Still no 10m WSPR spots from the USA today

It is now 1446z and there are no 10m spots from the USA today as yet. I had no spots at all from the USA yesterday and from only one station from the USA the day before. Today there are plenty of spots from FR1GZ (14 spots by 1530z) but it is very quiet E-W. Nothing from the Caribbean, nothing from S.America and nothing from N.America.

UPDATE 1530z:   Still no 10m WSPR spots from the USA. I have the feeling there will be few, or zero, 10m spots from the USA today again. I hope I am proved wrong.

UPDATE 1614z:  No, I think this will be another day without USA 10m spots. It is getting very late in the day and still no USA spots.

UPDATE 1735z:  Unless a miracle happens now, there is almost no chance of 10m WSPR spots from the USA. It is dark outside already, so we have the lamps on and the curtains drawn.

UPDATE 2225z:  The last 10m spot was at 1538z from FR1GZ. Again there were no USA spots today.

10m F2 DX

Already I see that, as well as Russian, Spanish, Greek and Italian 10m WSPR spots, I am being spotted by FR1GZ (9724km), so there is decent multi-hop F2 propagation about on 10m. With all the nearer Europeans I wonder if this is F-layer backscatter or Es?

UPDATE 1154z:  On 6m WSPR  quite a few spots of G8VDQ (93km) but no signs of any Europeans, well not as yet.

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Nov 5th 2015

Sunspot number is 93 today (K=4), with solar flux 111 although 10m propagation is expected to remain "poor" again. Conditions are still quite disturbed, so it will be interesting to see what 10m WSPR spots I get today from the USA.

No USA today on 10m WSPR?

There were no USA stations spotting my 10m WSPR today.   As I was a bit suspicious of this, I have just reset and resync'd the 10m beacon. All spots were single hop F2 and either F-layer backscatter or "out of season" Es (DK6UG). Even after the resync there were no new 10m spots.

UPDATE 1905z:   I see that G8VDQ (93km) was spotted on 6m again at 1602z.

UPDATE 2210z:   No 10m spots at all since late lunchtime. The 10m WSPR beacon and 6m WSPR are still on and will remain on overnight. This is the first time in many weeks without a single 10m WSPR spot from the USA. Indeed, the only spots were single hop.

Surprise 6m spot

Well, I'm pleased and surprised to have spotted G8VDQ (93km) on 6m WSPR at 1114z today. The drift on his signals suggest the involvement of moving aircraft.

5MHz and WRC-15

The latest World Radio Conference (WRC-15) has now opened in Geneva with amateurs looking for a new contiguous (i.e a continuous, no gaps) amateur allocation at 5MHz. This is being looked at as a proper agenda item, so at the moment we must remain hopeful. This 5MHz allocation is by no means a done deal! A lot of hard negotiating is ahead. The RSGB website is keeping us updated.

See http://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/special-focus/wrc-15/2015/11/03/wrc-15-day-12-colin-sets-the-scene/

Return to 10m and 6m WSPR and QRT on MF

At around 1030z, I turned on the 6m and 10m WSPR stations, did a resync and went QRT (for the daytime) on 630m WSPR. It will take a few minutes for things to settle before any spots are likely. I am not sure why I bother with 6m WSPR as to give or get WSPR spots is rare outside of the main Es season. I guess I go on 6m as it is easy to do so alongside the stand-alone 10m WSPR beacon. I live in hope!

UPDATE 1055z:  First spots on 10m WSPR are from 4L1QX (3299km) in LN01tp. I now need to see where this is! OK, I should know! Found it - Georgia. F2 propagation. It is interesting (to me) that this is nearer than Israel. I would have expected this to be further. There you go - you learn something new every day.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Nov 4th 2015

Sunspot number 95 (K=5) although the solar flux level is good.  10m propagation is expected to be "poor" today. I have still to go QRT on MF and fire up my little 10m WSPR beacon.

472kHz RX overnight

Well, I was surprised. The preamp improves 472kHz sensitivity, but I was able to copy no more stations than without the preamp! I was rather surprised as I expected the preamp to really help on MF. In truth, it may help drag in the very weak ones, but the benefit is questionable based on these tests. Odd.

A cricket on our window? - NOT amateur radio

On the bedroom window

This afternoon we had this visitor on the outside of our bedroom window. I think it is a kind of cricket although I am not sure. I am sorry the picture is not better. Body was about 2cms long but the antennae were much longer, I'd guess about 5cms.