Sand martins - NOT amateur radio

Spring has (almost) sprung! There have now been several sightings of 20+ sand martins in South Devon. These are among the first of the migrants to return. They are the smallest hirundine.

Sand martins have dark brown upper parts and they winter in Africa.  In recent years sand martin numbers have plummeted and they are now on the RSPB's "amber" list.  There are estimated to be 54,000-174,000 nests in the UK. This sounds a lot, but numbers are dropping because of droughts on their migration routes in some years.

Every year I remember my dad telling when he'd first seen them arrive.

By the month end we should have house martins and swallows back in Devon who will have flown 6000 miles to be here in the UK again. When the swallows return here in East Anglia you know all is still well with the world: they have been making this journey for many thousands , if not millions, of years. Most return to the very same nests they used last summer, if they can. I find the return of the martins, swallows and swifts a real joy. It makes me glad to be alive.

 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_martin .

10m USA WSPR spots today

The first USA station to receive my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon today was KZ8C (6290km) at 1302z.  At -17dB S/N this was a decent report for the power used.  At least 10m has opened across the Atlantic today.  I did think it might not have done so, although it has opened on most days now for many many months. The exceptions seem to have been when conditions were very disturbed. Even with low sunspot number, the 10m band has been OK across the North Atlantic, certainly for QRP WSPR.

UPDATE 1356z:  Quite a few different USA stations now spotting my 500mW 10m beacon. :

UPDATE 1912z:  The 10m opening to the USA is still in full swing.

UPDATE 2020z:  W3GXT (5840km) was the latest USA station to spot me at 2002z. Just local G4IKZ (18km) since then.

472kHz WSPR - the last 24 hours

In the last 24 hours (I stayed on overnight) the best report of my 5mW ERP WSPR signal from my earth-electrode "antenna" was by F59706 (560km) yesterday evening. 9 unique station reports received in the last 24 hours.

Unique spots of my 5mW ERP WSPR on 472kHz in last 24 hours

10m early F2

Despite the "fair" propagation forecast 4X1RF (3519km) was spotting me as early as 0824z this morning on 10m WSPR. It will be interesting to see who else spots my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon today.

UPDATE 0845z:   Just after 0830z and 4X1RF has spotted me 4 times already on 10m.

UPDATE 1010z:    So far, 8 spots of my 500mW beacon from 4X1RF (3519km) but no reports from any other DX station so far today on 10m.

UPDATE 1032z:  I see LZ1OI (2153km) and  RK3ABW (2429km) have spotted me a few times now. No 10m DX, as yet, from outside Europe or near Asia.

UPDATE 1354z:  So far today I have been spotted 29 times by 4X1RF.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat March 14th 2015

Today should be interesting on 10m as propagation is expected to be "fair" despite sunspot number being up to 87. I am sure the earlier forecasts were poorer.

472kHz WSPR this evening

I shall probably go QRT on 28MHz (10m) in the next 20 minutes as I think the USA 10m opening has now ended for the day.

On 472kHz WSPR my best spot this evening is from PE1RKT (285km) although I have received from further afield. My intention is to stay on 472kHz WSPR overnight, as long as the PC does not decide to install updates at around 0300z as it did this morning when I was on 20m!

40m Pixie now on 7.030MHz

Thanks to Andy Cutland, my 40m Pixie is now on 7.030MHz, the QRP frequency. Although I have not seriously tried for other than local QSOs, I shall do so. When fitter, my intention is to switch between two crystal frequencies to increase my chances of QSOs. As the TX and RX netting is perfect and BC breakthrough quite reasonable, sensitivity not bad,  QSOs at decent ranges are entirely possible.

USA 10m WSPR spots today

The first USA 10m WSPR spot today was from WB8ELK/01 (6872km) at 1342z.

UPDATE 1830z:   The 10m opening to North America is still in full swing.

UPDATE 1930z:  W8QYT (5798km) at the moment is the last USA station to spot my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon at 1912z. We'll see if any others spot me later. Somehow I doubt it.

UPDATE 2002z:  As if just to prove me wrong KB9AMG (6300km) has just spotted me at 1930z and again at 1932z!  K1OF (5500km) has now spotted me too as had WG2Z (5600km). This 10m stateside opening ihas not ended yet.

UPDATE 2056z:   K4BYN (6231km) has just spotted me. Opening still going strong.

UPDATE 2100z:  WB8ELK/01 (6872km) has just spotted me. I wonder if the end of the opening is near?

UPDATE 2115z:  Since 2056z all spots have been from G4IKZ (18km). I think the USA opening on 10m WSPR is now over.

UPDATE 2150z:   Just locals on 10m now for nearly an hour. QRT now on 10m WSPR.  A good day though.

500mW 10m WSPR spotted in VK today

The image below is on VK6XT's website and not on this blog. If copyright or any other issues exist it will be immediately removed.

http://vk6xt.com/communities/7/004/011/576/907//images/4586656359.jpg

VK6XT (14719km) in Western Australia has spotted my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon twice already this morning.  

4X1RF (3519km) and other "usual suspects" on the fringes of Europe are spotting me too on 10m WSPR.

At the moment, despite predictions of just "fair" 10m conditions, this is shaping up to be a very good day on 10m WSPR.  It surprises me how good 10m often is when the forecasts are "fair".

UPDATE 1630z:  It looks like VK6XT spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon 6 times today.This was pretty impressive considering my antenna is nothing special at all.

10m VK WSPR spots of my 500mW today

14MHz WSPR

Overnight, for a change, I decided to give 14MHz WSPR a go, although the PC decided to install updates at 0300z and turned off the computer! At breakfast I restarted everything. Stateside late at night and Europeans now.   Will go back on 10m shortly.

UPDATE 0951z:   Now back on 10m and 630m (472kHz)