30m: looking good!

This is a plot (created around lunchtime) of FT8 stations hearing my ~25W CQs from a hald sloper this morning on 30m, where I was only active for about 30 minutes or so around 08:00UT.

Things really are very good on 30m now, and it's well worth an early morning session there.

Rough conditions return.

The geomagnetic field was very disturbed overnight, with Kp = 7 for a time.  Aurora was forecast to be visible as far south as central UK (none was noticed, thought the weather was slightly hazy due to high pressure):

Image: IRF, Kiruna.

Image: NOAA.

As is usually the case, disturbances of this magnitude generate very energetic electrons, preventing rather than assisting winter night-time propagation at 14MHz.  At 23:48UT, all propagation on that band ceased, the last station being TF3HZ (inside the auroral oval).

It's interesting to note the signal from LU7AA:

On this occasion, the peaks in signal correspond to the commencement of sharp southerly dips in the vertical magnetic component, and the early recovery phases from the same events. 

Simple pleasures.

Not bad for a £80 SDR receiver (SDRPlay RSP1a) - the only WSPR station hearing the 5W from VE7PGB at 14MHz on the dark side this evening (one hour slot back from 20:11UT):

Strange spots from 2E0XLG

Very unusual step changes in the 14MHZ WSPR signal (0.2W) from 2E0XLG, who is only 150km or so from me.

The geomagnetic field was dead, with only a very minor disturbance from about 02UT onwards.  The atmospheric pressure is very high at present (1035hPa), and one is tempted to wonder whether tropospheric conditions might play a part.  One might expect this to be unlikely, but there is in fact published, peer-reviewed research on this, the full text of which I am hunting down.

Plots of my WSPR reception (only) are now generally without complete labels, as I simply don't have the time to make everything perfect on a daily basis. 

Compare the above plot with that of the same station on the following day (25-26/02/2019, to a longer time scale):

Anomalous spots from the Canadian west.

An interesting few DX spots came in from the far west of Canada around midnight on 14MHz WSPR receive here.

The geomagnetic field was very quiet, never above Kp = 1, but undergoing a northwards Z deviation at very high latitudes, but was a southerly deviation at slightly lower latitudes:

Image: Tromso Geophysical Laboratory.

The timing is clearer in the Kiruna plot:

Auroral model at time of first spot from VE7PGB.  Image: NOAA/SWPC.

The spots, which at -25dB SNR/2500HZ or so are robust, are highlighted against the backdrop of otherwise very local 2E signals.  Once again, the anomalous spots seem to broadly coincide with a recovery to quieter conditions.  Note also the single spot of KA5UMD.

As is fairly usual, other than a couple of TF stations (interestingly, within the auroral oval), nobody else on the European dark side (or much of anywhere outside the US) heard VE7PGB, VA7PP or KA5UMD.

The geographic and geometric conditions at 23:56UT are depicted thus:

Image: DX Atlas, with permission.

Delta loop gives me early warning!

The HF bands have been quite lively today, so I tried a couple of CQs at 28MHz using my 20m vertical delta loop on its first harmonic.  This normally yields a low SWR of about 1.2:1.

But on sending the FT8, I could see the SWR was fluctuating, indicating an intermittent break in the wire.

At 14MHz, because the current reaches zero at the apex, where there is a lot of physical stress due to high winds, a break there has no effect on the normal, efficient operation of the antenna as the pair of closely-spaced verticals that it effectively is, as the model in MMANA-GAL shows:

At 28MHz, the current isn't zero, and is in fact fairly large at the apex, which is why the break, which is almost certainly there, is evident at this frequency but not 14MHz:

So, there's a little job for me over the weekend.  Luckily, it's a very easy and quick job.

The break was indeed at the apex. 

