472kHz WSPR - from 2054z

I have now QSYed down to 472kHz WSPR for the night. In the first transmission there were 3 spots, but sadly all from stations that have spotted me before. I am still hopeful of spotting new stations this season or being spotted by new stations myself.

WSPR spots 472kHz - 13 August to 2120z

10m - teatime Es

It is teatime and 10m is open to Portugal and Germany.  Funny how often Es peaks at lunchtimes and teatimes. I shall stick with 10m until dusk, then switch to 472kHz WSPR.  No DX outside Europe seen here as yet on 10m.

UPDATE 1905z:  German stations and Portugal still coming through on 10m WSPR at 1900z.

More Es and MS on 10m

CT1JTQ  is spotting me again by 10m Es at 1250z.

There is more evidence (short, strong non-decoding bursts on his frequency) that the PD0OHW reports are by MS bursts and probably not Es. The Perseid meteor shower is peaking around now in Europe and this will result in lots of long bursts.

Lawn cut - totally exhausted!

Just cut the rear lawn, well 90% of it, and I am totally exhausted. This is a result of my brain bleed. I still get very exhausted doing any physical activity. A year ago it was all so different.

Please may I get back to health again soon. Amateur radio building/field work is all but impossible at the moment as I am still so clumsy with my hands. I hate depending on others as much as I do.

Back on 10m WSPR

After an overnight session on 472kHz - no new spots or spotters seen, just the usual ones - it was back to 10m this morning with 3 early Es spots by CT1JTQ (1843km). I am suspicious of the spots by PD0OHW (459km).   These may be tropo or even MS as there are lots of short, strong bursts on his frequency this morning. For Es, the skip would have to be very short and tropo/aircraft/MS might be more probable over this sort of range. I see I have just spotted him at 0924z.

Sunspot count today is 80 and 20-30MHz propagation "normal".  F2 has been reported in Portugal, but no evidence here as yet. Conditions on 10m are likely to be "interesting". Basically, it is anyone's guess. There is always the chance of F2 linking with  Es, in which case some real DX is possible.

472kHz WSPR

472kHz unique WSPR spots to 2100z.

At the same time as entering the 70cm UKAC,  I was operating on 472kHz WSPR. No new stations spotting me or being spotted as I write. For my very first transmission I forgot to change my ERP: it should have been 5mW and not 2W which was the ERP on 10m.

UPDATE 2200z:  Still just 10 unique reports received on 472kHz so far this summer. Will leave WSPR running 472kHz overnight in case I spot new stations or new stations spot me. You never know!

70cm UK activity contest

This evening was the monthly 70cm activity contest, so, despite my very poor voice, I entered this for the first hour. Conditions appeared totally flat. In 50 mins I only worked 5 stations and most were locals. In previous sessions I've managed to get my 5W to a 5el to reach about 200km.  Best DX tonight was just 63km. Still I enjoyed myself. Best DX heard was IO81 square.

At the same time I was on 472kHz WSPR with the other FT817, homebrew transverter and Par antenna with strapped feeders.

End of Es season?

It is beginning to feel like the end of the Northern Hemisphere's Es season. Although there are still openings (certainly on 10m) these are harder to find now than 6 weeks or so ago. Last year I was still finding Es on 6m well into mid-September, when I was taken very ill and was in hospital for 3.5 months. This season I have concentrated on WSPR mainly.

UPDATE 1718z:  This afternoon the 10m Es was quite good with several spots from CT1JTQ.

10m - Es or tropo?

I have been on 10m WSPR since early morning (2W ERP) bue so far I have spotted PD0OHW just once at 09450z with -3dB drift at a reasonable -18dB S/N.   At 459km this could have been either tropo/aircraft or Es. This is very short ship for Es. No other signals yet seen and no-one has spotted me yet.

UPDATE 1300z: DB0ZDF (608km) spotted me on 10m at 1208z.  This is definitely Es. So far, the only person to spot me on 10m today.

UPDATE 1302z: DK6UG (633km) just spotted me on 10m. Es again.

472kHz overnight

Overnight on 472kHz WSPR there were the same reporters and reports with no new people receiving my QRP signal. This was disappointing but not surprising. Yesterday evening I triedloading up the feeders to my 6m/2m/70cm V2000 vertical and my 2m halo feeder, but results were about 2dB down on the strapped feeder to my Par end-fed, so this is the antenna I used overnight.