Sporadic E season 2023 has started...

The 2023 Es season started here on 50MHz on 24 April, and on 70MHz on 27 April. This seemed a bit late this year, for 6m at least.

50MHz contacts at GM4FVM 24 to 27 April 2023.

Working South Africa again was good fun. Others did the same - GM3PPE worked 5 South African stations in an afternoon. There was an aurora the day before so that may have helped energise the ionosphere. 

So those contacts with South Africa were not Sporadic E, but maybe Es connected me to something - the fact that it coincided with the start of the Es season might suggest that. But that looked less likely when it happened before in February.

Anyway,

38 QSOs in 32 squares, with 21 DXCC worked in what was really just 2 days. ODX 9514km (30km short of a new record). A new DXCC! GJ - how had I missed that one. Several of new squares. My 2023 DXCC total went from 6 to 26 in 4 days (it took all of last year to reach 40).

My 6m all-time DXCC count now stands at 87. How far can I get that to with conditions like these?

Today, zero.

So far ....

73 Jim GM4FVM

Amateur radio is all about the people

I am not the most gregarious person. In fact I am not very involved with clubs and things. Crowds bother me, and they always have. So, some might say I am a bit of a loner.

I suspect quite a few amateurs are much the same. I see references (some made by myself) to making contacts with "stations" as if they are machines. Sometimes it seems that the person behind the QSO has got lost in the excitement of working a new country or whatever.

In fact I very regularly look up other hams using the QRZ.com site. I like reading their biographies (but aren't you just trying to find out what equipment there are using, Jim?).

Of course I am not just trying to find out what equipment they are using. Really, I am genuinely interested in how they go about their hobby (yes, but isn't a lot of that about equipment, Jim?).

 Ah!

Probably a big issue in me withdrawing was the arrival of the Covid epidemic. Suddenly we had to stop going out unless necessary. After a while I got out of the habit of going anywhere. To be honest I still feel a bit odd venturing out without my mask. However, I am convinced that all the precautions kept me safe from the disease. After several vaccinations I now realise that I really should get over all this. It would take a few events to get me going again. 

It just seemed so easy to go into the shack and shut the big bad world out. There was never any intention to withdraw, I just got used to turning on the radio and listening, even if there was nothing much to listen to.

Quite possibly a turning point was when Olli, DH8BQA, was in the area and let me know that he would like to meet up. Olli and Frauke arrived for an interesting afternoon of chat. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I learned a lot about Germany I had not realised.

Olli DH8DQA and GM4FVM in the shack. Photo by Frauke.

 

I think this photo shows how small my shack actually is. The photo on QRZ.com is pretty flattering in that respect. I don't get many visitors!

By that stage I was finding it pretty hard to get about and the operation I had later was getting very necessary. Just meeting Olli and Frauke was a big factor in cheering me up during this awkward period. While there was a long discussion in the shack, Mrs FVM and Frauke could be seen out the window talking about botany (I think that is that Mrs FVM does out there).

It was a great day and it certainly cheered me up.

Anyway, after that I reckon I was turning over a new leaf. Next thing was the annual mini-rally (otherwise known as the "junk sale") held at the Port Seaton and Cockenzie Club. For this outing I had Mike, GM3PPE, for company. By then I was pretty unsteady on my feet and it was great to be with somebody more agile than me, just in case.

GM4FVM (plus stick) and Mike, GM3PPE, at Cockenzie Junk Sale 2022

I tend to find that I do not buy much at these rallies, but they do allow for meeting people and hearing the latest news. I do usually pick up a few things, and this was no exception. But, my mobility was declining and it was great to get out somewhere with Mike. Thanks to the two (so far) anonymous attendees who took the photo.

Next came the operation to get me moving more freely. By now I was keen to get out and about again. Next event was the Scottish Microwave Round Table, held annually in Burntisland near Edinburgh. I had been to the round table before but then Covid had intervened and it had been cancelled for a time. Being unsure about driving at that stage and getting into a site which includes stairs, I asked Gordon, G8PNN, for advice. Gordon immediately offered to give me a lift from Ayton right to the venue, which was great. It proved to be a very interesting trip.

