Sunspots - Monday October 7th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1.

472kHz WSPR

I seem to have better optimised my matching transformer with the S/N being 1dB better on G1GKN who is like a beacon with me. I have been spotted by a couple of new UK stations in the last few hours and it is still daylight.

UPDATE 1843z: Already my 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP, maybe less!) has been spotted in Norway 3 times and once in The Netherlands.

Miracle Antennas

It is some years since I last used my Miracle Whip. In fact, I am not even sure where it is! These days there are commercial alternatives as the original inventor became a SK in 2012. Now, please do not expect miracles from any of these. As I have said many times, a 56 inch whip can only be as good as a 56 inch whip, but with a counterpoise or ground they can work reasonably well on the higher HF bands. In their favour, they are small and convenient.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/mwhip

472kHz ERP

Despite having redone the calculations, I still cannot get a sensible figure.

All my sums seem to give me figures well below 10mW ERP, even if I assume the effective loop area is much bigger than I expected.

Now, it is entirely possible that I have made an error, but if the ERP is greater than 10mW I shall be very surprised. Perhaps I should take another look tomorrow.

ON4KST chat

This is a useful resource for arranging skeds and seeing what is happening on various bands. As often happens, I forgot my password so requested a new one. Nothing received.

So I tried re-registering. Again nothing received. I checked the SPAM folder - nothing.

Crap. I give up.

472kHz WSPR - no TX

For reasons I do not understand, it appears that my WSJT-X software decided to disable TX on 472kHz WSPR. I think this may have been the case for several hours. I manually enabled it again a few minutes ago. No reports resulted though!

G1GKN on 472kHz WSPR

G1GKN seems to be always copied. I am intrigued why the S/N is better now than earlier. It could be for several reasons. Has my noise floor dropped? I don't think so. Has the path loss dropped? I don't think so. Is he running more ERP? Not according to the WSPR database. Mystery.

New Beofeng 10W handie

My friend Steve G1KQH has sent me a link for a new 10W Beofeng handheld transceiver. How do they do it for the price?

See https://www.banggood.com/Baofeng-UV-9R-Plus-10W-Upgrade-Version-Two-Way-Radio-VHF-UHF-Walkie-Talkie-for-CB-Ham-AU-Plug-p-1402512.html?p=1T122389680562017027&custlinkid=588363&ID=43101&cur_warehouse=CN

Recalculating 472kHz ERP

Yesterday I said I would recalculate the ERP of my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground at 474kHz. This is proving much harder to work out, not helped by living in a continual "brain fog" since my 2013 stroke. Even simple tasks, whether physical or mental, are now so much harder.

I seem to be coming up with silly figures (much less than 10mW ERP) and these depend on some assumptions about the effective area of the loop in the ground, which are an educated guess. Either the effective loop is much bigger than I expect or the ERP is far less than 10mW!! A recalculation is needed.

472kHz FT8? and storm risks

At the moment, I have not had any interest in a 472kHz FT8 QSO attempt, so I shall remain on 472kHz WSPR unless I hear from anyone.

At the moment, the UK storm risks here look low.

I realise that my QRPP 472kHz WSPR signal has not been spotted since 0744z this morning.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?bo_page=map&bo_showmap=uk