31 Dec 2013

Logging into a Windows PC and 10m WSPR

When I came to log in on my old (lab) Windows XP PC today it was a nightmare. Firstly it had not been used for almost 4 months and refused to bring up the log-in page. Then I'd forgotten my log-in details: even my old hint did not help. In the end after many attempts all was sorted but what a struggle with my poor addled brain currently. I've even made a small start on the tax return online. At the moment I am making lots of typos on the PC and everything takes twice as long as it did.

 I've started WSPRing on 10m for the first time since September! My old life is slowly returning, thank God. Not bad reports too.

Initial 10m WSPR reports with 2W out

Release Date

The latest news from Addenbrooke's Hospital is I should be  home for good by Jan 6th. After that, apart from continuing to get better, I hope to buy a new rig and do my on-line tax return! Expect blogging proper again within a week or so. I continue to slowly improve on all fronts but find I am making lots of errors typing on the PC still.

Currently on 2 days' home leave over New Year (1 night at home) but have to return to hospital by 5pm Wednesday.

11 Dec 2013

IC7100 from Icom

When it comes to new 100W HF rigs the new IC7100 looks to be relatively good value at just under £1300 in the UK. This includes 4m and 70 cm coverage and DSTAR. I am a little skeptical about the clarity of the LCD touchscreen display.  Other good rigs don't cover 4m or bands above 6m.I am still tempted when I get " released" from my hospital prison. My heart is still in QRP but the Elecraft KX3 is a similar price with  just 8-10W,fewer bands and arguably less well suited to base station digital use. We'll have to see when I get out of my hospital  "prison". I may just buy a second FT817 and another auto ATU. 

9 Dec 2013

Books

The last few weeks has seen me devouring a number of novels to kill the monotony of being in hospital still. Latest estimates are mid January for going home ,when I hope to be able to swallow some soft foods. Books read include:

"Oranges are not the only fruit" by Janice Winterton
"Night Fire" by Ken Follett
"Eye of the Needle "
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo " by Stieg Larsson

At the moment it takes about 3 days for a 560 page book. I am REALLY looking forward to going home when the ham radio blogging can resume.

Interestingly, I have read very few amateur radio books apart from  1 QST and a few RadComs and PWs. So far I have had visits  from around 45 people including a few local hams. My brother has raised over £1000 for the charity "Headway" as a result of my bleed on the brain.

1 Dec 2013

Latest Health News

All being well, I should get home from hospital for brief home visit within the next 3 weeks. Thereafter, the is a good chance of getting home for good, probably in January. I still cannot eat or drink normally but I can do the excercises to improve my swallow as well at home as in hospital. My walking is wobbly on a walking frame, but getting better, and my writing and speech are a mess still, but also heading in the right direction. Being at home will be so much better after around 4 months in hospital wards. Physically I can see and hear well, my  memory seems to be maily intact, so  I have lots to be grateful for. The facilities lacking should work eventually. A good chance of more "normal service" on the amateur radio blog  from mid-January.

In the meantime my brother John  has raised almost £1000 for the brain injury charity Headway. I cannot thank hi  enough. My continued thanks for all donations including some very large donations from my American friends. This has been a very long haul personally and a big reminder how precious normal, everyday life is. We take everything for granted whereas we need to remind ourselves just  how wonderful everything is.

27 Nov 2013

Health "progress"

Got told today that my swallow response is not progressing and it is possible I may NEVER be able to eat normally. I have been given a series of exercises aimed at helping to correctly position the larynx.Only lots of time will tell.

My return home full time is likely to be in the new year after more therapy on my walking and writing.All the hard word on speech would be at home.

13 Nov 2013

8 plus weeks and still in hospital

Sorry that my stroke is still making the hardest job near impossible. This has taken 10 minutes.

16 Sept 2013

In hospital -bleed on the brain

At the weekend I was rushed into Addenbrookes hospital with excruciating headaches and punch drunk legs. After CAT and MRI scan they have confirmed it was a bleed on the brian from a blood vessel in the cerebellum which is being dispersed with drugs and can be treated. Service and care has been excellent at NHS Cambridge. We are lucky to have a world class hospital so close to us.

13 Sept 2013

Optical forward scatter and frequency?

