QRT on 10m, but still on 6m JT65

In the last hour I have gone QRT on 10m WSPR but I am still on 6m JT65. There is still a possibility of some 6m spots.  I also took the opportunity to re-sync the PC to internet time. This should happen automatically every 1000 seconds but I do it on occasions "just in case".

UPDATE 2148z:  Several G spots on 6m JT65 in recent minutes.

Return to 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

This morning, early, I reverted to 10m WSPR and 6m JT65. There was early Es on both bands. On 6m JT65 there is more G activity as I am getting spots on 6m whereas I was copied by no Gs on 10m JT65. Best DX spot so far on 6m JT65 is EA7HJ (1833km) in southern Spain who got my QRP very strongly.

Early 10m WSPR spots (500mW)

UPDATE 1538z:  Best DX on 6m JT65 RX is EA8AQV (2988km).

Excellent Es on 10m

The Es on 10m was excellent this evening. G3WKW (Bob, an old work colleague) tells me that 6m was open to the USA yesterday. Just my luck to decide to be on 10m!  So, I shall definitely be on 6m JT65 tomorrow and 10m WSPR at the same time.

UPDATE 2006z:  Yet again, I was spotted in South America on 10m this time by ZP4KFX (10277km) by JT65. He is in Paraguay.

Back on 6m JT65 tomorrow?

There seems to be more JT65 on 6m than 10m. As there is still Es about, I may return to 6m tomorrow. I can operate on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 at the same time but if I want to use 10m JT65 I have to use the FT817 and PC. For 10m WSPR I can use the stand-alone WSPR beacon leaving the FT817 and PC for 6m JT65 use.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday August 7th 2016

Solar flux is 83 today and the sunspot number 33. K=2. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday August 6th 2016

Solar flux is 80 today. Sunspot number is 36 (K=3) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Sunspots and 10m - Friday August 5th 2016

Solar flux is 79 today. Sunspot number is zero today (K=3). 10m F2 propagation is yet again "poor".

Sunspots and 10m - Monday August 1st 2016

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number 12. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". There is still Es on 10m and 6m.

Es and 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 activity

Apart from G4KPX (14km) there have been no spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR all morning. By contrast, I have had several spots on 6m JT65 and spotted others on 6m too. I can only put this down to too few on 10m WSPR. I shall stick with 6m JT65 for a little longer.

Steve VE7SL has also commented on the possibility of chordal hop Es as a possible explanation of very long 6m Es paths. Steve was saying he'd found this 6m Es season very poor. It is true that I've not caught any really long paths on 6m Es this summer. There have been plenty of European reports, but little further afield on 6m. Even on 10m I was only spotted in the Caribbean once. A couple of Paraguayan spots on 10m may have been Es or Es/equatorial spread F.  In all, I tend to agree with Steve: I have seen better Es seasons.

UPDATE 1354z:  It seems that Es openings are still occurring but less often than a month or so ago. Today, there has been some Es on 10m and 6m, but not much.

UPDATE 1503z: No further 6m or 10m Es reports.  When good, I can get spots from all over Europe with QRP and simple antennas.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday July 31st 2016

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number 13. K=0. The forecast for 10m F2 is (yes you guessed correctly) "poor".

JT65 on 10m - well soon

With good Es still on both 10m and 6m, I am reluctant to swap from JT65 on 6m to JT65 and JT9-1 on 10m. As I've said before, it is a case of "either or" on 10m JT65 as I cannot use my W5OLF beacon stand alone as it only works on 10m WSPR. For 10m JT modes I need the FT817 and the PC.  I am sure there is more activity on JT modes (certainly true on 6m).

Even though JT modes are less good than WSPR, this is made up for by the 1 minute cycle time and greater activity. I shall probably swap to 10m JT modes mid-August.

10m and 6m

On 10m WSPR (500mW) just one early Es spot from northern Spain EA1FAQ (1249km) and otherwise just Richard G4KPX (14km) spotting me.

On 6m JT65 (1W ERP vertical) several UK spots plus one from near Paris, which I think was aircraft refection as it would be very close for Es.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday July 30th 2016

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 13 (K=2). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". I'd like to try 10m JT65 but this means going QRT on 6m and 6m is proving quite interesting still with plenty of Es.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ for more solar data.

Same stations on 10m WSPR?

As well as low activity on 10m WSPR, when I am spotted it seems to be the same old stations. On 6m JT65 there seem to be more different stations.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday July 29th 2016

Solar flux is 70 today. Sunspot number is 13 (K=4) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor" again. At the moment I am not on 10m WSPR although I am on 6m JT65.

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

Not a single spot on 10m WSPR all day. However, 6m JT65 was more productive with several Es spots from Europe. I think this proves that activity on WSPR is the main issue, not propagation

Sunspots and 10m- Thursday July 28th 2016

Solar flux is 71 today. Sunspot number is again zero but conditions are more disturbed with K=4. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Sunspots and 10m - Wed July 27th 2016

My apologies for no solar data yesterday but I was away.

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 0 (K=0). Yet again the forecast  for F2 propagation for 10m is "poor".

Tomorrow I should be back on 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR.

6m JT65

Last night I received a report from G0LRD that my JT65 timing was out and I was consequently not decoding. To be fair it had been running a long time and possibly my internet timing had not been corrected. At the moment I am not on 6m JT65 or 10m WSPR.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday July 25th 2016

Solar flux is 78 today and the sunspot number down to 16 (K=4). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is "poor" again. Whether it improves in the autumn remains to be seen.