AM Rally THIS WEEKEND!

via GIPHY

Yes folks, more AM fun!

http://www.amrally.com/

RS0ISS

Colleagues in Peru alerted me this evening to some ISS SSTV transmissions going on at the moment.

So, with 30 minutes warning between Peru and the UK, I fired up the IC-746 connected to a SlimJim on 145.800MHz FM and waited with the kids for the station to clear the horizon.

The ISS signal came significantly early this evening, maybe 30 seconds before the predicted time.  Even so, the image that was already being transmitted as the signal appeared over the horizon was of very good quality.

The last two images are some of the best quality ones I've ever received from the ISS, and a lot of the local club members had a go, too!

Horizon-clearing image.

(Yet) Another trip to the Beach - and a magazine article!

Yesterday, I noticed a fairly new callsign on 14MHz WSPR - DU6/N7MOT, operated by Lenny, a very friendly chap as it turned out.

Lenny's sending out quite a lot of power for WSPR - 20W - through a hexbeam pointed at the USA.

I was curious to see how Lenny's signal might be enhanced down at the beach with a stick antenna on the car, compared to my slightly-inland, hilltop-based vertical delta loop on superb ground and rural quiet RF conditions.

Geographical reach, TX and RX, MW1CFN/M from IO73vh (beach)

The delta loop received Lenny four times in about 80 minutes, whilst my stick only received him once.  I think that's because the path was changing at the time.  Even so, at 08:46, my stick received Lenny at -9dB, and the delta at -18dB.  Very typical of the enhancements seen in past missions to the beach.

In terms of transmitting from the beach, the results are quite remarkable.  None of the following stations heard the 1W from my delta loop, whereas they all heard the stick at very good signal strengths: ZL3JE, Zl2BCI, JH3APN, BG7IBS, BA7KW.

The plot below shows ZL3JE receiving my stick antenna's 1W, peaking at -17dB SNR.  The limit of detection at the moment with WSPR software of all varieties is -34dB.  Because the delta loop was not heard at all by ZL3JE, this implies an environmental gain provided by the beach of at least 17dB on this specific path at this specific time.  Not all paths and times will realise this spectacular result, of course, but it is certainly available for limited periods.

That's the kind of gain you can only dream about from home.  This work really reinforces the conclusion that operating from a home environment, even if it's RF-quiet and only a km or two inland, is very much a compromise that won't ever realise the potential available from the beach.  That, and the fact that you won't ever suffer from neighbours installing solar PV and destroying your hobby altogether!

MW1CFN/M 14MHz, 1W WSPR received by ZL3JE.

For those interested in testing out beach operating for yourselves, you can do worse than buy a copy of Practical Wireless, where my article about this will appear either in the February or March edition, I understand.

Coming soon!

AM QSO Party, day 2.

The message about the AM mode QSO Party certainly has been getting out slowly.  But it's been tough because, after the dates were selected a few months ago, a contest was organised for the same weekend.

Accordingly, few people have time to take an interest in the strange garbled voices they hear on SSB.  But more sad is the fact that a lot of people have been complaining, without thinking they could simply press the 'Mode' button and enjoy lovely AM audio.  Certainly, I was blown away by the incredible audio from W9OO yesterday, which really did sound like he was sitting next to me in the shack.

Anyhow, I was delighted to hook-up with Bas, PE4BAS on 40m, despite very heavy QRM.  A bit later, the band was a little clearer, allowing a decent recording:

AM QSO Party, day one.

A rather dull and cold day greeted us for the start of the AM QSO Party today.

GB0AMC had set-up at Dulas Bay, east coast of Anglesey, by about 10am, and was receiving steady calls.

GB0AMC at Dulas Bay, just after high tide.

I took a trip to visit the station, just a couple of km from me.  I'd left the radio at home on 3.625MHz.  When I came back, my XYL asked me if I'd enjoyed my cup of tea?  Huh?  She had heard me talking about it in the bakcground as GB0AMC was busy making a call!

Meanwhile, someone asked me if I'd seen a dog, as he'd lost it.  I told him it was causing traffic chaos, running around in the main road!  He later safely retrieved the dog.

Simon Taylor, MW0NWM, organiser of the AM QSO Party, operates GB0AMC.

