5 Feb 2018

Hacker will not be sent to the USA - NOT amateur radio

A computer hacker who could have received a 99 year prison sentence in the USA will not be extradited says a UK appeal court. He had Asperger's Syndrome and suffers a depressive condition allegedly. He may still face a UK prison sentence, but personally I think this is a fair and just decision.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42946540 .

Posh houses - NOT amateur radio

As I have mentioned before, every spare piece of land in our village is used for "executive" houses. Basically this means the developers trying to fit in as many posh houses as they can so they can maximise profits from hi-tech workers in nearby Cambridge.  One example is the Crown pub and its grounds. By the summer this will be the site of posh houses. 

6m MSK144 RX

As yesterday, I decided to go on 6m MSK144 on 50.280MHz. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1500z: No spots today yet. Bad day.

UPDATE 1545z: Just G1PPA (144km) spotted.

UPDATE 1627z: No further spots so I shall probably QSY to 136kHz shortly.

136kHz RX yesterday evening

Yesterday evening I was on 136kHz RX again. On WSPR RX  2E0ILY, G4FTC and G8HUH (250km) were spotted. On OPERA RX the only station spotted was G3XDV (61km).

Sunspots - Monday February 5th 2018

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot 11. A=3 and K=2.

4 Feb 2018

Return to 136kHz RX

About an hour ago, I QSYed to 136kHz RX. Both WSPR and OPERA are being monitored. As yet, no spots on WSPR. I need to look on a different PC to check OPERA.

UPDATE 1936z: So far G4FTC (123km) spotted on WSPR and G3XDV (61km) spotted on OPERA.

Painted Pebbles - NOT amateur radio

This seems to be all the rage right now. People hide painted rocks around the village which people (mainly youngsters) hunt and photograph. They then re-hide the stones somewhere else. So far I have seen one which my wife and I re-hid. Photos are posted on Facebook. Innocent fun.

How time flies - Philips Velo

Back in the late 1990s I had a Philips Velo handheld that connected (via a wire) to the internet. I think it was at 14.4k.
These days, many people have speeds of hundreds of MB over their tiny phones. I cannot remember what happened to this Philips device. At the time, it was "state of the art". How far we have come in under 20 years. What will the next 20 years bring?  Remember Windows CE?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Velo

Leather seats - NOT amateur radio

A trick I found several years ago was to use shoe polish to restore worn patches in leather furniture. Unbeknown to me, my wife was taking a photo of me through the window!

6m MSK144 RX

In times of poor solar conditions this rarely fails. At this time of year propagation is usually random MS or aircraft reflection.

Yesterday I spotted 5 unique stations in 3 countries. I decided to go on 6m MSK144 RX again today monitoring 50.280MHz.

My 6m antenna is just my triband vertical omni fed with poor coax.

No spots yet, although I've only been on for about 15 minutes so far.

UPDATE 1046z:  S59SV (1278km) in Slovenia spotted strongly - random MS?

UPDATE 1228z: Now IK4ISR (1170km) spotted as well as G0GGG (211km).
UPDATE 1607z: G1PPA (145km) spotted on 6m MSK144.

UPDATE 1732z: No further spots. After about 30 minutes I shall QSY to 136kHz WSPR RX and 136kHz OPERA RX.

Cambridge Concert - NOT amateur radio

Don't forget the CCS concert in April in Cambridge. Details on the website at www.cambschoral.org.uk .

136kHz RX last evening

As is my norm, I QSYed from 6m (sometimes 10m) to LF (sometimes MF). The shack PC was on battery power to keep the SMPSU noise to a minimum. I did not stay on overnight instead I was monitoring OPERA and WSPR RX during the evening hours. Best DX spotted on WSPR was 2E0ILY (209km) and G3XDV (61km) on OPERA.

Soccer - NOT amateur radio

Although not a great fan (it is years since I last went to a game), it is heartening to see my old local team (Plymouth Argyle) climb and climb. Not long ago they were firmly on the bottom of their table, but with a good win yesterday over the team 2nd in the league, they are now 11th. At this rate, they could even make the play-offs.

Sunspots - Sunday February 4th 2018

Solar flux is 70 and the sunspot number zero. A=3 and K=1.

3 Feb 2018

QSYed to LF RX

Rather early, I have QSYed to 136kHz WSPR RX and 136kHz OPERA RX. I hope I catch some stations this evening.

UPDATE 2055z:  G3XIZ, 2E0ILY and G4FTC spotted on 136kHz WSPR and G3XDV spotted on 136kHz OPERA. All these are using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground as the RX antenna.