Job done in about 45 minutes.  Total wire length = 22.0m.  Length from feedpoint to apex = 5.43m (feed to apex measured before strain relief loops are formed, which results in the length becoming a little shorter later.  Similarly, total wire length is that from which the strain relief loops are later made, i.e. no need to add a bit extra for strain relief loops).  SWR at 14MHz and 28MHz is very good, and low across both bands:

Strain relief at apex now uses the antenna wire looped over a simple insulator, then taped with self-amalgamating tape, and a single cable tie to keep it together.  This affords slightly less stress on the wire, but the previous, cable-tie and loop only arrangement lasted in fierce winds for over 4 years anyway.

Overnight WSPR Report, 2019 February 21-22

Things hotted up a little bit overnight, with the geomagnetic field showing a significant, sudden southerly swing in the Z component, and the Kp reaching 6 for a while:

This led to a very nice recovery of the 14MHz, 0.2W WSPR signal from 4Z1DZ for a couple of hours as the field reached its later stages of recovering to quieter conditions.  Even more interesting is the increase in the signal before the onset of the disturbance:

4Z1DZ 14MHz WSPR received by MW1CFN 21-22/02/2019

In other news, a nice warm southerly breeze has developed over Wales, the source being in north Africa.  This morning's dust-laden air led to a beautiful orange, Saharan sunrise.  Yesterday saw Scotland's highest ever February temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius!

A tale of two, 2 echoes.

Some moderate geomagnetic disturbances last night, with the Kp briefly climbing to 3 around midnight.

No DX spots at all on 14MHz WSPR overnight, but a nice long series of local 2E spots, which warrant some analysis.

First, the very well-sited 2E0XLG, about 480m up in the Yorkshire Dales, 159km from me:

Then, the not very well-sited, indoor dipole of 2E0WVY, 100km away in Liverpool (both graphs to same X and Y scales):

It's interesting to see that the variations in signal strength are clearly greater for the open, hilltop site of 2E0XLG than for the enclosed dipole of 2E0WVY.  But both systems respond to geomagnetic variations in more-or-less similar ways. 

For example, both stations show a reduction in signal strength around 01:00UT, when the Z field was undergoing a northwards variation, and the X field undergoing a much greater reduction in strength.  At around 03:00UT, both stations undergo an increase in signal strength as the field restores to quieter conditions.

It's useful to note that even stations as close as these two, and in very different siting conditions, can still yield useful information about the geomagnetic field conditions.

Work, work, work...

Bas, PE4BAS, recently raised an important point about telling others, either during QSOs on the radio, or otherwise, about our various work activities.  So here's a break from the usual radio waffle, and a brief diversion into what I've been up to so far.

I started my career way back in 1986, when I became a laboratory analyst for Welsh Water.  This was very routine and, for the most part, very uninteresting work, though it carried the heavy responsibility of making sure everybody's drinking water was safe, which kept the focus going.

I've spent a lot of my career looking at bacteria like these.

After about a year of that job, I became a dairy product analyst at a local creamery which made butter and dried milk powder (practically all of which went immediately into EU intervention stores, rather than being consumed).

That job was also extremely boring, made worse by 19th century management styles.  I was grateful that the damned place was shut down in early 1988, as I had come to hate the place.

Don't say I never give you a laugh.  Here's me, centre rear, almost looking happy that I no longer had to work at that stupid place, back in 1988.  What a strange photo set-up that was, looking skyward!

It took about a month to find another job, though it wasn't much of one, really - frightening birds off the local RAF base!  I knew nothing at all about birds, but I wore the right type of suit and spoke confidently, and got in!   This was without doubt the worst job I ever had.  Mostly, it consisted of sitting on an empty airfield under a hot summer sun, as I was engulfed in petrol fumes from the Land Rover's fuel tank, positioned nicely under the driver's seat!  At least I could enjoy the aircraft, and I did once set part of the airfield's grass on fire with a flare; the RAF fire service was happy to have something to do that day!

RAF Valley, when Harriers were still operational.

