Back on the air (10m and 2m)

10m WSPR (so far this morning) is just EU stations via Es. My only report, so far, is from SM6WZI  (1007km) who has spotted my 2W several times. I have spotted, several more stations too.

On 2m, GB3NGI (N.Ireland beacon) is currently just above the noise keying away at around 530km by tropo.

UPDATE 0924z:   4X1RF has just spotted me on 10m WSPR. Sunspot count 161 (good) but 20-30MHz conditions described only as "fair".

UPDATE 1105z:  4X1RF has spotted me 8 times so far today. Still no DX from further east though (well not here).

UPDATE 1150z: CX2ABP (11127km)  just spotted. 10m opening to South America.

UPDATE 1450z:  CX2ABP spotted 5 times now. Opening to South America looks reasonable this afternoon. But no South American has spotted me yet today.

UPDATE 1712z:  CX2ABP (5W) has been spotted by me several times today, but I guess my lower power (2W ish) is enough to put my signal in "the crud" of Monte Video as he has not spotted me once yet. Maybe later? Also, no other South Americans seen here.

UPDATE 1815z:  CX2ABP has spotted my 2W for the first time today at 1812z. It was a long time coming! Reports differed by around 3dB which is right for the power difference.

UPDATE 2030z  :  I4ZTO spotted me. Es propagation must be responsible for this strong (-7dB S/N) spot of my 2W at 2018z.

10m - closing down

After a distinctly average day (so far at least) I am closing the 10m station down shorty. A brief opening to South America (PY2RN, Brazil) was the only highlight.  Others included 4X1RF and 4X1DA, Europeans on Es and local Gs.

On 2m the GB3NGI Northern Ireland beacon was present before lunch but was inaudible this evening in wet and windy conditions. I think this beacon is marginal: sometimes it is above the noise and other times just below.

GB3NGI - there again today

A few moments ago I came into the shack to start 10m WSPR (immediately spotted by 4X1RF).

I turned on the other rig to 144.482MHz CW and the GB3NGI N.Ireland beacon (530km) was immediately copied and is still there keying away with callsign, QTH locator and a dash. Maybe this is audible more often than not?  It may be GPS locked as the frequency is very accurate. Here it is spot on 144.482MHz dial.

Someone asked about the noise floor here on 2m. Well, currently I am lucky as on any beam heading man made noise is very low, not lifting the FT817ND's S-meter at all. For reasons I don't understand it is quieter here than at the old QTH which was on the village edge. Maybe the slightly greater distance from other houses is helping? I can hear the odd whistle as I tune through the beacon band. These are very weak though.

Back on 10m, nothing around yet apart from 4X1RF. Conditions 20-30MHz are meant to be "good". Not here as yet!  On 10m WSPR RX only a few wispy traces, none decoded.

2m - GB3NGI Ballymena beacon

This beacon is about 530km from me yet it appears to be on the edge of copy at all times - wait a few minutes and out of the noise pops the callsign and QTH locator. This appears to be a high powered beacon at an excellent site. Its 4 el beam aims towards England so is just about optimum. This is another useful propagation indicator and at a good distance too.

I am still in the process of finding out which 2m beacons are always there, which are usually below the noise floor and which ones can be expected to be copied in reasonable lifts. At the moment it looks like this:

   GB3VHF (Kent) always there
   ON0VHF (Belgium) always there
   PI7CIS (Holland) always there

   GB3NGI (N.Ireland) just below noise (peaks copied)
   GB3ANG (Angus, Scotland) just below noise (peaks copied)

   GB3MCB (Cornwall) below noise - not yet copied

   Others - still TBA.

As a reminder, I am using a barefoot FT817ND with a 3 el 2m yagi (5m AGL) fed with 17m of low loss coax. My site is on top of our local"hill" (20m ASL) next to the windmill with a decent take-off in nearly every direction.

On 70cms SSB/CW  I have still yet to hear anything -  no beacons or stations yet, but I am still looking. The antenna is a 5 el with the same low-loss Westflex coax feeder.

I shall be active in the next 2m and 70cm UKAC contest sessions (next 2 Tuesday evenings) trying to find out how well the station works.