Sunspots - Nov 19th 2014

Conditions on 10m remain good here.

Sunspot number today had dropped back a bit to 92, but 10m conditions remain "good". Certainly the 10m DX WSPR spots from Australia confirm this. I am already being spotted in the USA very early today.

472kHz WSPR overnight - spotted in Germany

Overnight, I ran the MF WSPR station on 472kHz to the (short baseline) earth-electrode antenna. In all, 7 unique spots were received with my best DX (5mW ERP) being a -29dB S/N report from DL-SWL (701km) in JO52hp square. This is not my best DX ever on the band from this QTH, but I think it is the best DX with the very simple earth-electrode antenna system.

Australia on 10m 500mW

My TINY little "all in one" WSPR-AXE beacon was spotted at 1010z  by VK5MR (16144km) for my best DX report yet. At -23dB S/N this suggests I still had power in hand too.

I knew this would happen, and today it did. I remain very impressed that this TINY little WSPR beacon works so well. It seems incredible that such a TINY little unit works so well. Well done Jay W5OLF.

472kHz WSPR with the earth-electrode antenna

It is now 2050z. 10m has been dead for "real DX" since 1840z. I am still TXing on  10m but only being spotted by G4IKZ (18km).

At the same time I am on 472kHz WSPR both TX (5mW ERP) and RX. So far, 4 different stations have spotted me on 472kHz and I have spotted 7 different stations on RX. Best RX DX is DK7FC (669km). So far this evening the best spot of my 472kHz 5mW ERP is from G3WCB (101km).

Last USA spot on 10m?

WG2Z (5600km) was spotting me at 1736z.   I am wondering if this will be the last 10m North American spot, or if the band will remain open longer.

When I go QRT on 10m later this evening I shall leave MF still running.

UPDATE 1935z:   Well WG2Z was the last spot but at 1840z, almost an hour after the above spot.

WSPRing MF and 10m simultaneously

Late this afternoon, I decided to try 472kHz WSPR (using the FT817, transverter and earth-electrode antenna (5mW ERP) and 28MHz WSPR (using the 500mW WSPR-AXE 500mW TX beacon) . All seems to be working with USA reports on 10m still, as well as G0LRD spotting me on LF and I am spotting G,PA and DL on 472kHz WSPR. Certainly MF is a great deal more productive than 6m was over 6 days of trying.

UPDATE 1710z:   a 472kHz report of -12dB S/N from G3XDV (61km) suggests he might just copy me on the same (short) earth-electrode antenna on 136kHz especially if I used QRSS30. I really must try a longer baseline earth-electrode antenna. The earth-electrode antenna definitely has directionality like a loop.

Unique 10m WSPR spots to 1450z today

The little 500mW beacon has been on since last evening. LZ1OI (2153km) and 4X1RF (3519km) were  both spotting me very early and there have been plenty of stations spotting me already. This is the list of unique stations spotting me so far:

Unique station 10m WSPR reports today to 1450z.

In many cases, stations have copied me many times and this is not shown. 500mW seems quite enough to "blast a hole".   More power might help at times, but if the path is open 500mW is very often plenty with WSPR.

Sunspots - Tuesday Nov 18th 2014

Sunspot number today is 95 and 10m propagation is expected to be "good". Although my little WSPR-AXE beacon is being copied widely, nothing out of the ordinary so far.

Antarctica on 10m WSPR (500mW)

This morning, my tiny little 500mW WSPR-AXE beacon, designed by Jay (W5OLF), was copied in Antarctica by RI1ABR (13676km) in JB59mm square. This is the best DX so far with it.  Australia has, so far, eluded me. There are loads of USA stations spotting me.

See http://rt.com/news/russia-antarctic-stations-exploration-541/ .

Sunspots today - Nov 17th 2014

Sunspot number has fallen to 91 yet 10m daytime propagation is supposed to be "good".  Although 10m has yet again opened to the USA (weeks and weeks this has happened now) I would not describe conditions on 10m as particularly "good".  I am still waiting for my first Australian report when using the little beacon for example.  When the band is really "good" VK reports with the 500mW WSPR beacon should be no problem.