2015 - NOT amateur radio

As I write this we have just over one hour to go of this year. In some parts of the world it is already the new year. For me, it has been a "challenging" year with slow, slow improvements in my stroke. My voice is still poor, I still have problems with many drinks and I have not made the full recovery by now that I was hoping for so much. I just hope next year is better, or at the very least that I can better adapt to the "me" I am these days.

2016 challenge

With my voice still poor (stroke) and still the same few reappearing night after night on 472kHz, I think my challenge for 2016 will be to work as many countries as possible using JT65 and JT9-1 on HF. I have tried these modes before but as it is now integrated with WSPR in WSJT-X I really should give it a go.

South America on 10m WSPR

So far, 3 spots from FY5KE (7110km) on 10m WSPR, Nobody else spotting me today.

Newmarket - NOT amateur radio

Newmarket Horses

Newmarket, the worldwide home of horse racing, is just 4 miles away. We do most of our food shopping there - mostly in Waitrose and sometimes at Tesco. Today we drove through Newmarket and did a walk at nearby Dalham, which is a real "chocolate box" village filled with thatched cottages. A hundred and fifty years ago these would have been tithed cottages for agricultural workers living in abject and grinding poverty. These days they are worth a small fortune and they are probably homes for the well grounded.  Many may be second homes for people coming to Newmarket for the races.

ICOM 7300

There is still no news (at least not that I have heard) regarding the UK availability of this transceiver or its price here in the UK with import duty and VAT. All the main dealers are keen to take a deposit to "snag" those who must have this radio as soon as possible at almost any price.

The pattern of new releases seems to be "early bugs" in hardware and software, which are found by the early adopters, which are corrected in later releases. As I have said many times, I think it is a great pity they don't get the 10W version CE approved as it would make a great rival for the FT817 and replacement for the now obsolete IC703.

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Dec 31st 2015

Solar flux has dipped to 98 and sunspot number is 34 today (K=4). 10m conditions are expected to remain "poor" today.

Currently I am active on 10m WSPR (500mW, 100% TX, randomised TX frequency) and 630m 5mW ERP 20% TX, 80% RX).

UPDATE 1048z:  Only 630m (472kHz) spots of G8VDQ (93km) so far this morning in daylight. Nothing yet on 10m WSPR.

Strange glow in the sky - NOT amateur radio

This morning, there was an odd sight in the sky. I think it is called "the Sun", although it seems a long time since we last saw it. The sky was bright blue with this thing glowing brightly.  All very odd. We seem to have had lots of clouds and rain in East Anglia this year, but nothing like the horrendous floods in north west England and in Scotland.

Amateur satellites

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2015/december/another_eo79_transponder_activation.htm .

It is some years ago that I successfully had a QSO through an amateur satellite. Our hobby is filled with variety and it is simply not possible to do everything. This is one of the great things about amateur radio: there are so many ways to enjoy the hobby. EO79 is just one of many transponding satellites.

SPAM comments deleted

Someone has been posting comments on recent posts in the attempt to add links for free advertising. Be aware that these comments have been deleted and I shall delete anything similar I find in future as soon as spotted.  SPAM comments are not wanted, or tolerated, here. Play your silly games elsewhere please "MarkDonald".

Return to 630m WSPR

After an abortive outing on 10m and 6m WSPR, I have returned to 630m (472kHz) WSPR a few minutes ago. G3KEV (232km) has already spotted my 5mW ERP signal at -22dB S/N. He has a very good set-up on MF. I think he is ex-merchant navy?

UPDATE 1808z:  Plenty of stations spotting me and being spotted by me on 472kHz. Sadly these are all stations seen before. I am using WSJT-X tonight without the RX preamp. Now it is dark there are more stations appearing, but again few in Europe on TX.