At the moment I am still on 2m FT8 RX, although I may try 6m FT8 later. So far today, just 6 stations spotted with best DX G0RQL (353km) in Devon.
UPDATE 1220z: So far today 15 stations spotted in 3 countries.
21 May 2019
Sunspots - Tuesday May 21st 2019
Solar flux is just 67 today (poor) and the sunspot number 0. A=6 and K=1.
20 May 2019
2m FT8
UPDATE 2122z: Now 11 stations in 3 countries spotted this evening on 2m FT8 RX.
Going backwards? - NOT amateur radio
Many things seem to get worse over time, not better.
We once had a bus every 30 minutes into Cambridge. It has been every hour now for several years. The store M&S in the UK used to be the place to buy underwear: quality was good. These days they are clearly made to a price and quality is poorer. My wife bought a coat and bag several years ago, but the replacements have fewer pockets. We used to get vouchers from Tesco, but these have stopped. Every few months we used to get vouchers for a free coffee and cake from John Lewis, a well respected UK retailer. I just noticed the voucher is for a free cake when you buy a drink. I am sure many will not have noticed this change.
Now I know retailers are having a hard time, but this John Lewis change was sneaked in, hoping many would not notice. The coffee at John Lewis is expensive, so the voucher will not get used.
I can think of plenty of examples of things getting worse.
We once had a bus every 30 minutes into Cambridge. It has been every hour now for several years. The store M&S in the UK used to be the place to buy underwear: quality was good. These days they are clearly made to a price and quality is poorer. My wife bought a coat and bag several years ago, but the replacements have fewer pockets. We used to get vouchers from Tesco, but these have stopped. Every few months we used to get vouchers for a free coffee and cake from John Lewis, a well respected UK retailer. I just noticed the voucher is for a free cake when you buy a drink. I am sure many will not have noticed this change.
Now I know retailers are having a hard time, but this John Lewis change was sneaked in, hoping many would not notice. The coffee at John Lewis is expensive, so the voucher will not get used.
I can think of plenty of examples of things getting worse.
6m FT8
UPDATE 1006z: Now 16 stations spotted in 2 countries so far today on 6m FT8 RX. Mostly Gs.
UPDATE 1250z: Now 27 stations in 7 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.
160m FT8 RX
Overnight I was again on 160m FT8 RX using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Plenty of Europeans spotted, but nothing from "across the pond". I spotted one station that was supposed to be in Iran, but I think this was a German station with the wrong QTH locator!
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| 160m FT8 RX here overnight |
Sunspots - Monday May 20th 2019
Solar flux is 68 and the sunspot number 0. It looks like the less active side of the sun has rotated to face us again. I guess we are unlikely to see more spots for a few weeks. A=3 and K=3.
19 May 2019
160m FT8
A few minutes ago I switched to 160m FT8 using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Initially I called CQ (2.5W) whereas now I am RX only. So far, no spots given or received.
UPDATE 2000z: So far just 2 stations spotted. Best DX is SP2MEF (1297km). End of season?
UPDATE 2027z: 14 stations spotted so far this evening. Now it is getting dark all Europe is coming through.
UPDATE 2000z: So far just 2 stations spotted. Best DX is SP2MEF (1297km). End of season?
UPDATE 2027z: 14 stations spotted so far this evening. Now it is getting dark all Europe is coming through.
Still not much new at Dayton
Although I have not seen the final day summary, there would appear to be little new announced by the "big boys". Yes Elecraft announced the K4, but I have heard nothing from the traditional Japanese manufacturers.
Next year? Actually it would not entirely surprise me if at least one of these "pulls the plug" on amateur radio before May 2020.
See http://www.arrl.org/news/hamvention-2019-saturday-roundup
Next year? Actually it would not entirely surprise me if at least one of these "pulls the plug" on amateur radio before May 2020.
See http://www.arrl.org/news/hamvention-2019-saturday-roundup
6m FT8
Because of my laziness, I remained on 6m FT8 RX overnight. If I remember I may try 160m FT8 RX tonight.
So far this morning, 22 stations in 5 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX in the last 6 hours with the best DX being OZ4ACK (881km).
UPDATE 1604z: 55 stations so far spotted in the last 12 hours on 6m FT8 with the best DX being YO8SSB (1874km).
