Confusing American call areas?

At one time you knew where in the USA a station was located by its call area. No longer.  A W6 can be in New York and a W1 in California. In my view this is a very backward move.  Although it has been the case for a few years, it is now beginning to become a major problem.

Is this an FCC issue? They do seem to be so behind. 472-479kHz is still not allocated in the USA whereas we've had access to the band for 1.5 yrs now here in Europe. I don't think they yet have the 136kHz band even!

As an occasional user of the USA customs service, I wonder if the FCC uses similar people? The USA customs officers seem to be a "rum lot" with absolutely zero sense of humour. Where do they find these people? 

Lightning maps

If you missed G0LRD's comment in an earlier post you may want this link that shows lightning activity:

http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en

There are storms in Eastern England and very many over the Alps. Interestingly  the CN8 to OZ path has been open on 6m Es today. Some believe there is a correlation between Es and thunderstorms.

UPDATE 1720z: At the moment, the storms have ended but the lightning map shows a further storm is due to come through. At present it is over the Peterborough area and moving SE. I think it is best to NOT reconnect the antennas today.

UPDATE 1751z: The storm over Peterborough seems to be moving in an easterly direction and may miss our village with luck, although I can now hear distant thunder to the north.

UPDATE 1812z:  The storm is definitely tracking east over the Bedford Levels in the Fens, towards Littleport, so should miss us.  Even so, I'll stay off air tonight.

UPDATE 2016z:  According to the lightning map, all thunder storms have now died out in the UK. I'll reconnect antennas in the morning.

6m - local storms stop play

Currently we have thunderstorms around so I have disconnected ALL antennas, turned off the rigs and turned off the WSPR software and the PC.

This morning there was no Es seen here on 6m, just GDX. G0OKQ was a consistent reporter 98km away in the Chiltern Hills.  Local G4IKZ (18km) was not on.

If the storm passes over, and goes, I'll reconnect 6m WSPR  At the moment (1352z) the storm is about 3km away judging by the time difference between lightning and thunder claps. I hate this sort of weather.

Sunspot count is 95 and the forecast for 20-30MHz is "good" so F-layer propagation on 10m should be promising. Conditions are "disturbed".

6m - G0OQK consistent signal reports

Nick G0OQK is 98km away in the Chilterns (IO91pp) and he has spotted my 1W ERP 6m signal countless times today. Doppler is very low so I am wondering if this is tropo (generally) NOT involving aircraft? In the next few days Nick will be on TX so I can check here for a lack of multiple traces on the WSPR screen. If there are lots of traces on his signal it will suggest aircraft reflections.  If (usually) just a weakish single trace it will suggest tropo.

UPDATE 2250z:  No more Es reports from CN8LI since 1918z.  Unless things suddenly change, I think the Es here has ended for the day.

6m - CN8LI has spotted me 11 times today so far!

CN8LI (2113km) has been spotting me on 6m WSPR again today, this morning and this evening. His reports tonight seem to be getting stronger too. so I think there will be further reports before we're done today. It is now 1905z. I have been spotting him too, but only once so far today.

CN8LI's spots of my 1W ERP on 6m today so far

6m is an amazing band. There is good local coverage, interesting GDX mainly via aircraft scatter or reflection and then amazing DX by Es. I have still to catch super DX by Es. Of course, in a few months most of the Es openings will be ended although the band does have some Es at all times of the year. With dedicated WSPRers active we might find out how common "out of season" 6m Es really is.

UPDATE 1930z: more spots from CN8LI at 1900z and 1918z.

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.

ISS - not

It turns out my recent message purporting to have been sent for the International Space Station (ISS) was not from there at all, but from a tent in Wales! Not quite sure why people get a kick from this? It all seems a bit silly to me. Previously this person's account was sending out dodgy links and I informed him of this.  Be warned - all may not be what it seems.

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 - WSPR very early Es?

As early as 0402z DB0ZDF (608km at -20dB S/N) was spotting my 1W ERP 6m signal by Es today. Apart from this single report, just the usual GDX stations (out to 184km) no doubt helped by aircraft reflections. I am assuming DB0ZDF was Es; it is possible at this range it could have been tropo or aircraft reflection too.

6m overnight tonight

As 6m has been open for Es most of the day, I'll reset the clock and leave the software to run overnight and hope the WSPR program does not crash in the wee hours.

The chances of really long distance multi-hop Es must be slim, but there is an outside chance.

UPDATE 2225z:  G0OQK (98km) is still spotting me regularly by aircraft reflection or pure tropo.