Another UK Rally

I've been notified of the following UK rally this weekend:

Saturday 21 NOVEMBER : ROCHDALE & DISTRICT ARS TRADITIONAL RADIO RALLY
St Vincent de Paul's, Caldershaw Rd, off Edenfield Rd (A680), Norden, Rochdale OL12 6BU. OT 10.15/10.30, £2.50 (concessions U12 & seniors), TI S22, C. Pitches £5. Dave, G0PUD, 0161 285 1600, dave.shaw1@sky.com. www.radars.me.uk.

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

Back on 10m and 6m WSPR

As the previous post showed, I am back on 10m and 6m WSPR. I went QRT on 630m (472kHz) around breakfast time. G8HUH (250km) was copied on 472kHz WSPR at 0830z a few minutes before closing. This path was in daylight.

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Nov 19th 2015

Sunspot number is 36 today and K=2. Solar flux is 107 but the forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor".

UPDATE 1020z:  Just Russian and Sweden spotting me on 10m WSPR and no spots given or received yet on 6m.

Getting fun from amateur radio

My current operating is almost exclusively WSPR. I go on the 8pm East Cambs net on 144.575MHz FM on Mondays and Tuesday UKAC contests (especially on 2m)  but my voice struggles. I tend to go on MF WSPR at night and 10m and 6m WSPR during the day.

On all bands I do not use very good antennas. I quite like the way I operate: it is a "low intensity, low cost" way of enjoying the hobby. I miss my field work but I am just too wobbly still.

QSYed to 472kHz

I have now gone QRT on 10m and 6m and am active on 630m (472kHz) WSPR instead for the evening and overnight.  As for last night, I am on 472kHz WSPR TX 20% 5mW ERP and RX 80% without preamp. I am still using the earth-electrode "antenna".

Early evening 472kHz WSPR

So far G4KPX (14km) has spotted me several times, M0LMH (223km) has spotted me once, PA7EY (306km) has spotted me once but I have copied no-one yet. It is nice to be copied by 3 different stations before 1900z.

UPDATE 1855z:  DH5RAE (995km) has just been spotted.

10m USA WSPR spots

KK1D (5455km) was the first station in the USA to spot my 10m WSPR beacon at 1420z.

Australia (again) on 10m WSPR

As well as spots from Brazil and Russia there are spots from 2 different VKs this morning of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. As expected, today is another good 10m day, despite the 10m forecast being "poor".

472kHz - an analysis of EA5DOM with and without RX preamp

The night before last EA5DOM (1525km) was copied 45 times on 472kHz with the preamp in circuit, so the FT817 was at maximum sensitivity. My best report of him was -16dB S/N.

Last night he was copied again but without the preamp. Last night I copied him 35 times with a best sensitivity of -19dB S/N.

Although conditions may have been different, I think the 472kHz preamp is worth having. It allows signals too weak to copy to be successfully decoded. Incidentally, EA5DOM was copied as late as 0740z today at -26dB S/N without the preamp on 472kHz WSPR.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Nov 18th 2015

Solar flux is 106, which is quite good still. Sunspot number is 33 (K=2) and the forecast for 10m remains "poor". Since turning on the 10m WSPR beacon before breakfast, no spots yet received. On 6m I have spotted G8VDQ (93km) twice but nothing else as yet.

With relatively undisturbed 10m conditions it would not surprise me if this turns out to be another quite decent day on the band.

QSYed to 472kHz WSPR (TX and RX)

472kHz station. Transverter is box with yellow LED on top shelf.

Both my 6m and 10m WSPR stations have been closed down for the evening and night and I am active again on 630m (472kHz) both TX (5mW ERP) 20% and RX 80% without the preamp. Note the strong trace on the PC from DK7FC (669km) at -16dB S/N at 1920z shortly after turning things on.  Still using my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I match my transverter to the earth-electrodes with a 42mm diameter step-up 3C90 toroid. This is located to the RHS of the transverter. Also visible is the current meter from which ERP is calculated. At the old QTH this matching transformer was not needed. Here, at the bungalow, the soil/rocks must be different. The earth-electrode spacing is also quite a bit less here. Who said 472kHz has to be complicated? Mine is a simple station, including the "antenna" which isn't!

UPDATE 2200z: The  best DX reports of my 5mW ERP are from Holland PA3ABK and PA7EY (both 306km). On receive the best DX is (again) EA5DOM (1525km).