UPDATE 1920z: Now 66 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX with best DX EA8TR (2989km).
UPDATE 1954z: A brief 2.5W CQ to the vertical omni antenna on 6m FT8 was spotted by 5 stations with best being EA7DL (1643km)
So far this morning, 22 stations in 5 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX in the last 6 hours with the best DX being OZ4ACK (881km).
UPDATE 1604z: 55 stations so far spotted in the last 12 hours on 6m FT8 with the best DX being YO8SSB (1874km).
UPDATE 1920z: Now 66 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX with best DX EA8TR (2989km).
UPDATE 1954z: A brief 2.5W CQ to the vertical omni antenna on 6m FT8 was spotted by 5 stations with best being EA7DL (1643km)
Oscar 100 - people losing interest?
One local amateur who put together 2.4GHz and 10GHz gear for Oscar 100 has now had enough fun and is instead converting it to a /P station for terrestrial activity sessions. I wonder if this is a trend?
People enjoy the challenge briefly, have a few weeks of fun, then say bye bye. By now I was expecting the satellite to be very busy, but it is not. As they say, "the journey is more important than the destination".
Perhaps for appliance operators it is too much of a challenge - you need to be keen to get a station together and a fat cheque book does not work.
People enjoy the challenge briefly, have a few weeks of fun, then say bye bye. By now I was expecting the satellite to be very busy, but it is not. As they say, "the journey is more important than the destination".
Perhaps for appliance operators it is too much of a challenge - you need to be keen to get a station together and a fat cheque book does not work.
18 May 2019
Dayton Hamvention 2019. Few new products?
First reports from Dayton are disappointing with few new products announced. As the years progress, it would not surprise me if some Japanese companies leave the amateur radio market, or even go bust. In many countries it is an "old mans" hobby with fewer buyers, so a diminishing market. Some are clearly struggling already.
See http://www.arrl.org/news/hamvention-2019-friday-roundup .
See http://www.arrl.org/news/hamvention-2019-friday-roundup .
Post holiday blues - NOT amateur radio
Having just returned from a great holiday in Portugal we have the usual problems. Empty fridge, long grass, loads of washing and lots of post. To cap it all it is now raining and my 10m, 20m and 40m end-fed antenna has fallen down! Ho hum! I managed to cut the front lawn, but not the back.
Our holiday blog is at https://port19postcards.blogspot.com/
Our holiday blog is at https://port19postcards.blogspot.com/
6m FT8
After a brief CQ (2.5W to the V2000 vertical omni), I have been on FT8 RX most of the time. So far 38 reports in 8 countries on FT8 RX today with best DX LB7FA (1026km). On TX my best spot was by M0BEW (194km).
UPDATE 1517z: Now 44 stations spotted with EA8JK (3022km) as best DX spotted on 6m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 2008z: Now 71 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.
UPDATE 1517z: Now 44 stations spotted with EA8JK (3022km) as best DX spotted on 6m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 2008z: Now 71 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.
472kHz WSPR overnight
Being back home, I tried 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP from the earth-electrode antenna in the ground) overnight. It definitely feels like the end of the season with very few stations spotting me and being spotted.
 |
| 472kHz WSPR overnight |
17 May 2019
Back home and back on 472kHz WSPR
At about 2110z we arrived back home. I am back on 10mW ERP (20%) WSPR on 472kHz. A new station has appeared - G6ECH (227km). As yet, no spots of me.
Portugal castle - NOT amateur radio
16 May 2019
Rally
Sunday 19 MAY : DUNSTABLE DOWNS NATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO CAR BOOT SALE
Stockwood Park, Luton LU1 4BQ. All the usual facilities. www.ddrcbootsale.org.
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rall
Stockwood Park, Luton LU1 4BQ. All the usual facilities. www.ddrcbootsale.org.
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rall
Portugal - NOT amateur radio
This has been a busy few days, but we have seen and learned a lot.
For days we have been looking for bee eaters. Today my wife and I saw 4!
Right wing extremists - NOT amateur radio
The upcoming European elections will be test for the far right parties in many EU countries. Although fairly centralist politically myself, there is no denying that politics in many countries is moving further right.
Many of those who vote right wing are disaffected people who think (falsely) that right wing parties will bring back halcyon days without immigrants and the EU. In my view all EU nations have changed forever and people are being misguided.
