HF JT65 and JT9-1

A few people have suggested I try these modes more seriously. I have used both these modes in the past but never too seriously. As I cannot do much building or "in the field" experimenting until my health really improves, these modes will provide me with a "no talking" challenge for the autumn - my voice is still poor making modes like SSB challenging. I can manage VHF and UHF contests for short periods, but it really strains my voice and voice modes are best avoided. Unlike WSPR which is an excellent beaconing mode, the JT modes are 2-way so allow proper QSOs, if rather rubber stamp. WSPR is a few dB more sensitive but JT65 and JT9-1 use 1 minute transmission slots.

10m Es - still good here at 2100z

Well, 10m has been in good shape all afternoon and evening here.

This afternoon it opened well to the USA east coast by Es and it is still wide open to great chunks of Europe as I write. This is a great Es day on the band - in my opinion the best this season. Mind you, I have been on 6m WSPR a good part of the last few months and only recently moved down to 10m in a more serious way. Today I might have tried 6m transatlantic WSPR but there were very few USA stations active on the mode, so I stuck with 10m. 10m is a far more productive Es band, but being nearly half the frequency, that is to be expected. 2W WSPR, even to my indifferent antenna, is enough.

UPDATE 2112z:  Best DX in the last 15 minutes is TF3HZ (1837km) up in Iceland. Still lots from continental Europe coming through too. LA3JJ (993km) in Norway is a very consistent signal.

UPDATE 2135z:  My 2W is still being spotted on 10m WSPR, now by DK0SC (827km) at a strong -9dB S/N.  The 10m band is still humming.  I shall have to go QRT before too long, more is the pity.

Monday night East Cambs Net 2m

Every Monday night at 8pm clock time, a number of amateurs in Cambridge and the villages in East Cambridgeshire meet for a net on 144.575MHz FM.  This is down in the "all modes" section as originally we used AM until one who joined the net did not have that mode.

At the moment, I tend to speak very little as my voice is so poor still. There are usually a few of us on and please feel free to call in and join the net. We always finish by 9pm local time and often well before.

Currently I am monitoring the net and WSPRing on 10m.

10m - transatlantic Es this afternoon

I switched to 2W WSPR on 10m around 1406z and was rewarded (in addition to reception of a Dutch station) by reception of K3NAL (5930km) and  KZ8C (6920km). Neither has copied me yet, if they are indeed monitoring on RX. Both are using 5W.

This must be multi-hop Es. It is certainly my best Es DX this season.  At this time of the year it is highly unlikely to be F-layer. Anyway, today F2 conditions today are very poor. K3NAL and KZ8C have been copied lots of times. K3NAL has been copied 10 times by 1608z!

10m Es WSPR - transatlantic today

It is a great pity there are not more stations in the USA on WSPR on 6m. Good to copy USA stations in the summertime on 10m.

UPDATE 1700z:   K3NAL has been copied 14 times already.  WG2Z (5600km) has now copied my 2W at 1626z.

UPDATE 1820z:   Lots of EU Es audible on WSPR but the transatlantics have stopped.

UPDATE 1856z:    PD0OHW (459km) at +12dB S/N on WSPR - incredibly strong Es propagation.

6m after the storms.

Last night I decided to stay off air until the storms were well clear. They moved away from this area by mid evening but as they were very scattered I decided to stay off-air until the morning.  A check on WSPRnet showed I was not missing too much - just Es around Europe and no "super DX".

In the end, I returned to 6m at 1058z this morning after a shopping trip into Newmarket with the wife.  Apart from usual G4IKZ (18km) I was rewarded by a -21dB S/N spot by OH7AI (2000km) up in Finland at 1106z. At 1120z, he was spotting me at a strong -6dB S/N.

WSPR spots of OH7AI and G4IKZ on 6m this morning

Sunspot count is 17 today (low) and 20-30MHz conditions are described as "fair", so F2 DX is less probable on 10m. I may QSY to 10m later just in case.

UPDATE 1150z:  SQ9SIM has just been spotted on 6m WSPR. The band is opening well by Es.

UPDATE 1400z:  My WSPR software was stopped (for a short while after lunch) but just G4IKZ spotting me now. Maybe there will more 6m Es later.

Solar activity

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

Looking at the data on this excellent page, it now looks pretty certain that we have started on the downwards part of the current cycle. This does NOT mean an end to decent HF conditions. For several years to come there will be good days and 15,12 and 10m will still support DX but far less easily than around the sunspot maximum years.

Even in the depths of the last minimum N-S DX was still there to be worked on QRP SSB, so expect some decent openings. This is really where regular WSPR operation will help, by seeing just how often 10m opens up.  As I have said before, operating on the weaker parts of the solar cycle are, in many ways, more challenging and interesting. When 10m is wide open it becomes too easy.

Also, don't forget Es (sporadic-E) which can produce some spectacular DX at the right time of the year - in the northern hemisphere this is usually May, Jun, July and August but Es can occur (more fleetingly) at other times times of the year. This is why regular WSPR operation will help.

6m - storms stop play

Just as things on 6m Es were hotting up, I can hear distant thunder and an approaching storm. Currently the storm is tracking to the west of Cambridge and may miss us, but as a precaution I have disconnected antennas, PSU and rigs. If the storm moves further away I will reconnect things. Darn! 6m was great today and I fear I may miss some good DX.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .

UPDATE 1912z:  Looking at WSPRnet.org it appears I am not missing any great super-DX from across the Atlantic on 6m. All I can see are decent Es paths around Europe. For now,the antennas and rigs will remain disconnected just in case the storms reappear. For now, the storms seem to have moved away east.

6m WSPR Es

In the last few minutes IK1WVQ (1084km) has been spotted a few times at up to -5dB S/N (strong) and HB9FGQ (804km) at -12dB S/N (pretty strong). There is still plenty of Es around on 6m.

Most spots were by local G4IKZ (18km) though.

6m WSPR spots this afternoon (so far)

UPDATE 1605z:  IK6HIR (1312km) has just spotted my 1W 6m ERP at an amazing +11dB S/N - stronger than if he was local. Phenomenal conditions.

UPDATE 1615z:  Strong signals on 6m now from OK1DX and OH7AI. This opening seems Europe wide.

UPDATE 1630z:  In terms of the spread and intensity, today here is one of the best days on 6m this season.  It would be nice to round off a great EU Es day with a transatlantic 6m opening.

10m WSPR - unique spots this morning

10m WSPR - unique reports this morning

As already mentioned, the 10m Es reports have been good this morning. The above shows the unique spots (repeats are not shown) on 10m Es today. G0LRD (25km) is a local. I am running about 2W out.

I am now going to QSY to 6m WSPR.  On 6m my ERP is lower because of cable losses - around 1W ERP maximum on 6m.

Doppler on local and GDX 10m and 6m signals

G0LRD has already shown that what I have described as Doppler on 6m is, sometimes, the drift as my FT817 goes from TX to RX and cools down. Certainly some WSPR signals are affected by aircraft reflections, evidenced by multiple traces. It is an open question whether or not some signals are only propagated at decent GDX distances as a result of aircraft or whether it is just the tropo signal that is decoded. My strong suspicion is that at least some GDX is only possible when planes are in the right orientation and Doppler shift is low enough to allow a successful decode.

Notice the (additional), aircraft reflected, signal from G0LRD ((above 100) earlier. Clearly the decode was on the flat trace coming directly and not that coming via a plane. Sometimes I have seen as many as 6 aircraft reflections. The traces lower in frequency did not decode as the Doppler was too great. Doppler on 6m is worse.