I think this link may work for about a week from 19 May 2015.
I need this guy to help me with my neighbours.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05v7tp2
It is a 15 minute BBC radio programme.
There was also a web page about it here (link to BBC website).
73
Jim
GM4FVM
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Portable working on holiday.
If it is supposed to be a holiday I need to be able to relax. Not pound the airwaves all day.
So how it usually works is that I take the FT-817 and a few telescopic whips. Also in the bag go various coils of long wire, sometimes an ATU (which I bought second hand from GI4DOH about 35 years ago), audio leads, some bell wire with crocodile clips, and of course a laptop PC to work it all.
To be honest I am always trying to recreate 2 June 2011 when I sat on a balcony on Crete and worked IZ7BAS (978km), OE6KDG (1591) and OE5FIN (1698). That was just with the 817, its clunky PSU, and a flexi whip on the top. After that first day as SV9/G4FVM, I was hooked.
So for most holidays since I have dragged the FT-817 with me and I have had some success. To preserve the holiday aspect I tend to use data modes, and especially WSPR. This maximises the poor antennas and thrives on low power.
Also, WPSR allows me to set the radio up and leave it to run by itself. I can be luxuriating n the sun while the radio and PC are working away. And so it has been to Greece, France, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Spain ...
Usually I just work in "stealth" mode, stringing up antennas and keeping the power down to 5 watts maximum.
This time however, I took the Icom IC-7100 with me. The FT-817 cannot manage 5 watts on WSPR, whereas the 7100 can do it all day. Also I have the leads to separate the PC and IC-7100 using USB extensions, whereas the 817 has a habit of picking up interference from the computer due to the cable lengths. And the 7100 allows a few more watts for other data modes. I brought a small switch mode power supply, and all of it fitted into one cardboard box in the back of the car.
For the first four days this was a failure as I have mentioned before. Then I started using the antennas on the car. I only had 144/432 and 70MHz whips. I added the only thing I had to lengthen the 70MHz whip to work on 50MHz - a length of bell wire. I still had the telescopic whips for HF bands, but they are not very suitable for use outdoors - I only used the 10 metre band one.
Here is some of the work done on 6m:-
| 2015-05-15 13:58 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294506 | -24 | 1 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | DB0ZDF | JN49cx | 1128 | 701 |
| 2015-05-15 13:52 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294529 | -16 | 1 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | DL4RU | JN69cr | 1341 | 833 |
| 2015-05-15 13:44 | DL4RU | 50.294451 | -25 | 0 | JN69cr | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM/P | IO87ei | 1341 | 833 |
| 2015-05-15 13:36 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294479 | -10 | 0 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | PA3249 | JO32hm | 846 | 526 |
| 2015-05-15 13:32 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294527 | -21 | 1 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | DC9JVN | JN59ml | 1303 | 810 |
| 2015-05-15 13:28 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294479 | -22 | 1 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | PA3249 | JO32hm | 846 | 526 |
| 2015-05-15 13:28 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294503 | -13 | 1 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | DK8NE | JN59fw | 1237 | 769 |
| 2015-05-15 13:28 | GM4FVM/P | 50.294528 | -23 | 1 | IO87ei | +37 | 5.012 | DC9JVN | JN59ml | 1303 | 810 |
| 2015-05-15 13:26 | PE1MXP | 50.294479 | -2 | 0 | JO32gh | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM/P | IO87ei | 858 | 533 |
| 2015-05-15 13:18 | DK8NE | 50.294482 | +4 | 1 | JN59fw | +40 | 10.000 | GM4FVM/P | IO87ei | 1237 | 769 |
Harry, PA3249, contacted me to tell me that he was beaming 165 degrees when he heard me. So I was off the back of his antenna. Looking at the photo above it is hard enough to work out what the front of my antenna is, and what is the back? It isn't even vertical.
On 10m I got around Europe as you might expect. This spot of a South African station pleased me, but it was weak. Not bad for a 1.1m telescopic whip. He did not hear me of course ...
| 2015-05-15 11:44 | ZS6BNE | 28.126111 | -25 | -1 | KG33bu | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM/P | IO87ei | 9693 | 6023 |
Added to this was my contact with SP2HMR on 4 metres. All together I was happy enough. It was not supposed to be a radio holiday, so anything is better than nothing.
I think that in future I have learned that I should use the car as a base for antennas. I need better antennas and certainly something better than the telescopic whips for HF. The IC-7100 worked well in the caravan.
I would say that holiday working is really just an effort to see what I can do with limited resources. In that sense it is not really about DX. It is more about having fun and trying to manage with whatever you have around you - like using a crocodile clip extension.
