10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

 

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon made by W5OLF has been spotted by 3 stations today so far.

UPDATE 1035z:  7 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1249z:  USA started spotting me on 10m QRP WSPR today shortly after 1200z.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear has been TXing since breakfast. Yesterday my QRP 6m  FT8 from the QMX+ was spotted in the USA + Canada and I spotted both here too. So far this morning just English stations are spotting me.

UPDATE 1029z:  11 stations have spotted me including 1 OK station.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 31st

 Solar flux is 224 and the SSN 183. A=7 and K=2.

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at 0750z. At 0817z 7 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 0938z:  12 stations have spotted me today on 6m FT8.

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My beacon was turned on at 0748z.

UPDATE 1128z:  11 stations have spotted me.

RSGB proofreading (NOT!!)

One of my Christmas presents was a book on the history of the G-QRP Club that has been going for 50 years. I was more interested in the content than the cover, but was horrified to see the spine had a glaring spelling error which will be seen every time it’s put on a shelf!  Is this not checked?

I once noticed an obvious spelling mistake on the front cover of RadCom.

To be honest I am appalled that such basic errors occur. I know the organisation depends heavily on volunteers, but this is not excusable. It gives the impression the RSGB is incompetent.

Come on RSGB!!

Sunspots - Monday December 30th

 Solar flux is 255 and the SSN 209. A=5 and K=2.

Highlight of Christmas - NOT amateur radio

There’s no doubt that the highlight for us this Christmas, and our moment of greatest pride, was seeing our youngest granddaughter performing ballet in front of 2 future UK kings and many royal and other guests in Westminster Abbey in Kate’s carol service. 

Apologies for the lines, but this was a TV screen grab.

If it was me I would have been extremely nervous. She was not at all!

6m FT8

Most days I go on 6m FT8 with my QMX+ transceiver. I think that every day I have been on recently I have been spotted somewhere in continental Europe. 

If I am able to do this with just a few watts and a vertical omni antenna, it proves how useful 6m can be. Imagine if you had a reasonable beam and more power. You would have an ERP increase of several dB improving the chances of being copied even more.

In the last 30 minutes I have been spotted in Latvia, Germany and Holland on 6m FT8.

Working Russians

Well before the end of the USSR, I remember working loads of stations in the USSR and getting QSL cards. 

I have no problem at all with the people in Russia and am happy to work them or get reports on FT8 or WSPR.   

In a small way, amateur radio breaks down barriers. I like to think that whatever the race, colour, wealth or nationality, it makes no difference. After all, we all share this planet and are all human beings.