By the afternoon, a few more stations had understood there was some AM activity underway, helped by plenty of cluster spotting. DM8MM was doing particularly well with a 3-ele beam for 40m, with a constant stream of G- stations calling him all afternoon.

I gave a call on 14.325MHz, and was very surprised to hear a 59+ call from W9OO.  I was quite emotional as Carl told me this was the first QSO is AM mode he had made since 1967!  That really made my day.

Simon's very fine homebrew crystal-controlled valve TX.

Well, it wasn't as busy as it could have been, but not bad, either.  There's still another evening and half a day to go, so we'll see if any more surprises turn up!

Listen to the beautiful AM audio of DM8MM, with a 200W carrier:

Amplitude Modulation Party!

A good friend of mine, Simon Taylor, NW0NWM, who has a special interest in AM, has organised a big event for the coming weekend.  I encourage you to have a go; I certainly will!

AM QSO Party in Europe this weekend

This coming weekend is the AM QSO PARTY in Europe.

Have you dusted off that homebrew or vintage equipment, or set up your modern transceiver for AM?

Well do it now, don't delay!

But what is the event all about? How do you take part?

AM QSO PARTY 2020

RULES

When?

Saturday 25th January 2020 - 06:00 UTC, until Sunday 26th January 2020, 12:00 UTC

Purpose

To promote / encourage the use of AM on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre amateur bands. This is not a 5/9 contest and aim to encourage QSOs and conversation, however points can be gained and certificates awarded.

Scoring

1 point for each station worked on a specific band. If you work the same station on more than one band, you get a point for each contact.

10 points for each new DXCC worked.

Categories

You can enter different categories based on the output power you used.

Power

The power levels described are the unmodulated carrier
1) 2.5 watts QRP (suitable for UK Foundation licence holder)
2) 12.5 watts (suitable for the UK Intemediate licence)
3) 12.5 – 100 watts (suitable for the UK Full Licence)
4) The legal power limit in your home country
For example using an Elecraft KX3 with a carrier of 2.5 Watts = category 1 Or Using a FTDX101D and linear amplifier for a 100 Watt carrier = category 3 -

Frequencies

The organisers have decided to create operating windows for this even and a few Spot Frequencies which fall outside of these windows, but are popular in various parts of Europe. The purpose of these windows is to help people find one another, plus to avoid spreading across the whole of a band and making life too difficult to other users.-

160m 1.900 - 2 MHz (1.850 spot frequency) 80m 3.600 - 3.700 MHz (3.705 spot frequency) 40m 7.170 - 7.199 MHz and (7.143 spot frequency) 20m 14.250 - 14.350 MHz 15m 21.350 - 21.450 MHz 10m 29.000 - 29.1000 MHz -

QSOs outside these windows and spot frequencies will not count towards scores in the event.
-

Self Spotting on a Cluster

As this is not a contest, but an operating event, the use of an online cluster for self spotting is perfectly acceptable. Let everyone know where you are!

Log

Please use the log sheet and complete the submission document found in the Documents section of the website.

After the event, please submit your log and submission document by Saturday 15th February 2020 to:
am.qso.party@gmx.co.uk

Awards

There will be a certificate awarded to the leading station in each power category and all entrants will receive a participation certificate by email.

You can join the fun without submitting a log, but to gain a certificate of participation a log will be required.

GOOD LUCK!

Full details including how to set up a modern transceiver for AM, plus log sheets and associated forms can be found at the following website:
https://amqsoparty.wixsite.com/mysite
or join the AM Amateur Radio Europe Facebook group

2m Tropo fun, and flying

Well, the forecast tropo openings to the south didn't seem to materialise over the past few days, despite the highest atmospheric pressure - of more then 1050 hPa - over the UK since 1957, and the highest ever recorded over London in over 300 years of measurements.
 

Super-high pressure brings beautiful blue skies over North Wales, as my daughter steers for home.

Heading for Bardsey, the island of 1000 saints, over Llyn peninsula.

2m digital underway with the IC-746 and 8-ele.

But this morning was fairly active, with a very short-lived period, lasting only a few minutes, of strong signals into Germany and Poland.  Overall, including antenna and terrain, the gain at low angles is about 18dBi, yielding an ERP of over 2.5kW.