It was fun though. I encourage anyone to try it.
73
Jim
GM4FVM
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Greetings from IO87ei, and CW contacts!!
Greetings from Grantown-on-Spey in Moray, IO87.
Here is my new antenna :--
For a new antenna it may look like a 6 year old car and a 12 year old caravan. Which is true, and if you look very carefully a very old whip can be seen at the back of the car.
After spending a few days in the caravan, this holiday seemed radio free. Over several days I heard F1OMQ, EB3DCS, IJ1PJH and HB9HLN on 6m metres.But none of them could hear me. As usual I spent ages stringing up dipoles and verticals, but with no result. I could not be heard. 10m was dire in the extreme.
Then it dawned on me that I might get better results using the antenna on the car. I strung co-ax between the car and the caravan. The improvement was dramatic. Suddenly with a socking great ground plane under them, things began to happen using vertical whips.
10m WSPR sprang into life. 6m was humming. However, on these bands I only have telescopic whips which are not really designed for the back of cars. They seemed to work though.
Then I plugged in the 4m mobile whip and worked Marcel SP2HMR in JO94 (1408km). Not bad for a mobile whip. And 59 both ways!
Why it has taken me days to work this out is a mystery to me. By now the holiday is nearly over. However, I may work a few more in the time left.
Note for future reference - organise some proper mobile whips for caravan/car operation.
It just goes to show how the obvious answer is not always the one that springs to mind.
We left for here on Sunday. A couple of people asked me to come on during the RSGB 4m CW contest. ME ... CW??? Anyway, that contest uses post code areas and mine is a rare one - TD for the River Tweed. So I came on and worked G4TSW (558km) and GM4VVX (277km). Just keep me to simple information, don't ask me difficult questions, and keep to 10 words per minute max. Then I am great. In general I am afraid of CW contests. I can sort-of do slow CW, and I can do contests, but both together stress me out. Still, nice to work VVX on tropo for the first time. Clive is not far away but there are a lot of mountains in the way. And our caravan is now up in those mountains.
Next report will probably be from the home QTH and a proper antenna will be in use. But in the meantime, this is getting to be more fun up here.
73
Jim
GM4FVM/P
Here is my new antenna :--
For a new antenna it may look like a 6 year old car and a 12 year old caravan. Which is true, and if you look very carefully a very old whip can be seen at the back of the car.
After spending a few days in the caravan, this holiday seemed radio free. Over several days I heard F1OMQ, EB3DCS, IJ1PJH and HB9HLN on 6m metres.But none of them could hear me. As usual I spent ages stringing up dipoles and verticals, but with no result. I could not be heard. 10m was dire in the extreme.
Then it dawned on me that I might get better results using the antenna on the car. I strung co-ax between the car and the caravan. The improvement was dramatic. Suddenly with a socking great ground plane under them, things began to happen using vertical whips.
10m WSPR sprang into life. 6m was humming. However, on these bands I only have telescopic whips which are not really designed for the back of cars. They seemed to work though.
Then I plugged in the 4m mobile whip and worked Marcel SP2HMR in JO94 (1408km). Not bad for a mobile whip. And 59 both ways!
Why it has taken me days to work this out is a mystery to me. By now the holiday is nearly over. However, I may work a few more in the time left.
Note for future reference - organise some proper mobile whips for caravan/car operation.
It just goes to show how the obvious answer is not always the one that springs to mind.
We left for here on Sunday. A couple of people asked me to come on during the RSGB 4m CW contest. ME ... CW??? Anyway, that contest uses post code areas and mine is a rare one - TD for the River Tweed. So I came on and worked G4TSW (558km) and GM4VVX (277km). Just keep me to simple information, don't ask me difficult questions, and keep to 10 words per minute max. Then I am great. In general I am afraid of CW contests. I can sort-of do slow CW, and I can do contests, but both together stress me out. Still, nice to work VVX on tropo for the first time. Clive is not far away but there are a lot of mountains in the way. And our caravan is now up in those mountains.
Next report will probably be from the home QTH and a proper antenna will be in use. But in the meantime, this is getting to be more fun up here.
73
Jim
GM4FVM/P
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
You win some and you lose some.
It has been a brighter day on the meteor scatter front.
This week is the peak of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower. I did well in this shower last year, mostly on 6m. This year my 6m activity is hampered by the linear problem so it was always going to be mostly 4m this time
After working PF7M at 09:30 on the 4th of May (JO33 621km), I resolved to get up early and try on 5th May. Meteor showers are usually best around 07:00. The 5th turned out to be a complete waste of time. Not worth getting out of bed early ...
