How fast they grow up! - NOT amateur radio

Our younger grandson (see photo) is 11 in February. This photo was taken when he was just 2. You blink and they grow up. I guess in a few years we'll look back and think how young they looked now in 2019!

Christmas Day walk - NOT amateur radio

Although we have had a busy few days, much of today and the next few days are quiet. Then, from Monday, the grandchildren descend and it is busy again! This morning as it was a cold, crisp morning we did a brief village walk. About now, the first snowdrops start to appear. We saw a few about to come out (see photo) but none actually out.

Sunspots still going down?

I just looked at the latest solar numbers predicted for the next few years. These make depressing readings.

They show sunspot numbers still falling until 2022 at least.  I very much hope they are wrong, although looking at the similarities with certain previous cycles on the Solan site they could be correct and we may well have a way down still to go despite the encouraging numbers earlier today.

See https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/predicted-sunspot-number-and-radio-flux

Overall, not encouraging. Elsewhere, I read we may have already passed the solar minimum.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/images/cycles23_24.png

QSYed to 2m FT8

About an hour ago I QSYed to 2m FT8.  Initially I called CQ (2.5W) although nobody spotted me.  On RX 14 stations spotted in 6 countries with the best DX being GM0EWX (716km). Signal strength suggests aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 1841: At the moment, 29 stations in 6 countries spotted. A recent 2m FT8 CQ (2.5W to the big-whee omni) was spotted by 4 stations in 2 countries.

Christmas presents - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our son opening his Christmas present this morning. He is a professional jazz pianist and is playing in Oxford today. We had Christmas dinner last night and are having bubble and squeak later.

UPDATE 1436z: The bubble and squeak was great. I actually prefer this to Christmas dinner. Although I enjoy meat, I could quite happily live without meat.

Another good session on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Overnight was another good session on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground). 28 stations have spotted me in the last day on the band with quite a few spots from Norway and Poland.

Stations spotting my 10mW ERP
472kHz WSPR TX in the last day

Christmas good wishes - NOT amateur radio

This time of year can be stressful for many: it is the season of goodwill and we are supposed to be happy although for many it can be hard. Emotions seem to be more intense: often good things seem better and sad things sadder. For those preparing Christmas dinners and getting presents for children it can be hard.

Whatever your situation - on your own, totally alone or surrounded by those you love have a good day. I recall one couple from work days who went camping in a tent in Scotland on Christmas Day!

Whatever, all the very best.

Sunspots (at last!) - Wednesday December 25th 2019

Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 24.  A=2 and K=0.

It just gets better and better on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Last night was even better than the night before on 472kHz WSPR TX! As I write (0708z) Jan in Norway is still copying me!

Sunspots - Tuesday December 24th 2019

Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.

Sirio 827 antenna?

Before the Es season next year I am looking for a well made antenna for 10m that will cover other higher HF bands via a tuner. I am told this antenna is well built, unobtrusive and works well.  I do not want beams and it must be unobtrusive.

Does anyone have any experience of this antenna?

These days I mostly use FT8 and WSPR because of my poor voice. My main HF interest is 10m (it always has been) but it could be useful to cover 20, 17, 15 and 12m too.

One of my problems is erection as I cannot do ladder work these days. Installation just outside the shack may involve some ladderwork (not high), fitting of coax and plugs, and a ground stake.

See https://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/product/sirio-827/

SAQ VLF CW (17.2kHz)

On December 24th (Christmas Eve) there is usually a special transmission from this historic alternator transmitter in Sweden. I am pretty sure they are not doing QSL cards this time.

See https://alexander.n.se/the-radio-station-saq-grimeton/saq-transmissions/?lang=en

"Our" windmill - NOT amateur radio

Well, it is not ours, although our elder granddaughter thinks the land around it is part of our garden. When we say, "play in our front garden" she makes a beeline to the windmill! Not many can overlook a lovely windmill whilst eating breakfast!

This is the windmill this morning in bright, winter, sunshine. Next year it is 200 years old. The hedge at the bottom of the photo is in our garden.

Best night this season on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Spotted in Norway 33 times and Poland twice! Still using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground and my homebrew transverter.

Stations spotting me on 472kHz
WSPR (10mW ERP) in the last day

Sunspots - Monday December 23rd 2019

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=2.

QSY to 472kHz WSPR TX

At about 1950z I went QRT on 2m FT8 and a now on 472kHz WSPR TX with my usual 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Already 3 stations spotting me.

