6m MSK144 RX

As usual, I am monitoring 6m MSK144 RX in the background, So far only EI7BMB (462km) spotted in the last 12 hours. I assume this is aircraft reflection rather than random MS.

UPDATE 1712z: Spots of stations in G, GM and GD today so far, but nothing yet outside the British Isles.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday February 22nd 2017

Solar flux is 82 today and the sunspot number 19.  A=4 and K=3.

Given up on 10m?

It would appear that most have given up on 10m and migrated to lower frequencies where there are easier pickings. Understandable, but a shame as it means there are now far fewer people around to catch the openings that still do occur on 10m.

For a long time I have recommended digital modes like WSPR or JT65 running in the background. Only low power is needed.  WSPR creates its own beaconing format, but sending "B callsign locator" in JT65 appears on PSK Reporter Maps, so you can soon see where your JT65 signal is being copied. Yes, 10m DX is still there, but harder to find now than a few years ago.

But, are you man enough to take the 10m challenge?

I have said before, but if all you want to do is chat to friends around the world you can do this by video for nothing on the internet. Amateur radio is about learning and pushing the boundaries. For many years 10m will be that final HF frontier.

Care to join us?

Back on 10m WSPR

For about 15 minutes now I have been back on 10m WSPR TX (100%, randomised frequency, 500mW). It will be interesting to see if anyone spots me on 10m WSPR. As yet, no spots.

UK Pound to Euro exchange rate - NOT amateur radio

It is my view that the Euro will lose value this year so the UK Pound will buy more Euros. Of course, I could be entirely wrong! The reasons for thinking this are:

• Greek debt is still a big issue and there will be fewer nations able to bail them out.
• Several nations are disillusioned with the Euro project and are worried by totally free movement within the EU.
• Several nations are in favour of tariff-free borders to trade but are nervous of ever closer integration.
• I think the UK will show the world it can succeed outside of the EU.

No, several things point to an improved exchange rate. As for the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen exchange rates, I am less clear.

By the way, in last year's EU referendum I voted to "remain" in the EU. I believe the EU faces a difficult year ahead and this year will be "crunch time".

10GHz made simple

The HB100 Doppler radar modules can be bought for just a few UK pounds on eBay. These are the modern day equivalent of the Gunnplexers of old. A range of 161km has been achieved with one of these at the focus of a dish antenna on wideband FM.

In conjunction with a separate LNB converting down to 600MHz and a wideband FM RX and you have the makings of a low cost 10GHz system. This was recently used by G4HJW to cover a 10km path. I think Bernie was using just the HB100's own antenna. The HB100 is basically a small PCB unit.

At least one UK station is trying to design a stand-alone 10GHz transceiver based on the HB100 module. Watch this space!

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday February 21st 2017

Solar flux is 80 today and the sunspot number 25 . A=10 and K= 1

6m MSK144 RX again today

At the moment I am on 6m MSK144 RX again, but only receiving G stations (G3RED and G4CLA) so far today. No real DX as yet, although both these stations are at a good range.

UPDATE 1422z: Now 5 stations received including GD and EI. I suspect these are aircraft reflections.

UPDATE 1648z: SK0TM (1156km) now spotted on 6m MSK144.

Back to 6m MSK144 RX again

After a day on 2m WSPR, I have returned to 6m MSK144 RX. This is my log for the last week on 6m MSK144 RX.

In all, 14 countries have been copied on 6m MSK144 RX.

Cambridge Botanic Gardens - NOT amateur radio

Today was very mild at 16 deg C. We visited the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge to see the orchid display in the hothouses. It is the first time I felt warm this winter. I dispensed with my coat.

Outside, there were lots of snowdrops out, but very few daffodils. Another few weeks and the daffodils will be out. Everything seems late this winter.

VLF amateur messages

From Eddie G3ZJO:

"Hi All
Since my last post Stefan DK7FC has been sending data using EbNaught on 8270.100 Hz. A 2 letter message was decoded by RN3AUS near Moscow a real first for Amateur operation.
Overnight on 17the Feb 2017 Stefan set the following challenge.