Perhaps some of my readers can help me - what optical frequency is likely to be best for forward scatter off air molecules and dust particles? My tests to date have been over non line-of sight paths up to about 9km at 481THz (red light), but IR should work in daylight with filtered PIN diodes on RX, but I don't know whether infra-red frequencies scatter more easily or worse than red light?  With red light, the RX can easily be de-sensitised by bright sunlight, and this should be (?) less of an issue with filtered IR detectors, I think.

As the atmosphere scatters blue light very well (giving it a blue colour) one might expect IR to scatter less well than shorter wavelengths like visible red or ultra-violet? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth .

On 472kHz again this evening and future plans

In the next few days I need to buy some more wire and coax to continue my antenna experiments. The first thing I shall be trying is the larger "in the air" TX loop for the LF and MF bands - probably 136kHz , 472kHz and 1.8MHz coverage. The lower part of the loop can be several strands of PVC covered wire or coax in parallel to reduce resistive losses but the "up in the air" part will have to be 1mm diameter to avoid sag and being visible to the neighbours. I think I should be able to increase the loop area by 50% and reduce the wire losses by about 50%, so there should be a useful increase in ERP. This could be some weeks away though.

In the meantime I am continuing to TX and RX on 472kHz WSPR with the odd shape loop I currently have running along the garden fence and back along the surface of the lawn. It works, but as I said yesterday, it is some dB below what I can achieve in my small back garden whilst maintaining low visual impact to avoid neighbour issues.

After confirming the performance with the larger loop in the coming weeks, I shall try a short Marconi vertical to compare results - better omni coverage expected, but may not be as effective as the loop in the best directions?

After that, I shall probably be returning to 481THz and infra-red frequencies for more over the horizon scatter tests. I particularly want to try some IR scatter tests in daylight as I find going out on dark nights unpleasant.

World's oldest photographs

As I have come down with a bug of some sort, feeling light-headed and with a headache, I've been sleeping a lot today and not doing too much. My 472kHz WSPR has been running periodically.

Sitting here this afternoon, I chanced on this interesting YouTube video showing the world's earliest photos. Fascinating to look at - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkaFCa29mQ .

You may also like The World's 10 Most Mysterious Photos - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Cd5FWMusE.

12 Sept 2013

472kHz (630m) WSPR experiment results

Comparing the loop in the air against the simple earth electrode (EE) antenna across the garden these are the results. Remember the loop could be improved by making it larger, using thicker wire and mounting it more fully vertical.

G4KPX - about 6dB better on loop
G6AVK - little difference
PA3ABK/2 - 1-3dB better on loop
G8HUH - little difference
M0PPP - copied on loop, no copy on EE
G3WCB - just copied on EE, no copy on loop

Conclusions?  Well the loop, as it currently is arranged, is a bit better than the EE antenna by a few dB, in some directions, but not amazingly so. Will try a loop up in the air more in the coming weeks and we'll compare results again.

TXing tonight with a 472kHz "in the air" loop

As the next stage in my experiments from the new QTH at LF and MF, this afternoon I converted my earth-electrode antenna into a complete "in the air" loop by removing the earth connections and joining the wires with a length of wire along the grass. The DC resistance of the loop is 0.9ohms and the enclosed area somewhere around 60-100 sq m although the loop is far from vertical and the bottom wire actually runs along the grass rather than up in the air. The measured loop current is around 0.9A and tuning very sharp with around 1.7nF in series and matched with a 3C90 step down transformer. According to my calculations of radiation resistance, the ERP should be in the 20-40mW region, considerably greater than with the earth-electrode antenna.
630m WSPR spots of G3XBM so far this evening
My first report this evening was from PA3ABK/2  at -28dB S/N but I am hopeful of a few more 472kHz spots tonight. I expect that the results with the loop will be better than with the earth-electrode system, but the loop can be further improved by raising the upper wire (bigger vertical enclosed loop area) and thickening up the lower wire to reduce resistive losses further.

I am doing things one step at a time so I can assess the difference.

UPDATE 1800z:  M0PPP has spotted me several times this evening but had failed to copy me in the last 2 weeks, so this is encouraging. Also reports from G8HUH and G6AVK.

10 Sept 2013

More 10m WSPR

With the weather miserable here today - I just managed to cut the grass before the rain set in - I went on 10m WSPR mid-afternoon to see what was doing. With 2W I got a couple of reports from 4X1RF at 3519km at -3 and 0dB S/N, which is VERY strong, but nothing else so far.

