M0UKD's version of my 472kHz transverter

It is always pleasing to see other versions of my designs being successfully built. This evening I chanced upon M0UKD's website showing his nice version of my 472kHz transverter. He added an output for a frequency counter which is a useful addition. John gets around 12W out, which is about right.

MS Essentials

My wife's PC just flagged up that its McAfee anti-virus protection runs out in 15 days time. Rather than renew it I decided to uninstall the entire McAfee suite of programs and instead install the FREE MS Essentials protection program. I have this on my own PCs and, as far as I can tell, it seems to protect them pretty effectively.  Like others have found, MS Essentials runs in the background in an unobtrusive way without undue overhead.

50 nanowatts ERP tests on 70cms FM

This afternoon I did a quick test using my signal generator on 432.975kHz FM using my V2000 vertical. I put up a 50nW ERP FM signal with a 1kHz tone and looked for the RX signal on my little VX3 hand portable with its tiny helical antenna at my old QTH some 300m away from the new location. Although unable to copy the signal downstairs, the signal was S3 in the old shack upstairs. Based on this test with a pretty inefficient RX antenna, I think the 10nW signal would be copyable around 1-2km away with a mag-mount on the car. It goes to show how far QRM can travel.

Back on 472kHz WSPR and 8.97kHz

This afternoon, I put my earth-electrode antenna in the garden at the new QTH with the remote electrode against the far fence and the local ground connected to the mains ground in the shack. Check your mains earthing before trying this. Separation is about 15m i.e. a little less than at the old location. On 8.97kHz the current into the ground looks about right and the TX current similar to that at the old QTH. On 472kHz the match seems a little different but I have had several spots from G6AVK at 78km when using low milliwatts ERP. I need to optimise the match on 472kHz.

I am now going to try the earth-electrode antenna on 160m and 80m. All being well I'll do a remote RX test on 8.97kHz to see how my VLF beacon compares.

Shack pic

Well today I completed the set-up of my "building desk" in the new shack. After several weeks out of action, I am now ready again to start building gear. For the first time my desk for building kit is in the same room as the operating position, so I can readily test gear "on-air" by simply connecting a coax cable or wire. This image is not very good quality I am afraid.

Late summer Es on 6m

It is getting later in the sporadic E season but there are still plenty of openings to be enjoyed. As I have yet to erect any antennas for the HF bands at the new QTH, I have been listening and working stations on 6m. This week without much operating time I have managed to find a couple of Es openings that have allowed me to work into HA, I, EA5, EA6 (Menorca) and EA7 on 2W SSB or CW to the V2000 vertical.

Using my 3G dongle to provide an internet connection (roll on Sept 2nd and my Virgin Media connection - I hope) I've also been WSPRing on 6m but so far just a few UK spots received.

Our windmill

Just across our front garden wall we have a windmill that is almost 200 years old. It is currently undergoing a complete renovation with new cap, 4 new sails, new external rendering and lots of work inside too. Today, a 60 ton crane lifted the newly renovated (6 ton) cap onto the top of the windmill.

In the next couple of months the 4 sails go back on. The video was shot out of my lounge window today. When fully restored it will be well worth a visit as is a visit to our local museum next door.

From an amateur radio perspective the windmill will be a perfect aiming point for optical comms as it is about 20m from my shack. I suspect it will act as a good reflector for microwaves too.

See http://www.burwellmuseum.org.uk.btck.co.uk/StevensMill for more information.

More antenna progress at the new QTH

After having our little grandchildren stay for 6 days (without their parents) the new home has now returned to normal (i.e. tidy) and all the toys have been put away, mine excepted! So, apart from sorting out and decorating the old QTH, my thoughts are increasingly turning to the autumn ham projects again.

