Sunspots and 10m - Sunday May 24th 2015

Sunspot number today is 69 (K=2) and 10m propagation expected to be "poor".

UPDATE 0905z:   EA8BVP (2986km) was again spotting me very early on 10m WSPR. I presume this is F2. Otherwise just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me. No real DX spotting me, well as yet!  Always hopeful, even though the 10m forecast is "poor" today again.

UPDATE 1038z:  CT1JTQ (1843km) spotted me a couple of times recently by Es, which appeared about 20 minutes ago here on 10m WSPR.

Overnight surprise on 10m

At 0132z I was spotted by CT1JTQ (1843km) on 10m WSPR. I assume this was an isolated Es opening, but was surprised by the time, which was the middle of the night. The beauty of WSPR! Leaving WSPR running whilst getting on with other things is certainly a good idea. How else would such a fleeting 10m opening,  in the middle of the night, be noticed? 

This is especially true on 6m where WSPR should allow short openings, often at odd times, to be noticed and recorded. Often short openings can be missed.

How simple?

Some years ago I attempted to see how few components were needed to communicate on 10m. The Lesser Chirpy was the best I could manage. This was a derivative of The Chirpy, which worked, but had far too much chirp!

Looking at the circuit I see I could save 1 component by replacing C1 and C2 by preset C's and shorting out C3. This would allow the TX-RX offset to be set. If one was made a variable rather than a preset the RX-TX offset could be adjustable.

Since being ill I have not tried the rig. A limitation was the limited RX sensitivity, meaning only stronger stations would be workable.  However, the rig does work and is very simple. Another possibility is to switch to an external RX but allow the internal RX to be used when signals are strong enough. The TX power is certainly enough to span the Atlantic and work all over Europe.

The secret to low chirp on 10m is the use of FSK rather than CW. Essentially the TX changes frequency rather than go from RX to TX every time. This means full break-in is not possible in such a simple circuit. Can you do better? If so, I'd love to see the schematic please. I make no great claims for my circuit, which is an amalgam of ideas. Pure fun!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/chirpy .

6m Es

EA1KV (1304km) has spotted me twice, so far, on 6m by Es.  I am sure there many be other Es stations this lunchtime and teatime on 6m WSPR.   Apart from this Es opening, all spots (given and received) have been G stations - G3ZJO (79km), G8EPQ (77km) and G6IMT (65km).

UPDATE 1600z:  Teatime and the Es is back again on 6m.  EA1KV (1304km) is again spotting my 1W ERP on 6m WSPR.

UPDATE 2002z:   No further 6m Es WSPR spots seen here this evening.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat May 23rd 2015

Sunspot number has risen to 81 today (K=1) but forecasts for 10m remain "poor".  It is too early really to judge here but apart from EA8BVP (2986km - single hop F2) there is no evidence yet here at 0920z of any long distance spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. Others running more power may get spots from further afield?

UPDATE 0947z:   CT1JTQ (1843km) now spotting me several times, I assume by Es.

UPDATE 2200z:  EA8BVP (2986km) was spotting me as late as 2120z this evening, but no USA spots again.

EA8BVP (2986km) - early 10m WSPR spots today

EA8BVP (2986km) was spotting me by F2 as early as 0724z this morning on 10m WSPR.  No other spots apart from G4IKZ (18km) and G4KPX who I think is reporting the wrong QTH locator unless he is on holiday somewhere.

Pixie kit prices - truly incredible prices

Since my post earlier on this blog about low cost 40m Pixie kits from the Far East, I have been told that Bangood was selling these kits today for a staggeringly low price! This information is thanks to Spence M0STO. Earlier they were for sale at an incredible £2.67. 

At this price you might just buy the crystal here in the UK!  The kit comes with ALL parts (apart from battery, key and headphones) and a very nice silk-screened PCB. Don't forget this is with FREE shipping.  Unbelievable.

My kit from them worked first time. It was the first time I'd built anything in a LONG time because of my stroke. At this price it is an offer too good to turn down. AM breakthrough was perfectly usable (i.e. low) and RX sensitivity fine. I got over 400mW out too. Don't forget, this is a complete 40m CW transceiver.

Sorry for the double post but the kits are here and the Customer Service is second to none. Beware the prices change daily inline with currency. http://www.banggood.com/DIY-Radio-40M-CW-Shortwave-Transmitter-Kit-Receiver-7_023-7_026MHz-p-973111.html

6m WSPR update

A few people have noticed that 6m WSPR is quiet when the band is open and there is Es about. This is understandable as working all over Europe is possible with QRP SSB in a decent Es opening. I still hope there will be more DX (USA, Canada, South America, Africa, Caribbean, etc) on 6m WSPR this spring/summer. It requires people to stick with the 6m band and the WSPR mode.

Today on 6m my best DX (spots exchanged in both directions) is G4BRK (134km). I suspect this is tropo enhanced by the presence of aircraft in favorable positions. This was certainly the case with G8EPQ earlier. Eddie G3ZJO was tracking where planes would be to give enhancements. No sign of Es today on 6m WSPR, well not so far.

I am pretty sure some paths are only possible when planes are near the path and the reflections off the aircraft result in favorably low Doppler shift. It is quite common to see strong aircraft reflections but no WSPR decodes. I have seen this on both 6m and 2m. There is some drift as my rig goes from TX to RX, so often the Doppler I report is not Doppler, but drift in my rig. With aircraft reflection it is quite common to see multiple reflections with different amounts of Doppler. On some transmissions I have seen up to 6 different signals from a single TX as a result, presumably, of planes in a stack.

6m WSPR unique spots so far today.

UK Earthquakes - NOT amateur radio

Earthquakes are far less common in the UK than in some other countries, but they do occur.  Last night one occurred in Kent shaking homes and waking people in the middle of the night. This one was 4.2 on the Richter scale. This one was felt by my son near Canterbury and they think some tiles came off their cottage roof.  They live in Sturry, which is just a few miles east of Canterbury.

Some UK earthquakes have caused real disruption and damage. This one must have been quite a shock to those that were aware of it. Being in the middle of the night, many may have been totally unaware that it happened at all.   Even though this one lasted several seconds it was nowhere near the force of the recent ones in Nepal which were many orders of magnitude stronger.

The strongest earthquake in the UK in recent times was in Colchester in 1884. It measured 4.6 on the Richter scale. Some reports claim up to 5 people died.

FT817 replacement at last?

It may be on its way, late, but on its way at last:

K3NG reported on www.amateurradio.com on his visit to Dayton:

"Yaesu did not announce an FT-817 replacement, which salespeople in the booth sheepishly acknowledged."

I wonder if they plan to launch this by Christmas? I expect it will push C4FM. As Yaesu has missed the last solar peak, I wonder if this one will include 1296MHz and omit the lower HF bands? One covering all bands from 12m-23cms with auto-ATU on HF would be good. I have already said the features I'd expect in earlier blog posts.