Back on 10m again for an evening look

CX2ABP(11127km) in Montevideo (GF15wc) has just been spotted here at -25dB S/N on 10m WSPR even though propagation is supposed to be "poor" and he is using 5w.

10m really is my favorite band of all. Propagation supposed to be "poor" yet here is a South Anerican 11127km away on QRP! Now he is -21dB S/N and getting better!

UPDATE  2015z:  Weak highly Doppler shifted signals near the bottom of the WSPR band suggest there is some 10m GDX about too.  With luck, this may decode before too long? It needs a period with low Doppler.

UPDATE 2050z:  CX2ABP has now been spotted 4 times in the last 38 minutes and he is now -18dB S/N which is 7dB stronger than at first. Again, it may be just co-incidence but his best signal corresponds with when Doppler on his signal is lowest. It is as if ALL stations with any drift or Doppler are best when Doppler (or is it drift?) is lowest.

UPDATE 2111z::  Nothing seen since 2038z, so I suspect the band has died out for the day (or the software has ceased working again!).  Maybe I should go back on 6m looking for GDX again? I'll leave it on 10m for another 20 minutes just in case.

UPDATE 2132z:  Gone back to 6m GDX hunting.  All quiet here so far this evening. 

Back on 6m

After most of the day on 10m (lots of Es around Europe) it has been back on 6m since about 1708z. So far only G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.

6m early evening WSPR spots 1W ERP

Last night there were some new 6m GDX WSPR spots including G3ZJO (79km) so I am hopeful of some more GDX and maybe Es this evening on 6m.  Eddie G3ZJO is more often seen on 472kHz running 1mW ERP.  I have not tried 472kHz for some months now because of my health issues (stroke). Sticking to the higher HF bands and VHF (6m and 2m) have been easier. I need a better antenna for MF.

UPDATE 1950z: Been on 6m for over an hour and a half and not even the  briefest hint of a signal seen yet. Just the spots from G4IKZ proving the kit is on and working. Very disappointing so far this evening. No Es or GDX at all.

UPDATE 2000z:   Decided to go back to 10m even though 20-30MHz propagation is now forecast to be "poor".

President Lincoln V2 transceiver CW bugs

Potential buyers beware if you want to use the rig on 10m CW.  Hopefully, later versions/shipments will correct "early adopter" bugs. I can wait!

Doug says the Nevada ones are the most recent.  Some other suppliers are selling older versions (more bugs), hence lower unit prices.

Hi Roger,

You may be interested in my findings on the above radio. See http://gm0elp.blogspot.co.uk/

Cheers

Doug GM0ELP (fellow 10m enthusiast)

A Yaesu FT817 replacement coming?

From Steve G1KQH:

As its based around the 817, I guess rumour will be rife that it will soon be replaced?

Eligible FT-897D/DM/DS
June 2014 production end time

FT-897D series was popular for many years will be discontinued at last. (Successor model no immediate plans) will be limited stock. And as soon as possible please the person of your choice

FT-897D
http://www.cqcqde.com/shop/82_2230.html

73 Steve

http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/

Does this mean a replacement for the FT817 is coming?  We can only hope Yaesu will do the FT817 replacement as their next product.  For the life of me I cannot understand why they have not replaced it 2 years ago on the UP part of the solar cycle.  Here we are now on the slide to a probable quiet few cycles. Not the best time to launch a new all-mode transceiver unless they plan to add some VHF/UHF bands like 70 and 1296MHz?  That would be nice. Personally, I'd buy it if it covered 10m-23cms. That would be a CLASS selection of bands especially for Es (10, 6, 4 and 2m). 70cms and 1296MHz would be good for tropo. As a multi-mode mainly VHF/UHF transceiver with 10m thrown it, it would be a neat new radio with a good market worldwide.

A morning on 10m

For a change, this morning I went on 10m rather than 6m. I had to disconnect the antennas early on because of a passing thunderstorm, but these are the results up to now with 2W out.  Basically a fair scatter of 10m Es WSPR spots given and received from across Europe. No DX from outside Europe seen (yet).  Hopefully will see some South Americans later.

Sunspot count today is 132 (quite respectable) and 20-30MHz propagation is "normal".

10m unique WSPR spots (2W) this morning

Southern Europeans are exchanging WSPR spots with S.Africa (TEP?) at around 8400-8500km, but N.Europeans are missing out.

Stateside 6m stations - where are they on WSPR?

Forgetting F-layer propagation - now unlikely this autumn on 6m - the best chances of 6m transatlantic propagation are the next 6 weeks by multi-hop Es.

