All quiet (again) on 10m WSPR, pretty quiet on 6m WSPR

Although I have been getting decent reports on 10m from local G4KPX (14km) all day, not a single DX report has been received so far today. No G stations even at any range! Low WSPR activity levels on 10m do not help. Perhaps conditions were to disturbed, although I find this unlikely.

On 6m WSPR I have spotted a couple of G stations: G0LUJ (278km) and M0ICR (90km), but no-one has copied my 1W ERP vertical today on 6m WSPR.

Where is the IC7300?

Today, through the post, I got my November 2015 copy of Practical Wireless. Suspiciously I could find no pictures or mention of the ICOM IC7300 transceiver in any advert at all. It is almost as if all the dealers have been told in no uncertain terms to sell the current products and, on pain of death, do not under any circumstances mention the IC7300. I am not saying this as fact, but it is all rather odd. A month ago everyone was full of the news and products were expected to ship by the year end. Perhaps ICOM have had second thoughts or were losing sales of current products?

There were plenty of adverts for the Yaesu FT991, although even the best published prices have since been bettered. No, I am very suspicious about why there is no mention of the IC7300. Just one dealer OK, this I could believe, but all of them tight-lipped???

ICOM what is behind this? Is there a story we are not being told?

Sunspots and 10m - Sat Oct 3rd 2015

Sunspot number has fallen again and is 58 today.  K=4 so conditions are quite disturbed. 10m propagation is expected to be "poor" and I am not exactly hopeful of decent 10m results today. We will see!

So far just spots from local G4KPX (14km) on 10m. As yet, nothing at all to report on 6m WSPR.  #

2m/70cm conditions were marginally up earlier when we had some early morning fog. I usually look for GB3VHF and beacons in Holland and Belgium. GB3LEU on 70cm is also audible. I use a 2m big-wheel horizontal omni antenna with RG213 feeder on both 2m and 70cm. The big-wheel seems to work well on 70cm. I hope to be active in the 2m UKAC session on Tuesday evening for as long as my voice holds out.

QSYed to 472kHz (630m) MF

About a minute ago I QSYed from 6m to 630m (RX only). 6m is rarely good at night but, especially with the preamp, MF is quite productive in the evening and overnight. First spot was of DF6NM (824km) at -20dB S/N.

472kHz (630m) WSPR RX so far this evening

UPDATE 2021z:  DF6NM has already been spotted a couple of times followed by F1AFJ (607km), followed by DJ0ABR (983km). I wonder if this evening and night will see any new stations spotted?

More UK Rallies

I  have been notified of the following upcoming UK rallies:

Sunday 4 OCTOBER : BRITISH VINTAGE WIRELESS SOCIETY AUTO JUMBLE
The Angel Leisure Centre, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1SF. OT 10.30am to 4.30pm. Stalls £30, admission £5, early admission from 9.30am £10. Bookings/enquiries 01892 540 022 (8pm to 9pm only). www.audiojumble.co.uk.

Sunday 4 OCTOBER:  BLACKWOOD ARS RALLY
Rougemount School, Newport NP20 8QB. TI 145.550MHz, CP free, OT 10am, TS, CBS, B&B, SIG, C, LEC. Andy, 01495 220 687, andy@mw0mwz.co.uk.

Sunday 4 OCTOBER:  HORNSEA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB RALLY
Floral Hall, 7 The Esplanade, Hornsea, East Yorks HU18 1NQ. OT 10am, CP, TS, B&B, SIG, RSGB, RAFARS, LB, C, DF, WIN. Details from Rick, M0CZR, 01964 533 712, R106221@aol.com. www.hornseaarc.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Best 6m inter-G DX

G3XHB (271km) in IO94 square was spotted on 6m WSPR this afternoon. He is using 5W and a 6m beam, which I assume is horizontal. I think this was tropo and aircraft. This is my best inter-G DX spot on 6m WSPR. His QTH is Richmond on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

So far, 10m WSPR has been remarkably quiet with my little 500mW 10m WSPR beacon being spotted by no-one so far this afternoon. It was so quiet that I did a resync and had to check it was working OK. It was.

UPDATE 1745z:   M0ICR (90km) was spotted on 6m WSPR this afternoon. Judging by the Doppler, I think this was tropo and aircraft reflection.

Late late swallows - NOT amateur radio

A surprise today was seeing 2 late (for this part of the world) swallows at Little Walsingham. I was not expecting these at all. I am pretty sure this is the latest I have ever seen these in East Anglia (Oct 2nd). They were probably a late brood and no doubt our settled warm weather is leading to some confusion! A few sharp frosts will soon trigger them to get a move on and head south on their long migration.

Sunspots and 10m - Oct 2nd 2015

Sunspot number in 73 (K=3) today and 10m propagation is expected to be "poor" today. I see that the trans-Pacific path from the USA to Australia was open on 10m yesterday. Some of these spots were 16000km plus.  It remains to be seen what DX is possible on 10m from here today.

UPDATE 1932z:  Still no spots received at all on 10m WSPR. I shall leave 10m running until later this evening, but will probably move from 6m to 630m RX only this evening and overnight.

Away

Sorry there were no posts yesterday, but we were away for a couple of nights at Little Walsingham in Norfolk. Back today and I have been on WSPR on 10m and 6m since about 1215z.

Little Walsingham is a delightful Norfolk village a few miles south of the North Norfolk coast. Little Walsingham is well known for its shrines which are a focus for pilgrimages.

There are a few shops in the village selling what can best be described as "religious tat": over-priced rubbish probably made by slaves in China. If you want kitsch these shops are the place. Most of the village though is quaint old houses and lovely.

Early spot on 10m WSPR from Reunion Is

It is only 1048z and already my little 10m 500mW WSPR beacon has been spotted in Europe, Asia and Africa . Conditions on 10m are the best I have seen them this autumn season so far.