10m - single hop F2 only? Es season coming.

At the moment, it looks like all my 10m reports are from 1-hop F2 propagation e.g. 4X1RF and EA8/LA3JJ. Next month onwards we should see the start of the Es season with plentiful short skip on 10m and 6m into Europe, and occasionally much further. In previous years I have heard (and even rarely worked) some really choice DX with real QRP on 6m. My best 6m DX ever was a W on 6m CW when my ERP was about 1W. This was back in 2007.

This spring and summer I intend to run WSPR on 6m whenever I cannot be on SSB or CW. Last summer, the 6m WSPR activity was low, so I hope this season will be better. JT65 and JT9 are more popular but really need me to be in the shack. With WSPR I can monitor on another PC in a different room, or even when in the garden.

Local 2m FM net

Most Mondays, a group of us in Cambridge and East Cambridgeshire meet for a net on 144.575MHz FM. We started as an AM net on 144.55MHz but had to QSY as one net member had no AM.

Although my voice is still very poor, I try to come on most Mondays but I prefer to listen more than talk. The net is open and we welcome newcomers. Some Mondays there is no-one around, but that is the exception. Usually there are about 3-5 of us on. Note 144.575MHz FM, not 145.575MHz. 8pm local time Mondays.

UPDATE 2035z:  Only 2 of us this evening G3KKD and G3XBM.

EA8/LA3JJ on 10m WSPR and no USA spots?

EA8/LA3JJ (2870km) has been spotting my 500mW 10m beacon nearly all morning. This counts as Africa, so my little WSPR beacon has been copied in 4 continents this morning.

UPDATE 1350z:  No USA spots, as yet, on 10m. It does seem as if the big, long USA 10m openings can no longer be guaranteed. It may open later - we'll see.

UPDATE 1355z:   EA8/LA3JJ has spotted my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon no less than 44 times today so far.

UPDATE 1500z:    Still no sign of spots from the USA today on 10m. If there are going to be any,  they will be very late, although I have the feeling that my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon will not be spotted in the USA today at all.

UPDATE 1615z:   Still no spots at all from the USA but EA8/LA3JJ has spotted my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon 95 times so far today.

UPDATE 1719z:   Still not a single spot from the USA, so it is now most unlikely I'll get any.  EA8/LA3JJ has now spotted me 120 times today! Propagation is fine in his direction.

UPDATE 1752z:   132 spots, so far, today from EA8/LA3JJ and very recently a couple of USA spots. Odd conditions?

UPDATE 2045z:  In the end 167 spots received from EA8/LA3JJ today.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday March 16th 2015

Sunspot number today is 54 and 10m propagation is expected to be "fair". Already I am having my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon spotted on the edges of Europe and near Asia, but conditions don't, as yet, look to be anything other than ordinary - certainly no superb DX on offer.

Scarce 10m USA WSPR spots today

Although the 10m band has opened to the USA again today, the  number of stations spotting me is very small. I think 10m conditions E-W across the Atlantic have been very poor today.

UPDATE 1700z:  It is very noticeable just how few USA stations are spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon today. On better days, there is an almost continuous flow of reports all afternoon and evening. The last USA report today was at 1612z.

UPDATE 1948z:  N1SQ (6251km) was the last USA station to spot my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon at 1856z.

UPDATE 2034z:   Now QRT on 10m.

Concert in Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

This is advanced publicity for my wife's concert in Cambridge, UK in April. The West  Road Concert Hall is an excellent venue with superb acoustics, good seating, warmth, comfort and local parking.  If you can make it, it should be a good evening.

Sunspots and 10m propagation Sun Mar 15th 2015

Sunspot number is moderate at 56 but 10m is currently forecast to be "poor".

Despite the poor predictions for 10m, my tiny 500mW WSPR beacon has been widely spotted:  4X1RF, LZ1OI, 5B4AHL, 9H1US, G4IKZ and best DX this morning  3B8CW (9751km) at 1054z. Not a bad list for a morning with "poor" 10m conditions! Surprisingly often, days when 10m is supposed to be "fair" or "poor" I have my little 500mW WSPR beacon copied all over the place. Never ever take 10m for granted.

472kHz WSPR DX this evening

I see that both EI0CF (602km) and F59706 (560km) have spotted me this evening on 472kHz. I am still using 5mW ERP and the earth-electrode "antenna".

On 10m I turned off the beacon some while ago as I was only being spotted by G stations.

In the last 2 weeks I have been spotted by 27 unique stations on 472kHz WSPR.

UPDATE 2130z:  EI0CF (602km) has spotted me 4 times this evening so far on 472kHz WSPR.

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.