WSPRnet in trouble?

Overnight I went on 630m QRP WSPR, but I think WSPRnet had/has a problem so I do not know who was spotting my 10mW ERP.  

Until this is fixed, there is little point me being on WSPR TX.

UPDATE 1740z:  It looks like it is still in trouble. Unless things are fixed in the next couple of hours, I shall probably give 630m WSPR a miss tonight. If it is soon fixed, my 10mW ERP WSPR will be on. 

WSPRnet sick?

This afternoon, I have failed to access WSPRnet. It looks like there is a fault. 

Without this, I cannot continue my 10m 500uW experiments. Tomorrow, I may try 10m FT8.  I can try this with 50mW if need be.

Is there an alternative to WSPRnet?

It looks like WSPRrocks is working.

WSPRnet error

All seems OK until I press the "unique" button on the database page (to see which unique stations have spotted me). This worked fine in the past. It has only stopped working in the last few days.

I use Chrome on a Chromebook. It has worked faultlessly for nearly 3 years. I have not tried with other browsers.

UPDATE 0900z:  Just tried Firefox. Same error message.

UPDATE 1801z:  I think the problem may have been fixed.

WSPRnet still faulty?

This morning, WSPRnet still reports an error, so I went on WSPR Rocks instead. I do not know what the problem is.

WSPRnet changes

It may have been there for weeks (!) but I have just noticed a change to WSPRnet. You can now tick a box that says, "Excludes calls starting with Q and 0, typically used for balloon telemetry". I have not noticed this before.

5MHz WSPR overnight

WSPRnet sprang back to life this afternoon (I think). It disappeared sometime overnight after 0250z I believe. This eventually allowed me to see the best 5MHz DX last night on WSPR TX. This turned out to be a spot from AB4DF (6436km). There may have been others, but WSPRnet fell over, so I shall never know. I hope to be on 5MHz overnight, so let us hope WSPRnet works! My antenna is very poor and very low for 5MHz. I am amazed how far I got last night with 2W and this low, inefficient antenna.

UPDATE 2135z:  37 unique stations have spotted my 5MHz WSPR in just over a day. Probably more as WSPRnet was not working for much of the time. 5MHz is proving to be a very useful band.

5MHz WSPR - am I wasting my time?

With WSPRnet still not working I have no idea if last night's efforts were worthwhile or not on 5MHz. The chances are that no spots are/were reaching WSPRnet, so the last 12 hours or so were probably all in vain. If this continues I shall be forced to abandon WSPR, which would be a great shame as we enter the Es season, which benefits the higher HF bands, 6m, 4m and 2m.

WSPRnet - down again

In the last few hours I have tried (in vain) to visit WSPRnet to see where my 5MHz WSPR reached. It was down yet again. Many many times regular WSPR users have offered to pay for a reliable service. When WSPRnet is down WSPR is far less useful. I am still waiting!

At the moment the WSPRnet service goes for weeks working fine, then it collapses in a heap. Sometimes it is a long time before service is restored. I am unsure where the problem is but I hope it is soon repaired.

UPDATE 0912z:  WSPRnet is still down, after very many hours.

UPDATE 1236z:  WSPRnet is still down!  This is bad. I do wish the server owners and maintainers would get help.

WSPRnet - still broken?

Several times I have tried to enter the WSPRnet database, but without success. It looks like it is broken again. Without WSPRnet WSPR is no good, in my view.

WSPRnet - owner trying to fix it

The database query form has been taken down so the owner (W1BW) can try to fix it.  I hope he succeeds.  Like many, I'd happily pay something if this would help reliability. WSPRnet is so useful when it works, allowing almost instant feedback of propagation. In my current state of health it has been wonderful.

UPDATE 2152z:   At the moment, the database seems to be working.  I am QRT on all bands until after breakfasttime.

More WSPRnet issues

WSPRnet seems to be suffering again. I get in, but it is taking a very long time. Maybe, some have given up and are using other modes instead?

More WSPRnet issues?

Yet again, WSPRnet seems to be struggling. If this continues I think I shall be forced away from WSPR, which would be a great shame in my current state of health.

The choices are to move to PSK31, JT65, JT9-1 and OPERA on MF. I can use SSB and CW, but I find these modes hard at present.  Unlike WSPR (which is mainly a beacon mode) these digital modes are really 2-way modes, so I'd have to be in the shack rather than the lounge. Maybe this is no bad thing as I need to make more 2-way QSOs. Maybe my challenge for 2016 should be to see how many countries I can work with QRP using these digital modes?

WSPRnet is a core benefit of WSPR as it allows everyone to see who is spotting you and who you are spotting. Feedback is almost instant, which is great for those interested in propagation or experimenting with antennas or rigs.