So I thought 6th might be worth a try. I worked OK2BRD at 10:15 (JN99 1528km). Both Erik, EI4KF and I had chosen 70.170 to work on and I had SP2MKO trying to work Erik at the same time. Erik moved to 70.165 and I went to 70.173. This proved to be a good move as we then went on to work various stations one after the other.
SP2MKO would be in a new square, so I would like to meet him again some day.
On 70.173 I was called by G4FJK. I would like to get a contact with Tim on this method of propagation. Even though I was getting him well, he could hardly hear me. We had decided in advance that I would beam at 90 to 120 degrees, and try to use backscatter. Unfortunately it did not work this time.
During all this fiddling about, DK5EW popped up on 70.173 at 11:00 and called CQ. He must have heard us and would work either one of us. His signals were very clear with regular bursts.
DK5EW is in JN48 square at a distance of 1155 km. That was new square for me on 4m, down in South West corner of the country. Although I have worked several stations in Germany on 4m over the years, I do not have many squares.
Then I went back and put out a call on 70.230. This produced SP2JYR in JO92 square, 1387km. I had worked JYR in the same shower a year ago, so that was nice symmetry.
Returning to 70.173 for a further blast, I heard DM2HBG calling CQ. There then followed a quick exchange. You can see one of the strong echos from the meteor.
DM2BHG is over in JO51, another new 4m square for me. This one is in the old East Germany, an area of the Harz which I have visited. Beautiful part of the world. Only 967km, and really strong signals. Done in a trice.
So there were four QSOs well spaced out in Europe, and all good, easy to work, stuff. 4m meteor scatter certainly seems easier to work than 2m but there are very few stations. Whilst 6m MS is probably easiest to master, I feel that I do not have the power or the antenna to do well at it. I did try a few CQs on 6m, but got no replies to my 30 watts.
All five stations, plus GU8FBO, then went on to work various permutations of a QSO party. It shows that the meteor peak is not necessarily at 07:00, and there was still activity after 13:00.
Two new squares. So that is what I won. What did I lose? Well, maybe both a square and a country.
I mentioned before that I worked Janne on 4 metres as LY/OH5LID on 30 April. Not only was Lithuania a new country for me, but also KO15 was a new square. Shortly afterwards, someone posted on the cluster that the Lithuanian licence only allows CW and SSB, not data modes. Janne did not work anyone after that and he turned up the next day in Estonia - I could not hear him from Estonia. I have no idea whether this is true - certainly the bandwidths permitted in Lithuania are specifically for CW and SSB.
When is a data mode SSB? Well, they way many of them are generated is by passing audio tones into an SSB transceiver. So you could argue that FSK, for instance, is SSB. I am not aware that SSB modulated by computer tones is in any way less "true" SSB than SSB modulated by human voice tones.
However, it may be that the Lithuanian authorities do not want data modes used. I have no idea if the licence conditions state this specifically. Data modes certainly sound different from SSB, and the repetitive tx cycles might cause a problem. There is no reason why data operators would not listen between overs in the same way as voice ones, but it just seems to look that way. With Lithuania bordering countries which use 70MHz for broadcasting (Russian Kaliningradsk and Belarus), then maybe they need to keep things low key.
Until this becomes clear I think that I may have worked a new country and square using a mode which is not licenced in that territory. Which surely makes the contact invalid. But how many other contacts in my book were also illegal under their own rules. I feel that at least one other one is doubtful, but how am I expected to know the rules in other states? I do not know the Lithuanian ones.
For now I am still counting my contact with Janne in my list. It is a personal list and I have not applied for any awards. I feel sure that I will work Lithuania again some day. I have seen another Lithuanian station listed on the cluster (using data modes!!!). So it will work out in the long run. But it is an interesting issue.
Oh yes. Did I mention that I have not worked any Sporadic E this season yet?
73
Jim
GM4FVM
This week is the peak of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower. I did well in this shower last year, mostly on 6m. This year my 6m activity is hampered by the linear problem so it was always going to be mostly 4m this time
After working PF7M at 09:30 on the 4th of May (JO33 621km), I resolved to get up early and try on 5th May. Meteor showers are usually best around 07:00. The 5th turned out to be a complete waste of time. Not worth getting out of bed early ...
So I thought 6th might be worth a try. I worked OK2BRD at 10:15 (JN99 1528km). Both Erik, EI4KF and I had chosen 70.170 to work on and I had SP2MKO trying to work Erik at the same time. Erik moved to 70.165 and I went to 70.173. This proved to be a good move as we then went on to work various stations one after the other.