I've just collected my Par 10/20/40 end-fed HF antenna and a 1m solid copper ground rod from the old QTH with the aim of erecting the former and pounding in the latter in the next few days. The Par antenna will allow me to get active on some of the HF bands. The earth rod will form the far end of my new earth electrode pair "antenna" which will be used for a series of tests on 8.97, 136 and 472kHz from the new garden. My 8.97kHz beacon can be fired up in QRSS quite easily so RX tests out in the fens can start as soon as the earth-electrode antenna is ready. It will be fascinating to see how this compares at the new QTH.

My big wheel for 2m has still to be procured or made and erected. When this is in place I shall try some QRP weak signal work as mentioned before.

Something else I want to do is some tests locally on 6, 2 and 70cm using a signal generator connected to my V2000 antenna. Tests with G6ALB suggest just a few uW are enough to reach the next village. So I was wondering what the coverage to a mobile would be like locally with, say, 10uW from my generator? A drive-around test in all directions might be fun.

We are still waiting for Virgin Media internet and home phone access though - due Sept 2nd - to allow proper WSPR tests to begin. I bought a 3G wi-fi dongle with 3GB of data which is being used as a stop-gap. WSPR is my mode of choice when testing new antennas or new set-ups as the internet database (near instant) feedback gives a very good idea of how things are working.

Belgium on 472kHz

Rik Strobbe ON7YD reports that some Belgian amateur classes (holders of a HAREC licence) now have access to the 472kHz band with 5W EIRP and without mode restrictions. Unfortunately Rik's PA failed on TX on the new band and is having to rely instead on a 6W transverter for now with just 20mW ERP.

V2000 erected and first QSOs on 6, 2 and 70cms from new QTH

On Tuesday I completed the erection of my tri-band colinear at the new QTH and carried out some tests over a 3km path to G6ALB to see how results compared between my old and new QTH on 6, 2 and 70cms. I was expecting results "on the hill" to be somewhat better, but in actual fact over this short path the results were identical within the limits of experimental error. Andrew put in various levels of attenuation to see how low he could go and still copy me. On 2m for example he could put in 43dB attenuation and still just copy me. 43dB is an attenuation of 20000 times suggesting just a few uW is enough to cover this distance.

Yesterday morning I was able to work through the Welwyn Garden City 70cm repeater, although conditions were up a bit. Last night I worked several I and HA stations on 6m SSB and CW during an unexpected Es opening, getting good reports with my 5W.  Conclusion so far: the antenna works fine.

I am now considering that big-wheel for 2m on the same mast. I am looking forward to working some SSB/CW stations again on 2m.

Assembling the new shack

Today I started to collect all the remaining kit from the old building shack and set it up in the new QTH.  The large pieces of test gear are the easy bit. It is all the boxes and bags of "these might come in handy some day" components and crystals that are the problem. Also wire: I have so many reels of "useful" wire! My plan is to continue this over the weekend and get most of the useful stuff moved and other, less useful, kit boxed and stored in a box should I ever need it.  I am really hoping that I can be a lot better organised going forwards. Once I start an electronics building project the workbench goes from orderly to chaos very quickly!

When I was an RF engineer (not a very good one BTW) we used to keep resistors and capacitors in little open topped brown envelopes in a box on the bench. This worked very well and was easier and less space intensive that racks of storage drawers. I may go back to this for the more common non ESD sensitive components.

Moved to new QTH

Although still without internet and phone - thanks Virgin Media - we have now moved to the new QTH. I have still to erect my V2000 vertical but hope to have this up over the weekend. Amateur radio is taking a back seat whilst teething troubles with plumbing and electrics are sorted.  Until we get internet at the new QTH these blog postings are likely to be few and far between.

Moving tomorrow - emotions mixed

So, after 37.5 years in our current home, we move tomorrow to a newly renovated bungalow in the same village.  Emotions are running high this evening: this has been the place where our children were born and raised, where our grandchildren have stayed and played, where I have enjoyed all sorts of fun on the radio. The new home should be lovely and better in many ways, yet this evening my wife and I are feeling rather sad at having to say goodbye to our "old" home.

