USA again on 40m WSPR this morning

After the Canadian spot last evening, I was spotted in the USA a couple of times around breakfast time this morning on 40m WSPR with the low antenna. I'll stay on 40m WSPR a little longer, then move up to 10m WSPR for the rest of the day.

QSYed to 40m WSPR

After a very successful day on 10mWSPR, I have now moved to 40mWSPR overnight until tomorrow morning. As yet, there are no spots either given or received.

UPDATE 2150z:  Luckily I noticed that the "Enable transmit" was not on. It is now enabled. As yet, it has not gone on to TX.

UPDATE 2235z:   My first 40m WSPR spot was by VE2DPF (5260km) at 2222z.

Aldi - NOT amateur radio

For a long time, fellow blogger Steve G1KQH and my relatives have been urging me to shop at Aldi's. Sadly, our nearest Aldi's is in Ely, which is a fair bit further by car than our nearest Waitrose or Tesco. I have noticed that prices for a weekly shop seem to have gone up by around 20% at Waitrose when groceries and food generally have had negative inflation. As we were going to Ely anyway this afternoon, we called in at Aldi's to do a basic shop. For branded items you do indeed pay far less than at Waitrose. Either Aldi has very low margins or Waitrose is creaming off the profits. Either way, we'll go to Aldi's again when in Ely.  I like Waitrose as a shop, but do not like being ripped off.

10m is in good shape today - use it!

EA8/DL9XJ (2981km) has been spotted several times this morning on 10m WSPR along with Australia, Belgium and the  UK. I have been spotted in Australia, Israel and the UK on 10m WSPR a few times today too.  It looks like 10m is in quite a good mood!

A year from now it is likely to be a lot harder as the solar activity drops off. As I have said many times, even in the quietest years, N-S propagation supports QRP SSB contacts at times and Es is good at the right times of year irrespective of the sunspot cycle.

I am a great believer in WSPR (have you guessed?) and regular WSPR use of 10m will reveal the openings which otherwise would be missed.

UPDATE 1620z:  Several different USA stations spotted this afternoon on 10m WSPR here and KD6RF (7571km) has spotted me. The band is in good shape still.

Elecraft KX3

There is no doubt that the very best radio for QRPers is the Elecraft KX3. In the UK this is not low cost as VAT and duty are both payable if importing from the USA. One UK dealer sells either kits or ready made units. For the price of the KX3 you can buy a couple of Yaesu FT817ND radios covering more bands. The KX3 is the better radio. I guess one has to save up if one wants the Elecraft.

http://www.elecraft.com/KX3/KX3_small1.jpg

This image is located on the Elecraft site and not on this blog. It will be removed if having the link is a problem.

See http://www.elecraft.com/KX3/kx3.htm .

Sunspots and 10m - Sun Feb 7th 2016

Solar flux is 118 (good) and sunspot number a respectable 71 (K=1).  10m propagation is forecast to be "poor" today.  Despite this "poor" forecast, my 2W 10m WSPR has already been spotted in Australia more than once and Israel.

I cannot tell you how often I have been spotted on the other side of the planet on 10m WSPR when the 10m forecast is "poor". Just go on 10m WSPR, regardless of the forecasts, as they are often no guide!  10m is still good - it just lacks activity: some think it is no good and go to lower frequencies. As WSPR proves, 10m propagation is still good. Like 6m, 10m is a magic band and you can never be sure.

10m WSPR

As of about 1056z,  I closed down on 40m and have moved to 10m WSPR. It takes a few minutes for things to settle. On 10m, the cycle is as 40m i.e. 2W TX for 20%, followed by RX for 80%.

UPDATE 1112z: VK2KRR (16789km) has already been spotted and spots exchanged with FR1GZ (9724km) both ways. I have also been spotted in Brazil. A very good start on 10m WSPR today.

UPDATE 1138z: 4X1RF (3519km) has also spotted me. Local G4KPX (14km) was spotted with -4Hz drift at 1124z. I was too late getting into the shack to check the WSPR-X screen, but this must be due to aircraft coming into or leaving Lakenheath or Mildenhall. Normally Richard shows no Doppler.  With aircraft reflections you often see multiple traces with different Doppler shifts. WSPR decodes the trace with least Doppler or fails to decode if it gets confused, even if the traces are strong.

10m WSPR spots to 1150z today

Conditions on 10m are excellent today. I think USA 10m WSPR spots are a near certainty this afternoon.

UPDATE 1810z:  Surprisingly, not a single USA spot today on 10m WSPR.  Lots of spots of G4KPX (14km) with large Doppler shifts by aircraft movements in the Ely-Burwell area.

UPDATE 1425z: G4KPX (14km) was spotted not long ago with a huge Doppler shifted second signal as strong as the direct signal. The Doppler shift was about 20Hz or more. I think the direct signal decoded. No USA 10m WSPR spots yet.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat Feb 6th 2016

Solar flux is 122 (good) and sunspot number 113 (very good). K=2 which is also quite good. 10m propagation today is forecast to be "fair" again, so we could be in for a decent day on 10m WSPR.

Spotted in Australia on 40m

VK3WE (17019km) spotted my 40m WSPR at 0830z this morning. This was very pleasing considering the antenna is very poor and low on 40m. The actual ERP must be very low on this band. I was pleased with this and the USA 40m WSPR spots. Shortly, I shall QSY to 10m WSPR.

Budding artist? - NOT amateur radio

The Santa Maria by our grandson, aged 6.

For a 6 year old I think our little grandson has REAL artistic talent. This is ALL his own work. We have seen him do similar and he totally switches off when doing this sort of painting or drawing. I think he could earn a living from his artwork when a grown-up. He loves drawing money!