M1PRO success on 472kHz WSPR

A few days ago I posted that Jason M1PRO had built a version of my 472kHz transverter. He made a very neat version (see photo).

Well, I noticed last night he was spotted in Norway, Scotland and Belgium as well as lots of places in England. I assume this is with this transverter, although I forget what antenna he is using.  I think he loaded up the coax to his big-wheel. Not sure what his ground is.

Great stuff Jason!

From Jason's RX log, I see he is spotting quite a bit on MF.

Sunspots - Sunday December 9th 2018

Solar flux is a balmy 71 (well, better than recent days!) and the sunspot number 12. A=10 and K=2.

QSYed to 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP)

At about 1545z (just before dark) I QSYed to MF WSPR. As usual, I am TXing for about 20% of the time (the rest is RX) with about 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I hope to be active until after breakfast tomorrow. For about 20 minutes my transverter is settling, so I get about 2Hz drift.

Oscar 97

As regular readers will know, in recent years I have done very little with amateur satellites. Way back, I listened to Oscar 6 and 7 and had one contact through a satellite with a 10m band output. That was a very long time ago!  I cannot remember the satellite.

There is a report on Southgate News about the latest Jordanian satellite.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/december/jy1sat-now-jo-97.htm#.XAu5EvZ2u00

10m FT8

Mid-morning I switched to 10m FT8. A short CQ was put out (2.5W), but sadly I got no spots. On RX so far, 5 stations in 4 countries spotted on 10m FT8 RX, although I had a spot of an RA3 that did not appear on PSKreporter. Maybe my internet was down then?

Sunspots - Saturday December 8th 2018

Solar flux is 70 today and the SSN 16. A=10 and K=2.

Yet again, spotted in Norway on 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP)

Last night was average on 472kHz WSPR with best DX LA2XPA (1310km) spotted on RX. The best DX on 472kHz WSPR TX was (yet again) LA3EQ (769km), with 11 spots of my 10mW ERP in total. This was the first time more people spotted me than I spotted.

Spots of my 10mW ERP 472kHz WSPR last night

Stations spotted overnight here on 472kHz WSPR

Elecraft News - December

Every month I get an email saying the latest Elecraft newsletter is available. Elecraft make some fine QRP radios, although they are expensive here in the UK. In many ways their receivers are very good.

See https://elecraft.com/

QSY to 10m FT8 RX

At about 1025z, I QSYed to 10m. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1112z: So far, just a 2 stations spotted: MM0HVU (480km) and 2E0RUS (104km). Aircraft reflection? No EUs and no "real DX", well not so far.

UPDATE 1603z: In all, just 5 stations in 4 countries spotted here today on 10m FT8 RX. See Bas's comments below!

Magnetic loops

It is some years since I built and used magnetic loop antennas on HF. They work remarkably well, although they are narrow band and need frequent retuning unless you are using modes like FT8, WSPR or PSK31 where the activity is all concentrated in one place. I recall using a small wire loop in the bedroom and getting WSPR spots from Japan with 20m QRP.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/magloop .

I see Southgate News has a link to a video on magnetic loops.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/december/magnetic-loop-antenna-current-and-voltage-distribution.htm#.XApJVvZ2u00