The UK and USA have been integrating immigrant people for a very long time. It is important that people coming into a country learn the language and integrate. It is very unlikely those who do not try to fully integrate will feel welcomed.
If right wing parties do well in the EU elections the EU could change radically in the years ahead.
See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48264638
Many of those who vote right wing are disaffected people who think (falsely) that right wing parties will bring back halcyon days without immigrants and the EU. In my view all EU nations have changed forever and people are being misguided.
The UK and USA have been integrating immigrant people for a very long time. It is important that people coming into a country learn the language and integrate. It is very unlikely those who do not try to fully integrate will feel welcomed.
If right wing parties do well in the EU elections the EU could change radically in the years ahead.
See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48264638
Even lower!
Stefan DK7FC has been doing experiments at even lower frequencies! This was posted a few days ago. His attachment has NOT been included.
"Hello SLF freinds,
Just a note from a recent experiment at 270.1 Hz.
On sunday morning, 2019-05-12_10:34,+150m, i've done a carrier transmission on my ground loop antenna again. I did not expect more than, hopefully, a detectable spectrum peak in 57.6 km distance, i.e. at my tree site. The tree receiver site was listening and recording data using vlf-rx tools.
One E field antenna and two orthogonal loops were listening. The loops have been improved recently! They consist out of a single circular turn of 1.2 m diameter using 10mm diameter copper tube (about 25 mm^2). It is a closed loop, non-resonated, with an impedance matching transformer. This transformer previously had 1:100 turns. Now it (they) has 2:240 turns, i.e. two turns primary (out of 14mm^2, AWG6). This improved the sensitivity below 2 kHz significantly ( abt. 4...5 dB).
Furthermore the TX antenna length and angle has been improved, resulting in about +3 dB more signal strength on the RX site!
In a previous experiment at 270.1 Hz, some month ago, there was no result at all, not the weakest trace, despite excessive tweaking of all parameters. So the question was, will the improvements result in a detectable signal now?
Several things went wrong in that experiment. I forgot a bag containing important equipment such as the power supply for the netbook that generates the carrier signal. Also the output power was not as high as planned, just about 380 W, giving 2.2 A antenna current (I measured 64.7 V at 1 A DC). Anyway i managed to improvise so the experiment was started, but with some hours of delay which meant i higher QRN background level. Then, on the WLAN link to the tree, there were several interruptions of the stream (i'll move to 5 GHz very soon!). I even got some QRM from my battery charger for some short time periods (forgot to disable the charger remotely). So there were several factors that could have been improved or avoided. And the middle of May is not the ideal time anyway.
Well, 270.1 Hz, that's the 1110 km band! The far field begins at 177 km distance, i.e. i am clearly in the near field here. Thus, from a 'magnetic' TX antenna, we would expect that the signal is mainly detectable on the H field, i.e. the loop antennas.
The first interesting results is that this expection is actually confirmed. There is nothing detectable on the E field but the carrier S/N in the H fields is close to 10 dB in the first run. Mixing the H fields and tweaking the filters rises the carrier S/N to 10.7 dB, see attachment.
So far not really an undoubtly detection but it is a candidate for optimism! With a few less problems during the experiment there is a chance for 14 dB SNR. Also, there is quite much sideband QRM arround 300 Hz which makes 270 Hz a bit harder to work on.
73, Stefan"
"Hello SLF freinds,
Just a note from a recent experiment at 270.1 Hz.
On sunday morning, 2019-05-12_10:34,+150m, i've done a carrier transmission on my ground loop antenna again. I did not expect more than, hopefully, a detectable spectrum peak in 57.6 km distance, i.e. at my tree site. The tree receiver site was listening and recording data using vlf-rx tools.
One E field antenna and two orthogonal loops were listening. The loops have been improved recently! They consist out of a single circular turn of 1.2 m diameter using 10mm diameter copper tube (about 25 mm^2). It is a closed loop, non-resonated, with an impedance matching transformer. This transformer previously had 1:100 turns. Now it (they) has 2:240 turns, i.e. two turns primary (out of 14mm^2, AWG6). This improved the sensitivity below 2 kHz significantly ( abt. 4...5 dB).
Furthermore the TX antenna length and angle has been improved, resulting in about +3 dB more signal strength on the RX site!