Actually we are not quite saying a final farewell as we still own the old property and intend to keep it for some years to come. At the moment we are deciding whether to rent it out on long lets or to furnish it for weekly holiday lets. The house is in a quiet road on the edge of the village overlooking pleasant countryside and the local church. If we decide on holiday lets we could even come back to stay for a few days or at least use it for the family for a few weeks each year.  These are decisions for the weeks ahead.  More immediately we have to get ready for the removals men arriving at 8.45am in the morning.

This morning I went up to the chimney of the new home with the builder who was fixing a cowling. The view from up there is spectacularly good confirming it should make an excellent VHF/UHF/microwave location. This is something I shall look forward to!

Virgin Media cock-up

This evening I am VERY annoyed! 

A day before we are due to move we have been informed by our phone/TV and broadband provider (Virgin Media) that they cannot now do the installation at the new property until (at least) Sept 2nd and not on Aug 15th as promised a few weeks ago. This means we have no home phone, no internet and no TV (other than Freeview) for at least 2-3 weeks. What annoys me is that had I known this 2 weeks ago I might have decided to go elsewhere. They apparently need to dig a hole in the road to get the cable through and need local authority approval to do the digging. Let's hope we don't get a "job's worth" who takes a month to process the approval to dig.

I asked several people at Virgin Media if I could have my phone redirected to my mobile ("no, we can't do that") and if I could be loaned a 3G dongle so I could get internet connectivity ("no, we can't do that"). Why ever NOT?? What a total shower they are!

So, if you need to contact me please do so via my mobile number which I have emailed to some of you.

Also, do not expect to see blog updates for some weeks until I manage to get internet services at the new home and replies to emails are likely to take some time.

To add to my woes today, this morning I managed to knock a tin of paint all over our bedroom carpet when painting a piece of furniture.

All in all, today has been quite stressful what with packing for the move on Wednesday and trying to sort out everything.

The Chinese HF SSB/CW transceivers are REALLY coming.....

Steve G1KQH has alerted me to a new QRP HF multi-mode transceiver from China that is available on eBay. The English translation leaves a lot to be desired, but this again signals that the Chinese are starting to get very close to marketing credible HF transceivers that we can expect to see sold by the likes of Martin Lynch and Waters and Stanton. In my view we are 12 months away from this point, but when some really decent HF rigs become available be prepared for some VERY tough times for Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood.

See: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Whole-ham-kn920-kn-920-utrashort-wave-ham-radio-station-equipment-shiortwave-SW-free-shipping/926979_1075987935.html

On the same theme, Hamshop in the Czech Republic has announced it is the EU dealer for the single band KN-Q7A SSB transceivers from CRKITs in China. These are neat little single band 40 and 20m transceivers available as kits or ready built. They are getting rave reviews on eHam.net.

Rotatable mast bonus

Regular readers may remember that I was asking about rotators some months back. Well, I have just realised that the place where I intend to fix my 2 inch diameter mast at the new QTH is such that I can rotate it by hand by opening a window about 10 feet from my new operating position. This means, if I so choose, I can erect a small beam for 2m and 70cm, or a combined 2/70cm beam and turn it 360 degrees very quickly using the trusty "Armstrong" method. So, initially I'll erect the V2000 vertical but may well add some small (not too sharp) beams for VHF/UHF contest and tropo work. Turning a beam by hand is quicker than a rotator and allows signals to be peaked by ear.

Anyone have any recommendations for a combined 2m/70cm horizontally polarised beam with around 3-6 elements, ideally fed with a single 50 ohm coax? I have seen combined 2m/70cm HB9CV antennas but think there are other options too.

First building projects for the new shack

It will take a few weeks to settle into the new home and get things straight, but already my mind is turning to projects for the autumn. Several of these are hang-overs from the current QTH i.e. "gunner" projects (I'm gunner do this or that!) or projects already started but needing to be completed. This is the list so far. You can be 100% certain this list will grow and change.

