QRT on 10m. QSYed from 6m to 630m WSPR

At 2230z I went QRT on 10m WSPR.

I have now moved the FT817 and transverter (on the short baseline earth electrode "antenna" to 472kHz WSPR where my ERP is around 5mW (max.). G8LCO and G7NKS have already copied me on the first TX burst and I have copied G0LRD (25km) on the first RX slot. I'll remain on overnight on 472kHz WSPR.

First few minutes on 472kHz WSPR this evening.

Low cost quadcopter

Quadcopters are usually quite expensive but Banggood have one for sale that will not break the bank.

See http://www.banggood.com/JJRC-H8C-2_4G-4CH-6-Axis-RC-Quadcopter-With-2MP-Camera-RTF-p-950652.html .

My last USA 10m WSPR spot today?

It looks like W3CSW (5886km) was the last stateside station to spot my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon today at 1654z. The stateside 10m openings are definitely shorter now. Since then, just locals G4IKZ and G0LRD have been spotting me. There could conceivably be further reports from North America, but this is unlikely today. It has been dark here for 2 hours. The time is 1820z as I write.

UPDATE 1936z:   No more WSPR spots from the USA since 1654z. This was the last USA WSPR spot today.

QRP SSB kits from Spain

EA3GCY sells a range of QRP kits including single band, single PCB, SSB transceivers for 20m or 40m.  These look easy to build and test and good value for money. Currently there is a 5% off offer running too.

See http://ea3gcy.blogspot.it/2013/03/iler-20-4-5w-qrp-ssb-monoband.html .
See http://ea3gcy.blogspot.it/2013/01/iler-40-4-5w-qrp-ssb-monoband.html .

He also does a CW kit and other accessories. Look out for the ILER range.

6m spots exchange

G6AVK (78km) and I swapped 6m WSPR spots about an hour ago. Otherwise, the band seems very very quiet. He is running a couple of watts.  I am running the FT817 at the 2.5W setting but through at least 1-2dB of lossy coax (TX and RX) to my vertical V2000 omni antenna, so I estimate my 6m ERP as about 1W.

10m USA WSPR spots

The first USA station to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon today was WG2Z (5600km) at 1252z. This is earlier than yesterday. As usual, plenty of USA stations are spotting me now. I expect this will continue until teatime.

6m continues to be blank - no spots given or received so far today.

Sunspots and 10m - Dec 29th 2014

Sunspot number today is 108 and 10m propagation expected to be "fair". On recent occasions when 10m was forecast to be "fair" my 500mW 10m WSPR has been copied right around the world!

Since turning on my 10m WSPR beacon, spots from local G4IKZ (18km) and LZ1OI (2153km) so far only.

I am also on 6m WSPR but no spots given or received yet on that band.

UPDATE 1232z:   So far on 10m, I am being spotted by European stations only (OH, LA, UR, LZ local G).  On 6m, no spots at all so far but I hear there is possibly some 6m Es?

Soon QRT on 10m and 6m WSPR

As the DX spots seem to have vanished on 10m WSPR for a couple of hours now and nothing has been seen on 6m WSPR since lunch, I shall go QRT quite soon on both bands.

I'll give them both a couple of hours though just in case, so I'll turn off WSPR at 2100z most probably, unless either band shows signs of life.

UPDATE 2015z:  G6AVK (78km) reappeared on 6m at 1930z. We have again exchanged WSPR spots. No other stations seen on the band though. Some GDX out to about 200km should be "spotable" with tropo or aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 2110z:   Now QRT on all bands.

USA - 10m WSPR spots today

As usual, 10m opened again to the USA this afternoon. The first USA spot of my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon was by WB1FIG (5304km) at 1300z.

The openings do seem to be getting shorter now. Plenty of USA stations spotting me again on 10m WSPR. 500mW is quite enough on most occasions.

UPDATE 1720z:  At the moment, the last USA station to spot me was WG2Z (5600km) at 1634z.

UPDATE 1830z:  No further spots on 10m WSPR since 1634z.

Sunspots and 10m

Sunspot number is 111 today but 10m propagation is "fair". I never understand the forecasts! I have already been copied in Australia many times today running 500mW on 10m WSPR. It often seems the best 10m conditions occur when 10m is forecast to be "fair" rather than "good". Don't ask me why! 10m is a band filled with surprises.