Good start on 10m this morning

Already, at around 0700z my 10m 500mW WSPR is being spotted in Reunion Is (Indian Ocean) by FR5ZX and in Israel by 4X1RF. I was spotting Japan at 0842z and there is plenty of good DX around such as TJ3 and EX1. Sunspot count is 125 and we can expect stable conditions according to the solar forecast. 10m should open to the USA and Canada from around 1130z to about 2145z. Yesterday turned out better than I expected. 10m is such an excellent and interesting HF band.

Some of my reports from the USA have been VERY strong indeed, even when running 500mW RF.  In some cases just a few mW would have been enough to get spotted transatlantic.

10m with125mW (Ultimate 3 WSPR beacon)

As you may recall, I am building an Ultimate 3 WSPR beacon for 10m as soon as I feel up to the task. Currently I am too clumsy building because of my stroke. The reports yesterday and today with 500mW on 10m suggest the majority of spots would still be achieved with 6dB less power, QRM permitting.

Just maybe I'll try the beacon initially at its 125mW design level.  I was intending to run about 2W pep finally.

My last 500mW TX burst on 10m (at 1634z)  just now got no less than 11 different spots, with all but one (IT9) being received from the USA.  And conditions today are not as good as yesterday!

UPDATE 2300z: The last spot of my 500mW 10m WSPR signal was at 2136z tonight. My last spot (of others) was at 215oz (KE5XV). Best spot of my 500mW signal was from CX2ABP at 11127km

10m Conditions - not quite as good?

Although a little early to be sure, the impression I'm getting is that 10m conditions are not as good as they were yesterday. It will be interesting to see how long the band opens transatlantic this afternoon/evening.  Running 500mW I will be missing some spots, but this is my impression so far today.

Typically, early afternoon WSPR transmissions here get 3-7 spots (reports)  per transmission despite running just 500mW out. Of these, about 75-85% are transatlantic reports.  Conditions today are actually NOT as good as yesterday either.

Received 10m 500mW WSPR reports today to 1444z

10m Antenna Effectiveness

Comparing my 10m signals with those of others, I suspect my antenna may be up to 10dB down on optimised systems, i.e my 2W is equivalent to 200mW from the better equipped stations. When better (stroke) I may try changing the 10m antenna for something better. A vertical 1/2 wave would be less directional on WSPR TX but might be noisier on RX.

Intriguing inter-G propagation on 10m

This morning I am copying G4SPE at 195km on 10m WSPR. This sort of inter-G distance is not uncommon on the 10m band. I assume this and similar spots are by normal tropo. Years ago the RSGB ran evening 10m contests and decent inter-G QSOs were possible with 10W SSB/CW to dipoles.  Every contest evening I would work down south or up to Yorkshire. I assume most inter-G WSPR spots are tropo but some may be back-scatter. I am sure consistent JT9-1 QSOs (and WSPR spots) would be possible inter-G if there was more activity. Something to try in the quiet years on 10m?

Early morning on 10m WSPR

As I left the 10m WSPR running overnight at 500mW I was able to see how soon the band opened for me this morning. As of 0900z just 3 spots received, all from RV3APM at 2428km in  Russia. No sign (yet) of 4X1 or LZ but it is very early and I am just running 500mW. On RX a station from Cameroon is coming through - TJ3TS .

UPDATE 1045z: EA8/DL9XJ  has spotted my 500mW twice so far.

Stateside on 10m again

My 10m 2W WSPR station is on now and getting plenty of stateside spots. A typical 2 mins TX burst gets 2-4 spots with most of these being from the USA and Canada. The earliest transatlantic spot (of me) was at 1118z, which is very early. These first class conditions cannot last, although I suspect next autumn will be good to the USA still.

UPDATE 1445z: I have now dropped my power to 500mW and am still getting plenty of USA WSPR spots with best DX 8756km to N6RY.  In 90 minutes there were 24 spots in the log when running 500mW out.

UPDATE 1725z: 41 spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR signal and most are transatlantic this afternoon. Plenty of reports still coming through. Suspect the band will be open transatlantic for hours yet.

UPDATE 1848z: 3 spots of my 1846z 10m 500mW transmission with best DX 6384km at a STRONG -8dB S/N.

UPDATE 1910z:  Still wide open to the USA with a report from  KI7CI at 8307km.   It could be a while yet before conditions drop out, or it might suddenly drop off.

UPDATE 1928z:  no less than 7 (yes 7) spots of my 500mW signal in a single transmission and ALL USA reports.

UPDATE 2014z: 3 spots with best DX 7660km. Band STILL wide open, even with 500mW. Even at 2020z still, getting stateside reports.

UPDATE 2040z:  10m still wide open but my last spot was at 2102z.

10m WSPR on RX - still wide open at 2042z

OFCOM and spectrum pricing (again)

Ofcom has today published a statement confirming the framework and cost allocation methodology they will apply when setting cost based spectrum licence fees. The statement also sets out Ofcom’s decision on the cost based fees to be charged to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) multiplex operators. The fees, which they consulted on, apply to Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 DTT multiplex licences awarded by Ofcom.

 

To give the proposed fee changes legal effect, Ofcom needs to make amendments to the licence Fee Regulations. Ofcom expects to publish these under a Statutory Notice on which it will consult shortly. Subject to that process, new fees regulations are expected to come into force in mid-2014.

Amateur and ship charges are expected to be reviewed next year (2015) with any charges (if made) starting 2017.

Basically, I am AGAINST spectrum charging. If I was in charge I would nationalise broadband and all phones (including mobiles) and REDUCE costs for consumers. Why should share holders benefit when consumers should?

Strapped feeder results (630m), and back on 10m

Overnight I have been on 474.2kHz WSPR using the VHF/HF antennas all strapped together and tuned against mains earth. Impressions are that it performs about as well (or badly?) as the low height dedicated Marconi, perhaps a tad better? Strapping feeders is certainly easy to do.

Since about 0820z I have returned to 10m WSPR using around 2W to the Par end-fed antenna. Reports already exchanged with Japan and Reunion Is. in the Indian Ocean. Conditions still look excellent on 10m with a sunspot count of 139 currently. 10m, even with my antenna and 2W, is too easy right now!

10m - first hour with 2W to Par antenna

474.2kHz - trying strapped feeders

As a last attempt (for now) on 474.2kHz WSPR this evening I have strapped the feeders of the Par 10/20/40, the 2m halo and the V2000 tri-band VHF/UHF vertical all together and am tuning it against mains ground to see how things compare with previous tests. The "theory" is the effective vertical is about 2x higher so, if efficiency was about the same as before, the ERP would be up. In reality, the antenna current is only 10% higher so losses over the "short" Marconi must be much greater.

So far, spots of other stations appear stronger (e.g.G3XIZ -1dB S/N) but I've only managed 2 spots of my own signal, these from PA3ABK/2 in Holland at 306km. These are not brilliant, but similar to the earlier tests. More results overnight tonight.

Tomorrow I may go back to 10m.