2 Apr 2023

6m FT8

Already 18 spots of me (I have been on for about 30 minutes) with the furthermost SP9LJE (1259km). Only G3XDV spotted on RX so far. 

UPDATE 0949z: 20 stations in 4 countries have so far spotted me on 6m FT8 TX with the omni V2000 vertical antenna.

Plans for Sunday

Currently, I hope to be on 6m FT8. It is still a bit too early for the big Es openings but, despite this, I seem to be widely spotted. 

I think I shall give 8m a miss until a bit later in the spring. Then I hope to monitor both FT8 and WSPR at just above 40.680 MHz.

Amateur radio below 9kHz

 


This was 2011. It is a long time since I did experiments at sub-9kHz

4m Homebrew transverter

 


I came across this photo yesterday. 

"Our" windmill - NOT amateur radio



This photo was taken in 2016 and shows our windmill next door.  The windmill is part of the very impressive Burwell Museum that opens next weekend after the winter.  It is open Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays Easter until late October. The views from the fully restored 200 year old windmill are impressive.

15m Pipit transceiver



This photo of my homebrew 15m QRP CW transceiver was found when I was looking through some old stuff. This was an 800mW transceiver. It worked very well and was the only rig used for several months.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/15m-qrp-cw-pipit .

Sunspots - Sunday April 2nd 2023

 Solar flux is 125 and the SSN 23. A=13 and K=3. 

1 Apr 2023

4m EI4RF beacon - 70.013 MHz

Currently I am on 70.013 MHz FT8 RX, hoping to see the EI4RF beacon, that I believe has some FT8 sequences.  I am not hopeful. They say tune to 70.012 for FT8.

See https://www.qrz.com/db/EI4RF

UPDATE 2050z:  Nothing seen. I shall try for another 20 minutes or so and then call it a night.

UPDATE 2116z:   Still nothing. QRT.

6m MSK144

At the moment I am trying MSK144 on 50.280 MHz in a test with OZ9FZ.

UPDATE 2122z:   Nothing so QSYed to 4m FT8 RX.

Bicone antennas

Sometimes people want a wideband antenna covering several bands. One to consider is the bicone. these can be quite large, but can cover several bands.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biconical_antenna .