Stroke update - NOT amateur radio

Over 3 years on now, and I am still affected by my stroke.

My main issues remain my poor voice, drinks, and giddiness/tiredness when on my feet. Overall, I am frustrated, although I know the sooner I come to terms with the new "me" the better. I feel unable to do the things that once would have been so easy. Compared with many I came off lightly. Outwardly, I look fully recovered, which is probably why I feel so frustrated. If there are now any improvements, they are painfully slow.

Nobody, and I really mean nobody, really understands: doctors and others think they understand, but they do not. For years now I have been living a sort of half-life.

Happy Christmas

May I take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2017?  I try to write about what I have done and what interests me and hope you are able to find something of interest here or on my webpages at www.g3xbm.co.uk .

Most days the blog gets updated, unless I am away or too unwell.

For some, Christmas can be a stressful time. Whilst most are happy and with friends, some are lonely and feel unloved. If you feel this way, please accept my love - that sounds naff, but you know what I mean.

Return to MF

At around 1735z I went QRT on 10m JT65 and moved to 472kHz (630m) WSPR (5mW ERP).  Plenty of spots with best DX on TX being G4FTC (123km) in IO91 square.

From the drift reports, I am still settling. This is the crystal in the transverter warming up.

As last season, I am using my own transverter design to my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This design was in QST in September 2016. Although the transverter puts out 10-15W, the earth-electrode "antenna" is not too efficient and the measured ERP is only 5mW.

Nebula picture - NOT amateur radio

This image of the Christmas Tree Cluster (2500 light years away) was on the Twitter feed from @marsrader. Although I have a Twitter account I rarely use it, but get sent an email about postings most days.

Eating Dahlias - NOT amateur radio

My wife is reading a Winston Graham book that mentioned eating dahlia roots as an alternative to potatoes. So, as you do, I googled "eating dahlias". It turns out that these were originally from Mexico and were, at one time, a low cost alternative to potatoes.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/22185875

Elector free of 3 months

The electronic edition (plus 1 paper copy) will be available free for a few months. The offer runs out shortly.  See https://www.elektormagazine.com/pages/newsletter . I cannot see the catch. Maybe they assume if you like the free ones you will sign up when the free ones end?

If my memory serves me correctly, this started as a Dutch mag that went international in the late 1960s or early 1970s?

MLS discount for Christmas

One of the largest UK amateur radio retailers, MLS, is offering a £15 discount this Christmas for orders over £150. I suspect that orders are "thin" at this time of the year and this is to encourage us to spend. You cannot blame them.

Eire and 5MHz

Thanks to Southgate News I have learnt that radio amateurs in Eire are gaining access to the WRC15 5MHz allocation right away.

See http://ei7gl.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/irish-radio-amateurs-gain-secondary.html

"ComReg has just today published an amended version of the Amateur Station Guidelines in Document ComReg 09/45R2. The main revision is that the WRC-15 band of 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz has been released with immediate effect on a secondary basis. No application or fee is necessary for this segment. The power is 15 watts PEP (12dBW) measured at the output of the transmitter or amplifier. All modes including digimodes may be used. The WRC-15 decision was for 15 watts EIRP and this will be taken up with ComReg. The Society recommends that USB be used for voice as has been the convention on this band and as used by the primary user and that the provisional IARU band plan be used: 5351.5 - 5354.0 kHz CW, Narrow band Modes
5354.0 - 5366.0 kHz All modes USB for voice
5366.0 - 5366.5 kHz weak signal narrow band modes."

I have said many times that the 5MHz (60m) band will become increasingly important as the solar activity declines.

Well, THAT was a surprise - 10m DX

V53DX (8471km) in Namibia (JG87 square) has been spotted here on 10m JT65. This was a total surprise!

G0CHE (IO90) replied to his CQ, although my spot of him was not uploaded to PSK reporter.

UPDATE 1402z:  No other 10m JT65 spots since.

UPDATE 1534z: Still no further 10m JT65 spots. I guess any South Americans will come through in the next few hours, if at all.

UPDATE 1725z: No further 10m DX. Time to QSY to 630m.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday December 24th 2016 (Christmas Eve)

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number zero. A=24 and K=3. If we get any 10m DX today I shall be pleasantly surprised.

Keep an eye/ear out for winter Es though. In the UK this could be Europeans on 10m. It happens most years. With JT65 we have no excuse.

Back on 472kHz (630m) WSPR

Since about 1714z I have returned to 472kHz WSPR. Best TX DX (5mW ERP) is G8HUH (250km).

WSJT-X v1.7

One thing to be aware of with WSJT v1.7 is the TX watchdog timer. I was on 10m JT65 and was wondering why the "TX enable" kept going off. Then the penny dropped. There is a TX watchdog  timer which by default is set to a number of minutes. If beaconing, this has to be set to "never" so the TX continues. Since adjusting this, I have had no further problems on JT65.

