Amateur Radio Lost Its Spirit? - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

ms660 · 9th Feb 2016, 6:47 pm

Amateur Radio Lost It's Spirit?

Nah..Fascinating stuff:

http://www.swharden.com/qrss/plus/

Lawrence.

G6Tanuki · 9th Feb 2016, 7:22 pm

I'm part of the "Five-a-Day" movement - make at least 5 QSOs every day!

Right now, 80M is good for transatlantic DX just before sunrise (listen around the top 15KHz of the band) and during the day 10M occasionally offers surprises (EA8 ZC4 and A9 in the last week).

ms660 · 9th Feb 2016, 7:28 pm

Good man

I'm receiverless at the moment

Lawrence.

Ian - G4JQT · 9th Feb 2016, 7:36 pm

Indeed! With a simple QRSs 500mW transmitter my signal was 'grabbed' all over Europe and eventually New Zealand and Alaska from stations posting their received signals on that agregator website.

My antenna was just a loop of wire around the loft.

It's not exactly communication, but if you live with so much noise on the bands, you can at least see where your signal is going, and also watch all kinds of weird prorogation that pops up; backscatter, aurora and aircraft reflections to name only a few!

QRSs is a sort of merging of 'old fashioned' Morse code and computer signal processing. (You don't need a computer if you just want to transmit.)

Then there's WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) that will show you within minutes (complete with S/N ratios and a map) where your signal is appearing. I was using it yesterday to set up and test a friend's G5RV antenna, and without even setting up the ATU properly, the signal popped up in New Zealand. Again, only about 500 mW.

Hand Summers G0UPL is the guy who has pioneered cheap kits for these modes. Unfortunately the basic QRSS kit is discontinued, but the design is still downloadable from his site (retired kits). His present kits start at about £22.

I hope I don't sound like his agent - I don't know the guy, I'm just a satisfied customer. But perhaps a few amateurs on this list are not familiar with some of the recent and simpler amateur radio equipment that explores new modes without the necessity of computers and programming.

The spirit of innovation still lives in amateur radio, along with AM 'boat-anchors' and black-box operators.

(While typing this at 1825 GMT, my QRPp 40m WSPR signal has just appeared in southern Australia - even if the S/N radio is -27 dB!)

ms660 · 9th Feb 2016, 7:47 pm

I'm sure I clocked G4JQT on one of the QRSS grabbers yesterday/night? I note that G4JQT is written down on my pad from yesterday.

Thanks for the other info by the way.

Lawrence.

ms660 · 9th Feb 2016, 8:00 pm

Ref my previous post, I see G4JQT (Ian) on G0MQW's primary grabber as I write.

Lawrence.

9th Feb 2016, 6:47 pm	#1
ms660 Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 13,454	Amateur Radio Lost Its Spirit? Amateur Radio Lost It's Spirit? Nah..Fascinating stuff: http://www.swharden.com/qrss/plus/ Lawrence.

9th Feb 2016, 7:22 pm	#2
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,998	Re: Amateur Radio Lost Its Spirit? I'm part of the "Five-a-Day" movement - make at least 5 QSOs every day! Right now, 80M is good for transatlantic DX just before sunrise (listen around the top 15KHz of the band) and during the day 10M occasionally offers surprises (EA8 ZC4 and A9 in the last week).

9th Feb 2016, 7:28 pm	#3
ms660 Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 13,454	Re: Amateur Radio Lost Its Spirit? Good man I'm receiverless at the moment Lawrence.

9th Feb 2016, 7:36 pm	#4
Ian - G4JQT Octode Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Reading/Fakenham, UK. Posts: 1,323	Re: Amateur Radio Lost It's Spirit? Indeed! With a simple QRSs 500mW transmitter my signal was 'grabbed' all over Europe and eventually New Zealand and Alaska from stations posting their received signals on that agregator website. My antenna was just a loop of wire around the loft. It's not exactly communication, but if you live with so much noise on the bands, you can at least see where your signal is going, and also watch all kinds of weird prorogation that pops up; backscatter, aurora and aircraft reflections to name only a few! QRSs is a sort of merging of 'old fashioned' Morse code and computer signal processing. (You don't need a computer if you just want to transmit.) Then there's WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) that will show you within minutes (complete with S/N ratios and a map) where your signal is appearing. I was using it yesterday to set up and test a friend's G5RV antenna, and without even setting up the ATU properly, the signal popped up in New Zealand. Again, only about 500 mW. Hand Summers G0UPL is the guy who has pioneered cheap kits for these modes. Unfortunately the basic QRSS kit is discontinued, but the design is still downloadable from his site (retired kits). His present kits start at about £22. I hope I don't sound like his agent - I don't know the guy, I'm just a satisfied customer. But perhaps a few amateurs on this list are not familiar with some of the recent and simpler amateur radio equipment that explores new modes without the necessity of computers and programming. The spirit of innovation still lives in amateur radio, along with AM 'boat-anchors' and black-box operators. (While typing this at 1825 GMT, my QRPp 40m WSPR signal has just appeared in southern Australia - even if the S/N radio is -27 dB!) Last edited by Ian - G4JQT; 9th Feb 2016 at 7:45 pm.

9th Feb 2016, 7:47 pm	#5
ms660 Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 13,454	Re: Amateur Radio Lost Its Spirit? I'm sure I clocked G4JQT on one of the QRSS grabbers yesterday/night? I note that G4JQT is written down on my pad from yesterday. Thanks for the other info by the way. Lawrence.

9th Feb 2016, 8:00 pm	#6
ms660 Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 13,454	Re: Amateur Radio Lost Its Spirit? Ref my previous post, I see G4JQT (Ian) on G0MQW's primary grabber as I write. Lawrence.