Sunspots - Tuesday October 17th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number remains 12.  A=9 and K=2.

10m FT8 RX and FT8 rc3

As usual, I switched to 10m FT8 RX at breakfast. No spots as yet. Apparently WSJT-X v1.8.0 rc2 has been out for a month and now rc3 is available. There may be a proper release of V1.8 as early as next week. K1JT has been busy with neutron stars!

I may try 6m FT8 RX later. 10m FT8 seems to work a dream.

Last night on 630m WSPR

Overnight I was keen to see if the addition of 2 radials and an additional ground outside the shack improved my results on 630m WSPR. Well, I am not sure. Overall I got spots from 10 unique stations (my highest yet) and I spotted 10 unique stations. Clearly some new stations copied me, but I am not sure if this is my system or just that they have recently returned to 630m. Certainly my reports of "regulars" on RX seem no better. At the moment, I am doubtful of any improvement, although it needs a few more nights to get a better picture.

630m "improvements"

My 630m radiating system has been altered with a couple of radials across the grass and an additional ground outside the shack. Measured antenna current is no higher, which surprised me. This evening and overnight we'll see if there are any improvements in reality.

USA on 10m FT8

Not long ago, WB2REM (7017km) in Florida was spotted on 10m FT8. There are South Americans and the Falkland Is coming through. Earlier Burkina Faso and South Africa were spotted on 10m FT8.

630m WSPR overnight

The big question for me was, "did the additional earth make any difference?". Well, with 6 spots of my QRPP 630m WSPR I think the answer is, " yes probably". It may have only raised the ERP a dB or so, but this could be the difference between being detected and not.

The next thing to try is some better grounds near the shack and some radials down the garden that can be rolled up when grass cutting.

UPDATE 1220z: 13 unique stations spotted on 630m WSPR last night.

10m FT8

Since breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. So far, the only spot was of PA0O (440km) near Groningen about 30 minutes ago. Aircraft reflection?

UPDATE 1210z: Lots of Europeans spotted on 10m FT8 rc2. I am told that WSJT-X V1.8.0 rc3 will be available soon.

UPDATE 1246z:  At the last count, 20 unique Europeans spotted on 10m FT8. This mode really is good.

UPDATE 1327z: XT2AW (4446km) in Burkina Faso (W.Africa) is currently the most distant station spotted today on 10m FT8. I have lost count of the Europeans! Maybe tomorrow I should give 6m a go on FT8?

UPDATE 1356z: Now the best DX is ZS2CR (9893km) in S.Africa.

Sunspots - Monday October 16th 2017

At last some sunspots!

Solar flux is 70 and the sunspot number 12. A=26 and K=3.

Switched to 630m WSPR

Even though 10m FT8 is still good, I have switched to 630m WSPR. So far just G4GIR (53km) spotted at -14dB S/N. I am keen to see if I can see any differences since I changed the grounding.

UPDATE  1838z:  Initial indications are things are better. Already I have had 4 unique spots of my QRPP 630m WSPR signal.

630m ground improvements

Just before lunch I made a "temporary" fix to my earth-electrode "antenna". I have still to solder the joints. My secondary antenna current went from 17uA to 22uA. It remains to be seen if this makes any difference in real use. I'll try it tonight.

UPDATE 1304z:  I have now soldered the joints, so the repair is permanent.

UPDATE  1530z: Any slight improvement might be seen tonight. I am not expecting much.