Sunspots - Tuesday January 7th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 11. A=9 and K=2.

160m FT8

At about 2200z I switched to 160m FT8. My 10W CQ  (to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground) was spotted by 32 stations in 10 countries with best DX being SM0MDG (1364km).

UPDATE 2232z: 38 stations in 11 countries have now spotted my 10W FT8 CQ, but no QSOs resulted.  On 160m FT8 RX, the first North Americans are coming through.

Early days

When I first started in amateur radio as a G8 back in the late 1960s I used to operate the station of Bill Honeywill G4PJ (Salcombe) under supervision. One of the stations we regularly worked was G3SCW.

Southgate News has a piece on a BBC archive film that includes a bit on his stations (railway and amateur radio!).

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/january/amateur-radio-at-a-railway-station-with-no-trains.htm#.XhOAofKTLnE

Rummy - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday the last of our grandchildren went home. On the final morning we played the card game "rummy" as the photo shows.

2m FT8

Stations spotted on 2m
FT8 today until 1916z

All day I have been on 2m FT8. On TX (10W to the big-wheel omni) both G8OFA and GI6ATZ  (479km) worked. On RX 73 stations in 9 countries spotted.

UPDATE 1910z: 83 stations in 8 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1955z: A recent CQ resulted in 1 QSO and 14 spots in 3 countries on 2m FT8 TX.

Sunspots - Monday January 6th 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 11. A=9 and K=0.

Going home - NOT amateur radio

After a busy week with grandchildren, they have all returned home. The last 2 were picked up this afternoon, so our house is quiet (and tidy!) again.

We took down all the Christmas decorations earlier. In many ways we prefer it when they are here, but I was exhausted by the end.  They are harder work than a few years ago.

Amazing tropo DX on 70cm

If I work 200km on 70cm I am amazed. So how about working 4644km? That amazing DX was worked recently by G4KUX according to a piece picked up by Southgate News.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/january/g4kux-extends-432-mhz-tropo-record-to-4-644kms.htm#.XhImC-iTLnE. This has links to EI7GL's blog.

160m FT8 overnight

In terms of the number of DX stations spotted (797), this was perhaps the best session this season. Again, I lost count of the North Americans spotted on 160m FT8 RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.  2 Caribbeans and 2 South Americans also spotted with best DX spotted being LU8DPM (11432km).

Stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX overnight

2m FT8

Recently I QSYed to 2m FT8. My initial CQ (10W to the big-wheel omni) was spotted by 12 stations and 1 QSO). My best spot was by EA1UR (1195km) in northern Spain. On 2m FT8 RX 4 stations in 3 countries so far spotted.

UPDATE 1217z: 42 stations in 9 countries spotted this morning on 2m FT8 RX. On 2m FT8 TX (10W) 17 stations in 3 countries spotted me.

UPDATE 1351z:  Now 60 stations in 9 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 RX.

UPDATE  1807z:  Now 113 stations in 8 countries spotted today on 2m FT8.  A recent 2m FT8 CQ  (10W) was spotted by 35 stations and resulted in 2 G QSOs.

UPDATE 1905z: Now 126 stations in 10 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 RX.

Stations spotted on 2m FT8 today 

UPDATE 2005z:  A recent 2m FT8 10W CQ was spotted by 15 stations in 4 countries. 142 stations spotted today so far on 2m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2255z: 161 stations in 10 countries spotted today on 2m FT8 RX and 48 stations in 6 countries spotted my 10W FT8 to the omni antenna today on 2m FT8 TX. A good 2m day. Off to bed now, but 2m FT8 RX still running overnight.

Quadrantids meteor shower

This shower, peaking the night before last, was missed. Usually I look on 6m, but I forgot!

Crackers - NOT amateur radio

We have 2 of our grandchildren until later today. Last night we had a late Christmas party with crackers.  After they go home we shall take all the Christmas things down for another year. The photo shows them pulling crackers.

Sunspots - Sunday January 5th 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 11. A=6 and K=1.

Mildenhall, Suffolk - NOT amateur radio

We went to Mildenhall today, hoping to visit the little museum with our grandchildren. Sadly the museum was closed until  March, but we visited the church and river.

15th century market square in Mildenhall
with our grandchildren

160m FT8 RX this evening

So far 94 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX with best DX spotted RY9C (3706km) at 1735z.

UPDATE 1855z:  174 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX this evening.

UPDATE 2007z:  Now 220 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX. Best DX spotted is RW0AR (5585km).

