Yesterday on 6m JT65

Yesterday was a good day on 6m JT65.

Stations were spotted in North America, South America and the Caribbean. I have dismissed the Indonesian spot as a pirate unless I am proved wrong.

At the moment, I am on 6m JT65 in beacon mode with 1W ERP. There is plentiful Es on 6m with spots (RX and TX) all across Europe.

UPDATE 1315z: Now RX only on 6m JT65.

UPDATE 1750z: Enabled 6m JT65 TX a few minutes ago.

6m JT65 real DX - real and fictional?

Just spotted K1TOL (5082km) in Maine, USA on 6m JT65.  I am sure this is true having worked this well equipped station some years ago on 6m CW.

Also, I spotted (supposedly) yet another Indonesian on 6m JT65. I have lost count of the number of Indonesians on 6m JT65. Unless proved otherwise, I think these are false decodes or pirates.

UPDATE 1600z: WP2B (6804km) in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean was spotted earlier. Judging by others who also spotted him, I think he is genuine.

UPDATE 2055z: PV8DX (7830km) in northern Brazil is the latest 6m JT65 DX earlier this evening.

Just 6m JT65 today

At the moment, 10m WSPR is proving too easy! Most days, my 500mW is spotted across Europe, so today I am just on 6m JT65 transceive.

6m JT65

My 1W ERP 6m JT65 has been widely spotted today throughout Europe. At the moment, I am RX only on 6m.  Some stations are working the Far East. I am unsure of the propagation, but this looks different from the breakfast paths to Japan.

UPDATE 1315z: Best DX today on 6mJT65 RX is VR2XMT (9537km) in Hong Kong. He is being widely spotted around the globe, so I think this is genuine.

UPDATE 2015z: Absolutely loads of 6m JT65 spots given and received today. Best DX on TX was Iceland and the Canaries. Think I'll stay on longer, hoping for some real DX reports!

Another Indonesian on 6m JT65?

Today, out of the blue, I (supposedly) spotted 7A4TOI (13582km) in Indonesia at 1145z on 6m JT65. Although this could be genuine, I am pretty sure this station is a pirate somewhere in Europe. It would be great if this was a true 6m spot.

UPDATE 1933z: The Caribbean and South America now being spotted on 6m JT65. I think these are genuine!

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday I had spotted lots of Japanese stations by now on 6m JT65. Today my only spots so far on 6m JT65 have been G stations. No Es yet on the band here.

UPDATE 1330z: Some Es now on 6m JT65.

Long long 6m JT65 paths - what mode?

The very long paths on 6m JT65 are intriguing me. The common wisdom is these are "multi-hop sporadic E". Sorry, but I just don't believe it.

Some paths may be multi-hop Es sometimes (e.g. to Israel) but I think we are seeing some other sort of E layer propagation, maybe some sort of chordal hop? The Far East spots may be due to mesospheric cloud ionisation?

Some of the very long 6m paths may be pirates, but the Japanese spots are genuine and have occurred several times already in the last few weeks.

I am no propagation expert, but would love to hear from experts who might really know what is going on.

We are in 2017 and there are still unsolved mysteries.

What amazes me is there appears to be no-one trying to span Europe to Japan on higher VHF bands or even microwaves. This path opens every year at this time on 6m and should be possible at higher frequencies especially with big antennas and high power such as stations equipped for 23cm EME. Suitably equipped stations know where to beam, know when, know the best times. So? If you are suitably equipped set up some skeds!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/noctilucent  .

10m WSPR

Yet again, I am on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) as well as 6m JT65 transceive (1W ERP).

13 Japanese stations spotted today on 6m JT65

This is the best day so far this season on 6m JT65 with 13 (thirteen) different Japanese stations spotted around breakfast time today. Interesting that none at all was from Tokyo or its suburbs. Sadly, no spots of me from Japan.

I am amazed how easily I am spotting these with my poor setup here.

At the moment, I am still on 6m JT65 in beacon mode sending "B G3XBM JO02" near the top of the JT65 sub-section.

UPDATE 0932z: as well as all the Japanese spots on 6m JT65 I notice 7A7YYZ (13582km) was spotted early on 6m JT65. If genuine, this is long way on a VHF band. I have spotted different Indonesians several times, and find it hard to think they are all pirates. There were so many Japanese that I am sure Far East 6m propagation is genuine.

10m WSPR TX and 6m JT65 transceive

As usual, I am on 10m WSPR TX only (500mW) and 6m JT65 (1W ERP) transceive. Already there is good European Es on both bands.

UPDATE 1305z: Yet again 4X1RF (3518km) has spotted me on 6m JT65. He has done so for many seasons now.

