Saturday, December 23, 2017

The Mighty Miliwatt

Good grief ... did a one week query of the 40m 1mw WSPR and ordered it by signal report ......WOW!


Thursday, December 21, 2017

Winter Solstice WSPRs

1 Watt 160m WSPR into a " Inverted L" with 8 Radials  - 00:00 - 24:00 Dec 21 2017














On an interesting note the K index was 1 and there was some propagation while the Sun was up.  Below is a table of WSPR reports between 9am and 3pm on the shortest day of the year... Sunrise 7:56 am ,  Sunset 4:48 pm.

























1 mw 40m WSPR into a 1/4 Vertical with 8 Radials  - 00:00 - 24:00 Dec 21 2017


Monday, December 18, 2017

40m 1 mw WSPR - 7 Days - Dec 11 thru Dec 18, 2017


 
1mw 40m WSPR  into a 1/4 Vertical ( near the house ). 


There were 86 unique spots over a two week period.....
Timestamp Reporter SNR km
 2017-12-14 00:02   VE6ARS  -25 2542
 2017-12-04 10:44   VE6JY  -26 2532
 2017-12-11 06:58   KD6RF  -26 1801
 2017-12-08 11:40   K2JY  -29 1781
 2017-12-18 09:40   KE5PCV  -29 1768
 2017-12-09 04:20   ND1C  -26 1645
 2017-12-16 10:52   WA8KNE  -28 1558
 2017-12-10 12:18   KM4MLS  -28 1340
 2017-12-08 22:46   AE4TQ  -24 1184
 2017-12-06 22:26   W4ENN  -23 1157
 2017-12-10 12:52   AC0G  -23 1112
 2017-12-07 11:04   N3SZ  -28 1106
 2017-12-18 08:04   K4WLO  -24 1073
 2017-12-12 05:54   KE3PL  -23 1070
 2017-12-07 12:50   N4ALZ  -28 1049
 2017-12-10 22:40   WA4DAW  -25 1048
 2017-12-17 05:38   W4DJW  -24 1041
 2017-12-11 13:36   WA4DT  -27 1033
 2017-12-07 10:54   KC4SIT  -25 996
 2017-12-11 22:24   N0UR  -23 985
 2017-12-11 13:06   NF4E  -25 942
 2017-12-18 07:24   WD4ELG  -27 902
 2017-12-10 21:08   W4SWQ  -21 897
 2017-12-10 12:36   KC1CIG  -19 873
 2017-12-04 14:24   K8LF  -29 851
 2017-12-06 16:20   KE1THA  -23 826
 2017-12-18 04:38   KD9ISN  -27 803
 2017-12-06 21:14   VA3ROM  -26 794
 2017-12-14 21:22   KE8KW  -24 775
 2017-12-04 18:06   WA9WTK  -24 775
 2017-12-12 17:46   KK1D  -22 771
 2017-12-09 21:16   W1XP2  -27 769
 2017-12-12 22:00   N8VIM  -21 766
 2017-12-11 15:10   K9AN  -11 761
 2017-12-11 00:28   KC9NBV  -17 753
 2017-12-06 17:44   KN4FVU  -25 752
 2017-12-11 22:00   K1EHZ  -23 751
 2017-12-14 16:46   AC8YW  -29 738
 2017-12-14 22:14   W9MJW  -24 735
 2017-12-06 21:10   WB3DZC  -23 730
 2017-12-11 13:38   WA9EIC  -28 726
 2017-12-14 12:54   KK4MBI  -27 723
 2017-12-14 02:20   K2GQT  -28 721
 2017-12-07 20:34   K4RCG  -23 686
 2017-12-09 14:38   N4TVC  -28 677
 2017-12-08 13:34   K1RA  -20 665
 2017-12-17 22:00   WA4KFZ  -26 659
 2017-12-11 18:06   N3BBF  -22 654
 2017-12-10 21:20   WB3AVN  -22 647
 2017-12-11 12:58   W3CSW  -29 646
 2017-12-04 12:42   K3GEN  -27 642
 2017-12-07 21:06   WV8AE  -23 642
 2017-12-17 21:30   AA3I  -27 638
 2017-12-16 20:46   K3SC  -27 633
 2017-12-12 21:26   W2LGS  -29 633
 2017-12-11 14:20   W3GXT  -24 627
 2017-12-06 20:16   KB9AMG  -25 627
 2017-12-11 10:26   VE2NGO  -24 625
 2017-12-09 21:22   KC8NQY  -24 616
 2017-12-11 00:14   WQ5O  -26 608
 2017-12-16 09:04   K9DZT  -27 607
 2017-12-10 14:42   KA8HUZ  -24 604
 2017-12-11 19:20   W3PDY  -27 593
 2017-12-09 20:22   KX3C  -26 561
 2017-12-11 15:10   AJ8S  -17 557
 2017-12-12 19:26   KC2STA1  -19 549
 2017-12-10 14:12   KN8DMK  -27 545
 2017-12-17 20:22   KD8TUT  -19 506
 2017-12-17 19:04   KA9LHE  -26 505
 2017-12-14 19:26   N3EDS  -25 495
 2017-12-16 18:22   VE3LC  -27 472
 2017-12-17 20:38   N2NOM  -25 456
 2017-12-08 18:38   AC8ZT  -26 456
 2017-12-09 20:02   VE3GHM  -26 448
 2017-12-16 15:54   VE3GTC  -25 448
 2017-12-08 19:08   K3CLT  -15 445
 2017-12-17 20:34   W3JHG  -26 435
 2017-12-16 06:46   VE3ERA  -24 353
 2017-12-16 18:24   N2HQII  -22 347
 2017-12-04 17:58   KA8NCR  -26 331
 2017-12-16 07:08   VE3NM  -27 319
 2017-12-17 17:16   K2UA  -20 313
 2017-12-04 18:06   N8AEP  -19 311
 2017-12-04 17:52   W8AC  -23 308
 2017-12-12 20:26   VE3BSB  -28 299