Let's risk something more again and try:

f = 8270.100000 Hz
Start time: Saturday 18.Feb.2017   18:00:00 UTC
Symbol period: 30 s
Characters: 7
CRC bits: 16
Coding 16K21A
Duration: 10h, 24m, 0s
Antenna current: 700 mA

By this time I was set up and operational for EbNaut after several Spectrum Lab freezes using the latest software release, and I had decoded theEbNaut files received by RN3AUS.
Next morning I loaded the overnight capture for decoding and concentrated intently on the computer screen.
Wow, in just 7 seconds ................... DREAMER
What a wonderful message for this iconic event on Sub9KHz, I didn't give thought to the significance of the test being 7 characters, expecting a dry radio call or expression. What could be better on the frequencies where we "are all dreamers and will never get any further than our own garden fence".
Today I can reveal the message as RN3AUS received it also and posted to the VLF Group. Currently there are 3 stations receiving EbNaut on VLF in addition the the 2 developers, Paul Nicholson and DF6NM plus DK7FC the TX'ing station.
DF6NM decided to run an EbNaut TX test concurrently with DK7FC on the night of 17th Feb. After the initial shock of decoding DK7FC I gave thought to looking for a 2 symbol decode, again in seconds appeared his message, a decode over a distance of more than 900Km. A surprise decode since I have not been able to spot his signal on my Spectrogram.
73 Eddie G3ZJO"

2m FSK441 - not

Yesterday evening I was all prepared to give 2m FSK441 RX a go. Then I discovered this mode was not supported in WSJT-X V1.7, so instead I stayed on 6m MSK144 RX.

I think the assumption was 2m MS users would migrate to a new mode, but they appear not to have done so yet. As the previous post shows, I went to 2m WSPR instead and had quite a bit of success on RX and TX.

2m and 10m WSPR

For a change, I returned to 2m WSPR and 10m WSPR. Already I have been spotted and I have spotted others, on 2m WSPR, but nothing on 10m.

2m WSPR - spots today so far (at 1620z)

Sunspots and 10m - Monday February 20th 2017

Solar flux is 78 today and sunspot number 23.  A=10 and K=2.

2m UKAC results published

The results for the first 2 months have been published. I am currently 60th out of 98 in the AL section. This is not bad considering my low power (5W), my omni antenna and usually being on for less than 40% of the time because of my poor voice. If I am at home, I try to go on most months.

Smartphone mod into a walkie talkie

Southgate News brought this to my attention. How to convert a smartphone into a walkie-talkie without internal mods. A neat idea. Maybe this could be done using an amateur handheld?

See https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/linc-the-smart-walkie-talkie-smartphone#/ .

House quiet again - NOT amateur radio

Over school half-term we have been very busy and had all the 4 grandchildren to stay. It is lovely to see them all, but I get very exhausted these days. This evening, the house is quiet again, just leaving the (clean) mess to tidy up. Tomorrow!

6m MSK144 today

Three countries spotted today so far (EI, G OZ) today on 6m MSK144. Next week, I might give 2m random MS a go (RX only).

QRP and QRP Club

The weekly update from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (February 19, 2017)
Visitors  of  the  week:  R1CAF,  RA1M, RW3AA, EA5EQ, US5ERQ, UA1CEG,
UR7VT,  DK1HW,  OH6NPV,  US3EN,  RV3GM, EA2EFI, UR4MME, DH0DK, G3XJS,
SP3LRS,  OK2PDT,  SM5CZQ,  RV3DSA/0,  RU3NJC,  ON6KZ,  OM6TC, UA1AQC,
UR5EFD,  RD6MZ,  UA4NU,  R2FAE,  RX3DOR,  EA8/DK6XM/p, SV2BBK, R4YES,
EW7BW/1, UA0SBQ, F6EAZ, SA4BLM, UR0ET/p, R2AJA, R9WY, IK2RMZ, UW5EKR,
IZ0RQF, IT9IFI, 9H3FC, EA6BB
Congrats!
R2AJA and IZ0RQF became Honor Frequenters (regular visitors)
See full Visitors and Frequenters lists on the Club 72 web page.
Comments...

See full WQR Report on the Club 72 blog page (link from web site).
Thanks  ALL for activity and comments! See you on next QRP Rendez-Vous
round tables.

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

This is a periodic Newsletter of the Club 72. Don't reply to Newsletter address! Send any requests or news to mr72@club72.su please.

Stroke Update - NOT amateur radio

Sadly, no real improvement in the last year. I still feel very giddy when on my feet, tire easily, my voice is poor, and I stress more easily than before. Although I drive it is much harder than before my stroke. Overall, I have plateaued.

Life is hard, but could be worse.

My main problem is people think I am fine. Inside I feel very unwell, but outwardly I look well.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday February 19th 2017

Solar flux is 76 today and sunspot number 13.  A=16 and K=2.

Maggie - NOT amateur radio

Maggie is a very old horse who lives in a field near our old home. Here she is being kissed by one of our granddaughters. Earlier, she gave Maggie some carrots, feeding her from her hands.

