Sunspots - Tuesday January 16th 2018

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number zero. A=10 and K=2.

UK Pound against US Dollar - NOT amateur radio

About 18 months ago "experts" were talking about the UK Pound being worth about 1 US Dollar. At the moment the UK Pound buys about $1.38.

Moral? Don't always believe the "experts"! They guess too.

UK Pound against the Euro? I was wrong last year!

Summits on the air (SOTA)

This is an activity that has taken off in recent years. Keen operators hike up a mountain and "activate" it. Points can be gained by working (or hearing) these activations. It combines hiking and amateur radio. My days of hiking up mountains is probably over (not that we have many mountains in East Anglia!) but others do it. Great fun.

See http://www.sota.org.uk/

Popular? - NOT amateur radio

Either I have suddenly become very popular or the bots are back! I suspect the latter. My blog visits shot up just after the USA woke up. Should this blog suddenly disappear or start producing rubbish (more than usual!) you will know why.

Good news - NOT amateur radio

President Trump has allegedly told the world he is not a racist.  So his alleged remarks about shithole African nations is obviously false news then.  That's good to know. We are so lucky having a genius leading the western world.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42685356

6m MSK144 RX

As of 1018z, I am monitoring 50.280MHz MSK144 RX. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1306z: 2 spots so far on 6m, with best DX GI4OWA (583km) very strong at +7dB S/N. This could have been random MS or aircraft reflection.

630m WSPR RX overnight

15 uniques spotted last night with one spot of N1BUG (4940km). Another new one for me was EA7HPM (1726km).

Sunspots - Monday January 15th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number zero. A=14 and K=2.

Will it or won't it? - NOT amateur radio

At the moment we have 3 amaryllis plants. One is way out with plenty of flowers, one is growing well and this one.

It is hard to tell if this one is coming out. There appear to be some shoots but another week and it will be clearer.

BREXIT: a 2nd referendum? - NOT amateur radio

OK, I may be wrong (I often am!) but I think the people of the UK want to be able to trade freely within the EU, but at the same time want to say who lives and works here. The UK people are precious about the UK parliament having the last word on laws. We also hate waste and profligatism (is that a word?) in the EU.

If a second referendum vote was ever to take place and the questions carefully worded, it would not surprise me if we voted to stay in.

As I have said many times before, there is a lot wrong with the EU and a lot right. Personally, I think the UK people would like a reformed EU. Arguably, the EU has kept peace in Europe (mainly) for half a century, but it needs to evolve or it will fall apart.

How simple?

Many have wondered just how little do you need to communicate on HF?  Well, running really simple rigs is a compromise often with the receiver being the weakest link. For ideas, try my main website. Use these ideas as a starting point. Half the fun is experimenting to see what works.  Specifically:

https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/80m_xbm80
https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/feter-80m-qrpp-cw-transceiver
https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/chirpy

Hawaiian false alarm - NOT amateur radio

So the people of Hawaii got a (false) message saying "take cover, incoming missile". For several minutes they all expected to die. In the end it turned out that the message was sent by mistake and all was well. It makes you wonder what you would do.

I like the suggestion that everyone in Hawaii should have a drink of their choice at the expense of the Hawaiian government!

More seriously, some will have had strokes, seizures or heart attacks as a result of this (false) message. This was no joke and whoever sent the message deserves the sack.

Antarctic WSPR beacon

Thanks to Southgate News comes a link about a multi-band WSPR beacon and RX in Antarctica. Although my own 500mW 10m WSPR has already been copied in Antarctica some years ago, this will be very useful.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/january/wspr-beacon-on-the-way-to-the-antarctic.htm#.Wlteykx2vIU

Snowdrops - NOT amateur radio

These were at Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge a few days ago. Another month and there will be snowdrops everywhere!

Back to normal - NOT amateur radio

It looks like the hackers and bots have gone away for another few weeks as blog visits were back to normal yesterday. I think there is little of interest here, unless you are a geek!

10m FT8

After a few minutes on TX, I am now on 10m FT8 RX. No spots as yet.

UPDATE 1042z: Best DX spotted so far on 10m FT8 is OZ1LXJ (805km).

UPDATE 1355z: Just one more G station spotted on 10m FT8 today so far. Very quiet.