1. Check the LF/MF/HF noise environment at the new QTH. I have no real idea how this will be. I am more in the middle of the village at the new QTH, so suspect switchmode PSU and other noise sources may be more of an issue?
2. Finish the 10m WISPY transceiver. Both the direct conversion RX and DSB TX have been built and successfully used on air, but I have still to put the 2 bits together as one transceiver in a box.
3. Finish the optics for my G4HJW designed Finningley optical transceiver. I finished the electronics build some weeks ago but the move got in the way of the mechanical parts. I need a new stable tripod for this too.
4. Carry out some VLF earth-mode tests at 8.97kHz from the new QTH to compare results after the QTH move. My baseline earth-electrode "antenna" will be very slightly shorter and the direction more NW-SE (it was E-W before).
5. Carry out some 472 and 136kHz WSPR tests using the earth-electrode antenna. Again, the aim is to see how results compare at the new QTH. The earth-electrode's new loop direction will affect who can copy me.

Whether I concentrate on HF/MF/LF or move more to VHF/UHF will depend on the noise environment. Although there are plenty of things to try to reduce QRM if this proves to be a problem, it may be the perfect excuse to try something new, such as weak signal QRP work at VHF and UHF. We'll soon know.

Starting to equip new shack

Although our move is a few days away still, I am starting to move my equipment across to the new shack. I may erect my V2000 vertical this weekend too, so that I can have a first QSO from the new shack on the East Cambs 2m FM net on 144.575MHz next Monday at 8pm.

I am debating where to put the triband antenna: either on a gable end over the garage or on a longer pole attached to the rear wall of the garage. The latter would make antenna changes slightly easier as the pole would be attached at ground level, so no ladder climbing needed.

My understanding is that outside of a conservation area I do not need planning permission for a second antenna on the house such as a V2000 vertical as long as the linear horizontal dimension is not greater than 1m, which it would not be. A 2m big wheel on the same pole would probably be OK too. I should be able to string a 10m or 15m dipole from this support to a tree at the other end of the garden that would feed conveniently into the shack just below.

All my antennas now dismantled ready for the move

Today was an historic day: for the first time in around 20 years or more, I have NO antennas up outside at this QTH. The Par 10/20/40 end-fed HF antenna and the trusty V2000 VHF/UHF tri-band colinear were taken down this evening. The V2000 has been up continuously now for the best part of 10-12 years and is in remarkable condition still. Apart from a bit of dirt on the fibre glass covers and a little oxidisation on the metalwork, it is like new and electrically still works perfectly. There are several "copies"  of this antenna around, some of which are nothing like the original version.

It will be some days before I get the antennas sorted and erected at the new QTH, but at least the brackets and antenna hardware are now down and available for a suitable moment.

68-76kHz LF band allocated in the USA

Just in from WG2XRS/4.....

"You might have heard a group of us have received a license covering 68 to 76 kHz with 10 W ERP for most all modes including SSB!  Authorization came yesterday and already have W4DEX on QRSS and into W1VD and others with very solid sigs on 72.4 kHz.  Am gearing up for that operation as we speak.Bob, WG2XRS/4."

This is fascinating news. Although getting anything like 10W ERP is a major challenge at 73kHz, much weaker amateur signals have spanned the Atlantic in the early 2000s when the 73kHz band was available by NoV here in the UK. See  http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mike.dennison/index/lf/transcontinental/2001-2/at2001-2.htm

There is no doubt that some of the US stations will be copied in Europe this coming DX season. Since the first few years of this century a number of new weak signal modes have appeared such as WSPR2 and WSPR15 and OPERA. Also, with GPS locked systems and superb frequency accuracy, it is possible to run very slow CW and DFCW modes knowing that the TX frequency can be very accurately set, so the RX can look for the signal in uHz bandwidths to dig it out of the noise over a period of hours. All we now need is for a limited number of 73kHz permits to be again allocated in the UK.

