10mW ERP 10m WSPR tomorrow?

Starting tomorrow, I hope to start 10m WSPRing at 10mW ERP.  

Clearly, my previous attempts using 500uW work when conditions are very good, but 10mW ERP will be a good indication of how 10mW ERP (licence free under UK 8m ISM rules) 8m might behave.  An extra 13dB could make a real difference. If I get spots on 10m WSPR, I may not bother to renew my 8m TX permit as I will learn more experimenting for free with 8m 10mW ERP WSPR. I shall probably use 8M3ISM on 8m WSPR.

Judging by reports today, several spots might have been managed with 10mW ERP on 10m.

UK General Election year - NOT amateur radio

Every 5 years (at least) the UK population holds an election to choose a governing party. .

We are expecting one this year.  For many years the government has been by the Conservative Party, which likes to tax less and people themselves decide how they spend their money. In recent years, Covid has cost a lot, so taxes are higher than they would like.

According to the polls, the opposition Labour party should win.

Politics has a habit of throwing surprises and it would not surprise me at all, if the outcome, in the end, is far closer than many suggest. All parties have good and bad things.

My politics tends to be near the centre.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68079726 .

Near Charing Cross station on Saturday - NOT amateur radio

A selfie taken by one of our grandsons in London on Saturday.

OFCOM reminders

When I remember, I  tell people that OFCOM updates the data it holds on licences etc regularly. It also consults on lots of things. See the OFCOM website of details.

10m 500mW (QRO for me!!) WSPR (Monday)

 My 500mW WSPR TX was turned on at 1115z. Already 5 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1206z: Spotted by 10 stations so far on 10m QRP WSPR TX.

Looking for very old WSPR spots with WSPR Rocks

 The creator of WSPR Rocks, Phill VK7JJ has been very helpful and has helped show me how to access WSPR spots back to 2008 using the SQL feature.

Perhaps it is best I share from the email he sent me. Clearly, you will have to adapt the query to suite your needs, but you get the idea.

" 1.  click the SQL tab in http://wspr.rocks and copy and paste the redish text below into the upper editing panel on the SQL page

2.  click the [run query here] button to test your query.  If it returns a bunch of spots rather than an error message that's good, so click the [run query in wspr.rocks] button to execute it in wspr.rocks.

The time, callsign and band criteria should just about be self explanatory, adjust the times to suit but retain the exact format.

If you end up exceeding the 5,000 spot display limit then let me know.  If you want to get rid of the false decode of OH3FR then include this line in the query:   and rx_sign != 'OH3FR'

73  Phil

select * from wspr.rx where

time between '2023-12-01 00:00:00' and '2024-01-24 00:00:00'

and tx_sign = 'G3XBM'

and band = 28

order by time desc    "

630m QRP WSPR overnight

In the last day (and overnight) my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground has been spotted by 16 stations with the furthermost LA3EQ (769km).

Sunspots - Monday January 29th

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 75.  A=8 and K=1.

630m 10mW ERP WSPR (Sunday)

 My gear was re-synced about and hour ago. So far this evening, I have been spotted by  4 unique stations.

Shetland Waves - NOT amateur radio

 

These northerly islands in Scotland are characterised by long days in summer and long nights in winter. Wind can be very strong.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)

At about 1545z, I turned on the PA on my 10m WSPR TX beacon. Immediately, spots of me were received, so the 30dB power difference is very significant. I guess unless the local noise level is very low, stations struggle unless propagation is very good. 

Until the Es season, I do not propose to try 500uW WSPR on 10m again. I shall stick with 500mW. During the Es season I may well try 500uW again.

23 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR TX .

Probable last day (for now) on 10m WSPR at 500uW

Unless things dramatically change today, today will probably be my last day testing at QRPP on 10m WSPR. I shall try again in the Es season. It is now over a week since I have been spotted.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

My 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" was on overnight. In all, 22 stations have spotted me in the last 24 hours with the furthermost DL4RAJ (990km).

Sunspots - Sunday January 28th

 Solar flux is 148 and the SSN 52.  A=5 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 17 stations spotted me overnight when I was running 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode “antenna” in the ground.

Day in London - NOT amateur radio

We spent today in London with our son and his children including having lunch. The photo shows our son with his daughter before her ballet.

10m QRPP WSPR (Saturday)

 Another day has passed and not a single spot obtained at 500uW. Unless things dramatically change  tomorrow, I propose to stop these tests now until the next Es season.

Stuff of dreams - NOT amateur radio

 

Back in 2013 I was in hospital for 3.5 months with a stroke and I was expected to spend the rest of my life being fed via a tube into my stomach. I used to have dreams about tuna fish pie. In the next year I recovered and food could be eaten by mouth. Apart from my voice and giddiness, I largely recovered. Things could have been very different.

Sunspots- Saturday January 27th

 Solar flux is 157 and the SSN 97.  A=6 and K=1.

10m 500uW WSPR this week - no success

All week my 10m WSPR beacon has been on 500uW with the PA off.  Unlike previous weeks, not a single spot!! It looks like conditions have to be really good of this miniscule power to work.

So, unless I get spots before Monday, I propose to go back to 500mW WSPR on Monday (real QRO!!).  It will be worth repeating the experiment in the Es season, when some signals can be very strong.

