Now RX only (with preamp) on 472kHz WSPR

Since about 2008z I have gone on to RX only (with the preamp) on 472kHz WSPR. I have gone QRT on 10m. It will be interesting to compare results with and without the preamp on MF. I suspect I'll copy the same stations but give them better reports. I am still using the earth-electrode "antenna". I'll do the comparisons in the morning. So far tonight, before going RX only, I was getting similar results on TX and RX as the night before. At one point I got really excited as I thought I'd been copied in Greece, then I realised this was on 10m!

UPDATE 2202z:  At the moment I am not spotting any new stations with the higher sensitivity on RX. This could change overnight, or it says that the FT817 has adequate sensitivity and external noise is limiting what I can copy.

UPDATE 2300z:  Based on the reports given to DK7FC and LA3EQ I am surprised that the preamp, although making the sensitivity better, does not allow me to give them definitely better reports. To be honest, I am a little surprised. I will see if I get clearer results overnight. My electrical environment on MF is fairly quiet, so I expected to get a really useful improvement with the preamp.

Quieter on 10m WSPR

Although there was some good DX around on 10m WSPR including VK and FR1, I was only spotted by a single station in the USA - KC1AWS (5308km). So far, today has seen fewer USA stations on the band. There was also a closer European,  DK6UG (633km), which could have been F-layer backscatter or out of season Es. Yet again, spots from the USA and the fourth day with spots from VK this autumn.  A $49 "stand alone" 10m WSPR beacon and plenty of fun.

More from our lovely quango

OFCOM's latest http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/ .

As I have said before, they are really interested in ventures that make money, like the auction of parts of the microwave spectrum. The amateur service is very low on the agenda I believe. Do they add value?

Sunspots and 10m - Tues Nov 3rd 2015

With a decent solar flux level, sunspot number of 94 and a 10m propagation forecast of "fair" we could be in for decent 10m results, although K=5 so conditions are quite disturbed.

UPDATE 1044z:  I see that  VK2KRR (16789km) spotted me at 0830z on 10m WSPR this morning.

Rally

Thursday 5 NOVEMBER : BANGOR & DARS ANNUAL SURPLUS EQUIPMENT SALE
Groomsport Boat House, 19 Harbour Road, Groomsport BT19 6JP. Table spaces are free to sellers but must be reserved in advance, entry is £2 at the door. Doors open 7 to 10pm. Refreshments available. Harry, 02890 422 860, norman.newell@yahoo.com

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

"London" grandchildren have gone home - NOT amateur radio

Riding bikes near the windmill

Our "London" grandchildren went home this afternoon. As with all our little grandchildren, we love having them. Sadly, my stroke of 2 years ago means I can do less with them than I would have done in the past. Nonetheless, they had a great time.  They enjoyed Halloween and played silly, simple, games.  Today they enjoyed riding bikes in our quiet close.

Best USA DX on 10m WSPR this evening

W4XWA (6947km) is, so far, the most distant spot of my 500mW WSPR beacon. Maybe as the evening goes on, and before the band closes, I will be spotted at even greater range.

UPDATE 1945z:  The last 10m USA spot of my little beacon was K9AN (6505km) at 1730z.  USA 10m WSPR spots have been daily in recent weeks.

Best night so far this autumn on 472kHz

Last night was the best so far this autumn on 472kHz with 15 unique WSPR stations spotted without the preamp.  Best DX was DH5RAE at 995km. I have resync'd both 10m and 630m and will stay on again this evening and overnight. My best 472kHz DX on TX (5mW ERP) were a few spots by PA0A (417km). Several others spotted me too on MF despite the low ERP.

UPDATE 1735z:  The best DX so far this evening on 472kHz RX is LA3EQ (769km). It has only just got dark here.

Sunspots and 10m - Mon Nov 2nd 2015

With a decent solar flux and a sunspot number of 88 (K=3) and a 10m propagation forecast of "fair" today should be a decent day on 10m.

UPDATE 1650z:   The first 10m WSPR spot from the USA was WI3V (5902km) at 1340z. There were early Russians on 10m this morning as well as a spot from FR1GZ (9724km). Since the first WSPR spots from the USA there have been plenty of others.

