Who do you believe? - NOT amateur radio

With all wars it is hard to get real facts not propaganda. I am unsure what I believe. The BBC reported that a senior IS leader had been killed. Is this fact or are we being fed propaganda?

Sunspots and 10m - June 15th 2015

Sunspot number remains pretty good at 117 (K=2) and 10m is again expected to remain "fair".

Sunspots and 10m - Sun June 14th 2015

Sunspot number is 129 today (K=1) and 10m is "fair" again.

10m - my best band of all

10m has always been my best band. I have lost count of the DXCC totals with QRP SSB. Chasing countries has never been a real activity of mine, although I still get a "kick" from working a new country.

At sunspot peaks it supports world-wide DX with QRP and simple wire antennas. Even in the quiet solar years there is often some DX to be found and usually late April to September there is sporadic-E (Es) to be found with good signals over ranges up to around 1500km and sometimes further. These are for the northern hemisphere.  There tends to be a smaller Es peak around December/January.  It is the reverse in the southern hemisphere. It is quite normal to hear USA stations by Es in the summertime, but usually openings are not for long.

If 10m is quiet it is worth checking CB frequencies (11m) as a "band open" sign. Often CB can be busy when 10m is quiet due to lack of activity.  Thanks to Steve VE7SL for this good advice.

At night and in the quiet years it is an ideal band for local nets on FM or AM. At 1.7MHz wide it is big band so all modes can be supported.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10m_op .

Sunspots and 10m - June 13th 2015

Sunspot number has dipped below 100 and currently stands at 96 (K=2). 10m propagation is expected to be "fair". I have disconnected the antennas and PC (6m and 10m) as there is a risk of storms. Pretty sure  I can hear distant thunder. Currently it is drizzling outside.  Es may liven things up on both 10m and 6m.

At the moment, this peak is slow to go and I am pretty sure conditions on the higher HF bands will still be pretty good this autumn and winter. Numbers have dropped a bit on average, but not too far yet.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

Missing the bad storms tonight?

According to the latest BBC weather for our region, we should again miss the thunder and lightning here overnight with the storms tracking east of us and on into the North Sea. I will leave my 10m and 6m beacons running overnight but will probably go QRT at breakfast time.

See http://www.blitzortung.org/Webpages/index.php?lang=en&page_0=12 .

10m and 6m Es and F2

EA8BVP (2986km) was spotting me a few times (presumably single hop F2) and there was also some Es around mid afternoon, on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 1656z:  I see that DL1KAI (645km) was spotted on 6m WSPR about 30 minutes ago via Es. Otherwise just Gs on 6m WSPR.

UPDATE 1935z:  WSPR spots exchanged with OH7AZL (2000km) on 6m about a hour ago.

UPDATE 2000z:  Spotted by OH3LMN (1747km) a few minutes ago on 6m WSPR at a decent -17dB S/N.  Sadly no activity from Japan.

UPDATE 2140z:  EA8BVP (2986km) has spotted my 500mW 64 times already today on 10m WSPR.

DXing with crystal sets

Yes, it is possible to hear a long way on a crystal set. The equipment needed can be extremely simple too.  What is needed are a good pair of ears and sensitive headphones.   My ears are getting old and if I can hear this DX then younger ears certainly can. I have found a low cost very high impedance crystal earpiece worked well. You may have better headphones?

Copying amateurs, most of whom use SSB, is more difficult. Remember, a simple crystal set is only able to envelope detect, although in the USA 75m AM signals are regularly copied at great range. Some SSB signals on 10m Es should be strong enough to envelope detect. Based on my tests, if stronger than 500uV to 1mV the signals should be copyable. Quite a few signals can be this strong.

See  https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/crystalset .

Sunspots and 10m - June 12th 2015

Sunspot number has dropped marginally to 101 (K=1) and 10m propagation is again expected to be "fair". The main hope on 10m is some Es to liven things up a bit.

UPDATE 1007z:  So far just G spots on 10m WSPR.

6m magic

Until I went QRT last evening (thunderstorm risk) most spots were G stations.

Then, out of the blue, at 2120z last night a spot from 4X1RF (3519km) in Israel of my 1W ERP 6m WSPR signal. No Es around indicating multi-hop Es. In fact I am convinced this is not multi-hop Es. He has now spotted me on 3 different days this summer and many times last summer on 6m WSPR. No, if this is Es then it is some other mechanism. These spots occur often and there is no evidence of Es at closer (intermediate) range.