I am sure Maggie knows and loves young children, as much as they love her.

My main website

A reminder that my main website is at www.g3xbm.co.uk where, if you drill down, you will find details of my projects. There is also a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/G3XBM. Hopefully, you will find something of interest. The blog gets updated most days whereas my main website and YouTube channels far less often.

PSK Reporter Maps back again

At the moment I am just on 6m MSK144 RX and no other bands. PSK Reporter Maps seems to be OK today. I have spotted OZ, HB9, G, GW and DL stations in the last 12 hours.

UPDATE 1035z: Now EI spotted.

UPDATE 1535z: It is surprising just how strong the MSK144 signals on 6m are. This suggests much weaker signals could be copied but the bursts, although short, are actually very strong.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday February 18th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 14.  A=20 and K=2.

Now 2 more countries on 6m MSK144

With GW and GJ spotted on 6m MSK144 my total tally on this band and mode has increased:

EI, GD GM, G, GW, GJ, ON, PA, OZ, SM, F, DL, HB9,  and I, I have now spotted 14 different countries in just a few weeks on 6m MSK144 RX.

PSK Reporter Maps - issues?

PSK Reporter Maps (see https://www.pskreporter.info/pskmap.html) has helped to show me where I was reaching on 10m JT65 and spotting on 6m MSK144. Of late, I have had a few issues with the maps not loading, despite other pages loading. This could be a local issue, but I wonder if others have noticed similar?

Sunspot and 10m - Friday February 17th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number is 23. A=9 and K=4.

Now 12 countries on 6m MSK144

This morning, I am again on 6m MSK144 RX and 10m WSPR TX. HB9Q (794km) and EI7BMB (462km) have recently been spotted on 6m and last night GM6NX (507km), for the 12th country, was spotted.

Meanwhile on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) no spots as yet.

High blog visits again - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, the visits to two of my blogs are sky high at the same time as visits from Russia has peaked again. Co-incidence or probing?

Southgate News and CQ Magazine

Southgate News reports that CQ magazine in the USA is soon to host a 137kHz and 472kHz column.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/february/cq-to-introduce-mf-lf-column.htm#.WKX2zYXXLIU

11th Country on 6m MSK144 RX

Just spotted my 11th country on 6m MSK144 in the form of GD0TEP (381km). This was most likely aircraft reflection.

Simple 10GHz

Yesterday I received this, which may interest those setting out on 10GHz:

Hi Roger,

We report our experience with HB100 module.

Please visit the Facebook page "HB100 10GHz"

https://www.facebook.com/groups/603514236508122/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Thank's

73, Nino IZ8WLZ

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday February 16th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 23. A=3 and K=2.

6m MSK144 RX

6m - MSK144 RX this morning

So far today, 3 countries spotted: Germany, Denmark and France with the best DX being F6ECI (811km) in JO05 square way down in France. This was at 0847z.

I am also on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) but no spots as yet.

UPDATE 1940z: No spots today on 10m WSPR.

Visit from old work colleague

Yesterday, I had a visit from an old work colleague G3TFX.  As well as a good chat, it also gave us a chance to check the sensitivity of his FT817.

Blog visits - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, visitors to this blog are up again, which coincides with lots of visits from Russia. Odd. I did not realise my humble blogs were so interesting!

UPDATE 2210z: Even my churches blog has received a lot more visits in the last 24 hours. I hope the Russians enjoyed it!

Russian hacking? - NOT amateur radio

It is funny, but the number of visits to my blogs increases a lot on some days. When I check, the visits from Russia also are much greater on those days. I suspect hackers are looking to see if the blogs are worth hacking. Of course I could be entirely wrong.

Any dubious comments are soon deleted and I have little of interest to hackers on my blogs. If you see anything odd, please let me know.

By the way, my Miracle Whip Yahoo group seems to attract Asian women promising much. I wonder why?

Several Russians have been very kind to me. Like Americans, I have found individuals to be warm and kind. In every society there are "rotten eggs" sadly. I am sure the UK has many too.

Another example of false news? - NOT amateur radio

I first saw and heard this many years ago. Although funny, I have great doubts about its authenticity and suspect this is yet another "false news" story doing the rounds. Caveat emptor!

10m WSPR TX (500mW) and 6m MSK144 RX

All day I have been using the above.

On 10m WSPR I was spotted by DK6UG (633km) this morning.

On 6m MSK144 RX I have spotted OZ1PIF (850km) and a couple of UK stations, the best of which was M0CKM (174km) on the south coast.