10m conditions

Even though conditions on 10m WSPR today did not seem to have been as good as on recent days, I still got lots of spots from the USA again. We are definitely seeing autumn conditions and overall the DX is still there with Australians spotting my 500mW WSPR now on 3 different days in October. We are now in November so I expect there will be even more Australian spots this month.

10m is still a very good DX band. Enjoy it while you can - you only need low power and a very modest antenna, smaller than for any HF bands. It is still my favorite HF band, and probably my favorite band anywhere in the spectrum.

USA 10m WSPR

W4DEX (6390km) appears to be the last USA 10m station to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon at 1806z this evening. I shall probably remain on 10m and 630m through the night but am not expecting much on 10m if I am honest. If anyone spots me on 10m WSPR that would be a bonus. On 630m (472kHz) I expect to spot, and be spotted, by several stations.

A full 4MHz at 6m in Region 1?

Southgate news reports that a full 4MHz wide amateur band in Region 1 may be on the agenda for the next WRC in 2019. If this happens it would be very useful, although this is 4 years away and may not even make the next agenda! A 4MHz wide band would harmonise the allocation across the world and possibly allow  satellites on this band. A 4MHz wide band would be wide enough for most modes and wider than any existing band below UHF.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2015/october/proposed_50_54_mhz_agenda_item_for_wrc_19.htm#.VjZIdStEd81 .

Sunspots and 10m - Sun Nov 1st 2015

Sunspot number is 73 (K=3) and 10m is expected to be "poor".

On 630m (472kHz) my 5mW ERP has been copied by PA0A (417km). Lots of spots end of PA3ABK/2 (306km) and one of F6GEX (590km).

UPDATE 1712z:  The first 10m USA spot was by W4DEX at 1220z. FR1GZ (9724km) remains the most distant station to spot me on 10m today.

UPDATE 1725z:  It looks like we are now seeing skywave DX coming through on MF with F5WK (436km) being spotted.

UPDATE 1805z:  DH5RAE (995km) is the best DX spot on MF so far this evening.

Return to 630m and 10m WSPR

At about 1030z, I returned to 10m WSPR (500mW) and 630m WSPR (5mW ERP). I shall give 6m a miss today as it has been days since I achieved any results on that band.

Last 10m USA WSPR spot

Yet another good day for USA spots on 10m WSPR. The last spot of the day from the USA seems to have been N2NOM (5581km) at 1804z. 10m has been good to the USA for several weeks now. I suspect there will be the odd days when the USA won't be there but on present form it will be open to the USA most days this autumn and winter.

UPDATE 2035z:  I did think about going on 472kHz tonight but this may have to wait until tomorrow night.  I shall be going QRT on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR shortly.

All quiet on 6m WSPR

As you will know, as well as 10m I have been on 6m WSPR most of the day (20% TX, 80% RX). Yet again here I have had no success at all on 6m. Not really sure why I try 6m.

Tonight I may return to 630m (472kHz) WSPR and try my luck with the 5mW ERP and earth-electrode "antenna". I have no idea how many others will be active.

Low tech internet - NOT amateur radio

We get very spoilt here with internet speeds approaching 30MB per second commonplace with fibre-optic cable. In some rural areas such speeds are unheard of, especially in 3rd world countries. Some have taken to making their own internet networks.

See http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/10/how-to-build-a-low-tech-internet.html?utm_source=amateur-radio-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

Australia (again) on 10m WSPR

It took me CQWW SSB last weekend to realise that I get more fun from my tiny 10m WSPR beacon, the size of a pack of cards - totally stand alone with no PC needed - as I would from a rig costing 20 times more. My beacon (by W5OLF) costs just $49. It has been spotted all over the world this autumn already including lots of spots by VK2KRR (16789km). My antenna is nothing at all special. In CQWW I only stayed for 1 QRP QSO across the Atlantic. WSPR with 500mW is more fun. In the last year I have used my tiny 10m WSPR beacon far more than any other rigs.

UPDATE 1305z:  The first 10m WSPR spots from the USA were by K9AN (6505km) at 1244z. I see there were nearer Europeans spotting me, which may have been Es or F layer backscatter.