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Meteor Scatter

Wow ,  discovered MSK144 and Meteor Scatter quite by accident this evening!    There looked to be a bit of Sporadic E on 6m so I I joined the FT8 party.   Signals were fading in and out as is usual with a weak E opening but there was something else going on...there was sudden ,  sometimes very short burst of really strong signals.   I knew that the Giminid shower was ongoing saw some really good ones last eve from the hot tub before work.   I was looking at QRZ DX spotting network and observed some activity at 50.260 MHz ....beside the post it said " MSK144 " .     Dialed over to the freq and was quite surprised when there was a strong bust of data sound to be around a 1kb data rate!  Checked the WSJT program and sure enough there was a " MSK144" mode.   Dialed it in and before I could blink I was decoding the data.    Googled " MSK144 " found a quick primer and before I knew it I had logged a QSO bouncing signals off of the ionized trails of what use to be a meteor ...how cool is that?

Was using 30 Watts into a Fan Dipole.  Below is my QSO with VE2XK
























PSK Reported data the flags that are time stamp are folks that received me and reported it to the Internet.   The  " L" flags are stations that I heard.




















Here is the skinny on MSK144 .....

MSK144 is a high speed data mode introduced into WSJT-X to replace FSK441 for meteor scatter (MS) and other paths where short-term burst openings are likely to occur. Unlike all the other modes within the WSJT suite, MSK144 does not rely upon pure frequency shift keying to convey information symbols, but on a more efficient coherent modulation type called Minimum Shift Keying. Messages sent using MSK144 utilise the same compressed format as most of the other WSJT type messages, ie two callsigns and a report or locator; callsign plus CQ or other messages, or 13 characters of plain text. WSJT-X also introduces one or two other message types. The message is compressed down to 72 source bits to which an 8 bit checksum is appended to (virtually) eliminate false decodes. The 80 resulting source bits are then expanded using a Low Density Parity Code (LDPC) to 144 one-bit channel symbols before modulating an audio tone at 2000 baud for upconversion in an SSB transmitter. 144 symbols at 2000 baud means the entire message is sent in a burst just 72 milliseconds long. Bursts are repeated end-to-end for fixed Tx/Rx durations of 5 , 10, 15 or 30 seconds each. For reception, just one complete burst (which can have a number of symbols in error) is all that is necessary for a complete decode.