Today I have deleted 2 comments as SPAM. An AM transmitter on 6.925MHz is not amateur radio. It is pirate radio and I do not support pirates.
All SPAM detected will be removed. Please do not waste your time or mine posting SPAM to any of my blogs. As soon as I spot them the comments and links will be deleted.
UPDATE 26.3.15 1000z: Noting G1KQH's comment maybe I need a photo of a tin of SPAM here?
25 Mar 2015
No 10m WSPR spots from the USA today?
Despite the sunspot count being high today at 127 I have received not a single spot from the USA of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon today. There is little doubt that conditions are on the change. In past months a sunspot number of 127 would have almost guaranteed USA spots. No longer.
Overall, just a "fair" day on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 1820z: Guess who spoke too soon? Starting at 1708z, a few USA stations have been spotting me. I guess when conditions are marginal the openings are shorter in duration and will start much later. At least the 10m band did open to the USA, just.
UPDATE 2010z: The opening on 10m to the USA seems to have ended with K4RCG (5995km) being the last to spot me at 1918z.
UPDATE 2115z: So I was totally wrong again! K9AN (5995km) and others in the USA are still spotting my 500mW WSPR on 10m. This USA 10m opening was late starting, but it is not over yet!
UPDATE 2145z: KT5W (6314km) was spotting me still at 2132z. I wonder if this will be the last from the USA today?
UPDATE 2215z: No further USA spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon since 2132z. I think the opening has ended, although I'll leave the beacon running as I have been wrong twice this evening!
Overall, just a "fair" day on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 1820z: Guess who spoke too soon? Starting at 1708z, a few USA stations have been spotting me. I guess when conditions are marginal the openings are shorter in duration and will start much later. At least the 10m band did open to the USA, just.
UPDATE 2010z: The opening on 10m to the USA seems to have ended with K4RCG (5995km) being the last to spot me at 1918z.
UPDATE 2115z: So I was totally wrong again! K9AN (5995km) and others in the USA are still spotting my 500mW WSPR on 10m. This USA 10m opening was late starting, but it is not over yet!
UPDATE 2145z: KT5W (6314km) was spotting me still at 2132z. I wonder if this will be the last from the USA today?
UPDATE 2215z: No further USA spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon since 2132z. I think the opening has ended, although I'll leave the beacon running as I have been wrong twice this evening!
Sunspots and 10m propagation - March 25th 2015
Today is "Lady Day" March 25th 2015. I remember, as a child, we moved to a new town and home on Lady Day 1959. I think Lady Day was linked to the old Liturgical Calendar and to legal matters.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Day .
Sunspot number is very good at 127 but 10m propagation is only forecast to be "fair". Already (since 0822z) my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon is being spotted in the Canary Is. by EA/LA3JJ (I think he should be signing EA8/LA3JJ) and by UR/SWL56 and by local G4IKZ.
UPDATE 1155z: I see I have now been spotted by EA8BVP (2986km). No other what I'd call "real" DX.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Day .
Sunspot number is very good at 127 but 10m propagation is only forecast to be "fair". Already (since 0822z) my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon is being spotted in the Canary Is. by EA/LA3JJ (I think he should be signing EA8/LA3JJ) and by UR/SWL56 and by local G4IKZ.
UPDATE 1155z: I see I have now been spotted by EA8BVP (2986km). No other what I'd call "real" DX.
24 Mar 2015
10m USA spots
As mentioned in an earlier post, today has been good to the USA on 10m despite only "fair" predictions.
UPDATE 1942z: Still plenty of USA spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon coming in on 10m. This opening is still going on.
UPDATE 2022z: KB9AMG (6300km) still spotting me on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 2204z: KT5W (6314km) was the last USA station to spot me on 10m WSPR at 2104z. At an hour ago, I think this will be the last USA spot today. Since then, just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.
UPDATE 1942z: Still plenty of USA spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon coming in on 10m. This opening is still going on.
UPDATE 2022z: KB9AMG (6300km) still spotting me on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 2204z: KT5W (6314km) was the last USA station to spot me on 10m WSPR at 2104z. At an hour ago, I think this will be the last USA spot today. Since then, just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.
Internet time server and 472kHz WSPR
The program atomic.exe seems to be doing a decent job of keeping my PC to time. Currently it re-syncs to internet time every 5 minutes, which is probably far more often than is needed. I know that my timing drifted out after 12 hours, so once an hour is probably often enough. I shall have to alter settings and experiment.
No great surprises on the 472kHz WSPR band today with stations who have spotted me before, or that I have spotted before, in the log.
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| 472kHz WSPR spots today so far |
Sunspots and 10m propagation - March 24th 2015
Sunspot number has again risen strongly. Today, it stands at 119. 10m propagation is expected to be only "fair".
UPDATE 1334z: So far, a couple of USA stations have copied my 10m, 500mW WSPR beacon. The first were KT5W (6314km) at 1312z and WB8ELK/01 (6872km) at 1314z. At least 10m has opened to the USA today. I was beginning to think these openings had ended.
UPDATE 1340z: So far, 5 different USA stations have spotted me on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 1430z: So far, 9 different USA stations have now spotted my 500mW on 10m WSPR. This opening is much better than I was expecting.
UPDATE 1708z: 15 unique USA stations spotting my 10m 500mW WSPR. A good 10m opening.
UPDATE 1334z: So far, a couple of USA stations have copied my 10m, 500mW WSPR beacon. The first were KT5W (6314km) at 1312z and WB8ELK/01 (6872km) at 1314z. At least 10m has opened to the USA today. I was beginning to think these openings had ended.
UPDATE 1340z: So far, 5 different USA stations have spotted me on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 1430z: So far, 9 different USA stations have now spotted my 500mW on 10m WSPR. This opening is much better than I was expecting.
UPDATE 1708z: 15 unique USA stations spotting my 10m 500mW WSPR. A good 10m opening.
23 Mar 2015
Internet time servers
I noticed that, by default, my PC synced to internet time only once a week, far too long on an old PC. I have downloaded a package (atomic.exe) that allows you to program any chosen interval and hope now the PC clock will be very regularly updated to internet time. This is essential for WSPR. At the moment it is set to sync every 5 minutes, but once every few hours is probably frequent enough.
I used atomic.exe before on my previous PC for many years. It worked well. A virus scan showed no threats. For now I'll stick with this, although (see comments below) there may be better solutions when the internet may be down, but this is very rare. Virgin Media cable seems very reliable and very fast.
I used atomic.exe before on my previous PC for many years. It worked well. A virus scan showed no threats. For now I'll stick with this, although (see comments below) there may be better solutions when the internet may be down, but this is very rare. Virgin Media cable seems very reliable and very fast.
Last USA spot today
On this rather lack lustre day on 10m WSPR it looks like W1VR (6965km) was the last to spot me at 1746z this evening. Only a couple of unique USA stations spotted me all afternoon.
472kHz WSPR
Spots received from 10 unique stations in the last 24 hours on 472kHz WSPR with best DX 306km. As far as I can see,these are stations that have spotted me before. I am still using the earth-electrode "antenna".
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| Unique 472kHz WSPR spots of my 5mW ERP in last 24 hours |
Sunspots and 10m - Monday March 23rd 2015
Sunspot number has risen to 88 and 10m propagation is expected to be "fair" today. The band did open to the USA after lunch with a couple of stations in the USA spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. W1VR (6965km) at 1446z was the first. With just a couple of stations spotting me this hardly a big opening!
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