Bridge at Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

Everything looks wintery at this time of year. It is little wonder that Christmas, and before that a pagan festival, is held close to the winter solstice.

Another month and new growth starts to appear clearly. By mid January there should be some snowdrops and daffodils. Dark nights, short days - roll on spring!

Sunspots and 10m - Friday December 23rd 2016

Solar flux is 74 today. Sunspot number is 12.  A=24 and K=4.

10m JT65

We should soon see the small winter peak in Es bringing more Europeans in on 10m JT65. I returned to 10m after breakfast using WSJT-X v1.7 after an evening and overnight on MF (630m). On MF the best TX DX was again DL-SWL (701km).

As yet, no 10m spots.

Winter Trees - NOT amateur radio

Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge yesterday. There were a few daffodils out at the end of November last year but none this year. Just one patch of snowdrops so far. Another month and things will really be happening.

472kHz (630m) WSPR

For the last few hours I have been on 472kHz (630m) WSPR (5mW ERP) using WSJT-X v1.7. I expect to remain on MF overnight. Best DX is again DL-SWL (701km) but this may be bettered during the night. There was a new reporter G4ETG (44km).

Burwell Museum - NOT amateur radio

See https://www.facebook.com/burwellmuseum/

May I suggest ALL locals visit in 2017? It is probably the biggest and best local museum, certainly in the area and probably in the whole of the UK.  A real gem with so much to see and do. When they can't go, our little grandchildren cry!

Return to 10m JT65 (with WSJT-X v1.7)

My shack PC did a Windows update and WSJT v1.7 installed perfectly without me needing to manually install any missing files. I suspect my earlier issue may have been due to the Windows update.

Anyway, I am now back on 10m JT65, but as yet no spots.

Winter Sun - NOT amateur radio

We live next door to a windmill. Here it is bathed in winter sunshine.

OFCOM and 3.6GHz

OFCOM are looking at the 3GHz region of the spectrum and are consulting. This part of the microwave spectrum could be where 5G goes. With all this attention on parts of the spectrum ripe for commercial use (i.e. money), I hope this results in amateurs getting more access to low VHF and other less popular slices of the spectrum e.g. at HF, MF, VLF and ULF.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-3/changes-to-spectrum-trading-regulations

Shack PC and WSJT-X v1.7

Later today, I shall again try to install WSJT-X V1.7 on my shack PC and get active on JT65 again. If all else fails, I can swap the lounge and shack PCs, but that should not be necessary.

5MHz in Germany

My German is poor, but I think the Germans have been granted early access to the WRC15 15kHz wide band at 60m (5MHz).

I have said many times before, it would have been better if CEPT countries were allocated a contiguous 100kHz wide 60m band. 15kHz is good, but a wider band would have been so much better.

As the solar conditions worsen, the 60m band will become very important. As a secondary allocation, I am surprised that a contiguous wider band is not being allocated as many countries have daft allocations in channels, which differ around the world.

See http://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/hf/aktuelles/

SAQ this Christmas Eve?

Encouraging news from Sweden following the recent fire at SAQ (17.2kHz VLF):

"We are now planning for the traditional transmission with the Alexanderson 200 kW alternator on VLF 17.2 kHz on the morning of Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24. The message transmission will take place at 08:00 UTC and the transmitter will be tuned up from around 07:30 UTC.

Since the plant is old, there is always the risk that the transmission will be cancelled with short notice. An updated information will be published on our website www.alexander.n.se.

There will be activity on Amateur Radio Frequencies with the call SK6SAQ.
Frequencies: - 7,035 CW or 14,035 CW

QSL-reports on the SAQ transmission or SK6SAQ are kindly received via:
- E-mail to: info@alexander.n.se
- or via: SM bureau
- or direct by mail to:
Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner,
Radiostationen Grimeton 72
SE-432 98 GRIMETON
S W E D E N

The radio station will be open to visitors.

Welcome!

Yours
Lars SM6NM"

Low cost 10GHz

My thanks yet again to Southgate News for finding this very low cost approach to 10GHz. My friend G6ALB has also been using these low cost motion sensor modules at 10GHz.

See http://home.deds.nl/~knol/HB100/

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday December 22nd 2016

Solar flux is 75 today. Sunspot number is 15. A=23 and K=4, so things look quite disturbed.

WSJT-X V1.7

As yet, I have still to install V1.7 of this software on the shack PC. On another machine it installed OK. We had visitors this afternoon and I am still doing my tax return online. Basically I ran out of time.

Christmas Tree - NOT amateur radio

My wife took this photo of our Christmas tree earlier. My birthday is Friday and one son is coming up tomorrow. I hope we have a peaceful Christmas.

Winter Solstice Dec 21st - NOT amateur radio

So, we are at the turn of the year and the days get longer from now. Not before time! Although I enjoy all seasons and enjoy cosy dark evenings, I prefer lighter and longer days. The one thing I do not like is just how fast time seems to fly: it seems no time since the summer.

