Sunspots and 10m - Wed Sept 9th 2015

Sunspot number has risen and conditions are less disturbed today. Sunspot number is 47 (K=2) although 10m propagation remains "poor". Although F2 propagation on 10m is possible, late Es remains the best hope on 10m and 6m. At the moment I am not active on 10m or 6m WSPR, but I shall be turning the kit on shortly. My first task will be to mend the 2m big-wheel!

Big-wheel disaster?

Overnight, my temporary mast for the big-wheel collapsed: it was simply resting against the guttering and blew over crushing one of the clover leaves. Hopefully, I can bend this element correctly again.  I shall do this shortly.

UPDATE 1414z:  Averted! I managed to straighten out the bent clover leaf, re-erect the antenna (briefly) and re-test. As far as I can tell, it is the same as before now.

70cm contest using a 2m big wheel

Stations worked on 70cm tonight with 5W and a 2m big-wheel omni

This evening was the September 70cm leg of the RSGB's UKAC contest, so I decided to give it a go with my 2m big-wheel and 5W SSB. The match on 70cms was very good, but I had no idea how it would actually work. Well, the answer is "very well" as you can see by the stations worked. Best DX was 182km. To say I was pleased is an under-statement!  I shall be able to use this antenna again in 70cm contests. I was also able to copy the new beacon NW of Leicester GB3LEU which was pretty good copy on 432.490MHz.

Seasons - NOT amateur radio

As I grow older, the seasons seem to come around much more quickly. The long, light evenings are no more as we start the autumn and the run towards Christmas. Soon the shops will be filled with Christmas tat as the shops cash in commercially.  In some shops Christmas starts now!

It seems no time at all since the spring when the trees were showing that newness of fresh green and the summer migrants were arriving from Africa.

As one gets older I have learnt to enjoy every season. We are lucky in the UK to have seasons and each has its own pleasures if we just open our eyes  and let the seasons flow over us.

Autumn is a season of rich colours, newly turned soil and fresh starts. Winter can have those bright cold days when the trees are bare, or warm evenings inside when the TV and fire beckon. Spring is when the summer migrants return, when the birds make new nests and sing for all it is worth. Buds appear and the bulbs in the garden spring forth with vigor. Summer is when the flowers come into full bloom - and the grass needs cutting very regularly!

Every time of the year is special and should be enjoyed. We will blink and autumn and winter will be gone and those long summer evenings will be here again, but each of us has one fewer year to enjoy.  Those long summer evenings will come and go.

No, enjoy every moment and every season. Enjoy the now.

Syria - NOT amateur radio

I am no politician, but Syria is being torn apart by civil war. An end to the conflict has to be ironed out or the deaths and displacement of millions will go on. The refugee crisis now unfolding is a symptom of the deep unrest in that troubled nation. It is high time the major powers worked together with all sides to forge a fair and lasting peace. No vested interests please, just the well being of all the people in Syria.

It still puzzles me why not a single Gulf state has taken any Syrian refugees.

Sunspots and 10m - Tues Sept 8th 2015

Sunspot number today is 47 (K=6) and 10m propagation is expected to remain "poor" today.  It is very unlikely 10m will be any good today but the band has a habit of springing surprises! Late Es remains the best hope.

Overnight on 10m and 630m WSPR

Not surprisingly only spots by G4IKZ (18km) on 10m overnight and so far this morning. On 630m WSPR best DX was DK7FC (669km) who has an excellent signal on MF.

Virgin Media broadband - NOT amateur radio

Today I got an email from Virgin Media saying that this autumn they will be doubling their broadband speed. It is already pretty good but twice as fast will be amazing. I think this is a general email to prevent us moving to BT Infinity or Sky.

Generally Virgin Media TV, broadband and phones are very reliable, although there have been a few times when the service has been down.

FET regen circuit

I received this email today:

"Hi Roger
                  

I just wanted to thank you for the Feter Regen on your QRP site.  I have managed to waste several weeks building and experimenting with it. This really is a fun project. The first working regen I have made in many years.