SP2MKO would be in a new square, so I would like to meet him again some day.
On 70.173 I was called by G4FJK. I would like to get a contact with Tim on this method of propagation. Even though I was getting him well, he could hardly hear me. We had decided in advance that I would beam at 90 to 120 degrees, and try to use backscatter. Unfortunately it did not work this time.
During all this fiddling about, DK5EW popped up on 70.173 at 11:00 and called CQ. He must have heard us and would work either one of us. His signals were very clear with regular bursts.
Then I went back and put out a call on 70.230. This produced SP2JYR in JO92 square, 1387km. I had worked JYR in the same shower a year ago, so that was nice symmetry.
Returning to 70.173 for a further blast, I heard DM2HBG calling CQ. There then followed a quick exchange. You can see one of the strong echos from the meteor.
So there were four QSOs well spaced out in Europe, and all good, easy to work, stuff. 4m meteor scatter certainly seems easier to work than 2m but there are very few stations. Whilst 6m MS is probably easiest to master, I feel that I do not have the power or the antenna to do well at it. I did try a few CQs on 6m, but got no replies to my 30 watts.
All five stations, plus GU8FBO, then went on to work various permutations of a QSO party. It shows that the meteor peak is not necessarily at 07:00, and there was still activity after 13:00.
Two new squares. So that is what I won. What did I lose? Well, maybe both a square and a country.
I mentioned before that I worked Janne on 4 metres as LY/OH5LID on 30 April. Not only was Lithuania a new country for me, but also KO15 was a new square. Shortly afterwards, someone posted on the cluster that the Lithuanian licence only allows CW and SSB, not data modes. Janne did not work anyone after that and he turned up the next day in Estonia - I could not hear him from Estonia. I have no idea whether this is true - certainly the bandwidths permitted in Lithuania are specifically for CW and SSB.
When is a data mode SSB? Well, they way many of them are generated is by passing audio tones into an SSB transceiver. So you could argue that FSK, for instance, is SSB. I am not aware that SSB modulated by computer tones is in any way less "true" SSB than SSB modulated by human voice tones.
However, it may be that the Lithuanian authorities do not want data modes used. I have no idea if the licence conditions state this specifically. Data modes certainly sound different from SSB, and the repetitive tx cycles might cause a problem. There is no reason why data operators would not listen between overs in the same way as voice ones, but it just seems to look that way. With Lithuania bordering countries which use 70MHz for broadcasting (Russian Kaliningradsk and Belarus), then maybe they need to keep things low key.
Until this becomes clear I think that I may have worked a new country and square using a mode which is not licenced in that territory. Which surely makes the contact invalid. But how many other contacts in my book were also illegal under their own rules. I feel that at least one other one is doubtful, but how am I expected to know the rules in other states? I do not know the Lithuanian ones.
For now I am still counting my contact with Janne in my list. It is a personal list and I have not applied for any awards. I feel sure that I will work Lithuania again some day. I have seen another Lithuanian station listed on the cluster (using data modes!!!). So it will work out in the long run. But it is an interesting issue.
Oh yes. Did I mention that I have not worked any Sporadic E this season yet?
73
Jim
GM4FVM
Sunday, 3 May 2015
Fault finding gets into my head.
Fault finding gets into your head.
That was what I was going to say.
But Mrs FVM doesn't get fault finding. Maybe nobody else does. Maybe it is only me who chases round in circles for hours after things.
Not that I find fault with Mrs FVM. Not an exercise worth pursuing. Painful.
No, I mean when the washing machine breaks down I go through this process which she doesn't understand. She is used to me by now.
FVM: "What were you doing when it broke down?"
Mrs FVM: "Washing the clothes"
FVM: "No, what program was it on"
Mss FVM: "The one I use to wash the clothes"
FVM: "No, there are 8 programs, which one"
Mrs FVM "I dunno"
FVM (getting steamed up): "Well, was it a rinse or was it a wash?... Had the water filled, ... had the pump emptied the remaining water, ... has the water jet thrown the powder into the drum, ... did the drum sound uneven, ... has the fuse blown, ... were the clothes all cold, ... are the room lights still on, ... does the paper shredder still work?
Mrs FVM: The paper shredder? I am trying to wash the clothes and they are all wet.
FVM: Why didn't you say that? You mean the spin cycle is not working?
Mrs FVM: I dunno. Just fix it.
This is married bliss.
By the way the paper shredder is in the same room as the washing machine and shares the same circuit breaker, though they are separately fused. I did not try to explain, though it makes me look like a screwball to have mentioned it.
