Worldwide 136/137kHz grabbers + a simple 2200m RX (kit or ready built)

This link to a very useful list of 2200m grabbers worldwide was found on the website of Yuki JA5FP.   If you are interested in 136/137kHz this list of grabbers may be very useful.  A grabber is a receiver that uploads what it receives to the internet, usually as a spectrograph.

For how to make your own grabber, see how I did it. My grabber is usually only active when I do experiments. See https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/vlf-grabbers/vlf-grabber-creation . I used a public folder in Dropbox and pointed my grabber website to this location. In my case I was monitoring 8.97kHz VLF,  or thereabouts, but the same idea will work at any frequency. I used Spectrum Lab or Spectran software to do the actual "grabbing". Other methods are equally valid.

Also on Yuri's site are details of his 136/137kHz receiver. See http://icas.to/lineup/idc-136ii-kit-eng.htm .  This simple, but very effective, receiver uses a divided down HF crystal to give a very stable LO frequency of 130kHz. The output feeds a PC using Spectrum Lab or Spectran software. The receiver is available as a kit or ready built. Ready built the cost (with enclosure and shipped to Europe) is currently $110.  I have no idea if duty is payable.  Kits (less enclosure) is $75 shipped to Europe.

Experiments again - soon I hope

Before too long now, I hope to be able to resume driving again, following my brain bleed over a year ago.

With a bit of effort, I should then be able to resume some VLF earth-mode and 136kHz experiments, looking for my signals from home when out and about in the car, parking up at various sites in the area.

Not many months ago this would have been out of the question, but I am getting better.

10m WSPR - very quiet so far today

Apart from locals G0VQH (15km) and G0LRD (25km) only G6NHU (78km) has been spotting my 2W this morning. It is very quiet on 10m WSPR so far.

Sunspot count today is 76 (still OK) and 20-30MHz propagation expected to be "normal". I would have expected better results today than we have seen so far. It is early days and things may well change.

UPDATE 1128z: At 1058z I was spotted by HB4FL (835km) and PD0OHW (459km). Things may be livening up on 10m?

UPDATE 1302z:  FR1GZ (9724km) was first spotted at 1230z at -25dB S/N. 10m is definitely coming to life.

UPDATE 1600z: FR1GZ has been spotted 15 times so far today on 10mWSPR this afternoon. He has spotted my 2W 3 times. So far, I have seen not a single USA station in the log on 10m. Perhaps conditions are good N-S but not so good E-W?

UPDATE 1845z: No DX (FR1GZ) since 1540z. Still no USA here. I think today the N-S DX was all we were getting.

VK spotted on 10m WSPR today

VK3KCX (16883km) was spotted 4 times on 10m WSPR this afternoon. He was using high power (for WSPR) at 20W but his reports peaked at -19dB suggesting 5W or less would have been fine.

FR1GZ (9724km) has also been spotted 7 times today so far.  He also spotted my 2W at 1338z.

...and today 10m conditions were supposed to be "poor" - VK3, TJ3, FR1 and lots of USA stations - yes "poor" conditions! Wonder what "good" 10m conditions look like?

PA0O (440km) is being spotted again. Still unsure of propagation mode.

UPDATE 1745z: OH5XO (1943km) is coming through now, probably Es?

UPDATE 1900z: 10m is open to Spain. I assume this is Es? The opening seems to be confined to Spain only.   If this was F2 backscatter, I'd have expected a more widespread opening, but I am no expert.

UPDATE  2116z:  EA7IHT (1643km) was still spotting me at 2112z.

10m wakes up

TJ3TS (5478km) in Cameroon was spotting me at 1144z and ZS1ANF (9720km) was spotted here at 1210z. Both are F2 propagation. This was after a very quiet morning on 10m WSPR.

Even with 20-30MHz propagation supposed to be "poor",  N-S F2 seems to be good.   

OH5RM (1860km) has also been spotted several times this lunchtime - this could be late Es or F2.

UPDATE 1240z: TJ3TS was spotted  here a few minutes ago.

Free webcams across the UK (Camsecure)

Sorry, this is NOT amateur radio, but you may be interested. It is a  useful place to look on a rainy day when HF conditions are poor.   See http://www.camsecure.co.uk/Camsecure_Live_Demo_Index.html for a map listing many UK free webcams. You need to click on a county on the map to see what webcams are available in that county.

Hunting around on the site reveals worldwide webcams too.

Return to 10m WSPR and sunspots

The return to 10m WSPR was made just before 0900z, but so far just locals G0VQH and G0LRD are spotting me. At present, 10m seems very quiet, but it is early still.

Sunspot count is 90 (up a little on yesterday) but 20-30MHz propagation is forecast to be "poor".  We'll see.

UPDATE 1045z: Just locals all morning so far. A very quiet start on 10m.  A very disappointing morning so far. Things may change later. We can hope!

472kHz WSPR

I had a very brief spell in the 50MHz UKAC contest this evening, but only worked one local. I was not helped by (a) my poor voice, and (b) using just a V2000 vertical. The latter is fine for Es DXing, but a beam is really needed to work weakish UK stations and I am not going to invest in a 50MHz beam: they are big and really for once a month just not worth the effort.

Initial results on 472kHz WSPR this evening

Instead, I headed down to 472kHz where my very first 5mW ERP transmission was rewarded with WSPR spots from PA0RDT (243km), G3XDV (61km) and M0LMH (223km). There are quite a few stations active on MF this evening, but very few on TX from the UK.

Best MF spot of others so far this evening is F5WK (436km) at -24dB S/N. G3WCB (101km) is the best G so far on 472kHz at -19dB S/N.

UPDATE 2128z:  DJ0ABR (983km) now best DX on receive so far this evening.

UPDATE 2157z:   I will be staying on 472kHz overnight.  Although it would be good to spot, and be spotted, by some totally new stations, I have my doubts. Just going to check PC clock is resync'ed to internet time.

EA7IHT - 10m Es?

The propagation within Europe is quite hard to be sure of at present, but EA7IHT (1643km) may well be Es. It is the right time (teatime) for a brief, isolated Es opening, this is the only Eu DX station seen on 10m WSPR for some time and the distance is right for Es. It is hard to be sure with so much F2 around. My bet is on late Es. Signal level at -27dB S/N was weak.

PA0O - Es, F2 backscatter, or tropo?

PA0O (440km) has been spotted 8 times since 1342z today on 10m WSPR. This is an odd distance and I am unsure of the propagation mode. It would be very short Es skip (and it is late in the Es season) and I would prefer to think this is tropo. He has been copied all afternoon. However, with HF F2 conditions good on 10m WSPR I guess it could be F2 backscatter?

No USA stations have been copied on 10m WSPR since KZ8C (6290km) at 1656z, whereas PA0O has been spotted several times since, tending to suggest tropo.