Many thanks and thanks also for all the other informative projects on your Web Pages.

Ray Lyford M0BBV

Sorry for the quality of the Image."

I was very pleased Ray built the circuit and had some fun with it. My main regret is not being able to do much experimentation currently as I am still too wobbly. Hopefully this will get better with time. There is also a very simple transceiver based on this circuit on the website.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/regen  .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/feter-80m-qrpp-cw-transceiver  .

472kHz WSPR during the night

PA3ABK/2 (306km) and F1AFJ (607km) copied on 472kHz WSPR overnight and my 5mW ERP was copied by PA3ABK (306km) and local G4KPX (14km). I will give my preamp for the band an outing later this week. At the moment I am still using the (rather deaf) FT817 on RX. I think another 4dB at least is to be had on RX.

2m big wheel

2m big-wheel on its temporary mast

Overall, this antenna is giving me good service and "fits the bill" well for my kind of casual SSB operating. It will be interesting to see how it (the 2m big-wheel) does on 70cms tomorrow in the UKAC.  I start with poor expectations, but certainly hope to work the locals. Although the match is good on 70cms that does not mean the omni-directional gain is good on 70cms! When erected finally I may do a review as I am sure others would like to hear how it performs.

I wonder if anyone has modeled this antenna on 2m and 70cms?

All being well, a very kind local is installing this in its permanent location, clearing the roof and above the window on the LHS of the picture, on Sunday afternoon.

Sunspots and 10m - Mon Sept 7th 2015

Sunspot number is 38 today (K=3) and 10m is expected to remain "poor" today. With Es largely ended now I am awaiting some autumn F2 propagation but, so far, my 500mW WSPR has not been spotted far away this autumn. Last year, it was spotted on every continent including Australasia and Antarctica.  I have the feeling this autumn and winter will still be quite good on 10m but next autumn and winter will be much tougher.

Big-wheel and 5W in the 2m Trophy Contest

Although my voice was poor I managed about an hour of operating in the 2m RSGB Trophy contest at the tail end of the event today. With the big-wheel on a temporary mast and 5W, I had 10 contacts with best DX being a QSO to near Cherburg (IO99pi) in northern France.  If I'd been able to stay on longer and my voice was not such hard work, I am pretty sure I'd have worked much more. An hour and my voice was screaming "help" and "stop". Life is so much harder now.

I also tried the 2m big-wheel on 70cms. The match is very good but I have no idea what the horizontal gain is on that band. I shall try this in the 70cm UKAC contest this Tuesday at 8pm UK clock time as  long as the pole does not blow down in the mean time!  At least I can get on 70cms "after a fashion". I don't think I shall bother with entering the contest today, but yet again it proves that a 2m big-wheel is well suited to my casual sort of operating.

No 10m Es today

So far today, I have seen no Es on 10m WSPR.  The only spots have been by locals G4IKZ (18km) and G4IPX (14km). No sign of any F2 on 10m yet.

At the moment I am on 10m WSPR but have the FT817 rig on 2m SSB. I hope to work a few stations in the 2m contest. I also need to check the 2m big wheel on 70cm SSB. If any good, I shall use it in the UKAC on Tuesday evening. The 2m contest is until 1400z this afternoon.

UPDATE 1520z: Still no Es seen on 10n WSPR here today. 

Sputnik (more from Oleg RV3GM)

29 days before Sputnik launch (this was received Saturday)
 
Dear Space Friends,

Both schemes of original TX's of Sputnik-1 and Vanguard-1 installed on
the page "Sputnik Days" on the Club 72 web - www.club72.su
Also,  on the same page you can hear audio files of both TX's signals
from orbit.

72! beep-beep-beep...
 