Please note this is NOT a general allocation in the USA: it is a special research permit to a limited number of stations in much the same way as some access to 500kHz and 136kHz has been granted over there. Their FCC does seem to be incredibly slow at getting new bands like 472kHz allocated. I don't know why this is such a problem: perhaps they fear allocating these LF bands will be a threat to homeland security?

New Address with OFCOM

This evening on-line I notified the TV licence people of our upcoming address change as well as notified OFCOM of my new address.  It is now unlikely I shall make any further QSOs from my current QTH as the last remaining antennas will be coming down next week. Getting my VHF/UHF vertical up is a priority at the new QTH although there are a few more pressing issues to deal with first - like getting some carpets on the floor!

On the front cover of Practical Wireless this month

Well, I had quite a surprise when the Sept 2013 edition of Practical Wireless (PW) magazine dropped on the mat in the post this morning. Although I knew my review of the Wonderwand Wonderloop was inside, I did not expect my bald head to be the subject of the main cover image! My wife Lis took the photo in the back garden of our current home.

I hope those reading the Wonderloop review will think it a fair one. The loop is tiny and uses thin 1mm wire, yet the performance was actually pretty good considering its size, averaging a couple of S-points down on a decent back garden antenna. As the review shows, some good results were obtained.

May I recommend you buy PW as there is a reasonably decent selection of articles in it most months. It is now the only independent amateur radio magazine published in the UK. I do miss the old Short Wave Magazine which was a good magazine in its heyday back in the 1950s and 1960s.

20m WSPR with 0.5 to 2W

As I wind down activity from this QTH before my move, I have been allowing my WSPR beacon to run on 20m using an indifferent wire antenna strung to a low tree at the bottom of the garden. At its lowest point is is only about 2m above ground. Power out has been 500mW or 2W. The results below speak for themselves: WSPR spots from across the planet.

20m WSPR unique spots in last day or so

These are just some of the unique spots: the actual list goes on and on down the page. I am a real fan of WSPR for checking rigs, antennas and propagation. It is also a way to still enjoy the hobby whilst packing up books, CDs, DVDs and other household rubbish in preparation for a house move!

Reflex Receivers

In the days when semiconductors were very expensive parts, the reflex receiver was a very popular design for AM broadcast and simple amateur AM receivers. The basic idea is to use a single transistor is several different ways: as an RF amplifier, possibly a detector and then finally as an audio amplifier by clever feeding of the RF and AF signal back around the transistor. Even today they are fun circuits to try. For example, see the schematic at http://www.ke3ij.com/reflex.htm . Rick has a number of novel circuits on his site.

http://www.ke3ij.com/reflex.gif

In Rick's circuit, Q1 first acts as an RF amplifier. The 1N4148 rectifies the signal which is again applied to the base of Q1, which is now used as an AF amplifier stage. Although adaquate level is available on the collector of Q1 to drive a high impedance earpiece, Rick added another low cost stage to drive an 8 ohm speaker.

Another example of a reflex circuit is at http://www.sm0vpo.com/rx/reflex_rx.htm . Perhaps the most famous reflex circuits came from Sir Douglas Hall in a series of circuits in Radio Constructor back in the 1960s and early 1970s. Some of these are collected at http://www.spontaflex.free-online.co.uk/ . Sir Douglas was a UK overseas diplomat and a very nice gentleman. One of my old school friends lived in the same Devon village and visited him to try some of his prototypes.

