OE8APR and Socialhams

Andreas OE8APR has asked me to introduce you to Socialhams. I have no personal experience:

"Introduction to socialhams
Socialhams is a community for ham radio operators. It combines features known from typical social networks with ham radio related ones. To join socialhams all you need is a valid email address and obviously a ham radio callsign. It’s as simple as that!

As registered member of socialhams you can freely meet like-minded people as well as join the Chat, write Blog and Forum posts, start Polls, create Groups and Events. Photos, Videos and Files can be embedded or uploaded to your profile and many other sections too.

The iPhone App, allows you to browse profiles, watch photos and videos, upload photos, send mail, and lots more. All from your iPhone! And if you have an Android-powered device, our Android App lets you use socialhams while on the go, right from your own handset.

You can meet people; chat online; check our top rated, featured items; read about popular topics; wish someone special on his/her birthday; match your interests; and even take advantage of our elaborate people search option.

You will also find unique ham radio related modules:

DX ClusterUse the DX Cluster feature to make that contact or Spot one for the rest of the community! The DXCluster tool allows users to locate and spot other Amateur Radio operators transmitting on specific frequencies to make those rare contacts or find that missing location you’ve been searching for.
This is the world first HTML5 web socket based DXCluster client

Logbook
The socialhams logbook allows you to record those important Amateur Radio contacts. This tool gives members the ability to add, edit, organize and sort their contacts all in one convenient location.

APRS Map
The APRS feature will display the location of any APRS station in the viewable area. This feature also provides each member with the ability to send a message from socialhams to any APRS device with messaging capability.

NCDXF Beacon
The Beacon Map displays the location, status and the current or future action of each NCDXF beacon in the network. By listening for each beacon on each band you can determine which bands are open and to what part of the world.

World clock
The World Clock allows each user to stay up to date with the time on any part of the globe. Users can also keep track of the Grey line as it moves to make use of this unique propagation condition.

Library
Collection of various documents like manuals, schematics, spreadsheets, etc

Elmer’s corner
The Elmer corner allows any socialhams member to create and publish a tutorial or guide for the entire community to use. Become an Elmer today!!

In our Feedback section, you can post your questions, comments, regards, etc. without any restrictions. Of course, you must strictly avoid obscenity, rude language, and abide by terms of socialhams. To cater for a wider ham radio community, all our features are offered in both English as well as German. Additional languages are in preparation.

We steadily improve existing functions as well as develop new interesting ham radio related modules. At the moment we are hardly work on a Geophysics and SOTA module. All our work in process modules can be previewed on our development site http://dev.socialhams.net, additionally all our developments are available as Git repository on http://gitlab.paan-systems.com. We would be happy to find developers that are interested in joining the project.

To enjoy the unique socialhams experience, all you need to do is sign up http://socialhams.net!

Short biography
Name:    Andreas Pachler
Callsign:    OE8APR
Licensed since:    2012
QTH:    Seelach, Carinthia, Austria
Maidenhead:    JN76go
Ham radio related interests:    Digital modes (PSK, WSPR, etc), HF, SOTA, QRP
Hobbies:    mountain hiking, listening to music, programming, electronics
Job:    Industrial automation programmer

Because my dad is an amateur radio operator since I can think of it, it is clear that my interest in ham radio is as old as I am. I always wanted to get a license. I used to work on CB because it was not possible for me to get the license, I was still too young. I have had the chance to get experience with Packet Radio on the user side as well as the sysop side of things.

Some time passed by and my interests changed in puberty. There were so many other interesting things like girls, music festivals, journeys all over the world for my job as industrial automation programmer. But amateur radio never unclasped me and so I decided to get the license in 2012.

After getting my license I have started to build socialhams, it was hard work but I have had really much fun. I am trying to get the project further day by day."

ARRL renewal - no thanks!

Today, I got this email from ARRL. I have no plans to renew my membership, although I am still an RSGB member. It took a week to help me renew access to QST. Their online help was useless and it took a week to get anyone to help me. I was left unimpressed. Sorry, but no thanks.

You asked us to remind you by e-mail when your membership was about to expire. That time is coming.

Our records indicate that your ARRL membership will expire on Feb 28, 2015.