Deep Space Communications Center
operator on duty -
Oleg ("Mr. 72") RV3GM / KH6OB

Sunspots - Sun Sept 6th 2015

With a sunspot number of just 24 (K=3) and 10m propagation expected to remain "poor" I suspect we are in for another very poor day on the higher HF bands. 10m is a band of surprises, so you can never be too sure though!

Overnight on 472kHz

Overnight 472kHz was quite productive and certainly the best night so far on the band this late summer.

Best DX copied here using the barefoot and somewhat deaf FT817 and earth-electrode "antenna" was DH5RAE (995km). The best report of my own 5mW ERP was by PA3ABK (306km) overnight. Others who copied my tiny signal were G6AVK (78km) and G8LCO (58km).

Sunspots and 10m - Sat Sept 5th 2015

Sunspot number is 36 today (K=3) but 10m propagation remains "poor". I am not expecting conditions on the higher bands to do much today.

PA3ABK/2 on 472kHz WSPR

PA3ABK/2 (306km) has been spotted here at good strength (around-13dB S/N) several times this evening.  As yet, no-one has yet spotted my 5mW ERP MF signal.

UPDATE 1838z:  Although I am still beaconing on 10m WSPR (500mW) as well as being active on MF, no further 10m Es reports since this morning.

UPDATE 2040z:  PA0A copied and G6AVK has been copying me on 472kHz WSPR.

UPDATE 2224z:  There are definitely more stations being copied on 472kHz WSPR than last month. The latest is F5WK (436km) at 2218z.

Back on 472kHz WSPR

At around 1535z I moved from 6m WSPR to 630m WSPR (80% RX, 20% TX at 5mW ERP). My RX is a bit deaf I know on MF, without the preamp. It certainly cannot be less busy on 630m than 6m, which is a dead loss here most of the time now. There is very very little Es on 6m WSPR, at least for me now. I know my set-up is quite reasonable for 6m Es. Presently there are 23 stations active in the world on 630m (472kH)z WSPR. On 6m WSPRnet shows just 11 active in the world!

eBay deals - NOT amateur radio

See http://www.ebay.co.uk/ 

There are some amazing deals on eBay. For example, you can buy a brand new Vivitar 4.1 megapixel camera with SD slot, with a manufacturer's warranty for 12 months for just £5.99. This is supplied from a dealer in the UK too.

It is some years since I last used eBay. At this price it is very tempting.

472kHz WSPR this weekend

As 6m is not showing much of interest, I shall probably switch to 630m (472kHz) WSPR this weekend when I am not active in the 2m contest. This should mean I'll be on evenings and overnight (80% RX, 20% TX) with about 5mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna". I have still to try my preamp on 472kHz.

Sunspots and 10m - Fri Sept 4th 2015

With the sunspot number at 27 (K=4) and 10m propagation expected to remain "poor" I am not expecting that much today on the higher HF bands. K=4 suggests quite disturbed conditions, so the only real hope is a sporadic bit of Es if we are lucky.

10m Es but only tropo on 6m WSPR

Yes, there still is some 10m Es about, with OZ7IT (853km) spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon this morning several times. It pays to have a beacon running in the background to catch these fleeting openings. G4IKZ (18km) is a regular local who is also spotting me.

At the moment only tropo/aircraft reflections on 6m with several spots yet again of G0OQK (98km) on 6m WSPR. He also spotted me at breakfast time.

10m and 6m WSPR disappointment

No Es today seen here on 10m WSPR. It is definitely the end of Es on the band with just really sporadic short openings if we are lucky. Low levels of WSPR activity do not help. At the moment there are just 20 active WSPR stations in the world on 10m!

UPDATE 2200z:   Still no signs at all of 10m Es here today.

UPDATE 2202z:   No sign of Es on 6m WSPR either. Tropo yes, but no Es.

FTSE up over 2% today - NOT amateur radio

Despite the bad times in China that are rocking markets around the world, the UK FTSE 100 share index is currently up 2.11%. It seems like it wants to recover lost ground but is being held back.

