2m GB3MCB - 410km: no luck at all

The mid-Cornwall 2m beacon GB3MCB is 410km away on an all-land path and, as yet, I have still to receive it, even for very brief periods. I keep looking, but without any success so far.  By now I would have expected the odd MS ping or aircraft reflection but, so far, an absolute blank.

Can anyone confirm it is on-air?

UPDATE 1900z: A very weak signal,somewhat low (144.46802MHz CW) may have been a weak ping from this beacon? Too weak to tell and no callsign copied.

10m WSPR - the same faces?

One of the drawbacks of WSPR is that you seem to have the same people on day after day. This is "a good thing" if comparing reports day to day, but it means the reports tend to be from the same sub-set of the amateur community.  There would be more variety on some other modes. For this reason, I shall be trying some other modes in the coming days. The advantage of WSPR is it does not require me to speak (good with my stroke) and it works with very low power.  As I tend to use 2W and very modest (low gain) antennas, this mode usually suits me fine.

UPDATE 1645z:   Openings to South and North America have been noticeable by their absence here so far today. Yesterday, when conditions were supposed to be worse, the openings were quite decent. This afternoon 4X1RF and DK6UG were my main spotters, in fact my only spotters.

10m good today?

With a sunspot count of 131 and a forecast of "good" 20-30MHz conditions, 10m ought to be good today. Already UA6AAK has been spotted many times at 2780km and, as usual, 4X1RF has spotted my 2W. I confidently expect the band to open to South America shortly and to North America later.

If we didn't have visitors this afternoon,  it would be time to try JT65/JT9-1 on 10m for some 2-way QSOs.

UPDATE 1035z:  FR1GZ (9724km) has just been spotted at 0950z and 1030z.

Surprise, surprise! North America on 10m

K3NAL has been spotted here on 10m WSPR at 1918z, 1948z and 2008z.   At 1936z, 1942z and 2016z WB5WPA (7591km) was spotted.

I was quite surprised to see the band open in this direction. Conditions N-S were just average only so I thought N.America was unlikely. Again, WSPR indicating openings.  WB5WPA and CX2ABP had quite a bit of Doppler at times - equatorial spread-F the mode involved indirectly or directly? Wondering if the N.Americans we coming in via an indirect path?

UPDATE 2050z:  Just been spotted by VE1MDO at 2046z.

South America on 10m WSPR

Another relatively quiet day on 10m but CX2ABP was spotted just now so the band was open (still is?) to South America. Sadly no North Americans yesterday here, despite reasonable sunspot numbers and the band opening well N-S.  I do not expect 10m to open to the USA or Canada today, but this band is full of surprises.

UPDATE 1908z:  CX2ABP still being spotted, seen 9 times so far this evening,  but seen no others from that continent here .

Doppler on WSPR

On shortish distance WSPR , especially on 6m and shorter wavelengths, Doppler shift from aircraft is a real issue: signals arrive directly and reflected off aircraft and sometimes WSPR cannot decode (often quite strong) signals. G0LRD has been analysing my signals and believes these have been frequently reflected off planes around Stansted Airport.

I have also seen large Doppler shifts on some trans-equatorial 10m signals and wonder if this is spread-F , moving F layers either side of the equator? Sometimes it is kit warming up, but I quite often see large Doppler on TEP signals and also signals crossing auroral (polar) paths.

On 6m and 2m, Doppler can make some VHF paths inter-G almost unworkable - strong signals but too much Doppler for the software to cope.

2008/2009 sunspots

Just looking back and I noticed a graph showing solar activity just 5-6 years ago. When conditions are pretty decent - as at present - it is hard to remember just how dire they were back then.  We thought the minimum would never end - it went on for years and years with hardly any sunspots.  Next time, around 2019/2020, the minimum may last for many years if we are indeed entering a Maunder minimum.  It is possible hardly any sunspots will be present even at the next maximum.  Only time will tell. Whatever happens we have to enjoy our bands in an appropriate way.

Early start on 10m WSPR

Switched on 10m WSPR at 0850z this morning.

There are a few EU stations (Spain and Italy) coming in by sporadic-E (Es)  as well as FR1GZ (9724km) on Reunion Is in the Indian Ocean.

Sunspot count is 121 with 20-30MHz conditions described as "poor".

UPDATE 1130z:  Puzzled why I was spotting lots of stations but no-one was spotting me,  I realised I had my external LS output muted (doh!) so no modulation was being applied to the TX!  When (easily) fixed I was immediately spotted on 10m by 4X1RF at a strong -5dB S/N on WSPR. What with precise frequency, clock and audio, there are a lot of things to set when running WSPR and similar modes.

UPDATE 1228z: No more spots until 4X1RF spotted me again at 1222z. Conditions do seem poor.

Recent 10m WSPR spot

UPDATE 1508z: Mainly Israel and one report from Brazil, so far, on 10m WSPR. 

UPDATE 1915z:  Looks like we were lucky to see South American openings this afternoon and this evening (just been spotted by CX2ABP). A few Es signals in evidence now too. No sign of North Americans (yet) - maybe later?
 
UPDATE 2130z:  All has gone quiet with 4X1RF last spotting me over 2 hours ago.

First 70cm beacon copied - 70cm PI7CIS

This morning, I managed to copy the 70cm beacon at PI7CIS (by ear) using my 5 ele yagi. On  my FT817ND dial it was at 432.41536MHz, somewhat lower than the supposed frequency (432.416MHz) , as a result of RX drift at my end and thermal drift of the TX. I would guess it is at least 10dB down on the co-sited 2m beacon. Neither signals move the FT817ND's S-meter. As my first 70cm SSB/CW reception I was very pleased. Conditions may be marginally up in that direction, but not by very much.

It looks like this 70cm beacon is just below the noise floor here normally, so a slight lift is needed to detect it.

ON0VHF 2m beacon 144.418MHz

The 2m beacon ON0VHF seems to be copyable at all times at a distance of just over 350km.  It is located just the far side of Brussels.

Imagine my surprise when I found out it is only running 15W to a single big wheel antenna with a gain of around just 3dBi. At one time I was considering a stacked pair of big wheel antennas here. In theory, properly phased, a pair of big wheels should give omni-directional horizontal gain of around 5dBd, which is similar to a small beam without having to turn it.