In order to receive uninterrupted delivery of QST, your membership journal, you need to renew 45-50 days prior to your membership expiration date.  I wouldn’t want you to miss an issue, nor any of the other membership benefits and services, such as:

- access to the members-only features of the ARRL Web site
- participation in the ARRL e-mail Forwarding Service (arrl.net)
- answers to your questions on FCC rules and regs
- help with antenna, tower and zoning problems
- participation in DXCC and other ARRL contests and awards
- our outgoing QSL service
- low-cost equipment insurance
- preferred subscription rates for ARRL's technical magazine, QEX

and much more!

It's a snap to renew. Visit http://www.arrl.org/join/WE1A to renew at our Web-Site with a credit card or download a membership application to mail. You can also call us toll-free to join at: 1-888-277-5289 (US Only). International members call (860) 594-0338.  Please renew today.

73,
David Sumner, K1ZZ
Chief Executive Officer

Sunspots - Dec 1st 2014

Sunspot number today is 153 and 10m daytime conditions are "good". 10m should be in recent shape again today. What happened to October and November? Time is flying by.

No 10m WSPR GDX overnight

Although 10m WSPR was running through the night here, no GDX was copied suggesting F-layer back-scatter was probably the GDX mechanism yesterday. First real DX was at 0722z (LZ1OI).

10m WSPR GDX

Today, during the day, a couple of GDX stations have been copied around 170km range, but these are no longer being seen. To me, this suggests I am copying these stations on back-scatter as once good F-layer goes, so does the GDX. Of course, it could be that these stations are no longer on 10m as the DX seems to have now gone.

UPDATE 2212z:    Only real locals spotting me or spotted by me. No GDX seen this evening, supporting to F-layer back-scatter as the most probable means of the GDX spots earlier in the day. I'll leave 10m WSPR running overnight to see if any GDX is copied. This, of course, requires others to be active too and currently there are very few active UK stations.

UPDATE 2252z:  Just re-synced the PC clock to internet time, so the WSPR should be spot on overnight. However, I am not really expecting to see other than locals until breakfast time, but any DX or GDX in the night would be very good. TX is on about 20% and RX (looking for others) about 80%.  Running 500mW, on the FT817 currently, so I can both TX and RX.

Last stateside 10m WSPR spot of my 500mW

WA4WW (6969km) was the last stateside station to spot me today at 1622z, quite early, at -22dB S/N. The last USA station spotted on 10m WSPR here was WB1FIG around 20 minutes later. He was also -22dB S/N. As I mentioned before, more power really does not seem to matter much. What is more important is that the path is open e.g to the USA. What I'm saying is running 5W, 50W or even 100W would make little difference if the path is closed and the MUF was not high enough. Maybe a few minutes?

First 10m stateside reception of my 500mW WSPR

My first report on 10m WSPR today was at 1150z by KE6BID (5295km) who spotted me at -21dB S/N. This station is located west of Boston, -23dB S/N.  New England, USA.   This is early, boding well for the day on 10m.

Apart from the USA, most stations spotting me are in Russia and nearer Asia. G8KNN (local) is also spotting me.

UPDATE 1241z:   Several other stations (the usual suspects!) spotting my 10m 500mW WSPR now in the eastern USA.

UPDATE 1245z:   M0ITF (170km) is being spotted here on 10m WSPR. Good to see some GDX. I did not check the waterfall in time to see if this was pure tropo or maybe aircraft reflections or F-layer backscatter. Nonetheless -19dB S/N was a decent report for 5W on 10m at this distance. In years go by I'd regularly work this sort of range on 10W with 10m SSB, so pure tropo is quite possible.

UPDATE 1450z:   Spotted CX2ABP (11127km) at 1442z on 10m WSPR at -23dB S/N. He was running 5W, so I am probably still too weak to copy at his end in South America.

UPDATE 1630z:   CX2ABP (Montevideo, Uruguay) has now been spotted here 9 times today already at up to -19dB S/N.  He has not copied my 500mW yet.

Sunspot number and 10m conditions - Sunday Nov 30th

Sunspot number today is 156 and 10m daytime conditions are expected to be "good" again.  As yet, my 10m 500mW WSPR has not been spotted at very great distance although the 10m band opened to the USA earlier than yesterday.

GQRP Club and SPRAT

I have many times said that if all radio magazines had to go, then GQRP Club's SPRAT would be the very last to go. This quarterly magazine is low in cost, very high in simple projects to build and the back page always has GQRP Club sales items.

Of ALL the magazines I see, SPRAT is without doubt the best. Back numbers of this excellent magazine are available on a DVD.

