Southgate News and BBC Local AM radio

Southgate News reports that a number of BBC Local Radio stations are to go QRT on medium wave early next year. Personally I find this sad.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/august/bbc-to-switch-off-am-local-radio-transmitters.htm#.WZIFPbpFzIV

PSK Reporter Issues - still

Yet again, PSK Reporter Maps is not working. As far as I know this is the longest period of trouble I have known. Usually it is very reliable and I use it a lot. I hope they soon fix it.

2m UKAC results

The latest results are out and I see my position in the AL section is unchanged. As I was only on for a very short time (poor voice) with 5W and an omni antenna, I am quite happy with this.

Archetypal Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

In winter, Cambridge is usually quiet, but at this time of year there are plenty of visitors. This year, we seem to have more Far East visitors, probably because of the good exchange rates. The photo shows punts at Scudamore's boatyard off Silver Street.

6m MSK144 RX continued

Yet again, I continue to monitor 50.280MHz MSK144 RX during the Perseid meteor shower. PSK Reporter Maps is still not working properly, but I can see from my WSJT-X screen on the PC that I am copying stations from all over the place.

Sunspots - Monday August 14th 2017

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 11. A=7 and K=1.

PSK Reporter Issues

At first I wondered if I had a problem uploading spots to PSK Reporter Maps, then I saw they were 32 hours behind and were trying to fix the issue.

Up to now, it has been very reliable. The weekend of the Perseid meteor shower it falls over, which is a pity.

QRP and QRP Club

As usual, Oleg's weekly report:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly Rendezvous and Parade (WRP) Report (August, 13, 2017)

Keep attention, please!
For  all  active  QRP  operators, for all Rendez-Vous and Micro Radio
Parade  Frequenters and Visitors, for all simplest radio constructors
and milliwatt operators - new "72" e-mail reflector and on-line group
created. To enter the "72" group send empty e-mail to address -
72+subscribe@groups.io
see the group on-line -
https://groups.io/g/72

Visitors  of  the  week:  IT9IFI,  UR7VT, EW1CY, G4SSH, RV3GM, RV3UF,
UA1CEG/p,  ON6WJ, OH6NPV, RA7RA, DL3HXX, ON4ADR, DK1HW, DJ2DW, DL9FI,
I2QIL,  R1CAN,  RU3NJC,  YO3BL, IK2UZQ, IZ5IOU, US3EN, US5ERQ, UY1IF,
7X2EZ,  SM2FIJ,  F5SSI,  Z35M/p, UA1CEX, ON6KZ, G3XJS, RW3DF, RX3DOR,
R2FAE, G3JFS

Micro Radio Parade visitors -
EW1CY (200 mW), RV3GM (300 mW), UA1CEX (300 mW)

New RV visitors -
I2QIL, YO3BL, IK2UZQ - you are welcome!
See full Frequenters and Visitors lists on the Club 72 page, please.

Comments...
see full WRP Report including comments and pictures on the page -
https://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
That's all Folks for now!
See you all QRPers on the next RV and MRP!

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.

Swifts (birds) - NOT amateur radio

Well, I thought they'd all gone now until next year. As this evening was so nice, we had tea in the garden. 6 swifts were on the wing high above us. These may be northern birds passing through, but it made my day.

Swallows and house martins usually stay until well in to September, but there are few locally.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/swift/

Next UK Prime Minister? - NOT amateur radio

Since the last General Election the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, is hanging on by a thread. It is rumoured that Jacob Rees-Mogg would like to be considered for the post. I have few doubts that he is an honourable man, but I doubt he would really understand "the common man". This is a personal view, and I may be wrong.  If elected in a vote, I think this would bring an end to Conservative rule in short order.

Sadly, we lack charismatic leaders in any political party in the UK. Looking around, we have career politicians, but few real leaders. Hopefully this will change.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40916687

Parsonage Farm - NOT amateur radio

This started as a workers co-operative where everyone was paid the same. It is still going strong today (Delta-T) making scientific kit mainly related to plants. This is in our village (Burwell, Cambs, UK).

6m MSK144 RX again

As mentioned yesterday, the Perseid meteor shower is peaking, so I am monitoring 6m MSK144 (50.280MHz) all weekend, hoping to catch some meteor scatter activity.

UPDATE 0916z:  MS spots from all over the place including Norway, Germany and Italy.

UPDATE 1906z: Now spotting Switzerland on 6m MSK144.

Sunspots - Sunday August 13th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today. Sunspot number is 11. A=11 and K=2.

