QRT on 6m and 10m WSPR

At 2300z I went QRT on 6m and 10m WSPR. Will be on 10m again after breakfast. I shall probably give 6m a miss though.

Last WSPR spot from the USA

At 1746z KC1AWS (5308km) was the last USA station to copy my 500mW WSPR beacon today.

Low cost Chinese TCXO for FT817

In a recent email from Steve G1KQH he brings to our attention a very low cost TCXO for the FT817 from China:

"Greetings!

You still standing after the winds?

Did you see that mention in PW about that Chinese TCXO for the 817 at a 1/4 of the price of the Yaesu one:

http://zl2bkc.com/2014/10/29/stability-of-chineese-tcxo-9-in-ft817/

I searched TCX0-9 on ebay and quite a few came up his is the best price so far, if I find better I will let you know

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Compensated-Crystal-Components-Module-for-FT-817-857-897-TCXO-9-22-625MHZ-/281537625385?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones_Communication_Radio_Parts_Accessories&hash=item418cf33d29

Now who is going to try one first?

73 Steve G1KQH"

Australian 10m WSPR spot

This morning at 1124z, VK5MR (16144km) copied my 10m 500mW WSPR-AXE-CW beacon for what will probably be my best DX today. His report of me was -26dB S/N, i.e. not strong. No other great DX reports received on 10m. First USA WSPR spot of my 500mW was by KC1AWS (5308km) at 1220z. He was spotting me well at -16dB S/N.

So far, 6m WSPR as been a dead loss again. I sync'd to internet time twice today on the 6m kit. Not a single 6m spot given and received since I started just after breakfast. Really I am wasting effort of 6m currently.   I would be better on a totally different band for a change.

Sunspots and 10m - Jan 11th 2015

Sunspot number today is up again, to 146 and 10m propagation is expected to be "good". Yet again, the 10m band has opened to the USA after lunch, and Australia this morning.

Time to go QRT

I am still active on both 6m and 10m WSPR but I shall close down on both bands very soon. On 6m I have seen no activity since G0LRD (25km) at 1922z, and on 10m only G4IKZ (18km) is spotting me since the band closed to the USA. I shall be back on again after breakfast.

Sunspots and 10m

Sunspot number has climbed to 125 and 10m was forecast to be "good" today.

The first 10m USA WSPR spot of my 500mW beacon today was by K3ZV (5692km) at 1242z.

UPDATE 1804z:  At the moment KB1VXY (5308km) looks like being the last USA station to spot my 500mW this evening. He was still spotting me a few minutes ago. There could still be others though.

UPDATE 1912z:   KB1VXY was the last station in the USA to spot me on 10m WSPR. Since 1748z just local G4IKZ (18km) spotting me.  Early this morning OZ1IT (853km) was spotting me at 0518z and I see CX2ABP/D (11080km) was the best DX spot of me today (mid-afternoon).

Some 6m results (1W ERP)

After resetting my PC clock (it was set this morning so not sure why it was off so badly) I have been exchanging WSPR spots with G0LRD (25km). Apart from G6AVK a week or so back, I'd had no spots at all on 6m in recent months. I am still hopeful I might catch some winter Es. I think any TEP or F2 DX is pretty unlikely.

GQRP Club

See http://www.gqrp.com/ .

Many times before I have said that SPRAT is the last magazine I would give up if I had to. GQRP Club membership is very reasonable indeed and I highly commend it to you. They now sell a DVD which has the first 160 copies of SPRAT on it.   If you join the club,the DVD is very inexpensive plus you get the next 4 SPRATs with the subscription. SPRAT is always filled with good stuff and always plenty of projects to build.

Go on, join!

6m - magic band, really?

Why do I bother on 6m WSPR? Apart from G6AVK (78km) with whom I exchanged spots more than a week ago I have had no success at all on 6m WSPR out of the Es season.  I get plenty of success on 10m with less power.  I go on 6m WSPR because I can do so at the same time as being on 10m. I get far more success on 630m with an ERP of just 5mW. I think I am going to give up on the "magic band" until April or May. Maybe I really do need 100W and a big yagi up high in the sky to make the band "magic" at this time of the year. My 1W ERP from a V2000 vertical omni antenna just isn't enough or maybe all the activity is on other modes?