Thankfully, I then found a job that would last me for 20 years at the local university.  In fact, I had two interviews on the same morning, the other being at the local nuclear power station (a health monitoring role).  I decided to take the university job, which carried on my earlier experience of microbiology.  This was very varied, as one had to find solutions to new problems on most days.  It involved lots of work with students from all over the world, which was wonderful in an area of Wales that is otherwise almost uniformly white Christian.  The work also occasionally carried me out to sea on the old R.V. Prince Madog, now no longer with us, and sometimes under the sea as a diver.

R.V. Prince Madog, moored for incoming bad weather when I was on board, off the west coast of Anglesey, mid-1990s.

Me, extreme left, with a bunch of diving friends.  Ca. 1997.

During my long period at the university, I also had a parallel career in science writing, almost all of it about astronomy, in magazines like Astronomy Now and Popular Astronomy.  In the days before the internet was widely available, I used to cover major NASA projects like SOFIA, the telescope-in-a-Boeing 747 jet.  I also did a lot of 'homebrew' equipment building articles, which included a year-long series that was very popular, much to my amazement.

SOFIA, topic of one of my earlier astronomy articles.  Image: NASA.

One of my articles about the aurora led to my realising that sounds some people have claimed to hear in association with the aurora (with no delay between what is seen and what is heard - which is problematic) might be due to synaesthesia.  I found myself inviting a former Caltech researcher to write an associated piece on this fascinating phenomenon, which I believe is the first time this potential answer to auroral sound had been realised and published.

Extract from aurora article, (C) Popular Astronomy.

Eventually, in 2007, money ran out and I also had done enough laboratory work for one lifetime.  We had little children by now, and one salary was going to pay for their care.  I didn't have children in order to stick them in a prison with some young, underpaid 'carers', so I gave up my job and looked after my own children.  In fact, I enjoyed this very much, whilst also doing some occasional consultancy work, such as light pollution surveys.  I've been a campaigner against light pollution since 1989.

One of the darkest areas of Anglesey, compared to one of the brightest, seen in fisheye images.

From 2005 to 2011, I  had a nice little aerial archaeology project going.  I started out surveying the entire area of Anglesey, where we made several important new discoveries.  Eventually, the work spread to large areas of Wales.   Our now-defunct web site, Pixaerial.com, became a standard aerial images database used by various public authorities.

Not a new discovery, but the level of detail under very low winter sun can be exquisite.  This is one of the many Iron Age defended enclosures ('forts') on Anglesey.

For a while, the aerial work changed to planning enforcement for local authorities in certain areas of Wales.  This was mostly to check on caravan and camping sites, where the attraction to owners of extra money by increasing capacity without permission, and beyond the fire safety limits on certain holiday weekends, was considerable.

Summer holiday periods generate an enormous pressure on campsites, some of whom (not the site depicted, about which no claim is made or imputed) accept more than they should, generating a serious fire safety problem.

In 2010, I became a very minor national radio celebrity, when I took part in some form of competition on a BBC Radio 4 science programme.  I wasn't interested in the competitive part, but I did like the idea of entering and possibly then telling a large audience about my interest in noctilucent clouds.  Much to my surprise, my idea for an experiment was selected as one of four to be broadcast, out of a total 1300 entries.

Preparatory meeting at the Unviersity of Bath, with Quentin Cooper, then presenter of the BBC's 'Material World' (now 'Inside Science') and Prof. Nick Mitchell.  If I look tired, it's because I had just come off a 5 hour train journey to Bath!

Noctilucent clouds, seen from the north coast of Anglesey, 2013.

This all sparked a mini-career in broadcasting and atmospheric science.  I found myself hosting TV crews from NHK Japan, radio interviews with Falklands Radio, and all sorts of other strange experiences!  This eventually all linked-in with my interest in amateur radio, which I began to take my current level of interest in shortly thereafter, in 2011. 

