It is now 0855z. I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 30 minutes and have spotted 11 stations so far using the 4 transistor RX and indoor loop.
UPDATE 1601z So far today, 98 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. See map.
Simple QRP projects, 10m, 8m, 6m, 4m, FT8, 160m, WSPR, LF/MF, sub-9kHz, nanowaves and other random stuff, some not related to amateur radio.
It is now 0855z. I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 30 minutes and have spotted 11 stations so far using the 4 transistor RX and indoor loop.
UPDATE 1601z So far today, 98 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. See map.
Thanks for the feedback on the Si5351 as a replacement for crystals.
It would appear that a low cost micro-controller has to be put alongside the Si5351 synthesiser. I wonder if anyone has a complete solution designed and tested. Also, what about programming?
It would seem that there is a real need for a simple KISS way to replace crystals, so I'd be surprised if someone has not already done this. According to Peter Marks the controller should only be a few dollars. This feedback (that you have to tell the Si5351 the frequency every time) is also what Jay told me.
It looks like a total solution that also replaces the oscillator should be possible for under $10.
Please let me know of any links.
Stations spotted yesterday |
Unless you are able to find a low cost source of crystals, they can be very expensive these days. Some people have turned to Si5351 synthesiser boards as an alternative. I believe they can be programmed to provide outputs from kHz to VHF frequencies. But can these work with the programming source removed so this is a true crystal replacement? Please let me know if you know how.
If they can be used "stand alone" they become far more useful if they can be easily programmed. The ideal would be easy programming with a PC or Mac or even Android and then essentially a free standing oscillator module.
The UK is doing pretty well in its vaccination campaign, despite a reactive rather than proactive government that always seems to be just behind, rather than just in front of, the pandemic. At the moment, the popular press is worried that the complete lifting of restrictions in a few weeks could be dangerous.
The concern is new variants of which the focus at the moment is on the variant that was first spotted in India. Most vulnerable people have been vaccinated. Of those, those who get sick are not likely to be hospitalised or die.
I guess the question is, "what danger does another another wave pose?" . Clearly, if all adults were vaccinated, the chances of the hospitals being overwhelmed decreases markedly. Personally I'd keep some restrictions for a few more weeks. Most things we can do and it would be wrong to throw this away for the sake of a few weeks.
Personally I would ban foreign holidays this year unless people are prepared to hotel quarantine at their expense. At least ban them until all adults that want them are vaccinated. I would also make all hospital and care home workers have to be vaccinated as a condition of employment.
No synthesisers, lots of wires, no memories, just clean and simple. These were SSB/CW radios with a very good VXO covering 200KHz with each crystal. To most people it seemed like a VFO with smooth, continuous tuning. I also used mine on QRP 10m SSB as well with a homebrew transverter. I have no idea what became of this transverter, but I worked all over the world with 1W SSB and a wire dipole. It used a Plessey SL6440 IC I seem to recall.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/vhfuhf-commercial-rigs/icom-ic-202 .
A reminder that you can see what I am seeing on 10m FT8 by looking at the grabber on my website at https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/10m-ft8-grabber .
I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 1 hour with the homemade 10FT8R RX with 4 transistors. It is now 1000z and so far today 25 stations have been spotted.
UPDATE 1037z: 35 stations spotted today so far. Not a bad start today on 10m Es with this 50cm indoor antenna and a DSB RX.Certainly until last year there was a website dedicated to the 4m (70MHz) amateur band. A casual Google search failed to find it. It may have gone?
It is many years since I operated on the band, but I can imagine it is an interesting allocation, especially in the Es season with so many countries now active and more rigs with 4m coverage. A few watts of SSB (or even FM) to a wire dipole should be enough to work many of the European countries now active on the band in Es openings.
UPDATE 0853z: See Colin's comment. It is still there. www.70mhz.org .
It is now 0807z. For a short while, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. So far, 15 Spanish stations spotted and 1 Italian spotted.
UPDATE 0819z: Now 25 stations spotted.
UPDATE 1031z: 101 stations spotted.