Men to Mars? - NOT amateur radio

SpaceX test fires its big Falcon Heavy rocket next week. There are ideas to put men on Mars using this. There is a fair chance the launch will fail, apparently.

See https://gizmodo.com/spacexs-best-hope-for-sending-people-to-mars-will-launc-1822638923 .

Amplitude Modulation (AM)

At one time this was the dominant mode on all bands. With more stations and the advent of SSB, AM was widely scorned on HF as it took too much space and was not as effective or efficient as SSB. Actually there is plenty of space for AM on some bands.
On 10m there is plenty of space, with 29-29.1MHz (someone please tell the RSGB) as the best place to find AM. There are AM nets on 160m and 80m and there is plenty of space on VHF. For some reason AM is "out of fashion" on the VHF bands with FM the predominant mode. Certainly in the UK you can often get AM gear (ex Private Mobile Radio) at knock down prices. On 2m, AM activity can be found around 144.55MHz in the UK (again someone please tell the RSGB that AM usually takes less bandwidth than FM).

So, overall, AM is worth a go. Personally I would not use AM on busy HF bands, but there are bands where it makes good sense. I well remember not many years ago hearing beautiful AM from the USA and Canada. on 10m AM.

See www.amrally.com .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/tenbox

Cambridge University Colleges - NOT amateur radio

Having lived in or near Cambridge for 47 years, one is in great danger of taking it all for granted. Every year people travel from all over the world to see things I can see for free every day.

Every week I walk past this college on my way to my lectures on Weather and Samuel Pepys as part of my University of the Third Age courses. I have to keep pinching myself and saying, "this is a beautiful city". This is Sydney Sussex College.

See https://www.sid.cam.ac.uk/ .

The slow march downwards

The latest solar figures have been published showing a steady decline in solar activity. We can expect a quiet period now for several years.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/

More OFCOM

More exciting stuff from OFCOM.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/110718/3.6GHz-3.8GHz-update-timing-spectrum-availability.pdf

Sunspots - Saturday February 3rd 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number zero.  A=4 and K=0.

6m MSK144 RX

For a change I am not on 10m, but 6m MSK144 RX instead. In Europe, 50.280MHz remains a decent place to lurk. At the moment it is aircraft reflection, random MS and maybe tropo. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1335z: 3 spots so far. Best DX is GM6VXB (619km) quite strongly late this morning.

UPDATE 1706z:  So far 4 stations in 3 countries spotted. Although not the best DX today, SM7FJE (905km) was an interesting one. Random MS or aircraft?

2 Feb 2018

Fuel prices creeping up? - NOT amateur radio

Certainly over the last month, UK fuel prices have been rising. Although the pound is stronger against the dollar, the wholesale price of oil has been rising faster.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market_data/commodities/143908/default.stm

Rally on Sunday

4 FEBRUARY 2018 : CANVEY RADIO RALLY

Paddocks Community Centre, Long Road, Canvey Island, Essex SS80JA. Doors open at 10.30am and admittance is £3. There will be trade stands, RSGB bookstall and special interest groups. Catering is available on site. Vic Rogers, G6BHE, 07957 461 694, nvr1945@btinternet.com.

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

10m FT8 RX

At the moment, I am again on 10m FT8 RX.  In the daytime, this can be surprisingly productive. At the moment, nothing yet spotted.

UPDATE 1820z: No 10m FT8 spots today. It has been remarkably quiet today. Now time to QSY to 136kHz WSPR RX and OPERA RX.

UK Weather Forecasts - NOT amateur radio

Living where we do, forecasting the UK weather is a thankless task.

Every few hours, it seems, the Met Office, complete with its super-computers, satellites, radiosondes and remote weather stations needs to change the forecast. Personally, it seems the only reliable forecast is to look out of the window and see if it is raining!

We have friends over for lunch today and the forecast has changed so many times this week as to be totally useless. The only reliable thing you can say about UK weather forecasts is they are likely to be wrong and never, ever, plan an outdoor event on the basis of a UK weather forecast.

Yes, I know we are at a complex point where weather systems meet, but please let us not pretend we can forecast. Clearly we cannot.  Chaos theory reigns!

UPDATE 1140z: Guess what? The forecast has changed yet again for early afternoon!

Shack PC not charging

After being a bit worried, all is now well. To reduce noise I have been running the shack PC on its internal batteries when trying to receive on 136 and 472kHz. For some reason, the internal batteries refused to charge.

