[G3XBM] Tenner 10m transceiver

[G3XBM via rec.radio.amateur.moderated Admin]

Roger G3XBM's (Mainly) Amateur Radio Blog

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Tenner 10m transceiver

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:45 PM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/tenner-10m-transceiver.html

Many years ago I designed and made a simple 500mW transceiver for 10m CW.
Much DX was worked with it. These days I have not used CW for a long time.
It was VXO controlled and used a direct conversion receiver.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10m_tenner

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Yesterday on 10m WSPR TX

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:44 PM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/yesterday-on-10m-wspr-tx_14.html

Yesterday underlined the difficulty with 10m WSPR. Overall I am surprised
that people are still using WSPR on 10m. At a guess, I would say activity
levels are at most 10% of those of FT8. Most days I get spotted on 10m
WSPR, but FT8 spots and QSOs are easier.

FT8 is about 10dB worse than WSPR, but it does allow real QSOs with 15
second TX periods compared with 120 seconds for WSPR. This makes FT8 better
for shorter openings.

In all, 6 unique stations spotted my 10m WSPR yesterday.

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East Cambs net last night

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:43 PM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/east-cambs-net-last-night.html

Last night we had a record number of people on the 2m FM net on 144.575MHz.
There were so many people I sometimes got the order wrong! Most people were
good signals here.

This net is held every Monday night and all in the area are very welcome.
We normally close the net at about 8.30pm local time, although often some
stay on longer to natter.

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Sunspots - Tuesday July 14th 2020

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:43 PM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/sunspots-tuesday-july-14th-2020.html

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=4.

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The future of amateur radio

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 07:33 AM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-future-of-amateur-radio.html

In recent years there has been a shift to digital communications using
modes like FT8. Whereas in the past, radio amateurs focused on speaking to
people across the world, there is far less of this now. People may
make "rubber stamp" brief contacts, but there is far less chatting. Most
of us can enjoy video chats across the planet for free on the internet.
Speaking across the world is no longer magic. What "turns on" younger
people is not the same as in the 1950s or 1960s. We have to find out what
this is and forget what attracted us.

Southgate News has a link to an interesting piece in IEEE Spectrum talking
about the issue in the USA. I think this is mirrored across the planet.
The main issue is amateurs globally are getting older and there are fewer
youngsters coming into the hobby. In 20 years' time the hobby we love could
just fizzle out.

See
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/july/the-uncertain-future-of-ham-radio.htm#.Xwxp2ojYq00

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6m FT8

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 08:06 AM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/6m-ft8_13.html

At about 1340z, the 6m FT8 gear was turned on. As usual, running 10W to the
V2000 vertical omni. Already quite a few transatlantic spots on RX and TX.
After 18 minutes, 42 spots of me! Already 6 stations "across the pond"
have spotted me!

Judging by the reports this looks like E layer. It could be double or
triple hop Es, but I suspect some other sort of E layer propagation.

6m FT8 RX spots from the USA at 1444zUPDATE 1504z: Spotted by 8 stations in
the USA on 6m FT8 today. Best DX spot was by KX4R (6801km) and loads of
USA stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX, far more than Europeans!



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Late start on 10m WSPR TX

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 07:54 AM PDT
http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2020/07/late-start-on-10m-wspr-tx.html

Rather later than normal, I have turned on my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon using
the indoor loop antenna in the shack. Gear was turned on at about 1340z.

UPDATE 1455z: No spots of me yet today.