Microwave Round Table meeting at Burntisland 2022.

At this stage I was still struggling to recover from the operation and I was heavily reliant on a stick. I could only attend at all thanks to Gordon's kind offer of a lift.

 More recently I have attended the annual GMDX Convention at Stirling. Last year, and to great surprise from me, I was awarded the RSGB Jock Kyle award for best contribution to VHF operation in Scotland for 2022-23. I went to Stirling in 2022 to accept the award, though that was tricky before the operation. Luckily the hotel has a lift. This year, after the operation I could attend for whole thing and stay for dinner.

The Jock Kyle "Award For Work of Merit on VHF" awarded to GM4FVM in 2022.

My year holding the award was over and it was good to see that it has been award for this year to the organisers of the Scottish Microwave Round Table for their valuable work. And thanks to my increased mobility, I could get up the stairs without needing the lift and even without using the banisters (though coming down again was not so straightforward).

Talk on 50MHz propagation at GMDX Convention 2023

 

This year I travelled with Mike, GM3PPE, and I enjoyed the company of many interesting amateurs. As usual there were talks about DXpeditions assisted by GMDX, as well as other topics. The conversation over dinner was interesting too. And, as always, there was the pleasure of meeting like minded people.

Simon GM0CSA, Richard GI4DOH and GM4FVM enjoying a joke at GMDX Convention (Photo GM8IEM).

I suspect that I am not the only amateur to feel battered by the Covid lockdowns. That was a serious situation and serious solutions were required. However, I seem to be coming out of all that.

Thanks to all the amateurs listed here, and those not mentioned due to lack of space, for dragging me out of this malaise. It certainly cheered me up.

Perhaps we should meet each other more often.

73

Jim GM4FVM

M0MAT - Good value co-ax plugs on e-Bay

Just a quick mention for Matt, at M0MAT RF Devices.

You can find him here:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/m0mat?_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2563

Or just look for plugs on eBay and you will find him amongst the suppliers.

Some N-types recently arrived at GM4FVM

I cannot deny that at one time I did not take RF plugs and sockets very seriously. As an old low band HF (or indeed MF) operator it did not make much difference what I used. As I have said before here, my first commercial transmitter had a Belling Lee socket on it for 7W at 144MHz so the lessons available were pretty basic. For years old PL-259s, often second hand, were good enough.

Experience taught me that for VHF and higher I needed N-type plugs and sockets. Eventually I changed over. Not that I love N-types but they are good at higher power and frequencies plus they are more or less watertight. I still recall the PL-259 on the Sirio 70MHz J-pole letting rain water right through and ruining the coax. I had wrapped it beautifully in self amalgamating tape to prevent water getting in from outside, but the water went right through the inside instead.

I soon got fed up paying more for the N-type plugs and sockets than I was paying for the coax. Sure, the branded ones are very easy to fit with great instructions, but they cost an arm and a leg. And those instructions suggested using a micrometer to set the cutting distances. Fair enough, but can I reproduce enough excellence here in the shack to equal the very high tolerances those things are made to?

And then there are the cheaper unbranded ones. Like the PL259 to N-socket ones which have too long shanks and will not screw tightly into many of the sockets I have. Or the N-types and BNCs you buy with wide pins which look suspiciously like 75ohm ones in disguise. If you put a 75ohm plug into a 50ohm socket you can distort the socket and make for an intermittent fault in the future. Put a 50ohm plug into a 75ohn socket and the pin might not even make contact.

So far I have had no problems with the plugs and sockets I have bought from Matt. His e-Bay shop has loads of items on there including some very handy adapters. You know that what you are getting are proper 50ohm ones. It is fairly easy to work out how to fit them (remember the washer at the back of the rubber compression ring). They are good value, especially for bulk purchases and for his bags of 5 plugs of one type. Plus they arrive quickly in a neat little box.

I have no connection with the M0MAT shop, I am just a long term happy customer.

I thought I would pass this information along.

73

Jim

GM4FVM