UPDATE 1435z:  I don't think I'll be buying a new HF rig until my voice is much better. Lots more 10m WSPR spots from the USA.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat Oct 31st 2015

With a sunspot number of 88 (K=1) and a decent solar flux, I expect decent results on 10m WSPR even though the 10m forecast is "fair". This is better than recent days.

Return to 6m and resync'd 10m WSPR

At around 1035z I turned on the PC and FT817 and returned to 6m WSPR. At the same time I reset and resync'd the 10m, stand alone, WSPR 10m 500mW WSOR beacon. So, I am back on WSPR on 10m and 6m for the day. Earlier I was being spotted by an RZ6 station on 10m WSPR so the sync was good overnight, although I was spotted by no-one through the hours of darkness on 10m.

Still on 10m WSPR

Although my chances of being spotted are low, I am staying on 10m WSPR overnight.  100% TX (500mW) but with randomised transmit frequency. My best hope is some GDX -  perhaps a bit of tropo/aircraft reflection. There is an outside chance of some out of season Es. I think the chance of any F2 propagation is almost nil overnight.  Anyway, look out for me.

F2 and Es on 10m WSPR?

KK1D (5455km) was the first USA spot on 10m WSPR today at 1304z. There have been several USA spots since. As well as Africa, West Indies and Russia, I have had several 10m WSPR spots from "near" Europe. These could, I guess, be F layer backscatter or possibly Es?

UPDATE 1730z:  KC1AWS (5308km) is spotting me still. 

UPDATE 2035z:  KC1AWS (5308km) was the last USA station to spot me on 10m WSPR at 1812z. I went QRT on 6m many hours ago but am still active on 10m WSPR and may stay on overnight.

Amazing prices on Beofeng portable transceiver

Amazon is currently selling Baofeng UV-5RE dual band handies for £19.92 with free delivery. This is an amazing deal. This radio has had mostly 5 star reviews.

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/B00EYYVEH6/dp/B00EYYVEH6/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=thesouthgatam-21&linkCode=w00&linkId=&creativeASIN=B00EYYVEH6  .

UK Rallies

Sunday 1 NOVEMBER : NORTH WALES RADIO RALLY
CANCELLED

Sunday 1 NOVEMBER : BUSHVALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB RALLY (new event)
United Services Club, 8 Roe Mill Rd, Limavady, Co Londonderry BT49 9DF. TI S22, free CP, OT 11am, £3. TS, B&B, DF, C. www.bushvalley-arc.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

As we have 2 of our very young grandchildren staying for a few nights, these take priority over amateur radio. At the moment, the elder grandson (aged 7) has gone shopping with his grandma and I am at home with the granddaughter (aged 4) playing Lego. I am not feeling too brilliant today.

Sunspots and 10m - Fri Oct 30th 2015

With a solar flux of 112 and a sunspot number of 101 (K=0) we should expect some decent 10m WSPR results today, yet the forecast for 10m remains "poor" today.

UPDATE 1150z:  As well as lots of Russians spotting me on 10m WSPR, I see FR1GZ (9724km) and EA8/LA3JJ (2870km) are spotting me. I get the feeling 10m WSPR will be good today.

Low cost QRP rigs

There is little doubt that the Elecraft KX3 is the very best QRP radio on the market, but it is very expensive here in the UK. The most popular QRP radio is the FT817 and the price of this has dropped considerably. It is rumoured that an FT817 replacement will be announced at Dayton next year. The IC703 is no longer produced and there is a scarcity of good priced QRP radios in the UK. Yes, there are a few Chinese radios appearing and there are a few QRP radios covering single bands or a very limited number of bands. I find it amazing that ICOM do not propose to market the IC7300 10W version outside of Japan or that the big Japanese companies never tried to produce an FT817 beater. It has taken Yaesu all this time to think about an FT817 successor.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

We have our young "London" grandchildren here for a few days. "We always spend Halloween at Granny's". Hide and seek in the dark, pumpkins, blind man's buff, cooking, Halloween hats etc. These days it has become very commercialised sadly, but we will do our best to give them a good time. My health is not as good as it could be.

