The changing nature of amateur radio

This is perhaps because I am older now, but my perspective on amateur radio has changed. This weekend in the UK is VHF NFD. I went on 70cm SSB briefly yesterday afternoon to work a local and have not been on since. At one time I would have been really keen.

Operating SSB and FM no longer give me great pleasure and chasing DX on all bands has lost its thrall. Much operation has moved to FT8 and fewer people use amateur radio for chatting.

Many are plagued with high local noise levels. Up to now, this has not been a real problem here. although I am aware of noise levels as high as 70cm getting worse.

Overall, I am more interested in seeing where my QRP signal reaches and far less interested in 2-way contacts.

10m FT8 (Sunday)

Stations spotted on
10m FT8 RX today

Until I fix the issues with 10m FT8 on the QMX+ I am using my FT817ND. So far, my 2.5W has been spotted by 13 stations mostly in Europe and I have spotted 33 stations here including quite a few in South America (see map).

We have friends staying, so I cannot pay attention to my QMX+ at the moment. After they have gone I shall see what I can do.

UPDATE  1417z:  Spotted by LU1DX (11410km).

European Es (Sunday)

The Es season in Europe seems to be continuing. Peak months are May, June and July.  With FT8 and WSPR, I expect quite a few spots though August and beyond.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

Bowringsleigh - NOT amateur radio

The weekend before last my brother in Devon had his church fete in the grounds of this fine house shown in the photo. It is called Bowringsleigh House. As you can see the weather was perfect.

QMX+ fixes

Thank you for all the help to overcome the few issues I had with my QMX+ transceiver. This is a great radio and I am well pleased with it. 

I have still to try the fixes recommended for it, but this should make a great radio even better!

My recommendations for future software/firmware updates are:

• Digital RX audio level adjustable with the volume control knob.
• Increase the default digital RX audio levels on higher bands.
• RF power output adjustable in the menu (power output shown on display as adjusted).
• WSPR level (especially in beacon mode) defaults to a safe level to protect the PA devices.
• Add SSB!
• Make the audio sound card(s) in the QMX+ always be recognised by a Windows PC.
• Make 8m (40.680 MHz) a selectable band.

I am aware that not all may be possible, but these are the things that come to mind. There must be others too.

Sunspots - Sunday July 7th

 Solar flux is 166 and the SSN 132. A=3 and K=2.

Peterborough Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo collage shows Peterborough Cathedral on Thursday.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

As 10m was open to Iberia, I thought I would try 8m QRP FT8. At 1719z, no spots.

UPDATE  1628z:  Spotted by EA7KBX (1661km). No QSOs.

Pathfinders - NOT amateur radio

My dad died in 1987, long after WW2. He lived a quiet life in the years before he died. In his life he rarely talked about his experiences in the war and my biggest regret was not trying to understand just how frightening this must have been.

I am pretty sure he did not like the war. However, he became a pathfinder flying night raids over Germany in Lancasters. In recent years I have found out just how brave these elite airmen were. Night after night they flew not knowing if they would be killed or captured. After the war the knowledge that many innocent men, women and children just like him must have died as a result must have haunted him. No wonder he did not want to talk about those dark days!

Recently I have been introduced to a book called "The Pathfinders" by Will Iredale that shows the story behind the formation of this group.The book is available from Amazon and other booksellers.

Wars achieve very little for most ordinary folk who just want to live in peace. I am pretty sure this was how my dad felt, but he had no choice.

10m QRP FT8 with the QMX+ (Saturday)

 Although my 10m FT8 RX is currently deaf, my TX is working just fine, so I have QSYed to 10m FT8. At 1432z, my QRP 10m FT8  has been spotted by just 2 G stations. On RX, despite being deaf, a 7Q6 in Malawi,  several EU stations and one in the Gulf have been spotted.

In past sunspot maximum years, I would have been a keen SSB operator, whereas now I am almost exclusively on FT8 or WSPR and not chasing DX.