For now, with F2, I don't think I can learn any more.

11 years ago on 137 kHz

This was in 2013 at the old QTH.  At the time I was seeing how far away I could be spotted on that band. Not much later, I got to the Netherlands.

Sunspots- Friday January 26th

 Solar flux is 161 and the SSN 101. A=6 and K=0.

Rally this Sunday

The following has been notified to me.  As I always advise, contact organisers to avoid disappointment if travelling far.

Sunday January 28th  -  Lincoln Short Wave Club Winter Radio Rally, Market Rasen, LN8 3HT. Contact m5zzz@outlook.com .

500uW 10m WSPR (Thursday)

As I have had no 10m WSPR spots at all this week at 500uW, it would appear conditions have to be very good to get spots at this very low level. 

It will be interesting to repeat this test at 500uW in the Es season, as signals can sometimes be very strong by Es.  It is my expectation that I shall get 10m WSPR spots all over Europe with 500uW 10m WSPR in May and June. Quite a lot more would have been possible at 500mW (30dB stronger), but spots.

It is my view that everyone in the UK may legally use 10mW WSPR between 40.660 and 40.700 MHz in the ISM band without a licence. I am quite surprised more people have not taken advantage of this. This is NOT amateur radio. The ISM bands are internationally allocated and power restrictions are intended to reduce the chances of harmful interference. Callsigns can be made up, and if the format is OK, WSPRnet shows where you are being spotted. Each country has interface specifications (IR2030 in the UK) to agree power levels and other parameters.

WSPR Rocks

This is an excellent site. With it, you can see WSPR spots as maps and look back easily over the last 5 weeks. 

Yesterday, using SQL, the owner (Phil VK7JJ) kindly showed me how to go back to 2008! I had been hoping to use it to do a map of all my 500uW spots, but then I realised the snag! 

My little beacon is pre-programmed to report all spots as 500mW, so spots with the PA off (500uW) cannot be distinguished if over 5 weeks old. In the last 5 weeks I have, as an experiment, just been running 500uW (0.5mW). It has been an eye opener.

See http://wspr.rocks/ .

Not long now - NOT amateur radio

We are in the depths of winter and, in this part of the UK, we have not had any snow yet. Despite this, snowdrops, aconites and hellebores are coming out. I have even seen a few daffodils in flower. 

Spring is just around the corner.

Overnight on 630m QRP WSPR

In the last day 19 stations have spotted my 10mW ERP  from the almost invisible earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground (see table).

Sunspots- Thursday January 25th

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 108. A=10 and K=1.

My impression of speed - NOT amateur radio

Back in 2013, I had a stroke and was in hospital for 3.5 months. Apart from feeling giddy and my poor voice, I made a good recovery. In the car I drove hundreds of kilometers with no problem.

In the last few years, it is as if my concept of speed has changed.  Glancing down at the speedometer when I think I am going 60-70mph and see I am only going at about 46mph!! Everything on the roads seem to be going fast.  My wife says it is all in the mind, but I go at what think is the right speed, but actually it is slow. It also my worry that my reaction times are slower.

Now, this could just be old age or it could be a result of my stroke 10.5 years ago.

I am wondering others would are "old" also experience this?

Driving is no longer fun.

Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

We go for a walk in the grounds of this National Trust property near Cambridge every month probably. Parts of the house are very old. The gardens have something to see in every season. 

Being only a few kilometers away makes it very convenient. Should it ever be closed, there are some great walks in the village of Lode nearby.

See  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cambridgeshire/anglesey-abbey-gardens-and-lode-mill. 

10m 500uW WSPR (Wednesday)

For several weeks I have had spots of my QRPP 10m WSPR most days. Interestingly, there have been no spots of me this week. It looks as if conditions have to be really good to get spots at 500uW (0.5mW).

Round Church, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

The Round Church in Cambridge is very old.  It is one  of just a few in England.

See https://roundchurchcambridge.org/ .

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

22 stations spotted my 10mw ERP WSPR in the last day.

Family history - NOT amateur radio

My father's genealogy can be traced continuously to the mid 1500s in South Devon.  I have an isolated record in an adjoining parish from the mid 1400s.

What I did not realise is if you go back 22 generations our ancestors number more than the entire population of the entire British Isles!

This means we are probably related to everyone alive today if we go back far enough. So, we are probably all related to the English royal family. Some of our ancestors may have moved here from abroad and almost certainly some of our distant ancestors married people who were distantly related.

This is quite humbling.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 24th

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 123. A=7 and K=3.

630m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

 My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on about 2130z. At 2200z I have been spotted by 6 stations.

Granddaughters - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows our granddaughters at Christmas.

Confused - G4KPZ

For years my old work mate Richard lived in Ely. I thought his call was G4KPZ. Now I see this is issued to someone called Vernon, who lives in Ramsey. Unless the callsign has been re-issued, or I wrongly remember it, I am confused.

UPDATE  1928z:   Richard is G4KPX. Yes, I am going gaga.

Angry sky - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows the view from our kitchen window last night. It is now wet and windy.

10m QRPP WSPR (Tuesday)

My 500uW10m WSPR is on again, but no spots now for the last couple of days. 

Pretty sure conditions have to be very good and the RX noise floor low.