I think he looks much better and more good looking. He quite likes it too.
As I have mentioned in the past, some take 10GHz operation very seriously, with big dishes, high power and receivers with really low noise figures. Well equipped stations can operate moonbounce on 10GHz.
Others "play" at 10GHz, for example with low cost HB100 Doppler radar modules. With these low cost modules really no microwave engineering is needed. Some have covered 5km with WBFM with just these modules. Placed at the focus of a dish, over 100km has been covered on ATV with these modules.See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/10ghz .
When I was a teenager at university in my first year of Electronics my white lab coat was pristine.
I got one of the medical students to take me into the medics dissection room full of dead bodies : they each had one to dissect. This would have been 1967. Years later I saw my dad's dead body. That was 1987.
All these had one thing in common. What made them "them" was no longer there.
Views on life after death vary widely. Some people believe something of "us" survives whereas others think we just cease to be. Nobody is really sure.
I love it and it is great to look back over the years. Some use it to show off their talent. Mine are definitely not in this category! I use it as more a visual diary.
The following shots of mine have been popular: https://alexisbirkill.com/365project/popularpage/getuserdetails.php?username=g3xbm
Since before breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the homemade 10FT8R RX and 50cm indoor loop. No spots yet at 0754z.
UPDATE 0835z: No spots.
UPDATE 1645z: No spots.
At first, I just thought this was a bad day. Then I looked at G0LRD's spots. He has a better antenna, but he had 333 spots, whereas I have none at all!! I have closed the program and restarted it and re-synchronised the time. If it is not this, I am puzzled. I did a Windows update yesterday. Just going to retune the loop in case someone knocked it off tune.
UPDATE 1650z: Just swapped to the FT817ND RX.
I was monitoring 10m FT8 with the homemade 10FT8R RX on the left connected to the indoor loop which is about 50cm across and sits on the windowsill.
As I have mentioned before, I expect we will see this band (or small part of it) allocated to the amateur service eventually. For several years, I expect certain amateurs in certain countries to apply for limited access, possibly with spot frequencies and low power for limited time e.g. just for the Es season.
My prediction is that 10 years from now the 8m band will be widely available.
An interesting recent posting on a Facebook page mentioned this is an ISM allocation. The question is there a legal way to get on the band very soon?
There is a new beacon in the west of Eire EI1CAH on 40.016MHz. This is the second Irish beacon. There is also a beacon in Slovenia S55ZMS (40.670MHz) and the South African 8m beacon ZS6WAB (40.675MHz) has been copied in Europe more than once.
A dipole for 40MHz is easy to make.
A few moments ago I did my usual peek at the activity on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. It was Friday lunchtime in Europe.
Activity? Very quiet. In fact there was just one QSO when I looked! It appears this sort of amateur radio does not appeal. After 2 years there seems to be even less activity!
Yesterday, I had my first indoor coffee in Cambridge for a very long time. Slowly, things are becoming more normal again.
Hamsphere is a form of "virtual" amateur radio that uses the internet rather than the ionosphere as the bearer. Unlike "real" radio, it does not need HF rigs or antennas. It is ideal perhaps for those unable to use "real" radio, for example those in flats or care homes. It does not appeal to me.
See http://hamsphere.com/ .
Please let me know about any issues with the www.g3xbm.co.uk website. Hopefully all schematics are readable. If not, shout.
Also, if you spot pages with wrong or absent images, let me know so I can put this right.
Most pages should be OK, but I am only human and am bound to have something wrong. My aim is to correct any errors or omissions as soon as possible. This is only possible if people point these out! 😄
In a few moments I hope to go on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna.
UPDATE 1306z: 10m FT8 gear turned on 1256z.
For the last few hours I have been on 10m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop antenna and the 10FT8R RX. It is now 1143z and so far today just 4 stations have been spotted on RX.
UPDATE 1251z: 7 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX so far.
UPDATE 2105z: 37 stations only spotted today with the tiny loop. QRT shortly.
In our quiet part of the village is this delightful green. One of the trees has half its leaves of a different colour.