6m - quiet overnight, now some GDX

6m remained quiet here overnight with just local reports but at 0728z I was spotted by G8JNJ/A (184km) weakly. This is the first GDX spot of the day.   Later, at 0834z, M0EMM (192km)  was decoding me at -20dB with what seems to be aircraft Doppler (-3Hz)

No WSPR spots of others yet but reasonable signals about 1 minute long seen (MS or aircraft?). Maybe JT65 would be better with a 1 minute decode period? Some of these shorter bursts are actually at strengths JT65 would have no trouble with. JT65 is usually a few dB worse than WSPR but is a proper 2-way comms mode, whereas WSPR is really a beacon mode.

Yesterday my WSPR software crashed so I reset the clock and restarted the software this morning to be sure all was OK.

My TX periodicity is now much lower (around 10% TX) so I am listening far more than transmitting. No stations copied though for very many hours!

UPDATE 1051z: M0EMM (192km) copied at -27dB S/N at 0940z. This is my first WSPR spot since yesterday.  No Es here (yet) today.  M0EMM is the station I have been seeing for hours (judging be frequency) but with TX periods less than 2 mins (MS pings?).

UPDATE 1235z: M0EMM spotted again here at 1224z. Still no 6m Es here today.

6m -WSPR - GDX this morning, Es this afternoon

Apart from local G4IKZ (18km), G8JNJ/A (184km), G4NRG (58km), all copied me overnight or this morning. I spotted M0EMM (192km, IO82sq   four times since 2232z last night. There was drift/Doppler of up to -4Hz suggesting planes were involved in this long across-G path.

Sunspot count today is 124 with 20-30MHz propagation described as "good".

UPDATE 1116z:   No 6m Es here yet today.

UPDATE 1257z:   Es to/from CN8LI (2113km) all of 7 times so far since 1200z.

UPDATE 1700z:  Es to YO3IRZ (2078km), I and GM this afternoon on 6m. Still no sign here of any "super DX" from across the Atlantic.

UPDATE 1950z:   OZ and SQ9 spotted on 6m WSPR Es since tea. Otherwise GDX only.

G0OQK - 6m WSPR GDX via planes

G0OQK (98km) has just spotted me on 6m WSPR with a large 4Hz Doppler, suggesting reflection/scatter from aircraft somewhere along the path. I am surprised that the software decoded with this much Doppler. My signal was not strong at  -28dB S/N.

I hope G0OQK comes on TX again soon as I'd like to see his trace on my software to see if he can be decoded by pure tropo. It seems to me that planes have to be around for the path to "work" and even then the Doppler has to be low enough, ideally much lower than 4Hz. There was a successful decode of G0OQK on 6m a few days ago with 0Hz Doppler but I think that was an aircraft crossing our path and not pure tropo. I'd like to think the path between us can be worked without the help of planes.

UPDATE 1750z:   Apart from a single spot of me by G0OQK, all recent 6m WSPR spots have been by local G4IKZ (18km).  I may go back to 10m.

UPDATE 1840z:  Returned to 10m but it is very quiet with no Es, no GDX and no locals being copied on WSPR. Earlier JT65 attempts on 10m (called CQ) were no good. I had success with JT9-1 on 20m.

UPDATE 2112z:  10m "woke up" briefly here at 2012z with an Es opening to OE3ODW.  Just a couple of 2 minute WSPR slots and he was gone.

As G0LRD has pointed out, drift on 6m (and higher) is as likely to be TX drift as aircraft reflection. Looking for multiple lines in any 2 minute slot is the only sure way to know if there was Doppler, and this only works with several planes with differing Doppler shifts. What we can never know is if a single line, drifting maybe, is TX drift on a direct (tropo) path or aircraft reflection.

10m - very early F2 propagation

FR1GZ (9724km) was being spotted on 10m WSPR as early as 0614z, which is very early. I have already seen him 3 times with the last one (so far) at 0738z.  He has not spotted me yet, although I am running less power (2W rather than 5W).

G8JNJ/A (184km) has been seen a couple of times (0018z and 0828z) for good 10m GDX with low Doppler.  
G7EOB   (76km) was also spotted with -2Hz Doppler (planes?) at 0518z, again 10m.

Sunspot count today is 52 and 20-30MHz conditions described as "normal".

UPDATE 1055z:  No more F2 DX since breakfast time, just Spanish and Italian stations on 10m Es and  G8JNJ/A at 1014z (184km with 1Hz Doppler).

6m - no Es here this afternoon

Just locals and GDX here this afternoon, with no sign of Es since before lunch on 6m. I shall stick with 6m in case things change later. Much GDX is via aircraft reflection.

With regard to 10m, sunspot count is 75 and 20-30MHz conditions are "normal" so F2 DX on 10m should be likely. Es is more likely on 10m (than 6m) too but that is not related to sunspot activity, at least not directly.

6m - CN8LI again and more local DX

The path to CN8LI (2113km) is there again today, but not as strongly as yesterday. So far a single spot in each direction mid-morning. You will recall I use 1W ERP  with a vertical V2000 antenna with about 0dBD gain on 6m. My coax is CB RG58, so quite lossy.