This is a little (sized) magazine but it is excellent value. The best in fact.

Last stateside 10m WSPR spots today

W3CSW (5886km) was the last USA station to spot my 10m 500mW WSPR this evening at 1802z. The last 10m WSPR USA station I copied was also W3CSW at 1808z. He was using 10dB more than I was! It seems that 500mW is quite enough usually if the band is open.

G0LRD (25km) - his 50mW is being consistently copied here.
G4IKZ (18km) - is copying me consistently all evening.

10m WSPR - stateside today

W3CSW (5886km) was the first stateside 10m WSPR station spotted here today at 1230z. My 500mW was first spotted in the USA also by W3CSW at 1246z. Yet again, the USA and Canada are coming through pretty well on 10m WSPR.

Special prefix for Cornwall?

I need some clarification. OFCOM are suggesting the use of GK and similar prefixes for Cornwall a county in south west England. The K stands for Kernow the ancient name for Cornwall. Is this actually happening?

Sunspots

Sunspot number is 166 and 10m propagation is again forecast to be "good".

UPDATE 1632z:   Although, yet again. the 10m band was open to the USA and Canada, my 500mW has not (yet) been copied in South America or further afield today.

10m overnight

Overnight on 10m WSPR just local spots with DX spots only starting after 0730z with spots of Russian stations over 5100km from NO square. More recently, LZ1OI is now spotting my 500mW.

Last stateside reports on 10m WSPR

My 500mW 10m signal was last spotted by KJ4SPG (6328km) KB9AMG (6300km) and KD6RF (7547km) at 1744z. I was spotting USA stations over one hour after this. G0LRD (25km) running just 50mW has been a weak, but consistent, signal since the band closed for DX. G4IKZ (18km) has been spotting me consistently in recent minutes.

Stroke update

In the last few weeks, I seem to have made little progress. I still find many liquids hard to drink, I still get giddy when walking and most physical activities exhaust me, although on many days my level of stamina may be a little better. I do so want to be back to my old self again.

Soldering and experiments out in the field are still off the agenda for now as I am too clumsy.

Nevada bargain on 10m Multi-mode radios

See http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/alinco-dr-135dx-uk .

Nevada is selling Alinco multi-mode 28-29.7MHz radios on special deal at £99.95. For "export only" they can be expanded to also cover CB frequencies. Such expansion is not legal in the UK. At less than £100, this is a very good price for a 10m multi-mode rig.

I admit I "lifted" the original image from the Nevada website. As it was Javascript, I was unable to link, as I had wished, to the original images. If using this image on this blog is a problem, it will be immediately removed, although I hope Nevada see this as free publicity.

CX2ABP on 10m WSPR

Although I have copied CX2ABP (11127km)very many times here today, he has not managed (well yet) to copy my 500mW. In the log are lots of reports from across the USA but no-one further has spotted me today. Time is running out, although I suppose someone in South America might copy me yet? North America is likely to close quite soon now on 10m.

500mW on 10m WSPR

Today I am again on 10m WSPR running 500mW on TX. Currently I am using the FT817 at 20% TX, 80% RX so that I am looking for others far more than TXing. I am assuming the propagation is F layer although some of the spots e.g. Italy, seem too close, so these could be F-layer backscatter or even Es? I am still hoping to be spotted well outside of Europe.

Sunspots - Friday Nov 28th 2014

Sunspot number has dropped back a little to 155, but 10m conditions remain "good". Already this morning, my 500mW WSPR has been copied widely across Europe.

500mW on 10m. Going QRT shortly.

For a lot of today I have been on 10m WSPR with the FT817 on TX at 20% TX time and on RX for the remainder of time. With the WSPR-AXE beacon, I am on TX for 100% of the time, but the frequency randomly moves around over 100Hz of the 200Hz wide WSPR allocation to minimise the chance of being clobbered by other higher powered stations.

I shall be going QRT very shortly on 10m, but will be on 10m WSPR again in the morning. For several hours now I have only been copied by local G4IKZ and have copied no stations at all.

UPDATE 2305z:  Now gone QRT.  There was a weak station that did not decode copyable just before I closed. There was no Doppler, suggesting this might have been a non-G station, but I shall never know.

Solar data and 60m

As we move off the peak of sunspot cycle 24, it is useful to look at how things are progressing. It will be a few years still before conditions really hit rock bottom, but the progression to a solar minimum is usually faster than the climb from the minimum up to the next maximum.

