I usually use my 2m big-wheel omni, 10W, and stop on for less than an hour. Sadly, my 2m big-wheel has developed a high SWR, so tomorrow I will be using an old 4el homemade yagi indoors. It could be several dBs down. At least it can be hand-rotated from the operating position and the match is good. It will be interesting to see how I get on.
The last time it was used was early 2013.
As yesterday, I am again on 6m FT8 with the V2000 vertical omni that has a high SWR TX. So far, 115 European stations spotted apart from the Canary Is.
In all, 667 stations were spotted on 6m FT8 RX yesterday despite the omni vertical antenna being faulty and unusable on 6m TX. It looks like the YS1 station was a pirate sadly. I have copied the Americas and Caribbean before on 6m though.
There has been some confusion over how to navigate to the various pages on my new website at www.g3xbm.co.uk .
For the avoidance of doubt, click the arrow next to the sub-menu not the words. There may be a way of making the sub-title clickable, but I don't know how at the moment, HI.
As an example, if you want to look at one of the pages on "antennas" click the arrow next to "antennas" first, then select the one you want e.g. "ferrite rod TX antennas".
I have made this a little clearer on the "home" page. If anything else is not clear or wrong, let me know.
On TX, my V2000 omni has a very high SWR, so I am RX only. After a very brief check on 10m FT8 RX I am on 6m FT8 RX with 31 stations spotted at 1124z, with the furthermost A45XR (5843km) in Oman. Well, this omni antenna still works fine on RX.
UPDATE 1450z: 112 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.
For a change, I am on 10m FT8 transmit with the FT817ND and the tiny indoor loop with the wire inductor. This is less good than the copper central heating pipe inductor, but I was concerned with RF voltages on the higher Q loop on TX. In RX, of course, this does not matter So far, nobody has spotted me on TX today.
UPDATE 1324z: As nobody spotted me on TX, so I am on RX only at present with the FT817ND and the loop. Perhaps I should put the higher Q inductor back on the loop?
UPDATE 14303z: K5YCM (7275km) spotted amongst 83 stations so far copied. At first I thought he was a pirate, but he seems to have been spotted by many in the USA and Europe so may well be genuine.
Since about 0800z, I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the 4 transistor 10FT8R direct conversion RX and the tiny indoor loop again. So far (at 0812z) just one German station spotted.
UPDATE 0845z: 7 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 0942z: 14 stations spotted on RX.
Although I have tried successfully with Chrome and Windows 10, I have had a report that the drop-down menus cannot be seen. In the past I have had some issues where I can see things OK but others cannot.
On the www.g3xbm.co.uk new webpages (please make sure your browser cache is empty so you see the new pages) can you see the drop-down menus OK? If not, please tell me.
I see that similar units are available for 24GHz. although I am not sure if these are suitable for WBFM or how they can be moved in frequency, if necessary.
They are available from Amazon, but suspect they would be even lower cost on eBay.
We are familiar with the spring and summer Es (sporadic E) openings, especially on bands like 10m and 6m. These are usually about 1500km. Occasionally multi-hop openings occur. Some of the long distance contacts may be multi-hop.
However, I have long suspected that some very long paths are due to some other form of E layer propagation. Every June 6m opens up to Japan, which is a very long way. This regular propagation seems to be linked with mesospheric clouds that seem to form at this time of year.
EI7GL reports on his blog that there have been at least 2 openings from Australia to Europe on 6m this spring. The probability of this being multi-hop Es seems extremely low. My theory (totally unproved) is this is due to some sort of chordal hop E layer propagation. This could also account for some of the transatlantic openings.
We have a lot to learn about E layer propagation. This is one reason 6m is called the "magic band".
We needn't go far as one has already decided some of our garden flowers make a good snack! I have no idea how they get in.
The flowers in the photo were seen on the walk. By the way it is now raining, so we chose the best time.
UPDATE 1454z: 188 stations spotted so far today on 10m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1710z: 245 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.
UPDATE 1922z: 278 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today. Best DX was UA6YW (3076km). No doubt I would copy far more with a decent outside antenna, but I am not complaining!
Some months ago I blogged that the Indian designer was working on an SDR version of the uBITX. Since then I have heard nothing further and was wondering if there is an more news?
The uBITX is an interesting design and an SDR version could well be lower cost than the uBITX which is only $209 for the complete kit.
As there is hardly any wiring to do, this is probably one of the lowest cost and easiest ways to access the HF bands. Using an Si5351 synthesiser means it will be very stable on all HF bands. An SDR approach might be even better.
In the last day 433 stations were spotted on RX including South America and the Caribbean using the 4 transistor direct conversion RX with the tiny 50cm loop on the shack windowsill. 10m, when good, is a great DX band. As the sunspots climb again we can expect great 10m daytime DX. 10m remains my favourite HF band.
This is trumpeted by the Nationwide Building Society as a development that is "off grid" using good insulation, heat pumps and no gas. As much as I tried, I could not see prices. Lots of stuff on how wonderful it was, but no prices! If there, the prices must be well hidden.
I am all in favour of sustainable houses, but please make the prices very clear.
See https://oakfieldswindon.co.uk/?et_cid=25726297&et_rid=4593245806 .
Since breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R RX and the tiny indoor loop antenna. It is now 0958z and, so far, 21 stations have been spotted on RX.
This one is at Snailwell, near Newmarket. There are far more in the county of Norfolk alone.
My favourite website for solar data has been updated. It would appear cycle 25 looks very similar to the last one. I predict we'll see regular F2 openings to the USA this autumn.
On UK breakfast TV they we interviewing Gavin Williamson, who is the UK Education Secretary. Instead of just answering a simple "yes" or "no" to a direct question, he insisted on giving a long and evasive answer that did not answer the question. You get the impression that most politicians are trained to do this. They all appear so stupid.
What is it about politicians? They seem incapable of answering direct questions or ever admitting to making mistakes! Maybe one day they will surprise us all by being totally frank and honest and actually answering questions!
Oh, there goes another flying pig....
It is now 0820z. I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop and the homemade 10FT8R direct conversion RX for about 5 minutes. So far today, 3 stations spotted on RX.
UPDATE 0944z: 28 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX.
Last evening was the 2m activity contest. I usually use the big-wheel omni antenna and 10W. Last evening the SWR was high. Perhaps after many years I have got some corrosion, or water in the coax. My problem is I cannot do ladder work because of my poor health and depend on other people for detective work. 😢
A lot of beacons now have PI4 sequences. I have no idea how this compares with the more common WSPR digital mode. Looking around for decoders I spotted this from OZ2M.
On John Desmond EI7GL's blog there is a very useful list of 8m beacons. On his blog are also 5m beacons. I hope John does not mind me copying part of his image here. If there is a problem, I can remove the post.
There is always lots of good stuff on his excellent blog. I see he also reported a recent Australia-Europe opening on 6m.
See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html.
Judging by the cow parsley it was at this time of year.