There is quite a bit of inter-G/GDX and aircraft scatter activity with G4FGJ (44km), G4IKZ (18km), G0OQK (98km), G4BRK (134km), G0LRD (25km), G4FFC (45km), G3WKW (134km), G8JNJ/A (184km), as well as ON0VA (280km) with the latter with 3Hz Doppler so almost certainly aircraft reflection.

6m is an interesting band!

6m GDX - there if stations are active

Today there have been a good number of G stations active on 6m WSPR allowing a really good opportunity to explore GDX paths out to 134km. It seems that if stations are active out  to close to 200km (and probably further) then even a few watts of WSPR (polarisation probably unimportant?) will be decoded at the far end of the path eventually, depending on aircraft reflections and favorable Doppler.

This probably means JT65 or JT9 ranges on 6m probably extend to around 200km at least if the stations know the most favourable alignment of aircraft. The same probably applies on 10m, 4m and 2m ,as well as 70cms and microwave bands.

What I'm not (yet) clear about is the normal tropo range without aircraft reflections. For true tropo, polarisation is more likely to be important: one does not want to throw away valuable dBs with cross-polarisation losses. I don't think this matters where signals are randomly scattered off aircraft bodies.

6m GDX today

G8JNJ/A  (184km) and G0OQK (98km) were both spotting my 6m 1W ERP this morning and I have just spotted G4HBA (189km) on 6m WSPR.  G4HBA's spots (several now) are with a fair bit of Doppler, so I am sure aircraft reflection is involved over this longish GDX path. G4HBA is using 10W.

No Es seen here on 6m so far today, but it is early still with Es peaks around lunch and teatimes usual.

UPDATE 1225z:  No 6m Es here this lunchtime, at least not yet.

UPDATE 1246z:   Still no Es today here on 6m. All seems very quiet with just GDX (9 spots of G4HBA so far today).

UPDATE 1945z:   Still no 6m Es here today. Unless things change later this evening, I think that is it for the day - just GDX.

Apparently there have been good transatlantic openings on 6m today. But where are the USA/Canadian WSPRers?

UPDATE 2130z:  Still no 6m Es here today.  Will reset the internet sync'ed PC clock but not really expecting Es now, but on the "magic band" it is possible.

More 10m GDX, Es and F2

During the afternoon G4FFC (45km) and M0BOB (74km) were both copied on 10m WSPR. These are both outside local range and I would class these as GDX (just). Both show some Doppler so may be helped by aircraft reflection.

On F2 FR1GZ (9724km, Reunion Is) was being copied until 1512z, so good F2 propagation. I wonder if we'll see South Americans later?

Es disappeared (here) at 1404z but may return this teatime.

UPDATE 1740z:  EB3EPR (1248km) spotted me at 1736z and 1746z so Es is back (it is teatime!).

G4DAY on 10m WSPR - GDX

G4DAY (142km) was again spotted at 1104z. It seems this sort of range is possible on 10m GDX. Doppler was a very large (4Hz) suggesting aircraft reflection or even back scatter?

G4DAY is using 10W and that may help. He was -24dB S/N with me, suggesting my signal (2W) would be buried in the noise at his end. WSPR usually decodes down to about -30dB S/N.

10m Es, F2 and GDX

On 10m G4DAY (142km) was copied twice in the early morning and again at 0940z.

Es has been plentiful this morning.   Looking at the WSPR screen earlier there was lots of MS about with several traces of intermittent (non decoding) signals on 10m WSPR, presumably UK or EU signals reflecting off meteor trails. Es so far includes DL6UG, DL6NL, EB3EPR, EA5CYA,  LB9YE and HB9JOI.

Also spotted FR1GZ (9724km) by F2 propagation at 1038z, 1122z and again at 1128z.

10m is a far more productive band than 6m. Interestingly, G4DAY (10W) was being spotted by Es several times in the night suggesting Es propagation was there but not good enough to allow my 2W to be decoded. For some Es and GDX it seems 10W helps.

What is GDX?

This was a question I was asked earlier today. Someone thought it was an exotic digital mode. It is not.

GDX means "best DX in the UK" , nothing more.

If you live in the UK it is probably a phrase you know. If you live outside the UK then it may be a phrase you've maybe never heard of before or were too embarrassed to ask.

In the same way ODX means "best overall DX".

UPDATE 1545z:  Just 6m locals and GDX this afternoon. No Es here since CN8LI lunchtime.  May be more teatime?

Spotted by CN8LI (2113km) twice on 6m WSPR

CN8LI (2113km, Morocco) spotted my 1W ERP twice around 1200z today on 6m. This is the first real DX (Es presumably) today.

G4HBA (189km) is the best GDX so far today. He was spotted at -27dB S/N at 1138z when running 10W with 2Hz Doppler, so maybe some aircraft reflection?

Recent 6m WSPR spots today

Back to 6m

After a fun day on 10m, I've now gone back to 6m and my 1W ERP was immediately spotted on WSPR by locals G0LRD and G4IKZ. On the lookout for more distant 6m stations now by any mode.