You see, it was a mistake to ever talk about the paper shredder. To a fault finder it makes sense, but to the rest of the world I seem to have taken leave of my senses, Which is possible. I spend most of my days under the bench with a torch, plugging in and out USB plugs. So much, that I plan to install mains lighting UNDER my desk.
I just cannot help it. If I cannot find a fault I imagine one. I built a diplexer to separate the signal from a dual 50MHz/70MHz antenna into two rigs. It is a vast thing, about four metres by three meters and it lives in the loft above the house. It works by stub co-ax filters so it has to be big. I tested it before applying RF to both ends at the same time. But this nagging doubt arose ... does it attenuate the signal too much. How much is too much - no time to ask, just find out.
Every so often, I ran co-ax up to the roof and ran myself down to the rig. An arrangement of rigs and co-ax switches was not much help as you really need to test it in situ. So I ran up and down the ladder instead. I tested it on the Carrickfergus beacon in GI - 263 km over a tricky path. Is it stronger this way or that way? With the diplexer or not?
I never got a proper answer. The beacon is too variable in strength to know anyway, and the loss would be tiny. This is not fault finding. There is no evidence that there ever was a fault. But I want to find one if there is one. AND NAIL IT FOR GOOD.
Hard to do if it isn't there.
This is more like "fault-causing", and I am good at that too.
So I stopped using the diplexer, just in case.
Even real faults, like computer generated noise due to poor USB connections, are given the same treatment. Have to find them even though they are tiny.
Today it is the regular issue of the USB sockets. The present shack computer is a 4 core AMD processor built into a mini-ATX box. So there are only a few slots for multi-socket USB boards. Outboard USB boards seem to make a lot of noise to be picked up on the rigs.
This PC is on an ASUS board. I have a much better 8 core one on a Gigabite board, but it is full ATX size and does not fit under the bench !!!. The ASUS board USB sockets are so noisy I cannot use them and I have 8 USB3 sockets on plug-in slots on the PC, and an outboard USB3 board to make up the numbers. They are ALL used. I cannot put any more plug-in USBs onto the PC (I've tried !!!) because I need to use a slot for a Sound Blaster audio card to make nice pure WSPR.
So stand by for a messy photo. This is my subsidiary PC display ..
Left to right along the bottom:
WSJT10 on meteor scatter duty on 70.230 (lots of garbage)
WSPR on 6m from the Flex (Power SDR above)
WSPR on 10m from FT-817.
At the top is Spec JT for 4m WSJT10.
And on that Spec JT are two thin lines. Arrrggghhh. USB QRM. Find it Jim.
FIND IT. There are only 11 permutations of USB sockets, two video boards, and a host of devices which might be to blame. Printer, scanner, wi-fi, three rigs, 5 power supplies, 4 fans plus the PC itself. Then there is the work computer, screen, DVD drives, DVD duplicator, ... Easy?
Digging about under the desk I feel pain - the cat has come in and is scratching the top of my bald head, demanding food, just as I try to jiggle the leads and all those ferrites (there are dozens of both). Fault finding is really getting into my head now. I am on my hands and knees and there is no point trying to shoo her away. Easier to go and feed her than have my head ploughed.
Back again in the dark - it is almost all coming from the Flex 1500 USB lead. Bah! Out of my filters drawer comes a REALLY BIG TDK ferrite filter which makes very little difference. Turn the Flex on and off to test a bit more (hence the noise bars on the 6m WSPR). Bah, Cannot stop it.
This was not here yesterday. What have I done? Oh yes, I unplugged all the USBs to stop another noise and then plugged them all into different sockets. Which stopped that noise, but ...
And so it goes on. Plug in USB, unplug USB. Chase the noise. Find the fault. Get it stopped.
Not this time.
At what age do slightly overweight men with Celtic genes die of heart attacks?
Really, as young as that?
Grrrr.
73
Jim
GM4FVM
That was what I was going to say.
But Mrs FVM doesn't get fault finding. Maybe nobody else does. Maybe it is only me who chases round in circles for hours after things.
Not that I find fault with Mrs FVM. Not an exercise worth pursuing. Painful.
No, I mean when the washing machine breaks down I go through this process which she doesn't understand. She is used to me by now.
FVM: "What were you doing when it broke down?"
Mrs FVM: "Washing the clothes"
FVM: "No, what program was it on"
Mss FVM: "The one I use to wash the clothes"
FVM: "No, there are 8 programs, which one"
Mrs FVM "I dunno"
FVM (getting steamed up): "Well, was it a rinse or was it a wash?... Had the water filled, ... had the pump emptied the remaining water, ... has the water jet thrown the powder into the drum, ... did the drum sound uneven, ... has the fuse blown, ... were the clothes all cold, ... are the room lights still on, ... does the paper shredder still work?