Irish 60MHz (5m) beacon on-air

Apparently the new Irish 60MHz beacon is now active:

"Back in early 2018, the 60 MHz (5-metre) band was allocated to radio amateurs in Ireland (EI) on a secondary non-interference basis. Now we have news that the very first beacon on 60 MHz is operational! The new beacon is operational since the 16th of December 2019 and has the call EI1KNH. It is on 60.013 MHz and runs 25 watts into a vertical folded dipole. This is currently the only 5-metre beacon operational in the world."

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-irish-beacon-on-60-mhz-now-on-air.html

The site is near Dublin.  An 8m (40MHz) beacon should be on the same site in Q1/2020.

eHam

Whenever I think of buying something (OK, not often!) I check the reviews on this site.

It is a good idea to ignore the very bad and very good reviews and look to see what most people think. Often very bad reviews are written by someone with a very bad experience. Likewise very good reviews are sometimes written for the wrong reasons. If there are pages of reviews and most of these are good, it is a fairly safe bet that most users are happy.

In the end it comes down to personal tastes though.

See https://www.eham.net/

At home - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we had a party for some of our neighbours. We did this last year too and it was a great success. Here is our next door neighbour showing some of her needlework. She is very good.

2m FT8

OK, it is sheer laziness!

This morning I am again on 2m FT8. As usual, my 2.5W CQ was copied widely with the best being Eire. On 2m FT RX (at 1214z) 27 stations in 7 countries spotted. These sort of ranges are always possible on 2m FT8 RX with the big-wheel omni antenna.

UPDATE 1412z: Now 42 stations in 10 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 RX with the omni antenna. Best DX spotted so far is OK2WO (1165km). RX nis still the FT817ND.

UPDATE 1755z:  Now 65 stations in 19 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX with the omni antenna.

Sunspots - Sunday December 22nd 2019

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.

Prolonged quiet period on the Sun

We have already exceeded the previous record for the number of days without sunspots and the period continues. The sun has been spotless for what seems like ages. If I recall correctly, the sunspot number briefly touched 11 early last month. Since then nothing!

Rainbow - NOT amateur radio

There was a great rainbow over our close yesterday.  It was very bright. The photo hardly does it justice.

Christmas bikes - NOT amateur radio

Our local bike club decided to meet in our close earlier, all dressed for Christmas. Santa came later - in a car. I am not quite sure about this! The day felt really Christmassy.

2m FT8 again

Most of the daylight hours, I have been on 2m FT8.

On 2m FT8 RX with the big-wheel omni antenna so far,  43 stations in 7 countries spotted. With 2.5W 2m FT8 my CQ was spotted by 6 stations in 2 countries with best DX EI2FG (565km).

UPDATE 1752z: So far today, 51 stations spotted with best DX spotted DL1FDH (634km).

UPDATE 2035z: 68 stations in 8 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX in the last day with the big-wheel omni antenna. QRT.

Sunspots - Saturday December 21st 2019

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=0.

UK opposition leadership - NOT amateur radio

It is now a week since the UK General Election in which the opposition Labour party was heavily defeated.

Although I am not a great political animal, I can see that the Labour party has a difficult time ahead. In my view the party has moved too far to the left, and many people are fearful of this.

They are currently electing a new leader. If they vote in a real left winger, I suspect they will not be in government for years and years.

In my view, a new centralist party is needed. If Labour elects a real left winger, I can see this happening in the next 5 years.

With a big majority the UK Conservative government will push through its BREXIT withdrawal bill. Getting a fair trade deal will be much harder.

QSYed to 2m FT8 (2.5W to big-wheel)

About 10 minutes ago I QSYed to 2m FT8. So far, a couple of spots of me and a couple of spots of others.

UPDATE 1751z:  11 stations in 5 countries spotted so far today.

UPDATE 1904z: A recent 2.5W CQ on 2m FT8 was spotted by 5 stations in 4 countries with best DX being EI2FG (565km). On 2m FT8 RX 20 stations spotted in 5 countries so far.

UPDATE 2205z:  So far 26 stations in 6 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 2230z:  QRT.

OFCOM and broadband

OFCOM has some new data about broadband and mobile phone coverage in the UK. See their website.

Another good session on 472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Last evening and overnight I was again on 472kHz WSPR TX with 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I was spotted in Norway 23 times.

Spots of me on 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP)

Double yolker - NOT amateur radio

At breakfast, as usual, I made myself a cooked breakfast.

For only the second time in a great many years I found the egg (supermarket free range) was a double yolker as the photo shows.

Sunspots - Friday December 20th 2019

Solar flux is 70 and the sunspot number 0.  A=13 and K=1.  Still no sunspots. It still looks like we are at, or very close to, the absolute sunspot minimum. Today's date is December 20th 2019. I wonder what the sunspot number will be on December 20th 2020?