Speech processors

Earlier today someone asked me to forward them some links I had on speech processors. This reminded me of a VERY effective speech clipper I built many years ago for a 2m AM QRP transmitter. The audio pre-amp had 2 stages of 6dB/octave pre-emphasis followed by very hard clipping and an active low pass filter to keep >2.5kHz audio levels to very low levels. The signal sounded remarkably punchy and allowed this little 100mW AM transmitter to punch well above its weight. It sounded like a rig running several watts. At some point, after we move, I'd like to replicate the design and give it a go again. It was based around the audio stages I used in the Pye PF8 PMR handheld but with value changes to increase the gain and add the second pre-emphasis stage. Double pre-emphasis meant that there was less clipping at lower audio frequencies and more at the higher end. Compressors are meant to be better, but honestly this little circuit took some beating.

Satellite tracking app (free)

The always interesting Southgate ARS News page has a link to a free app by Tom W9KE for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices to allow tracking in real time of satellite passes. The app has a nice user interface and looks to be extremely useful if you enjoy tracking satellites and the ISS as well as want to work through some of the amateur radio satellites up there.  The App is available from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/satellite-explorer-pro/id669039200. The only thing the app seems to miss is a list of the amateur satellite frequencies (up/down) and their modes of operation. I guess one has to look this up somewhere else. 

Thunderstorms and Es

Sporadic-E (Es) is an exciting propagation mechanism that allows contacts on the HF and VHF bands out to around 2000km regularly (with multi-hop Es MUCH greater ranges can be covered) in the April-Sept period in the Northern Hemisphere. There is another smaller peak around Dec/Jan too and propagation by Es can occur at others times of year, but much less frequently. Exactly what creates good Es conditions is open to debate still but some believe thunderstorm activity in the troposphere can impact it.

http://images.blitzortung.org/

A way of checking on thunderstorm activity is to look at the map at http://www.blitzortung.org/Webpages/index.php?lang=en .  Right now there are plenty of thunderstorms over northern Europe with lots over the UK earlier, spreading northwards. Looking at the map one might expect good conditions towards Italy and Greece on Es if whatever rises from the tropo region reaches the E layer mid-path.

My internet saga continues - positive outcome on cable at new QTH

Yesterday I reported that at the new QTH our new home was the only one on the close that was unable to get fibre optic broadband, phone and TV services from the provider I currently have used for over 12 years: Virgin Media.

Well, today their field engineer surveyed the road and has confirmed that we WILL be able to get cable services at our new place after all. They were very quick checking this - I only asked yesterday - and it looks like everything will be ready for when we move mid-August.

KX3 purchase?

For the last 6 months I have been saving the pennies in my amateur radio kitty towards the purchase of a new transceiver for general use at the new QTH. I am still very tempted to splash out on a new KX3 from Elecraft, despite the high UK cost when fully loaded with auto-ATU, narrow roofing filter, battery pack, charger and mic. As I tend to hang on to gear for a LONG time, this may be a good investment. All the www.eHam.com reviews are very good and it does appear to be a first class radio. What bothers me though is that for the same price I could buy 2 FT817 transceivers and still have change! My main interest is e weak signal mode experimentation and I am not sure that the KX3 is an ideal radio for use as a base rig for this application: there seems to be a need for lots of cables to connect to a PC, whereas the FT817 is easy using a Signalink USB interface.

As was the case when pocket calculators came on the market in the 1970s, the default position here is to "wait and see", which means I buy nothing and hope that a clear winner becomes obvious in the months ahead. In the 1970s I ended up not buying a scientific calculator at all, HI.

Ending operations at this QTH

Nearly the end of an era (37 years) at this QTH. I will resist taking down the antennas until the last moment in a few weeks from now, but already my mind is turning to the new QTH.

Would you believe it, but every house in Mill Close, Burwell is able to get Virgin Media apart from ours! Even next door they have it.  I contacted Virgin Media who have agreed to send out a field engineer to check why this is. The CATV box on the pavement is about 4m from our drive. It is not the end of the world: I can revert to Sky (or BT) phones, TV and broadband and get over 10M download speeds but I will wait until the VM engineer feeds back his findings as it would be preferable to stick with our current provider. Virgin's broadband is VERY reliable and fast.

