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Roger G3XBM's (Mainly) Amateur Radio Blog

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15m FT8 RX (Tuesday)

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 01:59 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/15m-ft8-rx-tuesday.html


At about 0950z, I turned on my 15m RX using the Wellgood active loop on
the shack window. At 0954z, 27 stations already spotted with the
furthermost ZS6AF (9156km).

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10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 01:54 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/10m-qrp-wspr-tuesday.html


I keep forgetting that if I an RXing using the Wellgood active loop, my 10m antenna is free and I can go on 10m WSPR TX with the W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon! This puts out 500mW 100% of the time, but randomly moves the TX in the
200Hz WSPR window on every TX period to avoid being clobbered by a strong station. It was turned on about 0950z.

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Start them young

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 01:41 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/start-them-young.html



This photo may have been on a few months ago. I post in several places and forget!

It shows one of our grandsons building a radio. He loved it and was good at soldering very quickly. I had forgotten the thrill of hearing stations on something you had built.

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10m Tenbox

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 01:30 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/10m-tenbox.html


With 10m again becoming a good DX band, it does not seem right talking
about a simple cross-town natterer for 10m! Mind you 10m is often a
daylight DX band and there are plenty of times when it is dark when the
band is totally unused.
Derivatives of this simple radio might make an ideal 10m cross-town
natterer. Just above 29MHz would be an ideal spot with plenty of space and
very low chances of causing anyone else problems. This receiver has heard
USA AM stations with just a base loaded whip on the car, although I would
not recommend it for serious DX work.
In my mind I see a rig a bit like a tiny Heathkit Twoer (remember these?)
with a tunable RX and crystal controlled TX. On a suitable PCB it could
make a nice club project. Improvements would include an AF amplifier to
drive a loudspeaker and maybe a very simple linear to bring the power up to
a few watts of RF.
I cannot imagine the rig costing much more than £10-20. Put it another way, how many cups of coffee or beers will that be?
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-am-tenbox .

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40m FT8 overnight

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 01:09 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/40m-ft8-overnight.html


Gradually yesterday I went to lower bands ending up on 40m FT8. In all
cases I was using the Wellgood active antenna on the shack window.

In all, 389 stations spotted on 40m FT8 RX with the furthermost YC9FZ
(12452km) on Java.

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Sunspots - Tuesday December 7th 2021

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 12:59 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/sunspots-tuesday-december-7th-2021.html


Solar flux is 80 and the SSN 14. A=7 and K=1.

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40m FT8 RX (Monday)

Posted: 06 Dec 2021 01:58 PM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2021/12/40m-ft8-rx-monday.html


Since 1844z, I have been on 40m FT8 RX using the Wellgood active loop. At 1931z, 12 stations had been spotted.
UPDATE 2158z: 62 stations spotted on 40m FT8 RX this evening.

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