6m update

As of now (1100z) only Gs being spotted, or spotting me, on 6m WSPR. Still hopeful of catching some 6m Es later.  Best DX currently is G8EPQ (77km) who has been spotted and has spotted me several times. G4KPX (14km) has been spotting me well.

UPDATE 1135z:   G4AYT (114km) in Kent is currently the best 6m DX spot of me today. He spotted me at 1118z and again a little later.In the past be has spotted my QRSS3 on 136kHz too from the old QTH I seem to recall. Not sure of his QTH but it is either in or near Whitstable, which is not too far from my son who lives and works in Sturry, near Canterbury.   No 6m Es seen here yet. 

UPDATE 1750z:  Still no 6m Es today, but G4IOG (106km) is a new G reporter I believe.

Sunspots and 10m - May 17th 2015

Sunspot number is 103 (K=2) and 10m propagation is expected to be "fair" today.  I was surprised that 10m briefly opened to the USA last evening, but this is where WSPR proves its worth catching very brief openings.
 
UPDATE 1055z:  10m Es in evidence with spots this morning from CT, SM and EA.  No DX outside of Europe seen on 10m so far today.

UPDATE 1815z:   Plenty of Es around and lots of spots by EA8BVP (2986km) presumably by F2. He has spotted  me 21 times today far. The K index has dropped to 1 and I am hopeful of a brief USA 10m opening later this evening.  We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, I am also on 6m WSPR hoping for some Es outside Europe.

10m USA spots again this evening

Quite late this evening 10m opened to the USA. W1VR (6985km) was the first to spot my 500mW WSPR at 2112z followed by others. This is the first time in several days that I have been spotted in the USA on 10m. I think this was F2 rather than Es.

I am still looking for those elusive 6m WSPR openings to the USA. As yet, I have not seen any sign of transatlantic 6m DX on WSPR.

Ferrite rod transmitting antennas?

OK, I only tried this with WSPR and with low power, but at my old QTH I had a good deal of success using a small ferrite rod as a TX antenna on some HF bands. As long as the ferrite is not in saturation there is no good reason why it should not work. Most problems will occur if the antenna is driven with too much power.

See the link for more details. I have no idea about this ferrite rod's properties but I think it was a fairly standard piece of ferrite rod and nothing too special at all.

Since being in hospital for 3.5 months and moving QTH I have not been able to find the ferrite rod to repeat the tests. My wife moved most of my stuff and it is probably deep in a box somewhere! At some point I guess it will just turn up.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/ferrite_tx .

6m WSPR - quiet so far

On 6m, no evidence here yet of any Es or F2 DX.  G4BRK (134km), G4NRG (58km) and G8EPQ (77km) in the logs this morning.  Early in the morning still, so plenty of time to catch those fleeting Es openings on 6m WSPR.

UPDATE 1604z:   6m Es seen today with spots from CT and DL, although I would class the Es openings as "modest" affairs.  Certainly, the band has not been wide open here.

UPDATE 1650z:   No further 6m Es seen, so far. Maybe later?

Sunspots and 10m - May 16th 2015

Sunspot number has declined to 113 today and 10m is expected to be "fair". K=2.  Es is likely to liven up the band.

EA8BVP on 10m today - early spots

EA8BVP (2986km) was spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon very early today with the first spots received when still in bed before breakfast.

UPDATE 0948z:  Evidence of 10m Es with reports from France and Italy.

6m - a good day

Today was the best day on the band this year here with some excellent spots of my 1W ERP.   So far, apart from 4X1RF, no spots yet received from outside Europe. Last Es season I was regularly seeing spots from CN8LI and others in North Africa.

For the first time this year I was copied further away on 6m than on 10m.

Unique 6m WSPR spots (arranged by distance) today.

Magnetic Loops on HF

10m band loop

A magnetic loop can be a very effective HF antenna, especially when the very sharp tuning is not an issue. They can be very efficient but there is a trade between bandwidth and efficiency. They are ideal for modes that do not need frequent retuning such as PSK31, JT65 or WSPR. Ideally the inductor should be made of copper pipe or thick coax and the capacitors need to be low loss and high voltage types. Tuning is usually very sharp. Having said all this. quite decent results have been obtained with loops made of quite thin wire.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/magloop .

6m WSPR - real VHF DX

4X1RF (3519km) has spotted my 1W ERP on 6m VHF WSPR already 6 times this morning by 0914z. This is my best DX so far on 6m this season. Probably Es?  There was plenty of European Es about on 6m WSPR very early, but this just possibly could be single hop F2? It is a long way for Es and 4X1RF often spotted me on 6m last summer. Multi-hop Es is the likely propagation although I am surprised no intermediate range stations were spotted.

6m VHF WSPR spots of my 1W ERP by 4X1RF early today

UPDATE 1148z:  As well as G stations this morning I see I have been spotted on 6m WSPR by OH1KK (1848km) and EA4ETR (1325km) both I assume via Es. Funny how both of these would be "real DX" but are nothing compared with the spots from Israel earlier.