So that, dear reader, is a summary of my career, both paid and unpaid, so far.  Quite varied, sometimes well paid, sometimes not.  But always interesting, at least to me!

JA Pile up!

30m has been proving very productive for long path DX recently.  This morning was no exception, as I called 'CQ'with my usual 15W from a half sloper wire - and received a mass of responses from Japan.

Although the grey line is now aligned such that, at least geometrically, the path could be coming in via long and/or short path, experience (and the period over which the propagation was strong) indicates it is more likely the path is the long way round.

Not bad for an hour's work!

The HF bands in general are in pretty good shape at the moment, despite the low solar activity indices.  By 08:30UT in Wales, 15m was already opening up nicely, and several stations were worked during the morning on 12m yesterday.

Unfortunately, the news relating to Japan and the UK this week hasn't been quite so good, with Honda deciding to shut a factory here, leaving 3,500 people wondering how next to put food on their families' tables.  Having experienced that kind of thing twice in my working life, I have every sympathy with the Honda workers.

Overnight WSPR report, 18-19/02/2019.

Overnight, geomagnetic conditions were as flat as the proverbial pancake - probably the most undisturbed I've seen for a long time.  Kp was never above 1 throughout much of the preceding 24 hours.

This didn't stop an unusual series of spots of 4Z1DZ, who initially disappeared into the noise after my greline period, then came back strongly and repeatedly for a couple of hours around UT midnight.

There is no obvious geomagnetic explanation for the fact of and variation in 4Z1DZ's signal, except perhaps for the drift of ionisation patches across the north pole from the midday to the midnight sector.

14MHz Long path returns!

For the first time in a long while, VK stations appeared this morning on 14MHz via the long path.

This heralds the approach to equinoctal propagation conditions, which are consistently good between Europe and VK due to the good alignment of the terminator.  Typically, signals reach a peak strength during a period of some 20 minutes an hour or so after sunrise here.

Not a very good type of dipole.

Interesting to note the very large (13dB, or 20 times) difference in signal strength between VK7JB, running an 80m horizontal loop, and VK2KWW, running one of those Comet 'upwards' inverted-vee trap antennas.  I once built a monoband version of the Comet, which proved to be utterly useless.

Solar Cycle 25: we're on the up!

Interesting to note today that pretty much all the latest models for the solar cycle run by the Royal Observatory of Belgium now show that we are moving past solar minimum and very likely to see a sustained, increasing phase of the next cycle during the coming months.

Previous announcements from the ROB had predicted the minimum would occur about the middle of 2018.  It seems that, give or take a few months, their prediction was correct.

Here's to more propagation!

Signal from Brazil

Well, here we are again!  No more Aussie 'flu, no more colds, no more storms for the time being.

But!  I have a dog!  Here he is, on the way to his new home:

Luckily, he doesn't chew cables, and sleeps without complaint every night.

On the radio front, last night I ran my SDR receiver on 14MHz again, mostly because I had been told of a new pico-balloon launched by LU1ESY and his wife.

Unfortunately, as soon as I became aware of the balloon, it was pretty clear that it had already failed in some way, less than four hours after launch, as the spots had stopped altogether.

Anyway, overnight, PY3OL was heard in an anomalous fashion, which again seemed to coincide with the recovery phase of a southerly deviation in the geomagnetic field:

Image: Tromso Geophysical Laboratory, Greenland East line.

On an interesting, related vein, I notice on QRZ.com that there is now a small project launching to deploy 'RF-seismometers' in seismically-active regions, to study the link between earthquakes and proposed propagation effects.

Normal service resumes soon.

Well, just when I thought I would make it through the winter without catching the dreaded 'Aussie' 'flu, I fell ill almost two weeks ago with the little H3N2 beast.

Although I managed to get out for some field work on one day, I was soon back on the sofa with opportunistic colds that followed the 'flu!

Normal service will resume shortly - just after Storm Erik, which is bringing 110km/h winds for the next 30 hours or so - is passed.