Reviews - NOT amateur radio

It seems that almost everything you do on the phone or internet now is followed up by a request for feedback asking how good they were. Being a cynic these days I refuse to complete these. Some may well be genuine, hoping to get feedback so they can do better, but I suspect many sell your details on so you can be targeted with junk mail and junk phone calls.  So, I just delete these. Call me a boring old fart, but I am not increasing my chances of being a target.

If I get very good or bad service I am quite happy to write an email. Many years ago I wrote to the MD of Dell. Within days I had a phone call back from their head office and my PC was fixed. Sometimes this works. The last thing big companies want is adverse publicity. When you get very good or very bad service you tell people. They prefer you to tell others when things are good.

4m QRP transverter

It is some years since I was active on 4m.  Several years ago now, I designed and built this transverter as I had no gear for this band. I worked a few stations in a 4m contest with it and just a wire dipole.

Of course, these days the IC7300 from ICOM covers 4m.  These days there are lots of EU countries on the band, so it can be good in the Es season.

Years before I recall working ZB2VHF with 4W of AM in my university days by Es.

At some point I intend to get on 4m again.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/4m_tvtr .

Birds

One of our grandsons in Australia. He loves all animals and looks in his element with these birds.

Perseid Fireballs?

This weekend the Perseid meteor shower peaks. According to Southgate News relaying a post on spaceweather.com the Perseid shower produces more fireballs than any other shower.

See http://spaceweather.com/  .

Nostalgia - SW interval Signals

Well I am pretty sure I've posted this link before, not that it matters.

When I started in the 1960s my first experiences were with short wave broadcast stations.  There was no such thing as TV live from the USA or Australia. Skype and FaceTime were in the far future.

Radio Australia would fade in and out. Radio New Zealand was a good catch. Many broadcasters had English language services. On the hours and half hours we'd listen for the interval signals. Many communist nations tried to blast us with propaganda. All I wanted was a QSL card!

Anyway, grab a drink and listen to the past. Enjoy.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/interval.

In Australia - NOT amateur radio

At the moment a couple of our grandchildren are in Australia visiting their Australian grandparents with their mum and dad. The photo was taken on Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands. The grandparents live in Brisbane.

PF1 UHF

In my professional life I worked first for Pye Telecom. My first ever job (I think it was really a test of my capabilities) was converting the PF1 (a small UHF portable with separate RX and TX) to 12.5kHz channel spacing. In those far off days we had 995 signal generators and these took hours (really) to stop drifting! The task was completed OK as I recall.

The task was set by Mike Gotch , G0IMG, who is now a SK. At the time I had no idea Mike was interested in amateur radio. Apparently years before he had been a pirate and got caught! In the early days of UK CB he was a keen DXer and I last worked him on 6m I think.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/pf1.

6m MSK144 RX

As the Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend, I intend to stay on 50.280MHz MSK144 RX all weekend. Certainly here in Europe this frequency is much more used than 50.360MHz recommended by WSJT-x v1.8. So far, 9 countries spotted in the last 12 hours on 6m MSK144. Best DX so far is LA7DFA (1312km).

Sunspots - Saturday August 12th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number 11.  A=7 and K=2.

Insurances (car and home) - NOT amateur radio

House and car insurances - call me a grumpy old man, but a couple of phone calls to the SAME insurance company and I get £172 off.

If they wanted to keep me why not offer the best prices to start with? Don't answer, as I know the answer already. They assume most won't bother and will just pay up at the inflated prices.

Personally I find this STUPID. This is an immoral racket preying on the old and vulnerable.

Insurance companies - you should be ashamed!

70cm QRM

A friend of mine in Cambridge Richard G3TFX is getting QRM on the GB3OV repeater. OFCOM cannot help.

He writes:

Can anyone pin down the direction of a pulsing telemetry signal causing QRM on the OUTPUT channel of the St Neots repeater GB3OV, 433.125 Mhz? It's a pretty strong signal in the center of Cambridge and my guess is it might be a device on a crane.

Rally this Sunday

13 AUGUST 2017 : FLIGHT REFUELLING ARS HAMFEST
Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, near Wimborne, Dorset. BH21 3DA There will be a talk in station on S22 and the venue has free car parking. Doors open at 10am and admission is £3.50. There will be trade stands, a car boot areas and indoor and field pitches for traders. Lectures will take place during the day. there is catering and a licensed bar on site. Camping is available on Saturday night only in an adjacent field. More information from hamfest@frars.org.uk
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Eddystone receivers

When I first entered the hobby in the early 1960s, many here in the UK aspired to Eddystone receivers, made in Birmingham, UK. They were beautifully made with velvet touch drives.

