EI1KNH/B Irish 8m beacon on 40.013 MHz WSPR

Tim, the beacon keeper, has recommended I try 8m WSPR RX. 

The WSPR sessions are several times an hour and WSPR works with very weak signals. I am on 8m WSPR now, but a bit uncertain about the 2 minute cycles. This may only work with tropo and certainly not work with MS or aircraft.  I may try from now and over the weekend. 

The beacon is only active from 0600-2400, but I am not sure if this is local time or GMT. With tropo, I would have suspected my best chance would be early in the morning?

If this fails (I have low expectations) I may try MSK144 in an MS shower.

8m MSK144 RX

After a period on 40.680 MHz FT8 QRP TX, I have switched to 40.013 MHz MSK144 RX hoping to spot the Irish beacon EI1KNH/B. My best chance (I think) is early morning.

8m QRP FT8 TX (Friday)

All being well, I hope to be on 8m QRP FT8 TX on 40.680 MHz at about 0900z. If the other Irish 8m beacon has FT8, I may try for that overnight.

UPDATE 1020z:   8m FT8 TX gear turned on at 0907z. No spots.

10m QRP WSPR (Friday)

As the 10m antenna should be available, I hope to be on 10m WSPR with my 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon at 0900z.

UPDATE 0918z:  Gear was on overnight. Just 1 spot from local G3KPX (14km) this morning.

UPDATE 1233z:  8 spots of me today so far. Some appear to be F2 and some might be Es.

23cm portable

As a comment on an earlier post made clear, the 23cm transverter I was thinking if is made in Bulgaria and not the Ukraine, so may still be available. 

I have sent an email about price and delivery to the UK. If promising, I may get one ready for next year, assuming it is still available!

See https://www.sg-lab.com/TR1300/tr1300.html .

UPDATE 1256z:  Just got this email. I think I am going to get one.

"The price of 23cm band transverter V3 is 156 Euro.
The price for shipping is 8 Euro by BG Post .
Payment can be made by Paypal (our account is : info@sg-lab.com ) or by bank transfer.
Now lead time for 23 cm units is 2-3 weeks"

UPDATE 1422z:  I shall place an order. All being well, I shall try some local 23cm SSB tests when the transverter arrives and I have a suitable antenna. Next year, I shall try some 23cm activity sessions from a local highspot. Yes, there are a few in East Anglia!!

No luck on 8m with EI1KNH/B

Overnight I was trying to receive this 8m beacon on 40.013 MHz FT8 using WSJT-X. I was expecting to get the odd MS ping, but nothing. 

I was surprised making me wonder if it is active and using FT8? Anyone know please? I was using the information on QRZ.com. 

Sunspots - Friday September 16th 2022

Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 71. A=6 and K=1.

PI4 decoding

For some reason (probably by mistake) I assumed that PI4 was one of the modes supported by WSJT-X. Imagine my surprise today when I found it not there. My version of WSJT-X is 2.5.4.  

Instead I had to download some special software to decode PI4. I have not yet checked if there is a map upload a bit like PSKreporter maps.

I was hoping to decode one of the Irish beacons, EI1KNH/B on 40.013 MHz PI4.

If PI4 is not supported by WSJT-X why is it used rather than FT8 or WSPR by beacons? I don't think it is magically better than FT8.

My other questions are (1) what mode do I select and (2) what dial frequency do I set to decode EI1KNH/B in PI4? At the moment it is set to 40.013 DIG on the FT817ND, but I have no idea if this is correct.

UPDATE 2057z:  It looks like EI1KNH/B now uses FT8 instead of PI4, so I am now monitoring FT8 instead. It sends FT8 every 10 minutes. See https://www.qrz.com/db/EI1KNH/.  I shall monitor overnight.

HF conditions

It is rare for me to go lower than 28 MHz on HF. Certainly conditions on 10m seem good with loads of spots of my QRP 10m FT8 from the USA. I had to QSY, but when I left the band it was still good.  

I was hoping this was my first chance of F2 to/from the USA on 8m, but not this time. Whenever 10m F2 looks promising E-W, I shall try 8m FT8. Hopefully there will be other chances. 

Having worked the USA with QRP SSB handheld from the bedroom, I am in with a chance on 8m FT8.

23cm portable?

At one time there was very good 23cm transverter available from the Ukraine, but I doubt that is currently available. 

I was considering 23cm portable operation next year using the FT817ND as the driver/IF. What 23cm transverters are currently available and at what price please? What would you recommend? I assume 2W is the typical power for a /P station.

Sadly, my fine motor skills these days rule out kits, so I would be looking at a ready made unit.