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Roger G3XBM's (Mainly) Amateur Radio Blog

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Night Off

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 12:48 PM PDT http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/10/night-off.html


472kHz WSPR RX beckoned this evening, but I decided to watch TV instead.
Funny how it suddenly seems to have gone dark at night and we have moved
into "winter mode".

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10FT8R 10m FT8 RX

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 12:17 PM PDT http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/10/10ft8r-10m-ft8-rx.html


This weekend, I want to try my simple 10m FT8 RX with 14.037MHz crystals.

As a benchmark, I want to try first with the original design, then swap crystals but without the toroid near the crystal. I should be able to net
the crystal without the toroid.
The simple direct conversion RX uses a Polyakov mixer with injection at
half fequency.
See
https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10ft8r-rx .UPDATE
1400z: As expected, the even simpler circuit around the crystal works fine with plenty of South American stations immediately spotted. The map shows
the stations spotted in just the last 30 minutes on the 10FT8R with the
simpler circuit (no toroid) and a 14.037MHz crystal. It works. The revised circuit is shown on the photo, without the crystal T50 toroid.
UPDATE 1622z: 175 stations spotted this afternoon with the 10FTR on 10m FT8
RX with the simplified circuit. It is impressive.
UPDATE 1746z: 193 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R. It
looks like the propagation is now stopping as darkness falls.
UPDATE 1911z: QRT. No more stations for some while now.




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Yesterday evening on 472kHz WSPR RX

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 01:16 AM PDT http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/10/yesterday-evening-on-472khz-wspr-rx.html



Most of yesterday evening, I was on 472kHz WSPR RX using the FT817ND and
the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. In all, 8 different stations
were spotted with the furthermost IZ3QQG (1155km).




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DX news

Posted: 01 Oct 2021 11:45 PM PDT http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/10/dx-news.html


It is a very long time since I chased DX. If I work DX these days it by accident. To some people, chasing DX is their main focus in the hobby.
The ARRL has a weekly DX bulletin than some may feel useful.
See http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive/ARLD039/2021 . There is also
an archive of past bulletins.

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Sunspots - Saturday October 2nd 2021

Posted: 01 Oct 2021 11:17 PM PDT http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/10/sunspots-saturday-october-2nd-2021.html


Solar flux is 91 and the SSN 28. A=14 and K=0.

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