UPDATE 1603z: Just one more G and PG0DX (411km) spotted. These could be aircraft reflections.

UPDATE 2000z: No further spots today.

Sunspots - Sunday January 14th 2018

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number remains at zero. A=7 and K=4.

Transatlantic on 472kHz

Last night, with the shack PC on battery power I copied 20 uniques, which is a record with my unbelievably bad antenna and ground. Honestly, you would be hard pushed to make you antenna any worse! The FT817 is also starting to get deaf at 472kHz (630m).

So, I was very pleased to spot N1BUG (4940km) twice last night in the early hours. This is the first time I have spotted any North Americans here at this QTH on WSPR on MF. Believe me, if I can spot across the Atlantic with my setup so can you!

New EbNaut decoder for VLF amateur DX

Paul Nicholson, a very good UK VLF SWL, has created some new software:

"Updated EbNaut decoder for Windows, now at version 0.8

 http://abelian.org/ebnaut/software_ms.shtml

This version does 16K23A which is a useful polynomial
for short messages combined with a large CRC.

The Linux program is up to version 0.9 now.

 http://abelian.org/ebnaut/software_linux.shtml

The only significant change is the use of DSW re-balancing
of the list decoder stack.  This may reduce decode time
a little when using very large list lengths.  It is most
useful when measuring the distance spectrum of a polynomial
where a degenerate tree often develops.
--
Paul Nicholson"

Back to 630m WSPR RX

At about 2130z I returned to 630m WSPR RX with the shack PC on internal battery power so the noise floor is lower. Already 5 unique stations spotted including ON7ZO (355km) who I am sure is new.

UPDATE 2210z: Now 10 unique stations including another new one for me - EA3AER (1142km).

Moles - NOT amateur radio

In the UK we get moles. These are small, furry animals that spend most of their time underground. They eat mainly worms.

You rarely see them but they have a nasty habit of leaving "mole hills" at regular intervals, often in well-kept lawns. They are otherwise harmless, but these mole hills can be a darn nuisance.

We saw these earlier today, but luckily not in our lawns!

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/other-garden-wildlife/mammals/mole/ .

10m FT8 RX

Yesterday I think I was on 10m FT8 but with the wrong antenna. Today I double checked! Quite a lot of Europeans spotted already on 10m.

UPDATE 1612z: 12 unique stations spotted so far today in 5 European countries on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1727z: So far,17 uniques in 7 countries.

UPDATE 2123z: As well as lots of Europeans VP8LP (12772km) was spotted at 1751z. This is the first non-European spotted here on 10m FT8 this year, although my 10m antenna is very average.

630m WSPR RX last night

Turning off the mains to my shack laptop definitely helps reduce my 630m noise floor. Last night 16 unique stations were spotted, which is a record for me.

Winter - NOT amateur radio

At this time of year everything looks dead. In a few months we will have returning swallows, lambs, fresh green leaves and life. In reality, life is already stirring, but largely unseen.

Sunspots - Saturday January 13th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number zero. A=4 and K=1.

BREXIT - NOT amateur radio

If we leave the EU it is naïve to expect to get a trade deal that is more favourable than if we are members of the "club".

My own view is we want the trade deal, but we want a final say over laws in the UK parliament and control over who can stay and work here in the UK. Our trade in the short term has been helped by low cost immigrant workers, but we have been lazy and done little to increase efficiency in many sectors.

Personally I'd prefer to remain in a reformed EU without the needless waste and with control (ultimately) of our laws and people coming into the UK.

If we have to leave, so be it. In the end, I am sure the UK will do just fine. The bigger losers will be the EU.  There is a lot right about the EU. There is also a lot wrong with it.

630m WSPR RX

Up to now I have used the shack PC on mains power with the internal PC battery charging. In a few minutes I shall run the PC on its internal battery hoping for a lower noise floor.

UPDATE 2054z: Shack PC now running on its internal battery.

UPDATE 2132z: From the evidence of the last 1.5 hours the S/N of signals received on 630m WSPR improves by at least 10dB when the shack PC is on internal batteries. Previous tests were rather inconclusive, but results this evening are very clear.