This evening, I hope to be WSPRing on 472kHz again (using the original earth-electrode arrangement still) whilst we entertain my brother and his wife. They are coming to stay for a few days. I shall be checking results periodically using my iPod Touch monitoring the WSPRnet database in between drinks and eating dinner.

POSTSCRIPT: I was just about to QSY away from 10m when I noticed I had spotted K3NAL at 5930km. At the time of writing, I seem to be the only European station copying him. Maybe I shall stay on 10m a little longer this afternoon, or perhaps try 10m PSK31 for some QSOs. 10m is another "magic band". Less so at the peak of the cycle but often open to distant places when not expected and definitely under-used in the quiet solar years.  

9 Sept 2013

472kHz - 7 unique WSPR reports so far on earth-electrode antenna


Although not working as well as I had hoped, my very simple earth-electrode antenna is getting WSPR reports. As of this evening, I have been spotted by 7 unique stations so far. Results remind me of my first efforts on 500kHz with a simple wire down the garden some years back. My ERP then was in the uW range and this may well be the sort of ERP I am actually using now currently. A better antenna IS a must!

First 10m spot from the new QTH + more on 20m

Today I ran WSPR on 10m to see what propagation was like. Although European stations further south were catching N-S openings trans-equatorial openings and even VK6, it was harder going from here in the UK and I only managed 1 spot with 2W and that was from 4X1RF - thank you.

Back on 20m it was a different story where I had a huge number of reports from places including KL7L in Alaska,  with just 500mW to the Par EF-10/20/40 antenna. 20m is always a good bet, although not one of my usual favourite bands.

As the autumn progresses I hope 10m will come back to life again. Conditions should be excellent in October and November with still decent sunspot numbers and of course the big CQWW DX contests to add to the activity levels. By autumn next year things will certainly be on the slide down to the next minimum, but the slope down is gradual and conditions can remain decent for several more years yet.

I really must get the full transceiver version of my 10m WISPY WSPR rig boxed up so I can free up the FT817 to do other things.

8 Sept 2013

Earth-electrode antenna for 472kHz in the new garden - not too brilliant

After trying a number of different orientations of earth-electrode pairs in my garden, I have come to the conclusion that this antenna structure does not work very well here in the new QTH. I am a little surprised as the earth-electrode antenna worked well just 350m away at the old QTH. Whatever orientation I try I seem to be always in the -22 to -28dB S/N region with G6AVK 78km away.

Why is it not so good? Well, the most likely answer is that the effective distance between the far and near ground rod electrodes is smaller, even with a similar physical separation. This could be because of buried water pipes and utilities criss-crossing the garden, although I wasn't aware of any, or different soil/rock conditions, although the chalk layer is about as far down here as at the old QTH and the soil is a similar alkaline sort. The fact that the 8.97kHz earth-mode results were so poor last week rather hinted at a problem that was not present at the old QTH.
 
I haven't quite exhausted every layout possible in  my strange shaped back garden, so there are more things to try with earth-electrodes, but it is looking like I shall have to erect a short Marconi or a fully in the air loop antenna to get better ERP on 472kHz. On my previous tests at the old QTH, a full in the air loop with 1mm diameter wire and an enclosed area of around 80m sq was around 8dB better than the earth-electrode antenna, but far more critical to tune and match because of the hi-Q. If my earth-electrode antenna is several dB down on the performance of the same structure at the old QTH then I could be expecting >10dB improvement or even more.

Half the fun is the testing and finding out what does and does not work.  The coming week we have visitors staying, so not too much time to experiment. I shall have to stick to WSPRing on 20 and 10m.

Portuguese Lesser Chirpy 10m transceiver

CT5JZX version of the Lesser Chirpy transceiver for 10m CW
In an email from CT5JZX, Pedro tells me he has made a version of my Lesser Chirpy 10m QRP CW transceiver. He has already received some beacons with it - he only has a crystal in the beacon part of the band at present - and hopes to TX with it soon when he has some other crystals. He has made a neat job of it in the plastic casing.

It is some time since I fired mine up and currently it is in a box in the loft after my recent QTH move.

VK on 20m WSPR this morning


5 VK (Australian) spots in the very first transmission slot
Whilst waiting for the bathwater to fill, I went on 20m WSPR this morning with the Par 40/20/10 end-fed antenna to see what was about. To my amazement I got no less than 4 VK reports (Australia) in the first transmission plus a lot of other reports too. The little antenna down the garden is certainly working just fine.

