G0KTN Amateur Radio - 2026 current projects and technical notes

  CW Reverse Beacon Observations Through the Peak of Solar Cycle 25 Are amateur measurements still relevant in the digital age? Between 27 August 2024 and 22 December 2025 , my Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) node in IO81TI recorded just over five million CW spots across all the HF amateur bands from 40m (7 MHz) to 10m (28 MHz) . This period conveniently spans the run-up to, and passage through, the widely recognised peak of Solar Cycle 25 , offering a valuable opportunity to compare real-world amateur observations with official solar and ionospheric indicators. The receiving system - a Wellbrook ALA1530LN 1m magnetic loop , mounted approximately 2m agl  in a suburban back garden - is modest by any standard. That, however, is precisely the point: the dataset reflects what many amateurs might reasonably experience, rather than idealised conditions. The question explored here is simple: does this kind of amateur data meaningfully correlate with official findings, and is CW s...

  CQWW CW from a Back Garden: What a Wellbrook Loop Can Really Hear A technical reflection on 48 hours of contest-weekend propagation from IO81ti Every year, CQWW CW gives HF radio a proper stress test, with stations worldwide lighting up the bands with thousands of signals. For those that enjoy the propagation and technical side of the hobby, it’s also one of the best opportunities to observe how the ionosphere behaves under heavy and continuous loading. This year (2025) I decided to treat the contest as a propagation experiment. My Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) node, which normally runs continuously on all HF bands, was pointed at the six HF contest bands for the entire 48-hour period: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10. The receive antenna was not a tower-mounted Yagi or a phased Beverage farm… but a Wellbrook 1530LN magnetic loop mounted about 2m above ground in a typical UK suburban back garden (QRA IO81ti). The question was simple: what can a modest receive system really hear du...