UPDATE 1120: G4KPX (14km) is spotting me well on 6m and the first 6m GDX today G4HBA (189km) using 10W from IO93fn square (near Barnsley, Yorkshire) is being spotted here at -25dB S/N with 3Hz Doppler, suggesting aircraft involvement.

Even more 10m GDX and Es

At 1936z G8VDQ (93km) in IO91um was spotted here at -26dB S/N.  When there are GDX stations they seem to be copied. G8VDQ's signal had -3Hz Doppler, suggesting aircraft reflection was involved.

UPDATE 1950z:  Es is still in evidence with DK6UG spotting me 4 times (so far) now at around -22/-23dB S/N.

UPDATE 2120z:  Es again; this time  IK1WVQ (1084km)  spotted at -20dB S/N.

6m GDX

There is clearly Es around on 6m WSPR this evening, but there is also some GDX.  G8JNJ/A (184km) spotted my 1W ERP WSPR signal at 1910z at -25dB S/N and again at 2028z and 2046z.

CN8LI was last spotting me (still) at 1920z. at -18dB S/N presumably on Es.

UPDATE 2150z:   No GDX or Es now.  I am leaving 6m WSPR on overnight - ever hopeful!

6m GDX

I have now closed down on 6m for the night, but not before spotting G8JNJ/A (184km) at -25dB S/N at 2032z. A little  earlier he spotted me. Otherwise the band is quiet apart from local G4IKZ (18km).

Around teatime I had a couple of Es spots from German stations on 6m.

Back on 6m

After most of the day on 10m (lots of Es around Europe) it has been back on 6m since about 1708z. So far only G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.

6m early evening WSPR spots 1W ERP

Last night there were some new 6m GDX WSPR spots including G3ZJO (79km) so I am hopeful of some more GDX and maybe Es this evening on 6m.  Eddie G3ZJO is more often seen on 472kHz running 1mW ERP.  I have not tried 472kHz for some months now because of my health issues (stroke). Sticking to the higher HF bands and VHF (6m and 2m) have been easier. I need a better antenna for MF.

UPDATE 1950z: Been on 6m for over an hour and a half and not even the  briefest hint of a signal seen yet. Just the spots from G4IKZ proving the kit is on and working. Very disappointing so far this evening. No Es or GDX at all.

UPDATE 2000z:   Decided to go back to 10m even though 20-30MHz propagation is now forecast to be "poor".

6m Es and GDX

6m Es, with my 1W ERP WSPR signal, started today at 1216z here with spots of my QRP signal by IK1WVQ (1084km) followed by DL4MFC (916km).  A better start on 6m than yesterday! A little later IK1NET (981km) was spotting me at 1244z..

I spotted both IK1WVQ and DL4MFC around 1238z.  I am now hopeful of more Es during the day.

UPDATE 1315z:    DL4RU (879km) spotted me at 1304z.

UPDATE 1830z:    No more Es her since 1654z with OK2RO (1282km). Since then just locals and GDX -  G4IKZ (18km), G8KNN (12km), G3ZJO (79km), G8EPA (61km), G0LRD (25km). Earlier in the day G4KPX (12km) and G4FFC (45km).

UPDATE 1940z:   Still no more 6m Es (here at least) after OK2RO, just Gs.

UPDATE 2030z:  Just 6m G locals and semi-locals.

6m locals and semi-locals this evening on WSPR

UPDATE 2122z:   G6AVK (78km) is now spotting me too.

Doppler on locals and a VERY quiet day on 6m

Today, so far, it has been exclusively local G4IKZ (18km) on 6m WSPR  One thing I have noticed both on his spots and those by G4FFC (45km) yesterday is that when there is a lot of Doppler my reports are poorer. I assume the aircraft reflections sometimes result in destructive interference and an effective drop in S/N.

This month, so far, sunspot numbers have been lower (70 today), although 20-30MHz propagation is described as "normal". I think the slide downwards is starting, sadly. But, even next autumn 10m should still be good though - we are a LONG way from the minimum yet. I think long distance 6m F-layer propagation openings will be few unless one is lucky enough to be closer to the equator and may catch TEP openings. CN8LI and stations in Israel were managing to catch 6m TEP openings quite recently, as were some VK and JA stations.

UPDATE 1700z:   Just G4IKZ (18km) spotting me since I switched on 6m WSPR at 0556z - a very very quiet day on 6m so far today: no Es and no GDX seen here, so far. There is at least one "wandering" signal that has been seen several times drifting across the band but with too much drift to decode. Strong, but no Doppler. At one point it was stable enough to decode but the signal faded out after 1 minute. I think this was an Es signal. May never know though. I am tempted to QSY to 472kHz WSPR this evening unless things markedly improve on 6m.

UPDATE 1808z:  another new local(ish) station has just appeared on 6m spotting me:   M0MVB (30km) up in the Fens.  Still no 6m Es here.I presume M0MVB is just in from work and just turned the gear on.

UPDATE 1925z:   Still no 6m Es here today. Tomorrow can only be better.

UPDATE 2050z:  I stuck with 6m, but only locals today. Very disappointing indeed.