On 160m I have an almost useless antenna by accepted standards: just 15m of low wire down the garden and a central heating ground. Not only that, but my Elecraft auto-ATU cannot find a match on 160m. So, I get around this crudely by putting a 1dB pad between the antenna and the auto-ATU and it then manages to find a match. OK, I lose another 1dB but that is a fraction of an S-point.
Now, even with this crude set-up I have had reports from G, GM and PA0 on WSPR running 5W (less 1dB) into the antenna, proving that a piece of wet string is very nearly all you need to get out. Clearly, with a bit of effort I could make at least 10-20dB improvement on my signal - adding loading coils in the antenna, running out more wire and higher up, improving the ground system etc. I shall need to all of these if my efforts on 500kHz are to come to anything.
Nice work. This whole WSPR thing may be the answer to QRPing without sunspots for the next hundred years.
ReplyDeleteRoger, you've infected me with the WSPR bug! I've been reading your blog in depth today along with all the tangents that web surfing will cause. As a result, I've learned and have become enthused with all the possibilities WSPR offers. If I weren't at work right now, I'd be on the air as I already have the necessary components thanks to an earlier interest in psk. Tomorrow...
ReplyDeleteDidin't mean to be anonymous...
ReplyDeleteJohn AE5X