Stations spotting my 160m
FT8 10W CQ earlier

UPDATE 2116z:  32 stations in Europe spotted my 10W to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. On RX 322 stations spotted so far.

UPDATE 2210z: The first North Americans appeared at 2129z. The very first was VY2NA (4445km). So far this evening 370 stations copied including 3 North Americans. Now it appears my 160m FT8 CQ was spotted by 36 stations.

Daytime 160m FT8

In the daytime, 160m is a very different band. In the last 3 hours just 1 station spotted in northern France. When dark and the absorption drops, real DX comes through.

Alibris UK sales - NOT amateur radio

Years ago I created a filter to delete Alibris emails. It seems this company has regular sales, so I used to ignore these. Thank goodness for Gmail filters.

Alibris is a good place to look for secondhand books, although with their regular sales, it is doubtful paying the full price makes sense.

SPAM - NOT amateur radio

Quite a few of my friends, supposedly, are still sending me SPAM links. Thankfully, Gmail filters these so they appear in my SPAM folder.

It is entirely possible that these people do not know their email addresses are being used to send SPAM. My policy is always to delete these without opening. I strongly urge you to do the same. Many of these links install viruses or malware and can be very dangerous.

If in any doubt, you may have to change your email addresses, change passwords frequently and use a virus/malware program.

160m FT8 RX overnight

Last evening and night were good here on 160m FT8 RX.

I lost count of the North Americans copied. In all, over 40 North Americans, 10 Caribbeans,2 South Americans as well as Asians and Africans copied. As for European stations there were hundreds.

As before, using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This is proving remarkably effective. 160m operation has been a total surprise!

Overall, 672 stations in 5 continents spotted on 160m FT8 RX in the last day (see map).

Stations spotted here in the last 24 hours on 160m 

FT8 RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Chromebooks - NOT amateur radio

It is about 6 weeks since I bought a Chromebook. I am a convert!

What amazes me is that I can do everything it seems I could do on a Windows PC, but this is instantly there - no waiting for Windose to boot up, the battery lasts well over a day on a single charge, and I can use it as a tablet if I want to, not that I have.

It is lightweight, small and perfectly suited to my needs. I do not regret buying it one bit.

Finbar EI0CF's experimental 160m magnetic loop antenna

Finbar EI0CF has been experimenting with a 160m magnetic loop antenna in his garage. He has been using powers of between 700mW and 10W and has been amazed at the results. He has had WSPR reports from several stations in North America as well as plenty of others in other directions.

For fixed frequency operation (these loops are very sharply tuned if working efficiently) these antennas can be remarkably effective.  With high powers, the RF voltages at the high impedance points can be very high (less of an issue with QRP) which is one reason people use capacitors rated for very high voltages in some cases.

It is some years since I used a loop on 10m WSPR, but recall being amazed how well these small antennas worked. The photo shows Finbar's experimental 160m loop.

Sunspots - Saturday January 4th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 13. A=6 and K =1.

Onesies - NOT amateur radio

Two of our grandchildren got "onesies" for Christmas. Here one of our granddaughters is wearing hers in this photo (right hand side). On the left she is looking at our latest photo album.

160m FT8

At about 1740z  I QSYed to 160m FT8. A 10W CQ was spotted by 35 stations and I was called by 1 SP station. On 160m FT8 RX 64 stations spotted with best DX spotted UT0MY (2696km).

UPDATE 1952z: 150 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX  with best DX 9K2HN (4567km).

UPDATE 2038z: Amazing!!! Not only was a recent 160m FT8 CQ to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground answered by a station in Germany, but I was spotted by 72 stations (in the last 6 hours) including VO1HP (3768km). This by far the most distant report I have ever had on 160m, but this was with my invisible antenna and QRP! The latter is the first report I have ever had from "across the pond" on 160m.

Stations spotting me this evening on 160m FT8 TX
with 10W and the earth-electrode "antenna"

UPDATE 2255z: 295 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX, with a good number from North America, The Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe.

Winter Es and 6m FT8

Turning on 6m FT8 RX just now, there is evidence of 6m Es with spots of stations in F and LZ. A 10W FT8 CQ was only spotted by 1 G though.

472kHz

People often avoid this band thinking they will need big antennas and extensive ground systems. Whilst these would certainly help, they are not necessary to achieve useful results, especially with WSPR.

With an ERP of less than 10mW from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground I get spotted in Norway most nights on WSPR.