7 Sept 2013

2m contest this weekend

After several PSK31 QSOs on 20m, I returned to 2m SSB to see what was doing in the contest running this weekend. First impressions are there are far fewer stations active than last Tuesday evening in the UKAC contest. I have worked a few stations using 5W and the halo but so far only JO01, JO02 and IO92 squares i.e. not that far away.

.....me thinks it is time to QSY to 472kHz WSPR and watch the TV, HI.

First PSK31 QSO from new QTH


E74DO in his shack
After a little while on WSPR I decided to try PSK31 on 20m running 2W to the Par antenna. I replied to a CQ from E74DO and got a 599 report. PSK31 is not a mode I too much like, but it does work when the band is busy and with QRP.

A little later (1646z) I had a nice PSK31 QSO with Svan TF3FIN in Reykavik on 20m.

HF antenna erected at new QTH

This afternoon, I strung out my Par 40/20/10 horizontal end-fed HF antenna for 40, 20 and 10m from the base of my V2000 vertical to a tall branch of the silver birch tree at the end of my garden. Being a bungalow, the height is nothing great at around 4m above ground average. Match is excellent on 10m and 20m but the end wants trimming a few cm to improve the match on 40m.

I have just started WSPR beaconing at 1W on 20m to see how it performs and on the first transmission was spotted by N6RFM, LA6TPA, LA9JO and 4X1RF with reasonable reports. So, initial results look OK.

This now means I have the following TX capability from the new QTH:

(1) 630m - earth-electrode antenna
(2) 40, 20 and 10m HF - Par 40/20/10 antenna
(3) 6, 2 and 70cm - VHF/UHF V2000 vertical
(4) 2m - horizontal halo antenna
(5) 481THz optical - 110mm lens TX

All these antennas are unobtrusive and neighbour friendly. Now let me see how soon I can achieve QRP DXCC from this new QTH.

Experimenting will mean these antennas will come and go.

6 Sept 2013

472kHz - next steps

Ok, so after several more hours I am still getting WSPR spots from just G4KPX and G6AVK. Clearly the ERP with the present earth-electrode set-up in the new garden is in the low uW region only.

I'm going to try to string up a full wire loop for TX and see how this performs. I have a couple of options: (1) a thickish wire loop along the fence made from coax cable about 10m x 2m, or (2) a 1mm diameter PVC coated wire loop with a larger enclosed area. The former would be totally hidden and, because of the higher Q, may perform as well as the larger loop with thinner wire. The former is worth trying as it would be a very "stealth" antenna, totally invisible to neighbours ....and the XYL.

472kHz experiments continued

In my narrower, but wider, garden, I am still trying to work out the best layout for an earth-electrode antenna for 472kHz.

Today I started by trying to find out about the ground connections at the house end, measuring the resistance between various radiators and the mains ground to see which ones had a direct copper connection to a good ground. The answer is none! All the radiators seem to be connected with plastic pipes in the roof. The only direct "copper to ground" connections found in my water system were in the airing cupboard, the kitchen taps and the utility room taps.

The other tests (ongoing) are to a different remote ground further up the side of the garden, further from the shack but not further from the house. I am trying to see if this gives, effectively, a longer earth-electrode baseline between ground points.

So far this evening, with the (perhaps) slightly longer baseline, I am getting consistent reports from G6AVK (78km) but no-one else yet. As best I can judge, reports are very similar to those with the earlier grounding arrangements.  PA3ABK is a very strong signal at -6dB S/N.

5 Sept 2013

First 8.976kHz VLF earth-mode tests from the new QTH

This evening, I did a couple of tests on 8.976kHz earth-mode from the new QTH with my 5W beacon TX. Initially I used the far earth rod about 12m from the house paired with a mains ground and set out on my travels with my loop to my usual first test site just outside the village. This is a car park for the Devil's Dyke walk. Unfortunately the car park has been invaded by gypsies, so I decided to move on to my next test site in the village of Reach (2km). Nothing at all was copied of my beacon.

Then I returned home and used the mysterious copper rod that goes into the ground just outside my shack as the local ground and still keeping the ground rod 12m away as the "far" electrode. I think this may have at one time been an oil pipe from a central heating oil tank. I have no idea where it goes. This earth-electrode pair has launched my 472kHz WSPR signal which has been copied in Belgium and Holland, but results have been disappointing, so I was not expecting much on 8.976kHz.