January always feels a long,dark month, but February flies by. Then it is March and spring is coming and lighter, brighter days.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday December 21st 2016

Solar flux is 77 today and the sunspot number 25. A=6 and K=1. Not too bad.

No WSPR or JT65 currently

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am downloading WSJT-X v1.7 to my shack PC, but it failed saying it was missing a dll. I have a clean copy of the file and have emailed it to myself and will try to reinstall on the shack PC later with this dll installed first. Until then, I am not currently active.  With Christmas, operation is likely to be intermittent!

WSJT-X and missing Qt5core.dll

WSJT-X V1.7 (available now from https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html) successfully installed on one PC but not on my shack PC saying "Qt5core.dll" was missing. Version 1.6 installed on the shack PC fine earlier this year.  I am no Windows expert and have not a clue what this is! BTW both PCs use Windows 10.

Does anyone know where I can get a free and virus free copy of this file please?

More OFCOM

OFCOM has outlined why it is reviewing the Wireless Telegraphy Act licences held by the BBC for its TV and radio services across the UK.

See http://ofcom.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/i/4AD2C82AB9E3890B/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday December 20th 2016

Solar flux is 73 today. Sunspot number is 12. A=5 and K=1.

More ULF amateur DX

The latest ULF DX news from Stefan DK7FC:

Hi ULF,

In addition to the informations from older mails about this experiment, here are the results of the post-processing:

First, a spectrogram in 424 uHz FFT bin width (after sferic blanking) showing the whole transmission: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/65km_424uHz.jpg
The SNR reached levels up to 22 dB. Even during the (relatively) strong QRN periods at night, the transmissions are still visible. Even the EbNaut transmissions were visible. All this is about 10 dB stronger than i expected. The low winter noise levels and the quiet location certainly plays a big role here. The 'short' DFCW-10800 (3h per element) message "FC" is O copy as the experts say. Inbetween the "F" and "C" there is an EbNaut message (#2) with the content "73". One more example showing the power of EbNaut.
In the last experiments i've shown reference spactrograms beeing generated in low distance (tree grabber) just to give a better overview of what was transmitted, but this is not necessary here :-)

3 EbNaut messages were transmitted. All of them have been decoded with a strong SNR:
1st message: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/65km_EbNaut_2970Hz_Message1.png
2nd message: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/65_EbNaut_2970Hz_Message2.png
3rd message: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/65km_EbNaut_2970Hz_Message3.png

Last but not least a spectrogram showing the recorded range from 0...12 kHz, without a noise blanker: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19882028/ULF/65km_wide.jpg

A new experiment in 140 km distance is in the pipeline. The plan is to run it in 2016.

73, Stefan

Waters and Stanton

My friend Steve G1KQH has sent me this:

http://blog.hamradiostore.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/IHSG.pdf

Is this the end for W&S as we know it, or a new beginning? I hope a new beginning, as they have been fair to me in the past.

In my view many UK, mainland European and US amateur radio dealers will be looking for ways to streamline their businesses and reduce costs. The alternative is closing down. Dealers in the amateur market have seen better times.

We can expect many well known names to disappear in the years ahead as the amateur radio hobby evolves, active amateurs get older and maybe buy less. One thing is certain. That is we can expect the amateur radio hobby to be very different in the years ahead.

I have said this before, but expect fewer and smaller radio magazines, fewer adverts, fewer suppliers, fewer kits and fewer dealers.

Have you counted the number of radio magazines on the newsagents stands recently compared with mags on other subjects? 30 years ago there were several magazines about amateur radio, but these days they are rare.

2m UKAC results

In the yearly totals, I was 80th out of 193 in the AL section of the RSGB's 2m UK activity contests held on the first Tuesday evening each month. As I only run 5W QRP to a big-wheel omni (3dBd gain max) and am only on for 30-60 minutes because of my poor, stroke impaired, voice, I think this is not too bad.

If you want 2m SSB activity in the UK, then I can recommend these Tuesday evening contests, even if you don't send in a score. Activity levels are usually very good and a very modest set-up works. It has been successful for me with just an FT817ND.  My typical maximum distance is 200km in this contest. On RX it is unusual not to hear lots of DX even in the short time I get on.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday December 19th 2016

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number 13. A=9 and K=1.

More OFCOM

OFCOM is consulting on the use of UHF bands in the UK from 410-470MHz. I think this will not involve a look at amateur radio use of the 70cm band in UHF (band 1).

They are also looking at some microwave allocations.

See
http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/4559A73E8304B6CD/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/67C9780756CAEC6A/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Snow - NOT amateur radio

This picture was taken 7 years ago today. It shows our local churchyard enveloped in snow. Today by contrast it is mild and dull! Last winter we got very little snow.