14 Apr 2016

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs April 14th 2016

Solar flux is 112 today and the sunspot number 41 (K=3). The forecast for 10m propagation is yet again "poor".  It is unlikely I'll be on the band today as there is a risk of thunder and the band will be closed for DX later. I may go straight to 630m after dark.

1 comment:

Jan, OZ9QV said...

This afternoon I am spotting stations from Italy, France and Chech Republic, as well as the only local station I am hearing. Still wunning 10m WSPR with an active 1m whip, so not transmitting now.
I should probably make a dedicated WSPR antenna for 10m, maybe a DCTL (2 winding small loop made of 300ohm twin lead), mount it horizontally, and see how it works. It is rather small, so could be mounted discretely. The efficiency may not be more than about 20%, but with the band noise on 10m a small preamp could compensate for that, and transmit power could be increased up to 1 or 2.5W (I am using my FT-817 for 10m WSPR).
Vy 73 de Jan OZ9QV