Rather than travel 2km, I parked outside my old QTH about 0.35km away in the village. My 8.976kHz signals were copied, but not very strongly. I suspect that this was true earth-mode without any real assistance from utilities as I do not believe either ground rod at the TX end is coupled to utilities grounds or copper pipes going into the road.
Weak signals over a 0.35km path

Path tested this evening plotted with Google Earth
Conclusions so far are that both for VLF earth-mode work and for 472 and 136kHz radiated work I need to much improve the earth-electrode arrangement in my garden to get credible results. I need to do some sort of mapping of the garden to see where would result in a good solid connection to copper water pipes going into the road (probably at the outside copper tap) and the best place to locate the "far" electrode as far away from the house (and other houses) and buried pipes as possible.

Loop preamp

After some thought I'm almost certain now to buy a Wellbrook RX loop for use on 136 and 472kHz receive. This loop will also be useful for a number of other applications such as 160m and 80m monitoring and possibly some VLF work.

The ALA1530LF looks perfect for the task being able to cover 20kHz to 30MHz with excellent IP2 and IP3 performance. One concern is that a receiver is being hit with signals from right across the spectrum: although the loop preamp itself will not fall over, the receiver after it might. So, I think a small, high dynamic range tuned preamp with a few dB of gain may be needed ahead of the receiver.  The additional gain may be needed as many HF rigs have poor LF and VLF sensitivity.

A simple preamp is easy to design for either 136 and 472kHz bands. Something along these lines (see below) should be suitable for 472kHz reception. I'm not actually sure that the ceramic filter will be needed: just the single hi-Q tuned circuit on the input may be enough to protect the subsequent RX from being blasted with everything.

Bitsbox - excellent service yet again

www.bitsbox.co.uk
A couple of days ago I realised I needed a few tools to help me: a "helping hands" clip to hold PCBs and breadboards whilst soldering, a desoldering tool, some trimming tools, more solder, switches etc. So, I placed an order with Bitsbox, a small UK supplier I've used before. The order was easy to place, a Paypal payment was accepted and the order received very quickly indeed with a low fixed price for delivery by first class post. They have a good range of parts in stock and their service has always been first class. I can highly recommend Bitsbox if you need a few bits for your amateur radio hobby.

3 Sept 2013

2m UKAC this evening with QRP and a halo


Stations worked on 2m SSB with 5W and halo tonight
After 90 minutes of 2m contesting this evening I decided to QSY to 472kHz WSPR even though there was another hour to go.  The contest was my first from the new QTH running 5W into the 2m halo on the roof. In all I managed 12 QSOs with the best DX GW4FZN/P near Bala at 272km. Best DX heard was G4PPT/M in IO70 near Penzance, Cornwall.

The RSGB UK Activity Contests are every Tuesday evening on different VHF/UHF bands each week of the month. Great fun for an hour or so and well supported.

Early morning 6m Es opening

After breakfast I checked 6m beacons this morning at around 0730z and was surprised to hear IW3FZQ/B and YU1EO/B coming through marginally. I then went on to work YL3IQ in KO17OD square at 599 each way on 5W CW at 0736z. Conditions on 6m are still good at times, and surprisingly at such an early time so late in the sporadic-E season. Currently WSPRing on 6m but only UK spots this lunchtime.

2 Sept 2013

3 countries now on 472kHz WSPR with short earth-electrode antenna

Limited success this evening on 472kHz with the earth-electrode antenna with the copper pipe grounding at the house end. Reports from G8HUH, OR7T and PA3ABK/2 this evening, but I am left feeling that results are still some 6-10dB down on at the last QTH. The system is far from optimised yet though.

Tomorrow evening I will have a go at the 2m UKAC contest with the halo but hope to try some different antenna arrangements on 472kHz later in the week. So far 6 unique station reports on 472kHz WSPR in 6 different QTH locator squares. I do feel that a better antenna is needed, somehow!

VHF tropo (non ducting) history

Whilst trying to locate an up-to-date list of VHF 2m beacons I am likely to be able to copy here on a halo, I chanced upon a site with a history of non-ducting tropo (NDT) going back to the work by Marconi in the 1920s and 1930s. See http://www.quercus.demon.co.uk/thistory.html. Interesting reading.