My own view is that what is happening in China is deadly serious and we are heading for another huge crash that, especially for the average Chinese, will make the Wall Street Crash of 1929 seem tame. This could result in revolution in China and real turmoil over there. We will not come out of this unscathed. The world is just shutting its eyes and pretending it is "business as usual". It is not!  The age of low cost imports from China is gradually ending and the world has to adjust. No doubt sweat shops in other poorer countries will replace China, but personally I hope it means more real manufacturing in the EU and USA. At the moment almost everything you buy is "made in China".

BATC Convention

Although I shall not be attending others might be interested:

Dear Roger,
The following Radio Rallies are coming soon:

5 & 6 SEPTEMBER : BRITISH AMATEUR TELEVISION CLUB CONVENTION
Finningley ARS HQ, The Hurst Communications Centre, Belton Road, Sandtoft, Doncaster DN8 5SX. 

£10 per day inc free tea & coffee. LEC, TS, demos. Convention Dinner on Sat eve. 

Contact g8adm@btinternet.com www.batc.org.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Sept 3rd 2015

Sunspot number has fallen to 41 (K=2) and 10m propagation is expected to remain "poor" today.  In a few years we would think this as remarkably good!

UPDATE 1030z: No Es seen here, yet anyway, on either 10m or 6m WSPR. No F2 either on 10m.

Back on 6m and 10m WSPR

For the last hour or so I have been back on WSPR on these bands. Just G4IKZ (18km) on 10m WSPR  and G0OQK (98km) on 6m WSPR. No early Es.

Refugees - NOT amateur radio

I am sick and tired of "our" position here in the UK on refugees. We should be working to HELP these desperate people, not treating them as scum.  Those fleeing wars and conflict need our kindness and care, not hate and indifference. We should be working with the rest of the EU to solve this crisis.

Oh by the way we, here in the UK, sell arms to the value of £5 billion to countries on the human rights "black list" of countries. See https://news.vice.com/article/the-uk-is-going-to-send-billions-in-arms-exports-to-countries-on-the-human-rights-blacklist . We are partly to blame for the worse refugee crisis in Europe since WW2.

QRT on all bands

As 6m and 10m have been poor today, I have gone QRT on all bands until the morning. I should be back on 10m and 6m WSPR after breakfast.

No early Es on 10m and 6m WSPR

There is no sign, yet anyway, of Es on 10m here. I shall turn on the 6m station shortly as this was off overnight. Just spots from local G4IKZ (18km) on 10m WSPR so far today.

UPDATE 1222z:  Still no Es seen here on 10m WSPR. The same too on 6m WSPR  where the only station spotted is G0OQK (98km) by tropo and aircraft reflection. Definitely end of the Es season!

UPDATE 1724z:  Still no Es on 10m or 6m WSPR here. No F2 DX here yet on 10m WSPR. A bad 10m day.

2m Big Wheel

Steve G1KQH has requested that I blog this to say how it performs.

As my health is still not good I bought mine from Wimo in Germany, but with some aluminium tubing, some insulating material and a little skill, making your own should be straightforward. Being in the EC, imports from Germany already have VAT applied and there was no import duty. However the Wimo big-wheel, although well engineered, was not cheap. As purchased, it comes partly assembled for 2m but the 70cm version is sold ready made. The well packed antenna arrived from Wimo in Germany in about 7 days. There were instructions in German and English.

My 2m version had to have the elements attached. It is very easy to miss the screw holes and not assemble it correctly. There were no instructions for the mounting bracket, but this was straight forward enough. Overall, even with my poor health assembly took about 10 minutes

When first installed on my temporary mast my SWR (as indicated on the FT817) was rather high. Carefully bending the elements and adjusting the orientation of the matching stub brought this way down and I left it with 1-2 blobs showing on the FT817. The gain is claimed as around 3dBD horizontal.