The 8-element's beaming direction is clear enough!

2m digital operating has reinvigorated my interest in radio, because propagation is not always available, yet not so often absent as to make one lose interest.  With a good antenna, I've found all parts of the UK are almost always reachable at 2m.

It's also very nice to see so much activity now on 2m, even during weekday mornings, when many are at work.

25 Years

A couple of weeks ago, an Indonesian friend of mine who studied for his Ph.D. in my laboratory 25 years ago, made a sudden appearance in Manchester airport.  Turns out he was heading into North Wales to visit some other friends of his!

Older and (in my case) a bit fatter than 26 years ago! Budi at far left.

Well, after such a long time, it was very nice to go and say 'hello'.  As we caught up on all that time, I discovered that Budi is also a radio operator - something I didn't realise at the time we worked together (it was actually a couple of years before I qualified).

I can't now remember Budi's callsign, other than it's a YC prefix; I will have to ask him again about it.  Budi isn't now active, but as a leader of the Scouts movement in Indonesia, he has used radio in the past for disaster relief, and still has all his antennas in the air.

More Tropo Coming!

Well, just when you thought the Christmas and New Year 'tropo of the decade' event had been cleared away, it seems we're in for another, albeit briefer, period of possible excitement at 144MHz.

The new 8-ele, aimed at the 144MHz beacon in the US.

The Hepburn charts are forecasting another plume of ducting from Ireland and Britain into the tropical and equatorial Atlantic for the coming weekend.

It looks as though the intensity of that ducting might be even stronger than a couple of weeks ago.

Here we go again!

So, maybe the new 2m Yagi will see some renewed action into Cape Verde.  Even better would be into Brazil - by no means impossible, given the all-sea path.

2m Station Development

Well, it's been busy up here at Copper Mountain recently.  New carpets, general throwing out of old stuff, and trying to get enough exercise in increasingly wet and windy conditions!

With a bit of calm weather the past two days, I assembled the new, Serbian-made Antennas-Amplifiers, 8-element 144MHz Yagi, bought via UK distributor, Waters and Stanton for £128.

Assembled and awaiting a suitable mounting pole.  Boom is 2.91m long.

The antenna is well though-out and made of good materials, with a very strong, perhaps slightly too big cross-section boom.  It's a moderately heavy antenna, and needs a good pole for mounting.

Living in sea spray for most of the winter, it's important that any boom joiners and fixings are stainless steel - which I was pleased to see they all are.  Only the boom-to-mast clamp is plain steel, but it is powder coated.  A good coating of grease once assembled will protect this, but it would have been much better were it also stainless.

Clear labelling makes assembly easy and confusion-free.  Screws are secured further with thread-locking paste. Stauff-type clamps may have been a better selection.

The element clamps, which are nylon or similar plastic, are screwed with self-tappers into pre-drilled holes on the boom.  Each position is clearly labelled both for position and correct handedness.  One element clamp position did have the holes drilled slightly, inconsequentially off-centre.  The printed instructions are very clear, written in proper English, and full of technical analysis.

The driven element has a pre-connected coax balun, sealed with glue-gun type sealant.  It's a serious question as to how long that will last when exposed to the weather and sun, but it can be coated or taped for protection.

The coax is preconnected at the other end to an N-type socket, which is accommodated on a plastic offstand.  The coax-to-socket connection is also sealed with glue-gun sealant, but is at least protected from light within its box.

Sealing the N-socket offstand box.  Coax balun is pre-installed with the antenna.

The N-socket holder is not quite properly thought through, because the coax from the balun runs slightly downwards into the offstand, meaning that any rain that falls onto it will run into the inside of the socket holder box, eventually filling it with water.

I've addressed this by wrapping self-amalgamating tape, which solves the potential water ingress problem easily.  I would have preferred to have a better design, and I will have to later drill a small vent hole for water vapour and/or any rain that does get in to evaporate or drain away (probably easier just to remove one of the four N-socket holding screws, actually!)

I've now had a chance to mount the antenna on a short pole for testing.  In fact, this 4m-high testing point will be its permanent height, because HFTA terrain modelling shows the maximum low-angle gain is achieved at this height above ground (the antenna is already on a ridge, 100m above sea level).

