10m WSPR 50mW

VK5MR (16144km) was still being copied on 10m WSPR this morning despite the 10dB pad in my antenna lead.

So far, the first USA station copied here was W3CSW (5886km) at 1220z.

Best DX spots of my 50mW on 10m WSPR this morning came from LZ1OI (2153km), CT1JTQ (1843km) and UR/SWL56 (2283km). Generally, running very low power results in fewer reports but not really fewer reporters. The active stations get you weaker and less often.

10 USA reports running 50mW on 10m WSPR

I think 10m has closed for me to the USA for the day.   I'll leave 10m WSPR running a little longer just in case.  At 2010z, 10 reports had been received, all at 50mW and all from stations in the USA. This was an interesting experiment as I know my antenna is not the best. 500mW seems almost like high power now!

The FT817 was set at 500mW and a good quality rotary attenuator (set to 10dB insertion loss) added as close as possible to the rig, therefore producing 50mW into the antenna lead and antenna. Because the cable will have some loss at 28MHz (1dB?) the actual radiated power will have been a little under 50mW.

UPDATE 2100z:  The 10m band has definitely closed here to the USA. Only G4IKZ (local) spotting me now. at 50mW.

10m WSPR spots running 50mW today

USA (again) on 10m WSPR and daytime MF

The first stateside station copied on 10m WSPR today was WG2Z (5600km) at a decent -10dB S/N at 1202z.  I think this is a little earlier than yesterday?

UPDATE 1210z:  I was on 472kHz until I QSYed to 10m WSPR. G3ZJO is a very decent signal now on MF. For example at 0922z he was around -15dB S/N. He has been even stronger, which for 10mW ERP is excellent.

UPDATE 1250z:  The first USA spot of my 500mW today as by WG2Z at 1218z.  Not long after I was spotted by KC2GMM at -17dB S/N at 1228z.   USA stations spotting my 500mW WSPR regularly on 10m now.

UPDATE 1504z:  Tomorrow I may try 10m WSPR with a 10dB pad in the antenna lead so ERP will be about 50mW, but RX 10dB deaf too. No I'll try it NOW! Looks like 5mW (or less) would be enough with W3CSW.

10m WSPR spots, to 1620z, with 50mW

UPDATE 1754z:   8 USA reports, so far, of my 50mW and, even with a 10dB pad in the RX lead I still copied G0LRD (25km)'s 50mW and W7CNK's 5W (7458km).

Sunspots

Sunspot number today has declined to 98 with daytime 10m propagation forecast to be "fair".  So far here this morning, just Europeans copied and copying me.

54 stations on 472Hz WSPR

This evening (just now) there were 54 stations active on 472kHz WSPR. Several are shown as being on RX (including me!) but this may be because we've not been spotted on TX in the last 10 minutes.

UPDATE 2252z: IW4DXW (1190km) has just been spotted here on 472kHz WSPR.

UPDATE 2306z: Will be on 472kHz WSPR overnight.

Kanga Kits UK

See http://www.kanga-products.co.uk/ .

Kanga is one of the classic names in QRP kits both in the UK and the USA. They make some fine products at quite reasonable prices. Shown below (linked from their website) is their OpenQRP transceiver.

http://www.kanga-products.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76&Itemid=78

472kHz WSPR

Since 1900z I have been back on 472kHz WSPR using 5mW ERP.  So far, spots given and received, have been from the usual G stations. Let us hope for some new spotters tonight!

The Radio Hobbyist VE3CNU

See https://www.youtube.com/user/ve3cnu.  It is always fun to take a peek into other people's radio shacks. This YouTube channel is hosted by Canadian VE3CNU. He has a nice shack and some nice gear.

I am amazed by how much money some people seem able to spend on the hobby.  This is, of course, a very individual decision and I am not criticizing anyone. Some pay a lot more to play golf, for example.

What I would say though is the hobby can be enjoyed on a shoestring if you build simple QRP radios and/or buy good second hand rigs. My own approach has been a mix of some homebrew and a few commercial rigs.

Others prefer to buy their rigs new (often with long guarantees) and experiment with antennas and peripherals. This is a very individual hobby that can be enjoyed in a number of ways.

Others just enjoy chatting on the air.

From Pedro CT5JZX:

Here is a Portuguese project from CT4RK Carlos Mourato

High performance speech processor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9yQzhVrVro&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbmcP2mvTo0&list=UUZwp0BuDysKqLmJDJ7efNlg

ARRL 10m contest - mid December

As I have missed the CQWW SSB contest for 2 years now, I hope that I can be on for the ARRL 10m contest, Dec 13-14th. This contest lasts the full weekend and is all mode. As 10m is my favourite band of all, this should be a good one. As far as I know, we are free that weekend. I rarely enter contests to win. Rather, I enter HF contests to work new DXCC countries, or states and Canadian Provinces. I am no real DX chaser! My entry (if I remember and assuming I am free) will be strictly QRP as I have no gear capable of more than 5W pep.

See http://www.arrl.org/10-meter .