2m halo added to VHF/UHF antennas

This morning, whilst waiting for the Virgin Media installers to arrive, I added the 2m halo to the mast supporting my V2000 6/2/70cms vertical, allowing me horizontal 2m operation again. The picture shows the antenna on the gable end of the bungalow.
V2000 and 2m halo antenna installed
I have also been trying a different ground point for the 472kHz earth-electrode system at the house end. I shall have to wait until this evening to try this. Current into the loop is higher, so I hope performance will be a bit better.

The second picture was the sunset last night as seen from the shack window. It was beautiful.

GB3VHF on the halo

1 Sept 2013

Removing earth rods?

At my old QTH I have 3 solid copper earth rods driven in about 0.8m into the soil. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to remove these please? They are pretty solidly embedded in the soil but it would be good to be able to reuse these at the new QTH as solid copper earth rods are not cheap.

Initial results on 472kHz at the new QTH

Well, I have been WSPR beaconing over a period of about 24 hours at the new QTH on 472kHz. Actual operating time has been just a few hours this evening and last night plus a little bit this morning. Based on the (limited) reports received - just from G6AVK (78km), G3WCB (101km) and G4KPX (14km) and no-one else despite quite a bit of activity - I think the earth electrode antenna is some dB down compared with results "down the hill" at the old location.  On RX, the noise level here is lower using the earth electrode antenna but that may also suggest less efficiency - less signals and less noise being picked up. Having said that, I have spotted stations never seen before (I think) such as G3WCB and have spotted a couple of PA stations.
The QRP operating kit in the shack
The reasons for the poorer performance could be the shorter baseline or the directionality is such that my usual reporters are getting a weaker signal. It may also be due to the use of the mains earth at the shack end and not the copper central heating piping: some of my central heating piping here is plastic, so grounding to the radiator in the shack does not guarantee a good low loss ground! At the old QTH all the central heating pipes were copper and the copper extended into the road.  I need to do a test with a fairly local station to see how signals compare such as G4HJW although I am not sure Bernie is still on 472kHz currently.

So, conclusions so far? Mixed and a little disappointing, but it is early days and lots to try still.

31 Aug 2013

M0UKD's version of my 472kHz transverter

It is always pleasing to see other versions of my designs being successfully built. This evening I chanced upon M0UKD's website showing his nice version of my 472kHz transverter. He added an output for a frequency counter which is a useful addition. John gets around 12W out, which is about right.

MS Essentials

My wife's PC just flagged up that its McAfee anti-virus protection runs out in 15 days time. Rather than renew it I decided to uninstall the entire McAfee suite of programs and instead install the FREE MS Essentials protection program. I have this on my own PCs and, as far as I can tell, it seems to protect them pretty effectively.  Like others have found, MS Essentials runs in the background in an unobtrusive way without undue overhead.

50 nanowatts ERP tests on 70cms FM

This afternoon I did a quick test using my signal generator on 432.975kHz FM using my V2000 vertical. I put up a 50nW ERP FM signal with a 1kHz tone and looked for the RX signal on my little VX3 hand portable with its tiny helical antenna at my old QTH some 300m away from the new location. Although unable to copy the signal downstairs, the signal was S3 in the old shack upstairs. Based on this test with a pretty inefficient RX antenna, I think the 10nW signal would be copyable around 1-2km away with a mag-mount on the car. It goes to show how far QRM can travel.

Back on 472kHz WSPR and 8.97kHz

This afternoon, I put my earth-electrode antenna in the garden at the new QTH with the remote electrode against the far fence and the local ground connected to the mains ground in the shack. Check your mains earthing before trying this. Separation is about 15m i.e. a little less than at the old location. On 8.97kHz the current into the ground looks about right and the TX current similar to that at the old QTH. On 472kHz the match seems a little different but I have had several spots from G6AVK at 78km when using low milliwatts ERP. I need to optimise the match on 472kHz.

I am now going to try the earth-electrode antenna on 160m and 80m. All being well I'll do a remote RX test on 8.97kHz to see how my VLF beacon compares.

30 Aug 2013

Shack pic

Well today I completed the set-up of my "building desk" in the new shack. After several weeks out of action, I am now ready again to start building gear. For the first time my desk for building kit is in the same room as the operating position, so I can readily test gear "on-air" by simply connecting a coax cable or wire. This image is not very good quality I am afraid.