UPDATE 1518z: I spotted a station in Kuwait earlier on 6m JT65 - 9K2GS (4641km) and supposedly S65GBD (10734km) in Singapore. I have grave doubts about this last one.

UPDATE 1630z: First Caribbean station spotted on 6m JT65 this season. WP4JCF (6830km) in Puerto Rico copied.

Greenland on 6m JT65

OX3LX (2570km) copied me on 6m JT65 earlier this evening. As far as I remember this is the first tine I have reached Greenland on 6m.

I remember working Greenland from the garden with 2.5W SSB and a whip antenna on 10m some years ago. I am pretty sure both these were Es.

UPDATE 0754 June 15th 2017: He spotted me again late yesterday.

6m JT65 super DX?

Once again, I spotted a station in Indonesia on 6m JT65. 7A5FHZ (11934km) was spotted very early. I am suspicious as this is a very long way on 6m and the signal was very strong. There were quite a few Es spots around Europe.

UPDATE 1700z: The same Indonesian station was spotted at lunchtime - suspicious? I am highly doubtful.

Back on 6m JT65 transceive and 10m WSPR TX

Since breakfast, I have been active as usual on 10n WSPR TX (500mW) and 6m JT65 transceive (1W ERP). On 6m G spots only so far but some early Es on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 0934z: Now some Es on 6m JT65. EA5/G3XGS (1581km) has spotted me. Most 10m WSPR spots have been from Northern Europe so far.

UPDATE 1334z: although I am being widely spotted across Europe on 6m JT65, my own spots of others are not appearing on PSK Reporter Maps. Maybe it has forgotten the tick box for some reason or my internet upload is not working?

10m WSPR (TX) and 6m JT65 (RX)

At the moment I am on the above modes and bands. If WSJT-X V1.7 and PSK Reporter Maps support JT9E, I may give this mode a try on 6m later on 50.290MHz.

UPDATE 1028z: Best DX on 6m JT65 RX is S65KXA (10734km) in Singapore. No Far East  (Japan, Korea etc.) spotted today.

UPDATE 1145z: 12 unique 10m WSPR spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon today so far.

UPDATE 1720z: After a brief period on JT9E on 6m (nothing) I have returned to 6m JT65 transceive where I have been received across Europe by Es.

10m and 6m

As usual, I am on 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR TX. There is Es on both bands.

UPDATE 1700z:  A45XR (5796km) in Oman is the best DX on 6m JT65 RX today so far. I am convinced there are far more people now using this mode on 6m. Conditions for Es may be better this year, but I am sure the (great) levels of JT65 6m activity are helping.

UPDATE 2105z: 10m WSPR TX now QRT and RX only on 6m JT65.

6m JT65

This morning, I am again on 6m JT65 receive after a very brief transceive period (1W ERP). Best DX so far are Israel, Jordan JY9FC (3650km) and Bahrain A92GE (5068km).

UPDATE 1022z: Although I see some EU stations are working JAs on 6m this morning, I spotted none today. I guess they have better gear or the propagation was right for them.

ARRL book about JT65 and JT9

There is an ARRL book on the digital modes JT65 and JT9. These are among my favourite modes and ideally suited to QRP. I have used JT9 on bands up to 10m. I have used JT65 on bands up to 6m.

See http://www.arrl.org/shop/Work-the-World-with-JT65-and-JT9/ .

At the moment there is a special ARRL deal so you get this book free when you buy a new ARRL Handbook.

6m to the USA (again)

JT65 is proving useful for finding brief Es openings on 6m. In the last hour WN5LUF (6886km) in Missouri just appeared and disappeared. Maybe others will appear and maybe not. Earlier in the day a station in New England just came and went on 6m JT65.

Although you might expect 10m WSPR to be better, I seem to get better results on 6m JT65. This could be down to antennas, although there seems to be more activity on 6m JT65 than 10m WSPR.

Back on 6m JT65 (but higher up the segment)

Earlier this morning, I returned to 6m JT65 (transceive - 1W ERP) but I have moved slightly higher to avoid causing local issues. There is a lot of Es and my signal has been widely copied in Europe. Last night Canada was copied on 6m JT65 in the form of VE3DS (5711km). As yet, no Far East stations received on 6m JT65: yesterday it was a bit later that they came through.

UPDATE 1052z: Both Israel and Bahrain spotted on 6m JT65 RX, but nothing from the Far East today. A92GE (5068km) is currently to best RX DX on 6m this morning.

6m JT65 QSY

Some locals have complained that my beacon mode "B G3XBM JO02" transmissions are causing some local issues, so I have QSYed a little further up the band when not looking for 2-way contacts.

I use beacon mode so that I can look on PSK reporter maps to see where I am reaching. I do not use this beacon unattended. At the same time, I do not want to cause anyone problems. At the moment, I am RX only on 6m JT65.