Back on 10m WSPR

At about 0936z I resumed my 10m WSPR activity. It will take a few minutes before I am ready to give and receive spots.

Let us hope today is better than yesterday, which was dire here. At least the sun is shining, although this has nothing to do with Es!

There has been some work correlating some thunder activity with sprites and Es, but I don't know the details. Es is fascinating and there is still a lot to learn. May, June, July and August are the best Es months in the northern hemisphere with a much smaller peak December and January. Es can occur at any time though, to a lesser extent which is another good reason to use WSPR.

Years ago I remember getting into trouble with my mum and dad when I used the one domestic TV we had to hunt for Band 1 DXTV by Es.  In those days (1960s) you could see all over Europe on Band 1 TV in the summer months. On tropo I could always see the Band 3 819 line transmission (weakly) from Brittany. The antenna was totally in the wrong direction. On a 405 line TV (unmodified) there were 2 pictures side by side.

10m WSPR so far today

UPDATE 1142z:  Some Es on 10m WSPR. No F2 seen here.

UPDATE 1642z:  Much to my surprise, I exchanged spots with FR1GZ (9724km) this afternoon and spotted PU3WSF (10416km) this afternoon by F2.  I was not expecting F2 today.

Sunspots and 10m - Mon May 9th 2016

Solar flux is 83 today. Sunspot number is 42 (K=4) and the forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor".

I have yet to turn on my 10m WSPR. I shall probably use 2W TX on 10m and listen for others 80% of the time. Although F2 is very doubtful, Es is more likely on 10m today.

Declining swallow numbers - NOT amateur radio

See http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/swallow/population.aspx

Certainly over here in East Anglia there are fewer swallows about than previously.  They have appeared on sightings in Devon, but I have seen very few so far. Swifts seem to be plentiful. I think I have seen as many house martins as swallows and that is just a handful. The RSPB says swallow numbers have been declining since the 1970s. As a harbinger of summer, I hope this is just a blip. Certainly we had a mild, wet winter but spring was late.

Gs only on 10m and 6m WSPR

On 6m WSPR I have been spotted by G4MLA (53km) and on 10m WSPR just G0LRD (25km) spotting me. No F2 DX and no Es here all day on 10m and 6m.

New rigs?

At the moment I am happy with the rigs I have, so I can wait to replace rigs.

At the moment the IC7300 looks a favourite over the FT991, but a decent FT817 replacement at the right price might fit the bill. All decisions on future investments are predicated on the price being right. I want dealers to make a fair margin, but I do not like being ripped off.  On the IC7300, dealers are making a mint out of early adopters who want the rig at any price. Later, the IC7300 price will drop.

I am awaiting Dayton to see if Yaesu really does replace the workhorse FT817. I have my doubts. As you know, 5-10W is quite enough for me.

Sunspots and 10m - Sun May 8th 2016

Solar flux is 87 today. Sunspot number is 51 but K=7. The forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor". With very disturbed conditions it is unlikely 10m will be any good today, although Es may liven things up. I have been on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR since before breakfast.

UPDATE 0858z:  Unsurprisingly, no spots so far today! Maybe I'll spot, or get spotted by, some locals?

UPDATE 1454z:  Still no spots at all on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR. Dire.I may go on 472kHz WSPR tonight.

ICOM IC7300 first reviews

Steve G1KQH has brought to my attention the first reviews on eHam of the IC7300.

Because of the wide front end filters, some have reported front-end overload issues. Software/firmware updates will not fix this as it is an inherent issue with wide front-end filters: nearby BC or amateur stations can swamp the front end and the rig sensitivity nosedives. As long as the overload does not occur it is a fine rig. I can see no good reason why this rig should be any worse than others that use sub-octave filters rather than narrow bandpass filters for each amateur band. Such designs are common nowadays in front ends.

I think sensitivity starts to collapse if the rig sees more than 70mV in the front end. If you have a nearby 1kW station operating in the same band, you could have problems. You might also have problems with multiple very strong BC band stations.

Although without 2m and 70cms, the European version does have 4m, which is good. I still just prefer the IC7300 to the Yaesu FT991. The price needs to drop though!

Eham reviews point to an overload in the front end:

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/12742

73 Steve
http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/

10m F2 DX

PU3WSF (10416km) has been spotted on WSPR 2 times in recent minutes. I shall stay on 10m WSPR a bit longer in the hope that my own signal will reach S.America before the band dies out. Good to see some F2 DX on the band. At this time of year it is possible some of these openings are a combination of Es and F2 further to the south. There has been Es right across Europe all day on 10m.

UPDATE 2135z:  Nothing on 10m WSPR for over an hour now. I am staying on the band overnight, but think we have now seen the end of F2 and Es for the day.

FT817 replacement announcement?

If the rumours are to be believed, this month we may get an announcement at Dayton on a replacement to the FT817. Of course, it is entirely possible we will not!

In my view, Yaesu have "missed the boat" and should have launched such a product on the approach to the sunspot maximum rather than on the downward slope.Yaesu certainly need some "must have" features if they are to be as successful as with the FT817.

Plentiful Es on 10m

It will soon be time to get back on 6m as the Es season is really with us now. There is daily Es on 10m and I expect there will be Es openings on 6m too. I have not seen any F2 DX on 10m WSPR for a little while. It will be interesting to see if 10m opens to the USA this autumn. I think it will on a few occasions and certainly far less often than last year. Any USA 10m spots this autumn will be a bonus.