More on the IC-705

Southgate News relays some more on the ICOM IC-705 QRP transceiver. The price (in the UK) less VAT is about £1000 according to this news from ICOM. With VAT at the current rate this makes the price similar to the IC-7300. This sounds quite expensive to me. If it was sub £1000 I expect they would sell a lot. At this price I am less sure.

I still think they should include an auto-ATU, especially at this price.  I suspect they are trying to get early adopters to pay the full price. The IC-7300 is still a high price because people are prepared to pay the current price. If people were not prepared the price would fall, probably to less than £1000.

See also Todd's comment on the post yesterday.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/december/ic-705-qrp-sdr-transceiver-update.htm#.XfvoZeiTLnF

WSPRnet

This seems more reliable these days. Has something changed?

Whenever I go on WSPR on any band I look at WSPRnet to see who I am spotting and who is spotting me. The great advantage is this can be done on any PC (even in the lounge whilst watching TV) or even on a phone on a bus. When TXing, I can turn things off within seconds. WSPR is some 10dB better than FT8 with weak signals. With fleeting signals the 15 second overs with FT8 compared with the 2 minutes for WSPR can be an advantage though. With FT8 you can easily have 2-way QSOs, if basic.

See http://wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/spots

Hidden disabilities....yet again - NOT amateur radio

Sorry to go on and on about this.

All my waking time I feel giddy and exhausted and I've been this way for 6.5 years since my stroke in 2013. My voice is very bad and I often have to repeat myself as I find it hard to be understood. There must be millions of people who are walking around with disabilities that others cannot see.

What I am concerned about is judging people by what you think they are like. How people appear is often not a guide to how they really are. Yes, a few may be faking it, but the vast majority are genuine.

All I am urging, yet again, is do not judge people by what you see. If you are physically disabled and use a wheelchair it is pretty obvious, likewise if you are blind. If you are like me or have a mental illness it is often far from obvious to other people.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/stroke

Ely - NOT amateur radio

Ely is a pleasant town (actually a city) surrounding its cathedral. We went there yesterday and explored some of its quiet back streets. The photo shows one of these with the cathedral's famous octagon in the background.

Average session on 472kHz WSPR TX

Last night there were no spots from Norway of my 10mW ERP 472kHz WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This may have been conditions or nobody active who could detect my signal. At the moment, I am still on 472kHz WSPR TX, but may QSY to another band later.

Stations spotting my 10mW ERP
472kHz WSPR overnight

UPDATE 1304z:  There was another explanation: after 12 hours without 472kHz WSPR spots I noticed that Windose had closed the program, probably do an update. This really annoys me. Having re-opened the program, I am, again, getting 472kHz WSPR spots. Darn Windows!

UPDATE 1606z: I see my shack PC is telling me the PC needs to "restart after active hours". Does this mean it will turn off things overnight again? Maybe I should turn it off soon before the evening starts?

UPDATE 1736z: At about 1630z, I restarted the PC. It successfully installed and configured Windows updates, so hopefully it will run WSJT-X overnight without interruption. In the last hour 13 different stations spotted my 10mW ERP with best DX on 472kHz WSPR TX PA3FNY (330km).


UPDATE 2019z: So far today 16 stations have spotted my 10mW ERP with the  best DX being  DL/PA0EHG (493km).

ICOM IC-705

As many will know, this is the first transceiver for many years that I really like. The FT818 was a total disappointment and Yaesu seems to have given up on the QRP market. More and more they come over as "has beens" unable to "read the market".

On the other hand ICOM seem to be always one step ahead. If you were to ask me who will be around in 5 years' time my bets would be on ICOM, whereas I can see Yaesu and Kenwood dropping out of the market.

I suspect ICOM will design in Japan, but find a country with lower manufacturing costs to do the building, much as Apple does. Currently, this is China, but by 2024 it could be somewhere else altogether. Remember when "made in Japan" were the words on the streets? In the end Japan got too expensive.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/ic705

15m CW QRP

This was on before but it is worth repeating.

Many years ago, I needed a simple QRP CW transceiver for 15m. The result was the Pipit, which was built (I think) in 1984. It put out 800mW, but worked plenty of DX with simple, low, wire dipoles.

At one time it was used with a 10/15m trap dipole loaned to me by G3TFX. The design of the Pipit appeared in GQRP SPRAT. A version based on more commonly available toroids would be a good idea. The rig worked really well and for a period was the only rig I used.

These days I suspect there is less CW.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/15m_pipit

Sunspots - Thursday December 19th 2019

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=13 and K=4.