I left the PC on mains power and see it was part way through (yet another) Windows 10 update. This has now fully installed and the batteries seem to be charging OK now. So I put this mystery down to the (partial) update. Why does Windows 10 seem to have updates so often? I thought it was meant to be wonderful?

As the battery was so flat I cannot go on 136 or 472kHz until this evening.

630m and 2190m RX

Last night I did not go on LF or MF as my shack PC was playing up. I intend to go on 136kHz WSPR RX and 136kHz OPERA RX tonight. I  need my shack PC on battery power otherwise noise is chronic.

UK Pound versus Japanese Yen - NOT amateur radio

Why has the UK Pound appreciated so much against the Japanese Yen?  At the moment it is over 156 Yen to the UK Pound. Not too long ago it was the low 120s Yen to the UK Pound.  That is a lot of difference.

Every day, it swings quite widely, but I find this, and the dramatic appreciation, hard to understand. On the face of it, goods made in Japan should get less expensive in the UK.

Perhaps an economist can explain what is going on?

Sunspots - Friday February 2nd 2018

Time seems to rush by! Already it is the second day of February. In the evening it is an hour later getting dark compared with mid December. Even the mornings are noticeably lighter.

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 0. A=4 and K=1.

DX on 10m is now much harder to find, but with FT8 it is still there on many days. In the last week, South Americans have been spotted several times on 10m FT8, even with my useless 10m antenna. Never give up! For several years it is going to be "challenging".

1 Feb 2018

OFCOM

Gosh! How exciting.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/B242DC6C6238010C2540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

EU sour grapes? - NOT amateur radio

Although I voted to remain a member, I detect a note of "sour grapes" on the part of the EU. Do I detect a note of bitterness that the UK will no longer pay some of the budget?

It seems perfectly reasonable to me that the UK wants the same policy to apply to all people who wish to live and work in the UK irrespective of the nation they come from.

It also seems quite reasonable that we would want to start work on trade deals whilst we are in the transition period.

No, I am beginning to detect an air of "sour grapes" on the part of the EU. In the end I think the EU will regret this.

All we really wanted was more control over who lives and works here on this small island. We will still trade with EU nations and others as we choose.

Sub 9kHz amateur radio

Although far from perfect, I try to keep up with the latest news about amateur radio below 9kHz. Quite a lot is happening.

Surprisingly, large antennas are not needed for receive and all the software you need is free.

This is one of the true frontiers in our hobby and access is easier and far less expensive than you might think. A perfectly fine RX setup can be made for a few cups of coffee in a café.

Most activity is just below 8.3kHz, which remains unallocated in many countries.

See https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/

Help with nests - NOT amateur radio

One of the joys of an English spring is seeing the world "come alive" again with fresh green leaves, blossom and birds singing. We can help birds by making sure they have a variety of things for nest building in our gardens. OK, it is only February, but the signs are there.

See https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/homesforwildlife/b/gardeningforwildlife/archive/2018/01/26/helping-birds-build-a-happy-home.aspx#utm_source=notesonnature&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feb18

Bill Bryson books - NOT amateur radio

If you like travel books try Bill Bryson. There is a laugh on every page. They are light-hearted and he is very perceptive. He has a dry sense of humour that appeals to my small brain.

It is probably 20 years since I read, "Notes from a Small Island" (about the UK) and I have certainly forgotten it.  So, I ordered a copy from Amazon for 1p plus postage. It came today (hardback) and I have already started it.  These books are so funny.

Hackers again? - NOT amateur radio

Well, I know my blog has not suddenly attracted loads of new genuine visitors today and I note the very high visitor numbers from Ukraine. It seems more than a little co-incidental. Bots or hackers most probably doing the regular trawl.

Sun in the trees - NOT amateur radio

As the sun was shining, we visited Brandon Country Park this morning. As it is winter the trees are bare so you can see more. Not much life stirring yet.

10m FT8 RX

Since breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1347z: Just a single spot late this morning of EI7HDB (478km) which I reckon was aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 1616z: Apart from local G4AWP (19km) no other new 10m spots today. Dire!

UPDATE 1912z: Well, although not uploaded to PSK Reporter Maps I spotted PU4ISA (GG89) in Brazil.

630m last night

In the end I just remained on until the shack PC's battery went flat. This was just after 0300z. The batteries last a long time! 

On WSPR G3XIZ, G8HUH and 2E0ILY were copied and G3XDV copied on OPERA. If I am honest, I was disappointed.

Sunspots - Thursday February 1st 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number 13. A=6 and K=0.