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  • [G3XBM] South African 8m beacon widely copied in Europe

    From G3XBM via rec.radio.amateur.moderat@21:1/5 to All on Sat Feb 12 23:42:08 2022
    XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated, uk.radio.amateur, free.uk.amateur-radio

    Roger G3XBM's (Mainly) Amateur Radio Blog

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    South African 8m beacon widely copied in Europe

    Posted: 12 Feb 2022 06:12 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/south-african-8m-beacon-widely-copied.html


    The South African 8m beacon ZS6WAB on 40.675MHz CW had been widely copied
    in Europe in recent days. The propagation mode is unclear.
    If these 8m beacons all used FT8 and were within a few kilohertz,
    monitoring would be so much easier as all could be monitored 24/7 with a
    single setting of PSKreporter.
    See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/ .

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    Optical experiments

    Posted: 12 Feb 2022 03:49 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/optical-experiments.html



    In view of my earlier post, it is probably a good idea to point you to my
    pages on optical communications. I have not been able to do much in recent years because of my stroke, but there is nothing stopping others!

    This is an area where the gear is easy, results can far exceed expectations
    and anyone can join in. As far as I know, no licence is needed.
    All the gear uses low cost parts and can be assembled and tested in the
    back of the garage. Even test gear can be very simple and low cost. This
    really is great fun.
    Some like to experiment with speech over very long distances. My "thing"
    was over the horizon. I was totally surprised that even when there was no
    sign at all of a signal, it could clearly be seen on a PC. The distance
    records for "over the horizon" are amazing. I think these used "cloud
    bounce", where signals are reflected off the base of clouds. In my case
    there were no clouds, so this was by refection off dust in the air I think.
    See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/optical-nanowaves/over-the-horizon .

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    481THz optical 10 years ago

    Posted: 12 Feb 2022 12:23 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/481thz-optical-10-years-ago.html



    The photo shows the tests done 10 years ago on 481THz over the horizon.


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    160m FT8 RX last evening

    Posted: 12 Feb 2022 02:08 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/160m-ft8-rx-last-evening.html


    At bedtime I turned off my 160m FT8 RX using the 10m antenna. In all, 237 stations were spotted.

    There would probably have been USA stations later, but I went QRT.

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    Sunspots - Saturday February 12th 2022

    Posted: 12 Feb 2022 12:07 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/sunspots-saturday-february-12th-2022.html


    Solar flux is 113 and the SSN 86. A=20 and K=3.

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    OFCOM weekly publications update

    Posted: 11 Feb 2022 02:08 PM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/ofcom-weekly-publications-update.html


    If you look on the OFCOM website, it has updated the list of available publications.
    It would be nice if OFCOM gave me an update on my 8m NoV, submitted October 2021 and which I have chased for an update several times in the last month.
    I was hoping to start the experiment in about 2 weeks time!! Needless to
    say, nothing heard, despite promises of an update.
    Hello - is there anybody there at OFCOM?

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    160m FT8 RX

    Posted: 11 Feb 2022 01:41 PM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/160m-ft8-rx.html


    I QSYed to 160m FT8 RX with the 10m antenna and have been on for about 90 minutes. So far, 186 stations spotted.

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    10m FT8 RX

    Posted: 11 Feb 2022 01:43 PM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/10m-ft8-rx.html


    It is now 0935z and I have been on 10m FT8 RX for about 35 minutes. So far,
    20 stations spotted. This looks north south with several stations in Europe
    and Africa spotted.
    UPDATE 1700z: 342 stations spotted on RX. See map.
    UPDATE 2140z: Now QRT. 360 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today

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    4m - 11 years ago!!

    Posted: 11 Feb 2022 01:32 AM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/4m-11-years-ago.html


    This QRP 4m transverter appeared as a Facebook memory today. It was
    designed and made in 2011. It is hard to think it was that long ago.
    See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/4m-transverter .

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    Sunspots - Friday February 11th 2022

    Posted: 10 Feb 2022 11:27 PM PST http://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/2022/02/sunspots-friday-february-11th-2022.html


    Solar flux is 118 and the SSN 78. A=21 and K=3.

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