Mrs FVM: The paper shredder? I am trying to wash the clothes and they are all wet.
FVM: Why didn't you say that? You mean the spin cycle is not working?
Mrs FVM: I dunno. Just fix it.
This is married bliss.
By the way the paper shredder is in the same room as the washing machine and shares the same circuit breaker, though they are separately fused. I did not try to explain, though it makes me look like a screwball to have mentioned it.
You see, it was a mistake to ever talk about the paper shredder. To a fault finder it makes sense, but to the rest of the world I seem to have taken leave of my senses, Which is possible. I spend most of my days under the bench with a torch, plugging in and out USB plugs. So much, that I plan to install mains lighting UNDER my desk.
I just cannot help it. If I cannot find a fault I imagine one. I built a diplexer to separate the signal from a dual 50MHz/70MHz antenna into two rigs. It is a vast thing, about four metres by three meters and it lives in the loft above the house. It works by stub co-ax filters so it has to be big. I tested it before applying RF to both ends at the same time. But this nagging doubt arose ... does it attenuate the signal too much. How much is too much - no time to ask, just find out.
Every so often, I ran co-ax up to the roof and ran myself down to the rig. An arrangement of rigs and co-ax switches was not much help as you really need to test it in situ. So I ran up and down the ladder instead. I tested it on the Carrickfergus beacon in GI - 263 km over a tricky path. Is it stronger this way or that way? With the diplexer or not?
I never got a proper answer. The beacon is too variable in strength to know anyway, and the loss would be tiny. This is not fault finding. There is no evidence that there ever was a fault. But I want to find one if there is one. AND NAIL IT FOR GOOD.
Hard to do if it isn't there.
This is more like "fault-causing", and I am good at that too.
So I stopped using the diplexer, just in case.
Even real faults, like computer generated noise due to poor USB connections, are given the same treatment. Have to find them even though they are tiny.
Today it is the regular issue of the USB sockets. The present shack computer is a 4 core AMD processor built into a mini-ATX box. So there are only a few slots for multi-socket USB boards. Outboard USB boards seem to make a lot of noise to be picked up on the rigs.
This PC is on an ASUS board. I have a much better 8 core one on a Gigabite board, but it is full ATX size and does not fit under the bench !!!. The ASUS board USB sockets are so noisy I cannot use them and I have 8 USB3 sockets on plug-in slots on the PC, and an outboard USB3 board to make up the numbers. They are ALL used. I cannot put any more plug-in USBs onto the PC (I've tried !!!) because I need to use a slot for a Sound Blaster audio card to make nice pure WSPR.
So stand by for a messy photo. This is my subsidiary PC display ..
WSJT10 on meteor scatter duty on 70.230 (lots of garbage)
WSPR on 6m from the Flex (Power SDR above)
WSPR on 10m from FT-817.
At the top is Spec JT for 4m WSJT10.
And on that Spec JT are two thin lines. Arrrggghhh. USB QRM. Find it Jim.
FIND IT. There are only 11 permutations of USB sockets, two video boards, and a host of devices which might be to blame. Printer, scanner, wi-fi, three rigs, 5 power supplies, 4 fans plus the PC itself. Then there is the work computer, screen, DVD drives, DVD duplicator, ... Easy?
Digging about under the desk I feel pain - the cat has come in and is scratching the top of my bald head, demanding food, just as I try to jiggle the leads and all those ferrites (there are dozens of both). Fault finding is really getting into my head now. I am on my hands and knees and there is no point trying to shoo her away. Easier to go and feed her than have my head ploughed.
Back again in the dark - it is almost all coming from the Flex 1500 USB lead. Bah! Out of my filters drawer comes a REALLY BIG TDK ferrite filter which makes very little difference. Turn the Flex on and off to test a bit more (hence the noise bars on the 6m WSPR). Bah, Cannot stop it.
This was not here yesterday. What have I done? Oh yes, I unplugged all the USBs to stop another noise and then plugged them all into different sockets. Which stopped that noise, but ...
And so it goes on. Plug in USB, unplug USB. Chase the noise. Find the fault. Get it stopped.
Not this time.
At what age do slightly overweight men with Celtic genes die of heart attacks?
Really, as young as that?
Grrrr.
73
Jim
GM4FVM
Friday, 1 May 2015
Sunspots decline, new country worked on 4m, more Es heard.
I have been busy with various things but I found time this morning to turn on the rigs and capture an interesting spell on 10m.
