antenna" is working with 3 stations spotted and one spotting me - G4HGI (244km). 

UPDATE  1241z: I would imagine that most propagation is one of the following: flat-band propagation, tropo enhancement, MS or scatter. As Bas says in the comments, the Es season is probably some months away still.

UPDATE 1515z:  G3SHK (200km) has been spotted, and has spotted me, on 4m FT8 (see map).  M0RJV (91km) has spotted me.  Still to have my first FT8 QSO on 4m. The impression I am left with is this band is very under-used apart from (maybe?) during the Es season.

UPDATE 1630z:   My first ever 4m FT8 QSO has happened. GW8ASA (301km) was worked this afternoon using the 8m dipole and the internal auto ATU.

Stations spotting me
today on 4m FT8 TX

UPDATE 1907z:   No further stations spotted.

UPDATE 2115z:   QRT.