I wanted an 840C, but never had one. When I started work a friend had a dad who worked for Eddystone. I was lucky enough to get an EC10 in the early 1970s. These were the first transistorised  receivers that they made. They sold for £48 when they first came out. 10m bandspread was appalling and in all honesty, by modern standards, they were not very good. I think the IF was very low. They still had lovely mechanical construction and velvet smooth drives, but the receivers were really average.

For quite a while I used mine on the lower HF bands and as a tuneable IF for VHF and UHF RX converters. As an IF they were fine.

They used germanium transistors and they occasionally turn up on eBay and similar. These days, I would not bother apart from nostalgia.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ec10 .

Sunspots - Friday August 11th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number is 11. A=5 and K=1.

Overnight and this morning on 6m MSK144 RX

As we are near the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, I have been on 6m MSK144 RX overnight and this morning. I decided to look around 50.280MHz rather than the "new" frequency recommended in WSJT-X v1.8. So far, 9 countries spotted on 6m, although not all of these will have been via meteor scatter as there is still Es on 6m.

UPDATE 1520z: 16 countries spotted on 6m MSK144 RX so far today.

UPDATE 2122z: "Just in case", I have just done a manual time sync in readiness for the overnight period on 50.280MHz MSK144.

Now on 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz

At about 1830z I turned off the 10m WSPR TX beacon (no spots all day) and moved from FT8 RX on 50.313MHz to 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz. I'll check the logs later and tomorrow to see if I see spots as a result of the Perseid shower. At this time of year it is sometimes hard to tell which is Es and which meteor trail reflections. If during the early hours, it is more likely to be meteor scatter.

UPDATE 1938z: No 6m MSK144 spots yet.

6m FT8 RX

Since mid-morning I have been on 6m FT8 RX. So far, 8 countries spotted. Although I have also been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW), no 10m spots today at all.

Perseid Meteor Shower

Tonight, I will try MSK144 on 50.280MHz RX. The Perseid meteor shower peaks, so there is a good chance of copying many European stations by this mode. This frequency is still better liked in Europe than the 50.260MHz recommended in WSJT-X v1.8 and the new band plan. Not sure why this is.

See https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html .

North Korea - NOT amateur radio

There is a crisis brewing.

The North Koreans are treading dangerously. The USA is being provoked and Trump is a loose cannon. If the USA fires a pre-emptive strike all hell would be let loose with unpredictable outcomes. Talk is always better.

70cm Moxon Beam

This has been posted before, but it is to show amateur radio need not be expensive or hard. I built this antenna in minutes and it worked remarkably well.

Moxon beams have a useful gain, a broad main lobe, and they work. They are ideal for portable work. As this example shows they are low cost to make, especially if you scavenge bits.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/70cm_moxon

Sunspots - Thursday August 10th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 11. A=4 and K=1.

Final QRT tonight

Finally, I went QRT on all bands about 1930z. I may go on again tomorrow.

QRT - thunder

My wife said she heard thunder, so I have disconnected everything again. At the moment it is rain, rain, rain. Tomorrow looks better. I suspect I'll be QRT until tomorrow.

UPDATE 1444z: At the moment the storms look to be confined to Kent, so I have gone back on the air again. Outside it is still very wet! The photo shows a group (with umbrellas) arriving at our museum and windmill. The photo was taken out of the lounge window.

UPDATE 1627z: 8 countries spotted on 6m FT8 in the last hour.

Trump and North Korea - NOT amateur radio

So, what happens next?

North Korea is run by Kim. The USA is led by Donald.

In years past I had confidence in the leaders to wisely "do the right thing". This time I have my doubts. Both are unpredictable.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/40857783/trump-north-korea-threats-will-be-met-with-fire-and-fury.

Mini Rally (Scotland)

11 AUGUST 2017 : 24th ANNUAL MINI RALLY NIGHT
Port Seton Resource Community Centre, South Seton Park, Port Seton, East Lothian EH32 0BQ Doors open 6 to 9pm and entry is £2. A raffle will be held on the night and refreshments will be available. Bring along your own 'junk' and sell it yourself. No charge for a table but they are on a first come first served basis. More information from gm4uyz@csparc.com A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Sunspots - Wednesday August 9th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today. Sunspot number is 11. A=5 and K=2.

10m WSPR TX

Several spots of my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon, mainly from Germany. Early Es.

UPDATE 1115z: 9 unique spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon so far today. The map shows the spots so far today.

UPDATE 1912z: 13 unique spots today on 10m WSPR TX (500mW).