I had to turn off as I needed to go out.
That was a sign of health on the 10m band. However, the solar Flux index has fallen to 104. SFI is a measurable figure based to solar noise, which in turn is a good measure of sunspot activity (and therefore sun activity in general). Somewhere about 100 on the SFI is my break-even point. Below 100 SFI and 10m starts to be closed for most of the day. Of course, Summer Sporadic Es continues, but F-layer dx tends to be absent. I am please of course to get 2way to VK, but hope of ploughing on and getting lots of 10m dx seem to be fading.
Not that we can write off the Sun. We just don't know what is happening, and we never really did. After a few increasing 11-year solar cycles, people were predicting a great cycle this time. Looking back now, the evidence was there to suggest that we are in a downward trend. This has been a disappointing cycle. almost no 6m F-layer openings. Traditional cycle-toppings paths into the Pacific on 10m just never appeared this time.
I am 60 years old this year. The good side is that I will get my free bus pass (or I will unless somebody abolishes it). The not-so-good side is that I may not have too many 11-year cycles left in me. And they come in pairs (actually 22-year cycles with half positive polarity and the other half negative). Most predictions suggest that the next 11-year peak will be the pair of this one - i.e. just as bad and the next one could worse.
I am not complaining and I am preparing for what is to come. I might even take up 40 metres!
For now I have learned something interesting (for me anyway) in this solar cycle. I have never seen one so poor (quiet) of course. But I thought that lower solar activity might mean fewer less powerful sun spots. But actually the sunspots have been just as powerful, there have just been fewer of them. So the effect of the St Patrick's Day aurora was a good as any other, but we just have not had so many events.
The interesting aspect of this is that we could yet have some very powerful solar mass ejections. As there are fewer spots, the chance of any one of them being directed right at us is lower. But if it is directed at us, it could be blistering. OK, probability says this is less likely than during a really powerful solar cycle. But you cannot rule it out.
You might say, the chances of tossing a coin and getting a head is always the same. And if you toss the coin less often, there will be fewer heads and fewer tails. But still the probablility of any coin coming up heads never changes. The chance of any one these solar events being a satellite-melting, aurora smashing, black-out creating, computer blasting, power system destroying, monster is not smaller. It WILL happen someday. It could be tomorrow.
But it probably will not be tomorrow.
I am still uncertain about the Flex and data modes. I did work OK2BRD on 28 April, but I am not convinced. So when I saw that LY/OH5LID was operating from Lithuania on 4 metres I decided to listen on the Flex. Nothing. I felt more confident on the IC-7100. Connected that and right away I heard Janne and the WSJT software decoded him calling CQ from KO15 square.
Within a minute of me sending a report to him he came back with my report and correct callsign. I went straight back with RRRR and then after a few minutes the software crashed. It looked to me on restart that I had got an RRR from him. I did not need it anyway. The QSO was complete from my end once he returned of my callsign and report (which I got twice). I am not sure if he got my RRRs due to the crash. So that is a new country (Lithuania) on 4 metres (just another one to reach my target for this year). And a new square too - number 138 on that band. 4 more squares for this year's target. I suspect that Janne will appear from some other squares, which might mean I could wrap most of it up by his dxpedition alone.
Some funny propagation. I heard S57AC and I2PJA (yesterday) on 6m and while they were strong, they could not hear me. And I heard the F6IKT beacon on 50.079. Still have not WORKED anyone on Es this season. And I was calling CQ towards Germany on meteor scatter this morning when someone came back to me on SSB. Nothing wrong with that, except it took me about 5 minutes to press all the buttons and get back to him. By that time he had found a local to work and then he faded out. My fault. I thought it was DL9YEB but it looks like it was DL9YE. Still, he was 5/9+++ and to add to my woes, as he faded, there were lots of meteor pings on his signal. I am just missing Es QSOs this season. So far ...