Late summer Es on 6m

It is getting later in the sporadic E season but there are still plenty of openings to be enjoyed. As I have yet to erect any antennas for the HF bands at the new QTH, I have been listening and working stations on 6m. This week without much operating time I have managed to find a couple of Es openings that have allowed me to work into HA, I, EA5, EA6 (Menorca) and EA7 on 2W SSB or CW to the V2000 vertical.

Using my 3G dongle to provide an internet connection (roll on Sept 2nd and my Virgin Media connection - I hope) I've also been WSPRing on 6m but so far just a few UK spots received.

29 Aug 2013

Our windmill

Just across our front garden wall we have a windmill that is almost 200 years old. It is currently undergoing a complete renovation with new cap, 4 new sails, new external rendering and lots of work inside too. Today, a 60 ton crane lifted the newly renovated (6 ton) cap onto the top of the windmill.

In the next couple of months the 4 sails go back on. The video was shot out of my lounge window today. When fully restored it will be well worth a visit as is a visit to our local museum next door.

From an amateur radio perspective the windmill will be a perfect aiming point for optical comms as it is about 20m from my shack. I suspect it will act as a good reflector for microwaves too.

See http://www.burwellmuseum.org.uk.btck.co.uk/StevensMill for more information.

28 Aug 2013

More antenna progress at the new QTH

After having our little grandchildren stay for 6 days (without their parents) the new home has now returned to normal (i.e. tidy) and all the toys have been put away, mine excepted! So, apart from sorting out and decorating the old QTH, my thoughts are increasingly turning to the autumn ham projects again.

I've just collected my Par 10/20/40 end-fed HF antenna and a 1m solid copper ground rod from the old QTH with the aim of erecting the former and pounding in the latter in the next few days. The Par antenna will allow me to get active on some of the HF bands. The earth rod will form the far end of my new earth electrode pair "antenna" which will be used for a series of tests on 8.97, 136 and 472kHz from the new garden. My 8.97kHz beacon can be fired up in QRSS quite easily so RX tests out in the fens can start as soon as the earth-electrode antenna is ready. It will be fascinating to see how this compares at the new QTH.

My big wheel for 2m has still to be procured or made and erected. When this is in place I shall try some QRP weak signal work as mentioned before.

Something else I want to do is some tests locally on 6, 2 and 70cm using a signal generator connected to my V2000 antenna. Tests with G6ALB suggest just a few uW are enough to reach the next village. So I was wondering what the coverage to a mobile would be like locally with, say, 10uW from my generator? A drive-around test in all directions might be fun.

We are still waiting for Virgin Media internet and home phone access though - due Sept 2nd - to allow proper WSPR tests to begin. I bought a 3G wi-fi dongle with 3GB of data which is being used as a stop-gap. WSPR is my mode of choice when testing new antennas or new set-ups as the internet database (near instant) feedback gives a very good idea of how things are working.

Belgium on 472kHz

Rik Strobbe ON7YD reports that some Belgian amateur classes (holders of a HAREC licence) now have access to the 472kHz band with 5W EIRP and without mode restrictions. Unfortunately Rik's PA failed on TX on the new band and is having to rely instead on a 6W transverter for now with just 20mW ERP.

22 Aug 2013

V2000 erected and first QSOs on 6, 2 and 70cms from new QTH

On Tuesday I completed the erection of my tri-band colinear at the new QTH and carried out some tests over a 3km path to G6ALB to see how results compared between my old and new QTH on 6, 2 and 70cms. I was expecting results "on the hill" to be somewhat better, but in actual fact over this short path the results were identical within the limits of experimental error. Andrew put in various levels of attenuation to see how low he could go and still copy me. On 2m for example he could put in 43dB attenuation and still just copy me. 43dB is an attenuation of 20000 times suggesting just a few uW is enough to cover this distance.

Yesterday morning I was able to work through the Welwyn Garden City 70cm repeater, although conditions were up a bit. Last night I worked several I and HA stations on 6m SSB and CW during an unexpected Es opening, getting good reports with my 5W.  Conclusion so far: the antenna works fine.

I am now considering that big-wheel for 2m on the same mast. I am looking forward to working some SSB/CW stations again on 2m.

