New Year

Hello to everyone and anyone

My maim reason for writing this morning is the beginning of a New Year, 2012:). Therefore, happy New Year to everyone who might read this.

This year should be a very eventful in many respects. Obviously, the sunspot cycle will peak, which is especially important for amature radio, giving the chance of some extremely good DX. Although,in all honesty, I'm not expecting too much of the good DX, a nice copy to Austraila or South America on SSB would be nice. Almost certainly,I'm not going to hold my breath and, I would be most happy whatever might happen in the way of radio propagation. This sunspot cycle is very special because, it is my first as a radio ham. Apparently, this cycle has been relatively tame in comparison to the cycles before this. Interstigly, there was a cycle, in the 18th century, when the sunspot cycle was not very spotty! The sunspots just never started to be seen, neither did the splendid radio conditions materialise. It has been whispered that this sunspot cycle might be similar to that very uneventful sunspot cycle of the past!

The year 2012 is one of those special years where the Olympics are being held. luckily, they will be held very close to me, here in East London, later in the year. Locally to my location, everybody and the whole country are preparing for the summer games. Most of the buildings and special events required for the Olymics are already finished or are about to be finished. With the coming of the Olymics this year all ham's located in inner London, or very near will tempoarally loose the 70cm band for the duration of both games events in the summer, until September.

2012 is also well known for all the stories about the end of the world. For any of the readers, who have watched the film 2012. In this film,one of the characters is this crazy ham who is on a mountain top in Yellowstone national park, who was happily awaiting the beginning of the end of the world! From this point, when the crazy ham radio operator dies in the cataclysmic beginning of the re-setting and movement of the earths crust, everyone dies! Except, for the rich and lucky who escape to China to board a fleet of Arks, which will save humankind in the coming great flood. Not a bad film, I'll watch anything so don't go out and rent it tomorrow then blame me for it being really bad!;). mind you, there have been many earth quakes leading upto this year, plus the sunspots are in a dreadful state!

For me this year it is very important that I manage to easily attain a leat 18 words/min with my morse so that I might enjoy a few nice QSO's before the end of the world. This is one of my most important new years resolutions. Hopefully, with any luck and much really hard work, ready for the end of the world, I should be up to a decent speed with my morse code. Also, this year, I would like to construct, hombrew most of the radios that, I will use whilst out portable. Additionally, the portable work will almost all be entirely be QRP. Last year, was the first year that, I had really made a major effort to get out and about to do some portable work.

The main reason for me enjoying portable work so much, was the not very good QTH location, hence difficult antenna instalation and sometimes terrible levals of noise QRM wise. My home QTH, being located in East London UK, I live around 20 meters up in the air in a very tall high rise which faces east. Due to the difficult QTH, it helped shaped the way my mind works when I try to work out different methods to get my radio signals out, on any of the HF bands. This methodoligy that was picked up during my early ham radio days, was then used when I was out operating portable and QRP. Whilst out enjoying QRP,I'm free from QRM and, I can design my antennas in whatever conformation I wish. Also, it's really nice to just get out of the City some times.