UPDATE 1700z:  My furthermost on 10m QRP FT8 TX today with the QMX+ is TR8CA (5820km) in Gabon. Much to my surprise with my 10m FT8 RX audio still being in the red on WSJT-X, I have spotted 53 stations today on 10m FT8 RX.

Melons - NOT amateur radio

 

The melons in the photo were in Peterborough on Thursday.

15m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

So far today my 15m QRP FT8 has been spotted by 156 stations worldwide (see photo) with the QMX+ transceiver.

UPDATE 1348z: 233 stations across the world have spotted my QRP 15m FT8 today.

Peterborough lunch - NOT amateur radio

On Thursday, we went to Peterborough by coach with our village history society. The main purpose was a guided tour of the cathedral, but there was plenty of time to walk around the city and have lunch. We ate at Cote Peterborough. 

As usual we were not disappointed. I like that service charge is added to the bill so there is no messing about with tips. I hate having to add this on and wonder how much to give. This way all staff get a share.   The photo shows my starter.

QMX+ bug?

In most respects I am very pleased with my built QMX+ from QRP labs.  It represents good value for money and does "what is says on the tin" well. Mine has been used exclusively on FT8 with WSJT-X with a Windows 10 PC. 

This morning my 15m QRP FT8 was spotted in Japan. My antenna is just a Par endfed.

It works fine on all the bands I have tried, but I may have a bug! 

On FT8 RX with WSJT-X the RX audio is fine on the lower bands, but seems too low on the higher HF bands remaining in the red on WSJT-X on all bands above 15m. It is as if the RX audio on digital modes from the QMX+ is too low. Just occasionally it just makes green on 10m FT8 RX, but this seems "flaky".  

All PC settings are on maximum. I am not sure if this is adjustable inside the box or can be fixed in the firmware/software. I am hoping there is something I can do to fix this.

VHF NFD 2024

In the UK VHF NFD is this weekend. It is a pity the weather is wet here! This is a chance to work some new squares on the VHF/UHF bands up to 23cm as activity can be good.

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/rules/2024/VHFNFD.shtml.

UPDATE 1422z:  The impression I am getting is that activity is down.  This may be due to the poor weather in this part of the UK or just that SSB is less popular than it once was. Local noise levels are higher too.

Sunspots - Saturday July 6th

 Solar flux is 166 and the SSN 111.  A=8 and K=0.

10m QRP FT8 (Friday)

At 1221z, 139 stations spotted me and I spotted 137 stations using my QMX+ rig.

Stations spotting my
10m QRP FT8 today

UPDATE 1736z: 425 stations have spotted me and 399 stations spotted by me on 10m QRP FT8.  My QMX+ may not be perfect (yet), but the results speak for themselves!

UPDATE 1841z:  435 stations have spotted my 10m QRP FT8 today.  400 stations spotted here.

Rallies this Sunday

 It looks like this is quite a busy Sunday for UK rallies. As always, I recommend checking with organisers to check the data is correct.

• Sunday July 7th - Barford Norfolk Radio Rally, Barford, Norwich, NR9 4AB. Contact radio@dcmicro.com.
• Sunday July 7th - British Vintage wireless Society (BVWS), Swapmeet for BVS members only, Royal Wootton Bassett.
• Sunday July 7th - Cornish Amateur Radio Club Rally, Truro TR1 1TN. Contact Ken 01209 821073.

QMX+ summary ..... so far

After owning and using my built and cased QMX+ for a few weeks , these are my initial thoughts. I don't think they are "finger trouble", but if they are my apologies to Hans!

• It is basically a very good rig.
• There are still a few bugs, which are preventing me fully enjoying it on FT8.
• Much like the QDX, I am finding the recognition of the QMX+ audio by a Windows 10 PC "flaky".
• The lack of a QMX+ manual is regrettable.

Overall, with these things corrected it represents very good value for money. Perhaps some of these things will be addressed in later firmware updates. 

Maybe, it needs more testing before release with a Windows machine and more testing in digital modes?

10m QRP WSPR (Friday)

So far, 8 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon in the last 12 hours as shown in the WSPR Rocks map courtesy of Phil VK7JJ.