ARRL 10m contest this weekend

A reminder that the annual ARRL 10m contest is this coming weekend. Conditions are likely to be good on 10m, so this is a good chance to work some worldwide DX. Next year with the decline in sunspot numbers, this is not likely to be as good. Unfortunately my operating time will be very limited because of visitors.

Sunspots and 10m conditions

Sunspot number has climbed a bit and is 115 today. 10m conditions are forecast to be "fair" although the band seems lively today.

Moved back to 472kHz from 50MHz (6m) WSPR

Just before 1900z I gave up on 6m and QSYed down to MF again with 5mW ERP from the earth-electrode system. These are the unique spots (given and received) so far this evening.

472kHz WSPR unique spots this evening. 5mW ERP, earth-electrodes.

My power was actually 0.005W (5mW) ERP and not 0.5W as shown above. I'd forgotten to change the power setting in WSPRX until a few minutes ago. Darn it.

I am seeing up to 4 spots per transmission on 472kHz WSPR. Not bad for 5mW ERP and a short baseline earth-electrode "antenna" system.

10m - last USA spot was W3CSW

It is now 2115z. Since 1744z, the only station spotting me as been G4IKZ (18km). W3CSW (5886km) was indeed the last USA station to spot me at 1744z. No other transatlantic stations have spotted me since.

6m - another dead loss day

Today I have been WSPRing successfully with my WSPR-AXE-CW (500mW) on 10m, but yet again my efforts on 6m have been a dead loss .  Yet again, nor a single station copied or spotting me on 6m WSPR.  I have concluded that, at this time of year, 6m is a disaster.

UPDATE 1900z:  Still absolutely nothing on 6m. Dead loss.

10m successes

Whilst I struggle to get any activity on the 6m band, 10m WSPR continues to give very good results even with 500mW to a very average low, end-fed wire antenna. These are the unique spots so far today. 4 continents I think. 500mW seems plenty.

10m unique WSPR spots with 500mW today so far.

Think I have mentioned why I enjoy WSPR: currently my voice is poor because of my brain bleed last year. With WSPR, I do not have to use my voice, yet with QRP I can see how propagation is behaving on a given band. Recently,the tiny WSPR-AXE-CW unit has freed up the FT817 and PC so that I can now WSPR on 2 bands at the same time: thre WSPR-AXE-CW runs 500mW continuously on 10m, and I can choose the other band to run on the FT817 and PC. On these I can TX for about 20% and receive for about 80% of the time. All the time I can monitor things on other devices around the house e.g. in the lounge or even in bed. If things need adjusting, I can be in the shack within seconds. This sometimes happens when Windows does an update and the PC needs to be restarted.

UPDATE 1802z:   It is still too early to tell who was the last stateside station to copy my 500mW on 10m. At the moment W3CSW (5886km) is the last at 1744z.

UPDATE 1850z:   W3CSW at 1744z was still the last USA station to spot me. G4IKZ must have a high local noise level or has his beam in just the wrong direction for me as he is spotting me weakly.

Trying again on 6m WSPR

As I am now able to WSPR on 10m TX with 500mW and at the same time WSPR on another band, I have again started up on 6m WSPR with 1W ERP from my vertical V2000 omnidirectional  antenna. I was on MF until about 1435z.

WSPR on 6m has been tried on about 6-7 different days out of the Es season, but so far I have been spotted by no-one and I have seen no-one at all!. The real activity on 6m currently seems to be in Australia where the Es season is in full swing.

10m is much easier.

Sunspots

Sunspot number has risen to 97 and 10m propagation is forecast to be"good" today.

Have just started up both my 5mW ERP on 472kHz and 500mW on 28MHz WSPR.

QSYed to 472kHz WSPR

After a total dead loss on 6m with 30dBm ERP,  I have now QSYed to MF with 5mW ERP from the short baseline earth-electrode "antenna".

Already PA0O (440km) and G3WCB (101km) have been copied strongly and my weeny 5mW ERP signal has already been spotted by G8LCO (58km) and G3WCB (101km). Even with a much lower ERP, MF is so much more productive than 6m at this time of the year.

UPDATE 2145z:  F1AFJ (607km) is currently the greatest DX on 472kHz WSPR on receive.  I'll leave the kit running through the night to see if I see anyone at even greater range. I may even be seen by the odd DX station on TX. I am still using my short baseline earth-electrode system.

UPDATE 2245z:   PA0A (417km) is a colossal signal right now.

UPDATE 2310z:   Although still active on 630m (472kHz) WSPR and I shall be overnight, I have now gone QRT on 10m as I am only being copied by local G4IKZ (18km) on 10m since teatime. Looking for new reporters on 472kHz WSPR. So far this evening, just 3 unique stations have spotted me on 472kHz. BTW set to 474.2kHz  USB dial for  472kHz WSPR.

472kHz unique spots so far tonight with 5mW ERP from earth-electrodes.

6m - a dead loss again

As I can now WSPR on 10m with my little WSPR-AXE-CW beacon without the PC and FT817, it means I can also WSPR on another band at the same time.

At night, I tend to use MF (472kHz) WSPR but I tried WSPR on 6m again today. Yet again, even with 30dBm ERP I was spotted by no-one and spotted no-one at all. 6m was a dead loss yet again. It seems 6m WSPR is largely ignored outside of the Es season.

I may try 6m again, but really it is a dead loss in the UK at this time of year. F2 openings are now very unlikely, especially with my modest set-up.