I now have a firm plan on where to erect the VHF/UHF antennas. The earth electrode antenna for VLF/LF/MF will be installed in the next few weeks. I have still to decide on the location of HF wire antennas in a way that is "sleuth" i.e. low profile and not obvious. Our new patio is right outside my new shack, so operating in the garden should be very easy and fun.

Going batty

We are spending a few days with our son and family near Canterbury where he lives in an 18th century cottage not far from the school where he teaches. In the last few months their home has become an hotel for a colony of tiny pipistrelle bats who have taken up residence under the centuries old tiles on the side of the cottage. A bat expert estimated there are at least 300 living there.

This evening, as the light faded, we watched as they  flew out from what appeared like impossibly small gaps in the tiles. Bats are a protected species, so they are not allowed to get rid of them, but apart from their tiny droppings they are not a nuisance. It was quite amazing watching them fly off for food this evening.

IC-7100 UK price: £1249.99 from Martin Lynch

The IC-7100 multi-mode multi-band 100W radio is now available for £1249.99 including VAT from Martin Lynch. Although not yet in stock this is the price advertised, which is some £500 less than I was expecting. Considering it includes all the HF bands, 6, 4, 2 and 70cms this is not bad value. I just hope the touch screen is not tacky and unreliable. See http://www.hamradio.co.uk/amateur-radio-main-equipment-mobile-radio-icom-mobile-radio/icom/icom-ic-7100-pd-5020.php .

New VLF tests from Germany

News from Germany of an upcoming VLF test at 8.970kHz using earth electrodes as the TX antenna with an ultra-stable Spectrum Lab derived signal.

Hello Group,

 

We are planning some VLF-activity at 8970Hz during a meeting of  electronic hobbyists nearby  Kassel / Germany (JO40vr) on this weekend.  The plan is to run a VLF-PA between some ground electrodes. Due to other activities we have no exact time plan, when to start. Depending on internet access i will inform you about the details. 

 

Thanks for looking for our signal in advance.

 

73s

Eike DL3IKE

HF activity - the weakest maximum in 100 years?

Space.com reports that the peak of cycle 24 is likely to be the weakest for 100 years with the next one likely to be even worse. See http://www.space.com/21937-sun-solar-weather-peak-is-weak.html .

Although I venture onto the HF bands every few days usually, I've not found the level of activity, excitement or interest that I had in previous solar cycle peaks. On 10m back in the 1979 peak the band was filled with stations at any time in the day, even outside of contests. There just doesn't seem to be the same level of activity these days? Perhaps it is because having worked over 100 countries with just a few watts, many on SSB, there is, for me, less interest in chasing DX now. Also, I tend to enjoy more creative parts of the hobby whether on VLF, lightbeams, etc. and don't have the time (as much) for HF operating where the competition is often from ill-mannered, QRO stations more interested in their egos than the ham radio spirit.

Crystal Set DX log from 1991

As I clear out my stuff ready for our move, I've discovered my Crystal Set DX Log from 1991, which was 2 sunspot cycle peaks ago. Looking through the entries in the log (all received with a VERY simple shortwave crystal set using a toroid, a germanium diode, a resistor and a crystal earpiece and a longwire antenna about 15-20m long) it is quite astounding how the HF world has changed.

Shortwave Crystal Set DX log - from 1991

For a start, many of the coast radio stations used to transmit in CW on HF and these could often be read due to the cross-modulation from other stations. This was the technique used to detect those shown in the log above.

Also, the shortwave bands were still filled with English language broadcasts. In the few days covered by this log I managed to receive broadcast stations from Cuba, UAE, India and Australia directly (not via relays) as well as plenty of Europeans. Before this date I had no idea that worldwide reception on a crystal set would be possible.

There is no doubt that conditions were very good back in 1991 and I am not so sure that it would be possible to repeat this in 2013, but I would be delighted to hear of success by others with crystal set DXing on HF in more recent times.

