472kHz WSPR today

G3WCB (101km) has been spotting me all day. Although he runs a higher ERP than me, I seem to always give him poorer reports. I think this is because my FT817 is a bit deaf on 472kHz. When I feel fitter, I should try to improve my MF RX system as I may be missing a few stations.

Plenty of USA 10m WSPR spots today

KB4SC (6560km) was the first USA station to spot my 500mW WSPR today, at 1316z. Since then, a lot of USA stations have been spotting me. It has been a good day on 10m today, despite the lowish sunspot number and the "fair" forecast.
 
UPDATE 1836z:  Still lots of spots of my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon by stations in the USA today. I have the feeling that the 10m band will be open to the USA for some while yet?

UPDATE 1926z:   Still wide open to the USA on 10m.

UPDATE 2012z:   At the moment it looks like KC1AWS (5308km) was the last USA station to spot me today at 1928z. Only local G4IKZ (18km) since then. Will soon be going QRT on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 2024z:  The opening to the USA is not yet over! K9AN (6505km) and others were just spotting me strongly! I'll stick around a bit longer, HI. Perhaps this is the "last gasp" as the F2 MUF falls?

UPDATE 2050z:  USA stations are still spotting my 500mW WSPR. This is very late now. A total surprise.

UPDATE 2150z:   The last spot from the USA was an hour ago. I think the opening to the USA is now, at last, over. It was a good and long one. Now going QRT on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 2230z:  Now QRT on 10m. Have reset my PC to internet time on MF.

10m Lincoln multi-mode rig

My poor health has rather stopped me using my Lincoln President Mk2 rig. It seems to work fine, but I have stuck with my 500mW WSPR beacon as it requires no talking and less effort on my part.

I am pretty sure it will get well used in the coming months though. A few dB extra power will make some difference when using SSB on 10m as the sunspots come "off the boil".

40m Pixie

I must have another go with this rig. As I mentioned before, a 7.030MHz crystal would be more useful than the 7.023MHz crystal it came with. The rig definitely works and the RX nets perfectly to the TX frequency. Sensitivity is better than I expected and BC breakthrough far less of an issue than I had expected. It is certainly a good little kit for the price. I need to check the Reverse Beacon Network in case I get out OK but don't hear any replies to my CQs.

Female models - why don't they smile?

Sorry, this is not amateur radio.....

Why do most female models look so unbelievably miserable? Almost without exception, the "look" seems to be to appear as miserable as possible and never smile.  Surely, if you want dresses to sell then wear a smile at least! I am sure models used to look nice and smile. Back in the 1960s I never recall models being miserable. Perhaps this is how they are told to look in our politically correct times?  Rubbish I say! Not that my XYL is ever likely buy designer dresses, but surely they'd sell more if you thought the models wearing them actually liked them?

Sunspots and 10m - March 6th 2015

Sunspot number has dropped to 33 today and 10m propagation is described as "fair". Despite this, 10m feels quite lively today with plenty of stations on the edge of Europe and Asia spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon.

The best 10m WSPR spot so far today was by RA0WKQ (5702km) in Siberia. Also good DX was/is from TJ3TS (5478km) in Cameroon, Central Africa.   I suspect 10m will open to the USA after lunch as conditions on the 10m band seem to be better than "fair" to me.

UPDATE 1100z:   So far today TJ3TS (Cameroon) has spotted my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon 17 times already. This station is DL8SEQ who is in the capital Yaounde until this summer and operating mainly on digital modes.

472kHz WSPR last night

Unique 472kHz WSPR spots last night

Last evening and overnight 9 unique stations spotted me on 472kHz WSPR with the most distant spot being by F1AFJ (607km). Once again I was using 5mW ERP (possibly less) to the earth-electrode "antenna".

I am amazed just how many stations have now spotted my very low ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" on 472kHz WSPR. Never let it be said, "I've no space for MF antennas". If I can get out with my "antenna" then so can you, and probably much better!

W5OLF's WSPR beacon

See http://w5olf.com .

As a user for several months of a W5OLF WSPR 10m beacon OK I am biased. However, if your interest is a small WSPR beacon for 30, 20m or 10m then I can honestly recommend this kit. There are others  such as the Hans Summers "Ultimate" beacons. These are more flexible but they need several small PCBs. Jay's WSPR dedicated beacons fit on a single small PCB that fits inside an Altoids tin.  As my 10m unit has been copied all over the planet (including Australia and Antarctica), I can highly recommend this design. It really does work well. If you enjoy WSPR you'd be hard pressed to find a neater, smaller solution. I love it. Mine runs lots of the time. Usually it is started up at breakfast time and runs through until the DX disappears the following night. It will probably be on 24/7 during the Es season unless I want to work SSB,CW, FM or AM on the other rigs.

RSGB Wortley-Talbot Trophy

Well, I was delighted, honoured and surprised, to get a nice letter from the RSGB today. In it, it said I'd been awarded the Wortley-Talbot trophy for my experimental work on over the horizon work at 481THz and the article on this published in RadCom last year.

Sadly my continued ill health means I'll be unable to pick up the award at the RSGB's AGM in London in April.  I just wish my health was better so I could do some field work again soon! Both VLF and optical field work are on hold until I feel better. This year I really really hope I'll manage it.

To be honest this award came as a complete surprise, but I'd happily trade these lovely awards to be back to my old healthy self.

10m - USA today

So the 10m band has yet again opened across the Atlantic with KB4SC (6560km) spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon at 1312z and several times since. Others are also copying me.

UPDATE 1748z:   Plenty of 10m WSPR spots from the USA received all afternoon and still continuing.

My 500mW 10m WSPR-AXE-CW beacon created by Jay W5OLF continues to work flawlessly. It is so tiny yet just works. It takes about 15-20 minutes to settle (I think the reference drifts as the PA warms up?) and I sync to internet time once a day, which is probably far more frequently than needed. Once running, it works perfectly with nothing else needed, no PC, nothing.  All continents were reached within weeks on 10m to a simple wire antenna.  At some point I may build a 20m version which is 1W. On 10m 0.5W seems fine.

UPDATE 2042z:  At the moment, it looks like N0UR (6535km) was the last USA station to spot my little 10m 500mW WSPR beacon at 2014z. Since then just local G4IKZ (18km).

UPDATE 2205z:   No further USA spots since N0UR at 2014z.  Now QRT on 10m WSPR until the morning. Still active on 472kHz WSPR.