I use my FT817ND and my transverter.  The output from the transverter into 50 ohms is about 12W, but the measured ERP is only about 10mW (i.e. the "antenna" gain is about -32dB). A "proper" antenna and ground could be several dB more efficient. Most nights on 472kHz WSPR I get over 20 stations spotting me and on the better nights 30 stations! Neither my XYL or the neigbours are aware it is even being there!

This "antenna" also works pretty well on 160m. On 472kHz and 1840kHz it is an almost perfect match with a small 3C90 step-up transformer. At the old QTH I did not need this at all. I suspect it would be quite good on 137kHz TX, although I have not (yet) tried it on this band.

My theory is on LF and MF bands it works as a sort of loop in the ground. If this is correct, the loop would be bigger as you move down in frequency. It could even be quite effective at VLF.

WSPR does not really allow chats, but works with very weak signals. It is ideal for me on this band. From the old QTH I have had JT9 472kHz QSOs with stations in the UK and Belgium with a similar set-up at my QTH.

160m antennas

Although my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground has got me over 1300km on 160m FT8 recently, some may prefer more conventional antennas. I had this problem at the old QTH and came up with this compact indoor vertical in the loft.  It seems pretty effective. It was wound on an old piece of PVC pipe.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/160m_loft_ant

Sunspots - Friday January 3rd 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 13 (yes some spots!!).  A=3 and K=1.

UK weather - NOT amateur radio

OK, I know forecasting the weather in the UK can be hard as several weather systems interact, but I find the UK's BBC weather forecasts poor unless we have a big high pressure overhead and very settled conditions.  At least they show a percentage likelihood of rain nowadays. Considering the vast amounts spent on super-computers to better forecast, I can see little advance in forecasting accuracy.

Many is the time I have looked out the window at rain when at the very same time the BBC says it is full sun. As a guide to weather coming, these BBC forecasts are poor in my experience and there are better guides to upcoming weather available.

If you use BBC weather as a guide to what is going to happen, you are on our own. Personally, I find looking out of the window a better guide.

Cynic me? Surely not!

See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
See https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather

New EU 2m tropo record

Southgate News reports that there is a new tropo record in Europe with a contact between Scotland and the Cape Verde Is off Africa thanks to sea ducting.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2020/january/region-1-144-mhz-tropo-record-now-extended-to-4776-kms.htm

6m FT8

At 0945z, I QSYed to 6m FT8 calling CQ (10W to the V2000 vertical) initially. Just a single G spot by G0LGS (171km). On 6m FT8 RX  nothing yet spotted.

UPDATE 1420z: 4 stations spotted so far on 6m FT8 RX with best DX spotted being OH4ZS (2005km).

UPDATE 1510z: A recent 6m FT8 CQ was spotted by 3 G stations, but no QSOs resulted.

UPDATE 1632z:  Now 6 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1703z: My 3 sets of 6m FT8 CQs have been spotted by just 3 G stations, but no QSOs.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

We have 4 grandchildren. 2 go home today and 2 more come here later. The photo shows 2 earlier shortly before leaving.

2m FT8

The last day has been remarkable on 2m FT8. Plenty of stations spotted (225 at the last count) .

UPDATE 1002z: 239 stations in 13 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX in the last day from Spain to Gotland in Sweden!

Stations spotted on 2m FT8 in the last 24 hours
 to 0845z using the big-wheel omni antenna

New Year's Day football - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went to see Cambridge United playing Mansfield. Cambridge lost 2-3. It was our grandson's first football match. He enjoyed it. The photo shows our son and his son.

Sunspots - Friday January 2nd 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the sunspot number is 0.  A=3 and K=0.

Earthing

Southgate News has a piece reporting on the new RSGB leaflet on grounding.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/january/earthing-and-the-radio-amateur-leaflet-updated.htm#.XgyIZuiTLnE

QSY to 2m FT8

At about 1200z I QSYed to 2m FT8 with 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna. A quick CQ was answered by no-one, but was spotted by 31 stations in 4 countries with best DX being OZ4VV (771km). On 2m FT8 RX 55 stations spotted this morning in 8 countries.

Stations spotting me this morning on
2m FT8 TX (10W to the omni antenna)

Happy New Year

To all readers of this blog may I wish you all a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2020.

160m FT8 - quite good

Overnight I was on 160m FT8 RX. Quite a few North Americans (40?) spotted, 2 Caribbeans and 1 South American spotted. In all, 409 stations spotted.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 1st 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.