I still enjoy crystal sets: they are simple and fun to make yet there is still something unbelievably good about using the electricity from the TXing station to hear them, not my own, especially when the signal comes from very far away.

IC-7100 UK launch July 17th at Martin Lynch

A few hours after I commented on the price in the US of the IC-7100, I had an email from Martin Lynch and Sons announcing the UK launch on July 17th.

There is still no information that I've seen that gives the likely UK price although I doubt one will be in my new shack.

The IC-7100 is bound to cause a lot of excitement as it is one of the first commercial multi-modes to include 4m (70MHz). The press release seems to indicate that D-star will be supported in the standard product i.e. my understanding is this is NOT an optional add-on, but you get it with the basic product you buy.

The pdf leaflet on the IC-7100 is now available.

Weather boots for coax plugs?

I'm looking for what I believe are called "weather boots" to slide over the end of PL259 and BNC coax plugs to help protect them up the mast from water ingress. I guess it is still necessary to add a smear of silicone grease. There are such items for Sky dish F connectors (see eBay item 251296277220) but I have not yet found a source for the common 50 ohm plugs.

Anyone know where such rubber/PVC boots can be obtained please?

2m big wheel antennas on 70cms?

Just wondering if anyone has checked what a horizontally polarised 2m big-wheel antenna looks like (gain, match, directivity, polarisation) on 70cms?

At the new QTH, the most likely antenna on the apex of the bungalow will be a 2m big-wheel (for 2m datamodes, SSB, CW) with a V2000 fitted above it (for 6m Es, 2m and 70cm FM) with suitable spacing between them (>1.3m). It would be useful if the big-wheel behaved well as a half decent horizontal omni on 70cms too so it could be used in UKAC contests.

IC7100 prices

Image at http://www.hamradio.com/images_manuf/H0-011766A.jpg

The new multiband, multimode mobile/base radio from Icom is now available in the USA for $1,824.90 from Ham Radio Outlet store with a 2 year warranty. It is available for $1,664.95 without the extended warranty. See http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-011766.  If importing from the USA don't forget VAT and import duty.

The usual UK price is about the same in pounds as it is in the USA in dollars, so I guess around £1800-1900 is likely to be the going price, although I don't think the UK dealers have them yet.

At the time of writing there are only a couple of reviews of the IC7100 at www.eham.net

Antennas start to come down and wi-fi range tests

Today marked the beginning of the end for amateur radio at the present QTH. We've lived very happily here for 37 years, bringing up our 2 boys and welcoming our 4 grandchildren. Now we are just a few weeks away from our move to the bungalow 300m away up on our local "hill" next to the windmill, the latter currently undergoing a £417k refubishment courtesy of a National Lottery grant. The new home is a nice place and we are looking forward to the move, but it won't be without a few sad moments: closing a chapter in our lives but also opening a new one. The last time we moved, the removal van cost just £11 - it was a LONG time ago, HI.

Today I removed the first part of the antenna system: my 20m spaced earth-electrode wire running in the back garden. Next to come down will be the coax feed from my workshop to the upstairs shack where I operate. The V2000 vertical and the Par 10/20/40 end fed will come down in a few weeks time. I also de-cluttered the bedroom shack to some extent, clearing out all manner of the "I may need this some day" rubbish that fills drawers and cupboards. It is just unbelievable how many SMPSU wall blocks I have that belonged to equipment like routers and scanners long gone. The worst is always the stuff you've kept because, "I may need this one day".  I am trying to be ruthless and give it to a local charity store, recycle centre or the dump if it has not been used, read, looked at for several years. For certain something that goes will be needed next week.

I did a test at the new bungalow tonight on the internet wi-fi coverage: I took my Virgin Media wireless super-hub and set it up (locally, no internet connection) and walked around the new home with my iPod Touch 4g to see how strong the signal was in the shack, bedrooms and garden. Results were promising: I think I may get away without a range extender.