17 Aug 2013

Assembling the new shack

Today I started to collect all the remaining kit from the old building shack and set it up in the new QTH.  The large pieces of test gear are the easy bit. It is all the boxes and bags of "these might come in handy some day" components and crystals that are the problem. Also wire: I have so many reels of "useful" wire! My plan is to continue this over the weekend and get most of the useful stuff moved and other, less useful, kit boxed and stored in a box should I ever need it.  I am really hoping that I can be a lot better organised going forwards. Once I start an electronics building project the workbench goes from orderly to chaos very quickly!

When I was an RF engineer (not a very good one BTW) we used to keep resistors and capacitors in little open topped brown envelopes in a box on the bench. This worked very well and was easier and less space intensive that racks of storage drawers. I may go back to this for the more common non ESD sensitive components.

16 Aug 2013

Moved to new QTH

Although still without internet and phone - thanks Virgin Media - we have now moved to the new QTH. I have still to erect my V2000 vertical but hope to have this up over the weekend. Amateur radio is taking a back seat whilst teething troubles with plumbing and electrics are sorted.  Until we get internet at the new QTH these blog postings are likely to be few and far between.

13 Aug 2013

Moving tomorrow - emotions mixed

So, after 37.5 years in our current home, we move tomorrow to a newly renovated bungalow in the same village.  Emotions are running high this evening: this has been the place where our children were born and raised, where our grandchildren have stayed and played, where I have enjoyed all sorts of fun on the radio. The new home should be lovely and better in many ways, yet this evening my wife and I are feeling rather sad at having to say goodbye to our "old" home.

Actually we are not quite saying a final farewell as we still own the old property and intend to keep it for some years to come. At the moment we are deciding whether to rent it out on long lets or to furnish it for weekly holiday lets. The house is in a quiet road on the edge of the village overlooking pleasant countryside and the local church. If we decide on holiday lets we could even come back to stay for a few days or at least use it for the family for a few weeks each year.  These are decisions for the weeks ahead.  More immediately we have to get ready for the removals men arriving at 8.45am in the morning.

This morning I went up to the chimney of the new home with the builder who was fixing a cowling. The view from up there is spectacularly good confirming it should make an excellent VHF/UHF/microwave location. This is something I shall look forward to!

12 Aug 2013

Virgin Media cock-up

This evening I am VERY annoyed! 

A day before we are due to move we have been informed by our phone/TV and broadband provider (Virgin Media) that they cannot now do the installation at the new property until (at least) Sept 2nd and not on Aug 15th as promised a few weeks ago. This means we have no home phone, no internet and no TV (other than Freeview) for at least 2-3 weeks. What annoys me is that had I known this 2 weeks ago I might have decided to go elsewhere. They apparently need to dig a hole in the road to get the cable through and need local authority approval to do the digging. Let's hope we don't get a "job's worth" who takes a month to process the approval to dig.

I asked several people at Virgin Media if I could have my phone redirected to my mobile ("no, we can't do that") and if I could be loaned a 3G dongle so I could get internet connectivity ("no, we can't do that"). Why ever NOT?? What a total shower they are!

So, if you need to contact me please do so via my mobile number which I have emailed to some of you.

Also, do not expect to see blog updates for some weeks until I manage to get internet services at the new home and replies to emails are likely to take some time.

To add to my woes today, this morning I managed to knock a tin of paint all over our bedroom carpet when painting a piece of furniture.

All in all, today has been quite stressful what with packing for the move on Wednesday and trying to sort out everything.

11 Aug 2013

The Chinese HF SSB/CW transceivers are REALLY coming.....

Steve G1KQH has alerted me to a new QRP HF multi-mode transceiver from China that is available on eBay. The English translation leaves a lot to be desired, but this again signals that the Chinese are starting to get very close to marketing credible HF transceivers that we can expect to see sold by the likes of Martin Lynch and Waters and Stanton. In my view we are 12 months away from this point, but when some really decent HF rigs become available be prepared for some VERY tough times for Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood.

See: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Whole-ham-kn920-kn-920-utrashort-wave-ham-radio-station-equipment-shiortwave-SW-free-shipping/926979_1075987935.html


On the same theme, Hamshop in the Czech Republic has announced it is the EU dealer for the single band KN-Q7A SSB transceivers from CRKITs in China. These are neat little single band 40 and 20m transceivers available as kits or ready built. They are getting rave reviews on eHam.net.