73
Jim
| 2015-05-01 09:22 | VK6XT | 28.126014 | -22 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 09:16 | VK2KRR | 28.126043 | -27 | 0 | QF34mr | +40 | 10.000 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 16748 | 10407 |
| 2015-05-01 09:14 | VK6XT | 28.126013 | -23 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 09:06 | VK6XT | 28.126011 | -15 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 09:00 | VK6XT | 28.126011 | -12 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 08:58 | VK2KRR | 28.126041 | -19 | 0 | QF34mr | +40 | 10.000 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 16748 | 10407 |
| 2015-05-01 08:54 | VK6XT | 28.126011 | -11 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 08:46 | VK6XT | 28.126009 | -7 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 08:44 | GM4FVM | 28.126090 | -19 | 0 | IO85wu | +27 | 0.501 | VK6XT | OF86td | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 08:40 | VK2KRR | 28.126038 | -21 | 0 | QF34mr | +40 | 10.000 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 16748 | 10407 |
| 2015-05-01 08:38 | VK6XT | 28.126008 | -11 | 0 | OF86td | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 14880 | 9246 |
| 2015-05-01 08:36 | VK5MR | 28.126078 | -23 | 0 | PF96lh | +37 | 5.012 | GM4FVM | IO85wu | 16160 | 10041 |
| 2015-05-01 08:32 | GM4FVM | 28.126093 | -16 | -1 | IO85wu | +27 | 0.501 | VK6XT | OF86td | 14880 | 9246 |
I had to turn off as I needed to go out.
That was a sign of health on the 10m band. However, the solar Flux index has fallen to 104. SFI is a measurable figure based to solar noise, which in turn is a good measure of sunspot activity (and therefore sun activity in general). Somewhere about 100 on the SFI is my break-even point. Below 100 SFI and 10m starts to be closed for most of the day. Of course, Summer Sporadic Es continues, but F-layer dx tends to be absent. I am please of course to get 2way to VK, but hope of ploughing on and getting lots of 10m dx seem to be fading.
Not that we can write off the Sun. We just don't know what is happening, and we never really did. After a few increasing 11-year solar cycles, people were predicting a great cycle this time. Looking back now, the evidence was there to suggest that we are in a downward trend. This has been a disappointing cycle. almost no 6m F-layer openings. Traditional cycle-toppings paths into the Pacific on 10m just never appeared this time.
I am 60 years old this year. The good side is that I will get my free bus pass (or I will unless somebody abolishes it). The not-so-good side is that I may not have too many 11-year cycles left in me. And they come in pairs (actually 22-year cycles with half positive polarity and the other half negative). Most predictions suggest that the next 11-year peak will be the pair of this one - i.e. just as bad and the next one could worse.
I am not complaining and I am preparing for what is to come. I might even take up 40 metres!
For now I have learned something interesting (for me anyway) in this solar cycle. I have never seen one so poor (quiet) of course. But I thought that lower solar activity might mean fewer less powerful sun spots. But actually the sunspots have been just as powerful, there have just been fewer of them. So the effect of the St Patrick's Day aurora was a good as any other, but we just have not had so many events.
The interesting aspect of this is that we could yet have some very powerful solar mass ejections. As there are fewer spots, the chance of any one of them being directed right at us is lower. But if it is directed at us, it could be blistering. OK, probability says this is less likely than during a really powerful solar cycle. But you cannot rule it out.
You might say, the chances of tossing a coin and getting a head is always the same. And if you toss the coin less often, there will be fewer heads and fewer tails. But still the probablility of any coin coming up heads never changes. The chance of any one these solar events being a satellite-melting, aurora smashing, black-out creating, computer blasting, power system destroying, monster is not smaller. It WILL happen someday. It could be tomorrow.
But it probably will not be tomorrow.
I am still uncertain about the Flex and data modes. I did work OK2BRD on 28 April, but I am not convinced. So when I saw that LY/OH5LID was operating from Lithuania on 4 metres I decided to listen on the Flex. Nothing. I felt more confident on the IC-7100. Connected that and right away I heard Janne and the WSJT software decoded him calling CQ from KO15 square.
Within a minute of me sending a report to him he came back with my report and correct callsign. I went straight back with RRRR and then after a few minutes the software crashed. It looked to me on restart that I had got an RRR from him. I did not need it anyway. The QSO was complete from my end once he returned of my callsign and report (which I got twice). I am not sure if he got my RRRs due to the crash. So that is a new country (Lithuania) on 4 metres (just another one to reach my target for this year). And a new square too - number 138 on that band. 4 more squares for this year's target. I suspect that Janne will appear from some other squares, which might mean I could wrap most of it up by his dxpedition alone.
Some funny propagation. I heard S57AC and I2PJA (yesterday) on 6m and while they were strong, they could not hear me. And I heard the F6IKT beacon on 50.079. Still have not WORKED anyone on Es this season. And I was calling CQ towards Germany on meteor scatter this morning when someone came back to me on SSB. Nothing wrong with that, except it took me about 5 minutes to press all the buttons and get back to him. By that time he had found a local to work and then he faded out. My fault. I thought it was DL9YEB but it looks like it was DL9YE. Still, he was 5/9+++ and to add to my woes, as he faded, there were lots of meteor pings on his signal. I am just missing Es QSOs this season. So far ...
73
Jim