For a decent chance we need lots of stations active on 6m WSPR on both sides of the Atlantic. Generally there are quite a few active stations in Europe (including the UK) but very few in the eastern USA. I find this hard to fathom.

Not much power should be necessary. Even a few watts ERP should be enough. 6m is a fascinating band and WSPR the ideal mode to "sniff out" short-lived openings.

Please, if you are in the Eastern USA or Canada , come on to 6m WSPR for June and July to help us see if the 6m band opens "across the pond". Without stations in the right place we are wasting our time.

Tempted to 10m tomorrow?

Knowing my luck, if I QSY to 10m tomorrow then 6m will be in excellent shape, possibly with some long distance multi-hop Es! Despite this, I may start on 10m on Saturday morning and see what happens.   I could QSY back to 6m later I guess. Today on 6m has been mixed: some reasonable Es and quite a few locals and semi-locals spotted and spotting me.

6m Es and GDX

6m Es, with my 1W ERP WSPR signal, started today at 1216z here with spots of my QRP signal by IK1WVQ (1084km) followed by DL4MFC (916km).  A better start on 6m than yesterday! A little later IK1NET (981km) was spotting me at 1244z..

I spotted both IK1WVQ and DL4MFC around 1238z.  I am now hopeful of more Es during the day.

UPDATE 1315z:    DL4RU (879km) spotted me at 1304z.

UPDATE 1830z:    No more Es her since 1654z with OK2RO (1282km). Since then just locals and GDX -  G4IKZ (18km), G8KNN (12km), G3ZJO (79km), G8EPA (61km), G0LRD (25km). Earlier in the day G4KPX (12km) and G4FFC (45km).

UPDATE 1940z:   Still no more 6m Es (here at least) after OK2RO, just Gs.

UPDATE 2030z:  Just 6m G locals and semi-locals.

6m locals and semi-locals this evening on WSPR

UPDATE 2122z:   G6AVK (78km) is now spotting me too.

Sunspots,10m and 6m

Sunspot count is 102 today (higher than of late) and 20-30MHz propagation is forecast to be "good", so better than of late. 10m could be better for F-layer propagation today.

So far, it has been quiet on 6m again with just locals spotting me on WSPR  - G4IKZ (18km)  and G4KPX (14km). No sign of Es yet at 1040z.

HAARP to be saved?

The (controversial) HAARP project in Alaska is closing and the facility being dismantled, but scientists are trying to save it. See http://www.adn.com/2014/06/03/3500302/scientists-make-last-ditch-effort.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1 .   There have been all sorts of conspiracy theories. One of the objectives was to generate uW or mW level ELF signals (to communicate with submerged nuclear submarines) by heating the ionosphere with AM modulated HF signals.

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2014/05/14/19/42/1qEGYg.AuSt.7.jpeg

"What a shame if they have to tear it down, they just finished the build out to the full array a couple of years ago!

I was fortunate to get a tour of the site about 10 years ago as my friend Steve W4YHD was the Chief Engineer, quite impressive! I have some photos (35mm film, not digital) which I need to scan.  The HAARP transmitters were true AM transmitters as they were used to heat the ionosphere and generate e.l.f. waves by modulating the carrier with low frequency audio tones, very inefficient (but all elf transmission schemes suffer from lack of efficiency),many megawatts of HF energy used to excite milliwatts (or perhaps microwatts?) of elf radiation from the ionosphere.

See:http://vlf.stanford.edu/research/experiments-haarp-ionospheric-heater

    I recall that they had a Radar on site and were supposed to shut down in case an aircraft flew through the beam. They also had an ICOM R72 receiver so they could listen before transmitting so as not to cause QRM !  The whole lashup was powered by a series of 5 generators driven by diesel locomotive engines.   The transmitter was actually a bunch of final amplifiers, solid state driver and a 3cx5000 PA tube, housed in trailers below the antenna array, each trailer housed a number of 3cx5000 PA's - the PA's were fed by an HP synthesizer (don't recall the model #, might be in one of my photos) and fed with equal lengths of coax so all PA's would be in phase. There was a method to shift the phase across the array so as to change the shape and direction of the beam. The antennas were bow-tie dipoles broadband from 3-10MHz.  The whole thing was controlled by Sun Sparc workstations from a master control room.  Just for fun I tuned up one of the transmitters on 7.290 MHz AM to see if I could strap Ashtabula Bill W8VYZ, of course it was daytime and I don't think anybody was affected!

   Was hoping to make a return trip to see the fully built out site but its looking very questionable at the moment.

73 Warren K2ORS"