Interesting technical articles
Seeing the good in Solar winds at the bottom of the sun cycle
It is normal that strong ionised particles escape the sun during a solar flare-up. The number of sunspots (bright spots visible on the sun) that indicate the flare-ups vary over a cycle which can be as short as 7 years or as long as 11. More sunspots equate to a consistent re-charging of the Earths Ionosphere and hence better DX conditions around the globe within the Ionosphere.
Testing the losses of Multi-coupler’s, Splitter & Low Pass Filter
My Stridsberg (USA) Receiver 8 port multi-couplerfailed and being unsure of where to procure the LNA replacement and unable to find information, I replaced the unit with a substantially more affordable 5 port unit from the UK manufacturer Cross Country Wireless.
SMALL “MAGNETIC” TRANSMITTING LOOP FOR 80-20 METERS
A loop antenna is generally considered “small”, if its circumference is less than 10% of the operatingwavelength. So in my case (for 80 mtrs), “small” would be a circumference of less than 8 mtrs, e.g., acircular loop with a diameter less than 2.5 mtrs (≈ 8.2 ft). To be more precise, we are talking about asmall resonant loop. Note that a multi-band loop that is “small” in the lowest band, is not necessarily”small” in the higher bands ( = higher frequency)
MX-P50M HF Amplifier Tests and findings by Peter VK2EHQ
The IC-705 will primarily be utilized for WICEN HF data activities as well as portable use. Reports I read, indicated that the MX-P50M didn’t create splatter and the signal was readable and without apparent issues. This is possibly fine for SSB on VHF/UHF but HF data is a “little” more demanding. The transceiver may meet all the criteria of frequency accuracy, stability and signal drive level, but an amp can change that ideal scenario.