I have not checked the very recent opinions of experts, but they were predicting that solar cycle 25 would be a dismal affair. This is one reason why a world-wide contiguous 60m band would be so useful. It would be a mix of 80m and 40m propagation - VERY useful in the quieter years to come.This will be discussed at WRC2015 late next year but we have no idea what the outcome will be. Even if allocated to the Amateur Service, it could be several years before it is made available to us. So, even if allocated, it could be 2018 or 2019 before we could use this new contiguous allocation. Of course, we may never get it at all!

In the meantime see http://www.solen.info/solar/ for solar data.

Last USA stations on 10m WSPR

The last spot of my 500mW WSPR signal was by N1FF (5327km) at 1754z. I was spotting KZ8C (6290km) at 1902z. No stateside since then.  Presumably the band has closed in that direction now.  Since then, just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.

Costa Rica on 10m WSPR (500mW)

500mW was enough to exchange WSPR spots with TI3/AB4AW (8752km) in Costa Rica earlier this afternoon on 10m WSPR.  Much further has been achieved, but this is very satisfying as spots were exchanged both ways.

Rapidly rising sunspots

Today's sunspot number is 170, way up on even yesterday.  10m propagation is "good". Long distance F2 propagation is certainly confirming very good 10m conditions.

Enjoy these excellent times on 10m as things will be getting much tougher in the quieter years ahead.

500mW 10m - 16 spots off just a single transmit burst

My 1406z 10m WSPR transmission with 500mW resulted in 16 reports!  These came from the USA, all over Europe and the Canary Is off W.Africa. 500mW seems plenty. Earlier today, VK5MR (16144km) was again copying my 500mW on 10m WSPR.

Hendricks QRP Kits BitX20A

See http://www.qrpkits.com/bitx20a.html .

If I was looking for a simple, reliable QRP SSB rig for HF use in the coming years then the Hendricks QRP Kits version of Ashlan Farhan's BitX transceiver for 20m would be in the frame. They also do a version for 17m, but there is more chance of QSOs on 20m.  The rig has a useful 5W pep output and looks straightforward to build for most people. The Ashlan Farhan design is well proven. Going from 100W down to 5W is only just over a couple of S-points. 5W will get you plenty of QSOs on 20m SSB. 5W is fun.

A 10m version would be fun, but sadly is not available, but likely to be less useful in the years to come, apart from summertime Es. A 10m design would need better MOSFET PA devices anyway I think.

Last North American on 10m WSPR today

K9AN (6505km) was the last USA station to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon at 1724z today. Since then, just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.

South America

I see CX2ABP (11127km) was spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon this afternoon. I will have to check my records to see if this is the first time he has copied the WSPR-AXE beacon. I know I've already been copied in South America by a station in southern Brazil.

Climbing sunspots

Sunspot number has climbed back to 120 and 10m propagation is again expected to be "good". So far, what looks like single hop F2 stations (or maybe back-scatter?) spotting my 500mW WSPR-AXE beacon (EA8, OH, LZ, CT and UR). No exceptionally long DX reports on 10m as yet here, but these are quite likely.

At the moment I am QRV on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) only and monitoring dT (timing errors) by receiving locally on the FT817 tuned to 10m WSPR.  So far, dT errors are a maximum of 1.2 seconds.

QRT on 630m and 10m WSPR

This evening and overnight I decided not to go on WSPR at all.  Both my 10m WSPR-AXE beacon (500mW) and my 630m (472kHz - 5mW ERP) WSPR stations have been turned off and antennas disconnected. 

I shall probably resume on 10m WSPR in the morning after breakfast.

50MHz UKAC contest - Nov 25th TONIGHT

Even though my voice is still very bad I may try for a few points in the 50MHz UKAC contest 2000-2230z tonight. The only 50MHz antenna I have is my V2000 vertical, so I am unlikely to work much.  I'll probably not be on for too long.

Just 2 stations worked in 50MHz UKAC this evening with 5W to vertical V2000

UPDATE 2122z:   I was on for about 50 minutes and had to stop as my voice was suffering badly.   Being crossed polarised with most stations did not help. I managed just 2 QSOs with 5W to the V2000 vertical with best DX being G3WIR/A at 116km. With, for example. a 6m halo, horizontally polarised antenna, I'd probably have worked many more stations than I did. Still, it was worth a go.

My brain

I am still puzzled by my brain functioning.

