A Little Bit of Radio Activity.

I have done some travelling lately, so not too much radio activity.

I did a bit of WSPRing, both with my new Zachtek (200mW) WSPR transmitter, and I am planning setting up a 40m EFHW antenna for wotking on the 40-20-15-10m bands, possibly also 50MHz, if the antenna has a sufficiently low SWR on all bands. This can run whenever I am home, and not active on those bands.

I have run a bit of FT8 on 10m, the band has woken up considerably after the autumn equinox, as was to be expected at this time of the solar cycle.

I will likely make some experiments on the 160 and 630m bands during the winter, we shall see.

New (horizontal) 23cm antenna system will have to wait until next year.

If I can find sufficient time, I will try to improve my portable microwave system. The IC-905 with everything is getting heavy when I need to carry it to a hilltop alone.

I will likely try out an SG-Lab transverter for 1296, accompanied by a 25W power amplifier, fed with the IC-705 transceiver. This is a much lighter setup for portable 1296MHz, with the extra power output available.

I also have a Pluto SDR and some Raspberry Pi computers. I should try to get that up and running, at least as a test. The Pluto can be made to run (extremely low power) from 70MHz to 6GHz, so there is basis for experiments on 4m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm, 13cm, 9cm and 6cm. That setup could also be used as a back-end for transverters for higher frequencies, e.g. 10 and 24GHz.

Back From Holidays. 1296MHz

I am just back from a retreat.

Yes, I went to a retreat. No radio, no news, just going quiet, let's call it meditation.

Coming back 1296MHz has been variable.

With the vertical the band has been relatively quiet, with sporadic signals from the Polish beacon SR1KOL.

Last night it was very strong early in the evening, then got a little weaker.

A check about 0100 showed it very strong again, with very strong radar signals, too, and in addition the two SK6 beacons near Gothenburg cale through quite well readable, along with the Norwegian one in JO59, and the North Jutland beacon in JO57.

No other signals heard, though, but there was definitely trop propagation.

WSPRing to the Scouts.

 On Saturday a big scout camp (20,000 - 30,000 scouts) is starting.

The closest part of the camp is about 1.5km (a mile) from here, and they will have radio activities.

Previously I have participated  in such camps in 1980, 1985 and 1990, and the group I was running radio with, is still active, and I have contact with them.

At this camp there will also be activities on the HF bands, and some local VHF activity.

One of the activities involves transmissions (and reception) of WSPR (pronounced as "Whisper") signals with low power. I have been asked to have a station active, so they always have someone to exchange signals with.

Yes, thee WSSPR protocol is a one way communication, but reports can be "exchanged" via a site like wsprnet.org, and they are planning to have a map showing where the  signals get to, as part of the scouts' activities.

So from tomorrow I will be sending low power WSPR signals most of the day and evenings.

Output will likely be anywhere between 100mW and 5W into a half wave vertical leaning up a tree.

With luck you may receive my signals on 20m WSPR.

Now that I have this up and running, I may continue with experiments with digital modes, running low power on HF, and also trying it out with higher power on VHF/UHF and microwaves. The WSJTX program is an excellent starting point for all those weak signal (not necessarily low power) modes.

Testing FT8 on 10m with my IC-705.

Yesterday I was testing with 5W on 28MHz.

With sporadic activityI worked 5 stations. Propagation was not very good, but it was definitely there.

Best QSO yesterday was 7Q5MP, Malawi. not bad with 5W

Today I am testing with 1W. My CQ has got me 2 responses, but no QSO yet.

The 1W signal was heard by 9K2HN (Kuwait).

Another Morning Tropo on 1296MHz.

This morning around 0500 (0300UTC).

SR1KOL , again. It has been there until now, with some QSB.

LA1UHG, it was gpone when I checked later.

Morning tropo is definitely a thing.

Early Morning Beacons on 1296.

This morning around 5AM local time, I woke up and made a check of the beacons on 23cm. 

The Polsh one was there again (no surprise), and also the two Swedish ones near Gothenburg were just audible, along with OZ1UHF in Northern Jutland.

The best signal was LA1UHG in JO59.

Yes, morning tropo is a thing on 23cm, for sure.

This afternoon the Polish beacon has been up and down, at some time stronger than the local OZ7IGY, only 26km from here.

More Beacon reports on 1296MHz

 The other day I heard the German beacon DM0UB in JO62KK at 360km. This was at a nightly check at 4 AM. The signal was easily readable and quite visible on the spectrum display of the 9700. This is still with the vertical antenna, so the signal must have been very strong. Distance: 360km.

Last night between midnight and 1 AM, LA1UHG in JO59FB came through, also with a visible trace on the spectrum display, at a distance of 394km.

Yes, the Polish beacon SR1KOL has been coming through several times during these hot days, and I am not surprised any more. I wonder how often I can hear it with horizontal polarization. 

Impressive signals with the vertical, I am guessing they would have been near S9 with a small horizontal yagi.