In a previous experiment at 270.1 Hz, some month ago, there was no result at all, not the weakest trace, despite excessive tweaking of all parameters. So the question was, will the improvements result in a detectable signal now?
Several things went wrong in that experiment. I forgot a bag containing important equipment such as the power supply for the netbook that generates the carrier signal. Also the output power was not as high as planned, just about 380 W, giving 2.2 A antenna current (I measured 64.7 V at 1 A DC). Anyway i managed to improvise so the experiment was started, but with some hours of delay which meant i higher QRN background level. Then, on the WLAN link to the tree, there were several interruptions of the stream (i'll move to 5 GHz very soon!). I even got some QRM from my battery charger for some short time periods (forgot to disable the charger remotely). So there were several factors that could have been improved or avoided. And the middle of May is not the ideal time anyway.
Well, 270.1 Hz, that's the 1110 km band! The far field begins at 177 km distance, i.e. i am clearly in the near field here. Thus, from a 'magnetic' TX antenna, we would expect that the signal is mainly detectable on the H field, i.e. the loop antennas.
The first interesting results is that this expection is actually confirmed. There is nothing detectable on the E field but the carrier S/N in the H fields is close to 10 dB in the first run. Mixing the H fields and tweaking the filters rises the carrier S/N to 10.7 dB, see attachment.
So far not really an undoubtly detection but it is a candidate for optimism! With a few less problems during the experiment there is a chance for 14 dB SNR. Also, there is quite much sideband QRM arround 300 Hz which makes 270 Hz a bit harder to work on.
73, Stefan"
15 May 2019
Portugal Birds - NOT amateur radio
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_bee-eater
Chapel of Bones - NOT amateur radio
Dayton
17-19 MAY : DAYTON HAMVENTION
Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, Dayton, Ohio.
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rall
Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, Dayton, Ohio.
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rall
Little things please little minds! - NOT amateur radio
14 May 2019
70cm activity contest this evening
Starting at 1900z (8pm UK clock time) is the May leg of the RSGB's 70cm UKAC activity contest. SSB activity is better than usual and even 5W to a 2m halo usually gets me QSOs up to over 100km.
Lisbon trams - NOT amateur radio
It suffered a major earthquake in 1755.
Solar Cycle 25 predictions
This is getting more like BREXIT everyday with major disagreements amongst the "experts".
They all seem to agree that the size of the next solar peak will be similar to the last one, but there are major disagreements about the depth and length of the preceding minimum.
See https://www.weather.gov/news/190504-sun-activity-in-solar-cycle
They all seem to agree that the size of the next solar peak will be similar to the last one, but there are major disagreements about the depth and length of the preceding minimum.
See https://www.weather.gov/news/190504-sun-activity-in-solar-cycle
HF beams
A few days ago I reported seeing no HF beams in Portugal. Yesterday, I saw 2. Perhaps they are more affluent further south?
FT4
Digital mode FT8 has become enormously popular. Apparently a new release candidate of the faster FT4 is due out in a few weeks. I have yet to try FT4.
13 May 2019
Mobile phones and driving - NOT amateur radio
Some of you may remember that one of my sons lost a brother-in-law in 2017 when he was ploughed down by a driver who went through a red light in Australia. It took him 5 weeks to die. He was in his late 20s.
Never, ever use your mobile phone whilst driving. Even hands-free can be distracting. If you can, put the phone in a glove compartment! I was appalled to see this video. I hope he was banned from driving for years and was sacked by the owners of the lorry. Stay safe.
Never, ever use your mobile phone whilst driving. Even hands-free can be distracting. If you can, put the phone in a glove compartment! I was appalled to see this video. I hope he was banned from driving for years and was sacked by the owners of the lorry. Stay safe.
Oscar 100 - still very quiet
When I took a quick look at the Goonhilly SDR relaying the narrowband transponder just now there was only one QSO going on.
See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/
See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/
Viseu, Portugal - NOT amateur radio
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| Viseu Street |
Web SDRs
Southgate News has a piece about the Farnham Web SDR. These days there are web SDRs all over the world, so you can take a peek at what things are like from other places. It seems odd to listen to a UK 10GHz beacon in Lisbon!
See http://www.websdr.org/
See http://www.websdr.org/
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