6m WSPR

G8VDQ (93km) was again spotted on 6m WSPR. A few days ago M0ICR was copied on 6m WSPR despite only using 200mW from North London.  I am sure people don't use the band thinking it useless outside the Es season. As WSPR has again shown, paths are often possible when the band seems dead. Modes like JT65 and JT9-1 should allow 2-way QSOs. With just less than 1 minute TX time, Doppler should be less of an issue than with WSPR using these modes. On 6m I only use a V2000 vertical fed with lossy coax. With a small beam, more power, and an antenna with gain, just imagine what would be possible.

Recommendation - give 6m WSPR a try! You may be surprised.

UPDATE 1034z: It looks like WSPRnet is struggling again this morning.

UPDATE 1036z: G8VDQ (93km)  spotted 4 times so far this morning on 6m WSPR.

UPDATE 1640z:  No spots all day on 10m WSPR, but G8VDQ (93km) has been spotted 9 times so far today on 6m WSPR.

More WSPRnet issues

Like many, I monitor WSPRnet to see who I am spotting and who is spotting me.  In my case I often do this from the comfort of the lounge, whilst doing other things.  I notice that WSPRnet is very slow again today. In fact, the last few times I tried it failed to connect at all.

UPDATE 1525z:  WSPRnet seems to be working at the moment with a 472kHz spot of my 5mW ERP by M0LMH (223km) a short while ago. Sadly if WSPRnet is not reliable it rather ruins the "near instant feedback" of WSPR.

UPDATE 1652z:  If WSPRnet really is just done by volunteers for free I am amazed it is as good as it is. I for one just use it and milk it. Like many, as anonymous says below, I'd happily chip in some cash to help provide a reliable service. Not all can afford to do so, but I use WSPRnet each and every day just about. Without WSPRnet, WSPR would not be a quarter as good as it is.

WSPRnet issues?

Several people have mentioned that WSPRnet is suffering of late. Certainly the number of times connecting has been problematic seems to be increasing. Is this because the server is getting too busy? Maybe the server just cannot cope with all the WSPR activity any more? I'd be interested to hear your views.

Reboot of PC needed

Although I was spotting F5WK (364km) well again this evening on 472kHz WSPR, my spots of him were not being uploaded to the WSPRnet database. My PC was showing that the WiFi was connected but I had no internet connectivity, except that other machines were connecting perfectly well! So, I rebooted the Win 7 PC and now all seems to work - spots of F5WK on 472kHz WSPR are now being uploaded OK. Although the first uploaded spot of F5WK is 1812z, I was copying him well before then.

On 10m WSPR the beacon is stand alone and the PC is only needed to start the sync. I could use the radio pips. The 10m beacon then runs (at least) all day on its own on 10m. I use the PC and WSPR software on either 6m or 630m.

WSPRnet issues (still sluggish at 1740z)

I am not sure if this is just a temporary blip but I am having great trouble accessing the main online database for WSPR called WSPRnet. It is taking an age to load. Although I have managed to access the database (after some minutes) I an shown as receiving no spots on either 10m or 6m.  This may just be poor conditions or others failing to upload spots. I hope it is just temporary.

UPDATE 1545z:   G6IMT (65km) is exchanging spots with me on 6m. With low Doppler, this could be pure tropo. I just checked the online traces from G6IMT and there are plenty of reflections from aircraft evident, although the traces that decoded may have been the direct tropo signal. Typically G6IMT is about -15 to -17dB S/N with me running 5W. Not sure what antenna he is using.

UPDATE 1740z:  So far nothing at all on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 1742z:  I see that I spotted G3ZJO earlier this afternoon on 6m WSPR (-21dB S/N)

QRSS and WSPR frequencies

Being a keen WSPR user, I have not used QRSS on HF, although I have done on MF, LF and VLF.  A useful page about QRSS is here.  QRSS requires manual intervention to interpret the signals whereas WSPR using WSPRnet is automatic. This is one of the reasons why WSPR gets used here a lot.

WSPRnet anomalies?

There are a couple of things I do not like about WSPRnet:

1. It does not show stations active who have not been very recently spotted (i.e. stations who have not been seen for 10 minutes). This means it does not show stations who are actually active, but unsuccessful  e.g. me on 6m, who has been sending and looking most of the day (and on 6m on several days in the last few months), but without success.
2. It does not, as far as I can see, allow you to check your logs more than 2 weeks ago, so it is not possible, as far as I can see, to check "all time" records for my call on a given band.  There may be a way using Excel, but it is not easy and I have not found out how to do it!

WSPRnet problems

WSPR signals propagate around the world and allow very weak signals to be correctly decoded. WSPR is some 12-14dB better than normal speed CW. If 10W gets through on CW less than 1W is quite enough with WSPR. My own 10m 500mW beacon, to a simple "nothing special" end-fed wire antenna has been copied on every continent in recent weeks, including Australasia and Antarctica.

The main bonus with WSPR is that all reports can be automatically sent to an internet database (WSPRnet), so anyone can see where signals are reaching and how well. Today though, the WSPRnet database has been in trouble, possibly due to being overloaded. It was not working the last time I checked but was working late this morning.