Most mental functions seem fine, but when I do an email or blog post I seem slow to spot errors like spelling mistakes or missing full stops. Usually, I try to correct errors before sending, but looking back I still spot mistakes that I've missed. It is as if my brain needs far more time to actually see the mistake. This must be yet another stroke related thing. Driving seems absolutely fine: I am not giddy and I feel in good control.

If you see blog errors please tell me. I want to correct the errors and know when my brain is not doing its job right.

Last 10m USA spot tonight

K3ZV (5692km) was the last to spot my 500mW 10m WSPR-AXE beacon tonight at a very early 1650z. Since then just local G4IKZ (18km) copying me.

Spark transmitters and modern simple rigs

In the early days of wireless, spark transmitters were all they had. Selectivity and bandwidths were not major concerns.  These days it is all so different with sometimes very crowded bands and the bandwidth of both transmitter and receiver being of major importance.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark-gap_transmitter for some interesting reading. I recommend you do not try a spark transmitter as you would be very unpopular because of the wide signal and interference caused.   By all means read about them though.

A modern challenge is to see just how simple rigs can be made yet still function credibly on the amateur bands today.  Rigs like the Pixie are fun, but such ultra-simple transceivers are let down by deaf or easily overloaded receivers. To my mind, the receivers have to be selective, sensitive, have netting, and not be easily overloaded. The challenge is to overcome these issues! Often TX power is not the deal breaker.

UPDATE 1740z:  W5OLF has just shown me a photo of his tiny 1 inch ferrite rod antenna on which he has had some success with on 10m WSPR.  I tried some WSPR experiments with ferrite antennas some years ago on 40m, 30m and 20m. As long as the ferrite does not saturate they do work. See www.g3xbm.co.uk .

Sunspots and 10m conditions - Nov 25th 2014

The sunspot number has climbed to 111 today and 10m daytime conditions are again "good". I missed out on 10m this morning until about 1412z, when the band was wide open to the USA, yet again.

472kHz receive here last evening

I receive 472kHz via my transverter but on RX it is totally passive i.e. I receive directly on 472kHz on the FT817 through a series tuned circuit at 472kHz.  Last night, mid evening, 472kHz WSPR was quite busy (see below):

If anything, the FT817 is marginally deaf on 472kHz. This does not seem to be issue though as I seem to hear most of what's going. The "antenna" for the above was the short baseline earth-electrodes: one end is grounded in the flower bed with a 1m long earth rod, about 15m away, whilst in the shack the other connection is to the mains earth. The link back from the far electrode to the shack is 32 x 0.2mm PVC covered wire at a height of about 2m. I am lucky that my RX noise floor is low at this QTH.

On TX last night I was copied by 8 different stations with best DX last night G8HUH (250km). Best DX on the earth-electrode system (on TX with 5mW ERP) is DL-SWL (701km).

10m WSPR-AXE summary

 Just some of the 91 unique spots on 10m WSPR in the last 2 weeks.

My little W5OLF designed "all on one tiny PCB" 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been spotted by 91 different stations in every continent in the last 2 weeks.

This is the probably the smallest 10m WSPR beacon possible (it fits in a tiny Altoids mint tin), need no PC, and it works remarkably well. It "fits the bill" perfectly on 10m WSPR beaconing for me.

Perhaps I should improve my 10m antenna, but having reached every continent I probably will stick with the 3-band antenna as it gives me so much flexibility. The PAR tri-band antenna covers 10m, 20m and 40m without an ATU.

10m stateside

The first spot in North America of my little 500mW WSPR beacon was by W3CSW (5886km) at 1206z today. My report was -14dB S/N suggesting 10dB weaker (or even less) would still have been enough. Since then, several USA stations have spotted me. I have lost count now of the weeks and weeks the 10m band has opened to the USA and Canada after lunch.

In years to come, we'll look back on these days with envy! In the quieter years it can be a very long time indeed between good E-W openings. At such times multi-hop summertime Es can be the best/only chance of getting to the USA.

UPDATE 1824z:   The last USA 10m WSPR spot today was at 1716z by K9AN (6505km).

472kHz WSPR this morning

As I can now use the FT817 with PC totally separate from my WSPR-AXE beacon for 10m (this needs no PC or separate rig), this morning I continued use of the FT817 on 472kHz WSPR.

G8VDQ (93km) is still being spotted and locals G0LRD and G4KPX are still spotting me. I need to check clock sync.