In use it proved great: I worked all the stations I had previously worked on the halo (and others) with better reports in last night's 2m UKAC session. Best DX was 181km. In 52 minutes I worked 10 SSB stations. I was using 5W pep from the FT817. The antenna is fed with a length of RG213 (9mm diameter) coax. Not having to rotate the antenna is a great advantage. I received stations in Belgium and Holland, but did not work these in the short time I was "on air". I am sure that a lot more squares would have been worked had I stayed on for longer.  What was nice was being able to hear the activity all around and not having to turn the antenna at all. Ideally it should be used in conjunction with a beam, but the big-wheel suits my style of casual operating well.

Would I recommend a 2m big-wheel? Yes!

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Sept 2nd 2015

Sunspot number has hardly changed and is 49 (K=2) today. As we are now moving towards autumn we should be seeing some 10m F2 propagation on WSPR as long as there is activity! 10m propagation is expected to remain "poor" today.

2m UKAC contest this evening

If I can do a temporary erection of my 2m big wheel using the long 2 inch pole just laying next to the window, I may give tonight's 2m UKAC a try. The big wheel, fed with low-loss coax, should be almost 1 S point up on the halo I used last month. It would also be a chance to try out the big-wheel before it is permanently erected on the end of the bungalow. I have been kindly offered help with this, more permanent, erection.

2m big-wheel - temporary erection

UPDATE 1702z:  I have managed to get my big-wheel up in the air temporarily so (assuming it does not fall over!) I should be able to give it a run during the 2m UKAC contest this evening. I am copying the GB3VHF and PI7CIS beacons but the SWR seems a bit higher than I was expecting. Performance is better than the halo, but I am not sure by how much, maybe 0.5 S points or about 3dB? Tomorrow I might see if I can reduce the SWR a bit. It is not bad, but could, and should, be lower. In its final position, above the window on the LHS of the photo, it should be at about the same height. Once erected, I shall be unable to make any adjustments.

UPDATE 1750z:  By altering the position of the stub and and bending the clover leaves very slightly the SWR improved. I think it can be improved more, tomorrow.

Stations worked in 52 minutes in the 2m UKAC this evening with 5W SSB

UPDATE 2035z:  The big-wheel, on its temporary pole, performed very well with 10 QSOs (best DX 181km) with just 5W pep in 52 minutes. Not having to turn a beam is so much better. I may well try this in the 2m contest this weekend, for some of the time before my poor voice says, "STOP!!".

No Es on 10m or 6m WSPR all day, so far

We are definitely at the back end of the Es season now. So far today there has been no sign at all of any Es propagation on either 10m or 6m WSPR. I shall stay on 10m WSPR overnight but will probably go QRT on 6m before 1900z.

UPDATE 2237z:  No 10m or 6m Es seen all day here. Roll on autumn conditions!

Sunspots and 10m - Tues Sept 1st 2015

Sunspot number is 50 today (K=2) and 10m propagation is again expected to be "poor".

Yet another stroke artifact - NOT amateur radio

Yet another stroke artifact seems to be an inability to spot spelling mistakes as easily as before. Sometimes it takes me ages to think how a word is spelt (or is it spelled?). Often it is hours (or days) later that I notice the mistake! In writing this short piece I made at least one mistake whilst writing it.

No 10W IC7300S in the UK?

I have just received this from ICOM UK. I have responded suggesting they do sell the 10W version in the UK. Personally, I think not selling it would be a grave marketing error. OK they have to get CE approval but this should be trivial after the 100W version.

Dear Mr Lapthorn.

Thank you for your email enquiry.

The IC-7300 looks like it will be a very popular radio and we haven't has a confirmed release date from Icom JA as yet.

Unfortunately we will not be supplying the 10 watt version in the UK as this model is designed for the Japanese home market only.

I am sorry I cannot be more positive in my reply.

Best Regards

Icom UK Sales

Es on 10m and 6m WSPR

Yet again I shall be on both 10m and 6m WSPR looking out for late in the season Es. No signs so far but it is very early in the day. There is also a chance of F2 on 10m but we shall have to wait and see. Low activity levels don't help.