Halloween is the eve of All Hallows Day (All Saints Day). Some believe the celebration of Halloween dates back to Pagan times.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween .

QRT

The internet has not been reliable today. It comes via cable and is normally fast and reliable. I sync'd the 10m beacon after lunch when I could get accurate time off the internet. I have now gone QRT for the day. There have been lots of 10m WSPR spots today again and the last USA spot was at 1702z.  6m has been quiet again here today, although the 6m station (which depends on the PC for audio and timing) was off air some of the day.

Power cut and first USA 10m WSPR spots

We had a power cut at lunch time and our internet was off for about 1 hour. The first 10m WSPR spot from the USA was WJ9H (6361km) at 1344z. I suspect the first spot would have been earlier had the internet not been off and my time sync wrong.

OFCOM and the 5MHz contiguous amateur allocation

I am very pleased to see that OFCOM (on behalf of the British government) has signed the common European position in support of a contiguous amateur (secondary) allocation at 5MHz at WRC15 starting next week. It is still far from a "done deal" with 150 countries represented there.

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Oct 29th 2015

Sunspot number is little changed at 71 (K=1) and 10m propagation remains "poor".

Rain - NOT amateur radio

Rear lawn and ornamental cherry

For some reason we seem to have had far more rain than normal in East Anglia, UK. The west of England seems to have had better weather.  Is this climate change?

As I write this it is, guess what, raining again. I am not sure if this is why we have such intense autumnal colours this year. The reds seem more intense this autumn.

Solar storms

With falling solar activity, the likelihood of extreme solar storms is falling. I see the Southgate news site reports that research has indicated the earth suffered a couple of destructive solar storms more than 1000 years ago. If these happened today they would pose a real threat to power supplies, satellites and our whole way of life in the 21st century. We cannot ever be complacent as these events often happen "out of the blue".

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2015/october/extreme_solar_storms.htm#.VjCdPCtEd80  .

10m WSPR and 6m WSPR so far today

The 10m 500mW WSPR beacon and the 6m WSPR station were switched on at breakfast time. F2 spots on 10m from RA3UDF (2693km) and EA8/LA3JJ (2870km).

All quiet on 6m  WSPR so far.

UPDATE 1115z:   More Russian 10m WSPR spots as well as Finland. All F2 propagation I think.

UPDATE 1120z:   FG5LA (6689km) was the first South American to spot my 500mW WSPR on 10m today at 1118z.

UPDATE 1850z:  W4DEX (6390km) was the first USA station to copy me on 10m WSPR at 1218z. Plenty of 10m USA spots since then.

UPDATE 2020z:  K9AN (6505km) was the last USA station to spot me on 10m today at 1656z. All quiet on 6m although I did spot M0ICR early today although the spots were not uploaded to WSPRnet.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Oct 28th 2015

Sunspot number is little changed at 78 (K=1) but 10m is expected to remain "poor". It remains to be seen if this means another profitable day on 10m WSPR as often I get best results on 10m when conditions are supposed to be "poor" for some odd reason.

A little activity on 6m WSPR

G6AVK (78km) was spotted at 2048z on 6m WSPR.  Judging by the Doppler or drift, I suspect aircraft reflection was involved, or G6AVK had just come on the band and he was still drifting.

A few minutes ago I went QRT on both 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR until after breakfast tomorrow.

The back garden in autumn - NOT amateur radio

We are clearly in autumn now, with the back lawn carpeted in fallen leaves. Soon the ornamental cherry (just visible on the RHS) will be bare until the spring. There is something good about all UK seasons.

Here is my wife taking a photo.

WRC-15 in Geneva

The important conference at which a contiguous 5MHz amateur band is being discussed opens next week in Geneva for 3 weeks. This item, for a new secondary amateur allocation, is an agenda item (1.4). Watch this space...

We will certainly need this band in the quiet years ahead.

A useful resource

See http://www.w5dor.com/w5dor-links.html . Originally the link was wrong (thanks for telling me), but it was corrected.

This looks a very useful page to add to your bookmarks. It is filled with useful links of all sorts mostly related to amateur radio. I see my Tenner 500mW 10m CW transceiver is listed.