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10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 7 November 2012

Very few WSPR signals received at G4ILO today. A number of weak transatlantic spots of my 2 watt signal make the picture look better than expected.

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 6 November 2012

Strange conditions today. I’m seeing hardly any traces at the moment but several east coast US stations are spotting me. I even checked to make sure I wasn’t running 100w by accident!

Martin Harrison, G3USF has passed on the latest issue of the 6 and 10 report which is in its usual place. I hope you enjoy it and don’t get too jealous of Costas’ very full log

My website G4ILO’s Shack is currently down. It appears to be down for everyone, not just me.

Sometimes a site appears to be down when it’s really a problem at your end. There’s a really useful site you can use to check if the server is down or not. It goes by the memorable name downforeveryoneorjustme.com. It’s worth bookmarking, especially if you have a website of your own.

I’ve opened a support ticket with the hosting service. Hopefully my site will be back up by the time you read this.

Those of you familiar with Rob, MW0DNK’s blog, may have an idea of what’s coming!

Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to play with lots of rigs, many of which I have sold when the time came to move onto something ‘better’. Most of the time that’s good – and after all, you can’t keep everything (so I believe). However, some of the time, you regret it.

The Yaesu FT790 that I had was always a favourite. I used it on FM for the local repeaters and simplex contacts on SU8 (433.200) with friends like Mark G4MEM, Graham G8XRS and Mark G6CMG. Connected up to a 21ele beam, I was thrilled when the 1W of SSB reached West Wales and on one notable occasion, the Isle of Man. I can’t remember when I sold the FT790 or who had it! I think it went when I got my Trio TS780 144/432MHz base station.

But I always remember the FT790 fondly – for being a solid portable rig that was fun to have around.

And so it was that yesterday, I spotted one on eBay. Mislabelled and not getting much attention. There was only one thing to do wasn’t there, really. One surprisingly low bid later and there is one on the way.

They say you should never look back – but it will be fun to see what I can do with a watt of forlorn hope! Let’s hope the rig is in reasonable condition. I shall report back when it arrives.