10m FT8 RX

Rather later than usual, I have QSYed from 630m WSPR to 10m FT8 RX. This is where I shall probably be for the rest of the day, before going back to 630m WSPR tonight. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1825z:  No spots all day on 10m FT8. Soon be time to QSY to 630m WSPR RX.

UK rally

14 JANUARY 2018 : RED ROSE WINTER RALLY

The George H Carnall Leisure Centre, Kingsway Park M41 7FJ. Venue is easily accessible from Jct 9 of the M60 (opposite the Trafford Centre). This vast hall has superb disabled facilities, being all on one level. It has a huge free car park. There will be our usual bring and buy stall and there is an excellent cafe on site. Doors open at 11am. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy, special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. Further details from John on 0787 016 1953 www.wmrc.co.uk.

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

President Trump - NOT amateur radio

If recent reports allegedly coming out of the White House are correct, then the USA president is rapidly losing friends around the globe and probably at home.

His latest reported outburst was another swipe at immigrants and their families.

I must remind the good people of the USA (all those I have met were decent, kind, generous and caring folk), and the President, that ALL white Americans were from immigrant stock. The land of freedom and liberty. People want to come to the USA because of its values.

UPDATE 2042z:  I notice that the US $ is rapidly losing value against the UK £.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42656433 .

PTT with cellular network radio

It had to come.

Southgate News has details of a mobile radio using cellular radio as its bearer. It uses Android and can link with things like Echolink for radio amateurs. The  "radio" is sold by Moonraker.

See https://www.moonraker.eu/inrico-tm-7-network-mobile-radio

Overnight on 630m WSPR RX

Last night I was on 630m WSPR RX overnight, but with the shack PC still on mains power.

No further spots overnight compared with those spotted in a couple of hours last night. 11 spots of unique stations in 7 countries (see table).

With the PC just on its internal battery, the reports might have been a little better, but it is not certain more stations would have been spotted.

Sunspots - Friday January 12th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 12. A=2 and K=1.

630m WSPR RX again

Since returning from a meal with friends, I have been on 630m WSPR RX with the shack PC on mains power with the battery charging. When I go to bed I may run the shack PC off its internal battery. 9 unique stations spotted in the last hour.

UPDATE 2300z:  Now 10 unique stations spotted in the last hour.

Christmas trading results - NOT amateur radio

Many of the large retail stores have released their results over Christmas and it shows a mix of fortunes. What is clear is more and more people are buying online and the retail business is going to change in the coming years. In 20 years' time some very familiar names are likely to disappear.

6m MSK144 RX

At the moment I am monitoring 50.280MHz MSK144 RX. No spots as yet.

UPDATE 1302z: So far, just MM0CEZ (488km) spotted strongly.

UPDATE 1420z: At the moment 3 unique stations in 3 countries (England, Guernsey and Scotland) spotted here on 6m MSK144 today.

Laziness or exhaustion? - NOT amateur radio

Quite a few people mistake my behaviour for laziness when I am actually totally exhausted. My worst time is after breakfast in the morning, when I feel totally drained. You would expect after a good night's sleep I would be at my best. After a rest of about 30 minutes I feel quite a bit better. On my feet I am always giddy.

My stroke 4 years ago left me largely unscathed but my voice is poor and I get tired (no, exhausted) after any form of physical or mental exertion. I very much wish things were better, but I think I need to reset my expectations: improvements are still to be had and many say my tiredness is due to my brain trying to rewire itself.

Sadly, I am unable to do many of the things I once could. This does not mean I can't live a full and interesting life though. Onwards and upwards!

Sunspots - Thursday January 11th 2018

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

630m WSPR RX last night - good

As you may recall, I still have to find out why I am unable to TX on MF. I think I am doing something stupid but my head is too foggy to work out what I am doing wrong.

So, overnight I tried an experiment: running the shack PC off its internal battery power to reduce the noise floor, so I was able to copy weaker signals. It seems to have worked!

Last night I spotted 12 unique stations, which is far more than usual.  I am pretty sure this includes a few stations not seen before on this antenna. I am sure there are other steps to try as well. All these need to be addressed before the autumn.

A good blog - G0LUJ

G0LUJ has been able to reliably copy my 630m 10mW ERP WSPR, although he recently had to relocate his RX antenna to beat local noise. He has a very interesting blog which is worth checking out.

See https://g0luj.blogspot.co.uk/