The matching is pretty much as expected.  Because the property is now quite full of antennas, they inevitably have slight effects on one another.  Even so, the overall matching curve is flat at no more than 1.04:1 across the whole 2m band, even with other antennas around the site:

 

 

 

One thing to look out for with 2m antennas is PL259-to-N-type adapters.  Often, as I do, we have existing coax runs with PL259 plugs at the end, which we try to reuse for speed and convenience by connecting via these adapters.  But they invariably introduce significant impedance mismatches.  Removing the adapter I was using, and replacing the PL259 plug with an N-type plug saw the SWR drop from around 1.35:1 to 1.03:1 at its best point. 

Mechanically, I'll give it 8.5/10, only because the boom could have been at least 15% smaller in cross section, and the slight annoyances highlighted.  But it's likely much better built than many of the alternatives, and is reasonably priced.  The only alternative I would consider are the Innovantennas LFA and similar antennas.  Sadly, the company was a little slow to respond to enquiries through the New Year period, so I had to move on.

RSGB - skinflints.

'Skinflint' is defined, by example sentence, at Merriam-Webster Online as:

// the team's owner is a skinflint whose penny-pinching ways keeps the team from acquiring any real talent.

Well, that's a really appropriate definition for the RSGB's RadCom Basics digital publication, which is a really good idea in principle.  It's all about encouraging newcomers and maybe putting some different ideas out there, to get people doing something different. 

It was in that latter vein that I recently submitted a draft text based on my many 2019 outings to the coast with a mobile whip.  Having written for various magazines since 1989, I didn't find it very difficult to churn out a happy-sounding article.

You want how much?  RSGB RadCom Basics: real Scrooges.

Imagine my delight, then, to find the editor of Basics found my work "refreshing".  Well, delighted until...he offered me the going rate, stipulated by the RSGB High Command, of £50 per article!

To put that into context, I might expect something like £300 for a feature article in most other niche-market magazines.  

Or, put another way, the General Manager at the RSGB was, until recently, when they changed the amount and thus avoided having to declare it at all, earning 'more than £60,000 per annum!' 

I would have thought, given I really do want people to go out and that it is more about the hobby than money, that at least £100 would have been appropriate.  If for nothing else, it would keep good writers writing, and show the RSGB is serious about its early-career operators and those just curious about the hobby.  Well, I'm not producing another word for them again, thanks!

No surprise then that, whilst my writing's not too bad, the other offerings in Basics can often be pretty dire.  Pinch the pennies, and acquire no talent, indeed!

(Update: I decided this was just another RSGB piss-take, and have withdrawn the article from publication by them.  Practical Wireless accepted the article at £60 per page, or a total of nearly 300% more than the RSGB were offering).

Cape Verde: in the log!

Well, it's been a remarkable end to 2019 and start of 2020 on 2m digital!

It looked as though the last of the current super-tropo would be swept away with some advancing low pressure tomorrow morning, and conditions looked excellent from 21UT to 09UT.

Before going QRT for the evening, I came back to the radio from watching some TV, to find D41CV booming in at up to -06dB - in my tiny 3-element Yagi!  I was using 50W initially, with 80W later, to make sure the full QSO was completed, as propagation faded a little.

It took me just two calls to be heard!  I'm absolutely amazed that I've achieved with so little what would have been, last week, the 2m IARU R1 distance record.

It's a shame that so many operators still refuse to engage with FT8, simply because it goes against their fixed ideas about what radio is.  The Facebook and QRZ.com groups have seen a fair share of grumpy men saying these groundbreaking DX distances are 'not real QSOs'. Well, I agree the mode is no good for human-human contact.  But for sheer technical ability to reach parts other modes never did, and the fascination that brings, is reward enough for me. 

Superb radio site at D41CV.

Bring on the summer.  There's no stopping me (but I may become a lonely man, sending 2m CQs into the void for weeks!)  Until then, it seems I have no other long-haul DX stations to chase!

'Tropo of the Decade': UK TV problems

Once upon a time, when TV was analogue, hams and SWLs used to enjoy receiving unusual stations from abroad under tropo and Es conditions.

Digital TV doesn't lend itself to such reception very well, but this week's persistent tropo has now made itself felt to the general public in the form of disrupted viewing- not that they understand at all what's going on: