I have erased the logs from the screenshot, I wonder how many watts the stations are running.... I thought WSPR was meant to be run at QRP....

After a few days of experimenting with WSPR, I can only say that I am very pleasantly surprised.

I have my rig at my workplace and mainly just on receive, as I do not have a proper outdoor antenna here - my antenna is a simple coil-loaded mobile whip antenna with a mag mount, standing indoors on the floor. Due to the lack of a proper coupling to ground, the antenna is not in tune anywhere on the ham bands. Nevertheless, I am still able to receive and decode many transmissions.

What is most surprising that some of my extremely low power transmissions have been heard by some European stations. My power is set to 5 watts, but as the SWR goes through the roof whenever there is even a trace of RF output, I have turned the audio gain down to almost zero, so that the rig receives very little drive and hence puts out so little RF that SWR meter does not detect any reflected power. And yet, these ridiculously QRPp transmissions have received and decoded by several stations. Amazing. Wonderful.

73, OH2GSY

With a relatively new ICOM IC-7000 running 5 watts to a homemade dipole fed with a RG-58 cable, I operated on 7, 10, 14, and 28MHz bands. Thanks to all who copied my transmission. Here is how the tally looked when I shut down my rig -

12/18/2012 10:02 VK2IJC 28.126121 3 -1 QF56mg 5 VK3XPT QF22nd 703 228
12/18/2012 10:02 VK2IJC 28.126112 -25 -1 QF56mg 5 DB0ZDF JN49cx 16498 312
12/18/2012 9:54 VK2IJC 10.140225 5 -1 QF56mg 5 VK2DDI QF55hf 122 198
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140251 -20 -1 QF56mg 5 EA7/DL8FCL IM76al 17906 285
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.14025 -25 -1 QF56mg 5 K7TSV CN85 12315 48
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140233 -19 -1 QF56mg 5 KC6KGE DM05gd 12041 59
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140264 -16 0 QF56mg 5 KV0S EM38 14350 65
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140218 -16 0 QF56mg 5 JA2GRC PM74uu 7792 347
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140235 -22 0 QF56mg 5 K1VBM EM74xh 15003 73
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140236 -19 -1 QF56mg 5 KE7A EM12kx 13808 70
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140229 -20 -1 QF56mg 5 W3BI FN20en 15859 66
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140245 1 -1 QF56mg 5 VK6ZT OF78sq 3323 265
12/18/2012 9:42 VK2IJC 10.140234 -6 0 QF56mg 5 W5OLF DM78hb 13315 62
12/18/2012 9:14 VK2IJC 7.040121 -15 0 QF56mg 5 NN6RF CM87uw 11970 56
12/18/2012 9:14 VK2IJC 7.040121 -24 0 QF56mg 5 K8CT EN83ce 15214 61
12/18/2012 9:14 VK2IJC 7.040121 -25 0 QF56mg 5 AE5LL EM13pb 13847 70
12/18/2012 9:14 VK2IJC 7.040116 -21 0 QF56mg 5 WB1FIG FN42ia 16228 63
12/18/2012 9:12 VK2IJC 7.04012 -19 0 QF56mg 5 K8PZ EN73fb 15072 61
12/18/2012 8:40 VK2IJC 14.097042 -20 0 QF56mg 5 VK4XDB QG62jk 706 14
12/18/2012 8:40 VK2IJC 14.097056 -3 -1 QF56mg 5 VK2XGJ QF55jl 91 195
12/18/2012 7:54 VK2IJC 14.097159 -19 -1 QF56mg 5 K4COD EM73sc 14929 75
12/18/2012 7:40 VK2IJC 7.040115 -11 0 QF56mg 5 VK5FSCK PF95ih 1138 261
12/18/2012 7:40 VK2IJC 7.040122 -4 0 QF56mg 5 VK2JN QF56og 15 90
12/18/2012 7:40 VK2IJC 7.040123 0 0 QF56mg 5 VK7BO QE38mo 922 201

Timestamp Call MHz SNR Drift Grid Pwr Reporter RGrid km az
2012-12-16 02:56 EK6RSC 1.838134 -26 0 LN20fe 5 RX3DHR KO94ks 1674 348
2012-12-16 01:32 EK6RSC 1.838135 -22 0 LN20fe 5 PA0O JO33hg 3180 310
2012-12-15 23:04 EK6RSC 1.838136 -27 0 LN20fe 5 OZ7IT JO65df 2890 316
2012-12-15 22:52 EK6RSC 3.594068 -30 0 LN20fe 5 LA9JO JP99gb 3556 343
2012-12-15 22:52 EK6RSC 3.594073 -15 0 LN20fe 5 OH8GKP KP24rt 2998 342
2012-12-15 22:52 EK6RSC 3.594075 -16 0 LN20fe 5 RK9LWA MO27rd 2415 32

Somehow I have missed (also) this mode.
But no wonder. More or less total qrt during past 10 years have done its duty.

On "good old days" I was very keen on rtty and packet. Both terrestrial and pacsats.
I also followed PSK31 coming. But then came "blackout".
Today it seems to be so many different digital modulations that it will take some time to learn them all.

At the time I was active on 2m we used speed-modified cassette player to record meteor bursts and then played them
back with slow speed.
Computers were ZX81 (my favorite), Commodore64 and Amstrad. No audio cards and computing power for audio analysis.
No WSJT!

Saw a mention of WSPR on Fin-ham list (that I just joined) few days ago and found out that there is also Linux version of that software.
Yesterday I installed it, with some problems because of broken deb packet. But it was easy to fix.

Played program on my Knoppix mini laptop yesterday and also today on 3,5 - 18 and 21 MHz with powers from 10W to 100mW.
Quite good results with my OCF-dipole (25mAGL/37mASL).

Now program is running on 3,5MHz with 10mW. Nice to find out how far it can go during evening.
All ready big surprise was that I have heard a VK station on 80m with that poor dipole.

It is little bit hard to go under 100mW as my power meter's smallest scale is 5W.
Maybe I'll try also 1mW some day, but then I have to measure RF voltage over dummy load with oscilloscope to get the power reading.

Also power adjustment of IC706 needs external negative voltage to ALC to get very low power. Decreasing audio does not do it as it drops totally away little bit under 100mW because of mixer steps.

How ever, very interesting.
But we need CW, too. Because man have to do sometimes something more than just look at computer working by itself :)

G4PMB IO71 transmitting CQ in new mode JT9-1 every night this weekend from 1800z to 2200z on 1838, 3576 or 7076.

QSOs/SWL reports very welcome.

73,

Frank G4PMB
www.qrz.com

Well, the WSPR-AXE kit works ok.. thanks W5OLF!

2 Weeks ago I received it, and in less than 4 hours it was working. Today I checked my last week's reports and found that with only 1 watt the kit was heard as far as australia as you can check in the attached png image.

http://wsprnet.org/drupal/sites/wsprnet.org/files/Screenshot from 2012-12-05 20:51:48.png

1watt x 14369kms? niiiiice!

I use WE6XGR on WSPR so it all fits in format. WE2XGR/6 is my actual call sign-Bob

Here are a few points to consider in resolving the issue of ARISS voice operations in the 2 meter WSPR frequency segment outside of IARU Region 1:

1. WSPR activity has occurred on 2 meters since the inception of WSPR and will continue into the future. Joe Taylor K1JT mentions 2 meter WSPR activity in the Pacific Northwest as early as April 2008 when the WSPR program was first released. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wsjtgroup/message/4727
2. The G4ILO WSPR page documents 144.490 MHz as the preferred 2 meter WSPR frequency in 2008. http://www.g4ilo.com/wspr.html
3. In the IARU Region 1 band plan, 94 nations (a majority of IARU member societies) have concurred on 144.4905 MHz (144.489 MHz dial) as the designated world-wide WSPR frequency on 2 meters. 2 meter frequency allocations in Region 1 are much more constrained than elsewhere as their band encompasses only 144-146 MHz. Therefore Regions 2 and 3 should follow the lead of Region 1 rather than expect Region 1 to change its established band plan. http://www.iaru-r2.org/wp-content/uploads/R1-VHF-UHF-Bandplan.pdf
4. Although IARU Region 2 (the Americas) currently lacks a VHF band plan, this is an agenda item for the IARU Region 2 General Assembly scheduled for September 2013. A good case may be made for 2 meter WSPR activity in Region 2 to continue in the current WSPR frequency segment of 144.4905 MHz. http://www.iaru-r2.org/band-plans/
5. Since June of this year, WSPRnet statistics would indicate that 2 meter WSPR network activity has grown to account for probably over 99% of the current regular worldwide activity on 144.4905 MHz. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/z-JQdo2jRwePdiH_Os1LmNMTjNZETYmyPJ...

Timestamp Call MHz SNR Drift Grid Pwr Reporter RGrid km az
2012-12-03 22:58 K5CGM 7.040059 -18 0 EM25ax 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 6869 44
2012-12-03 22:54 S59I 7.040044 -3 0 JN76me 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1718 302
2012-12-03 22:52 HB9DUK 7.040101 -23 -1 JN46dx 0.5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1240 306
2012-12-03 22:50 HB9TMW 7.040022 -13 0 JN36gq 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1154 309
2012-12-03 22:50 DL1FX 7.040117 -23 0 JN49gr 0.2 EI3HDB IO62pn 1107 292
2012-12-03 22:48 K5CGM 7.040059 -18 0 EM25ax 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 6869 44
2012-12-03 22:42 S59I 7.040044 -2 0 JN76me 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1718 302
2012-12-03 22:42 HB9DUK 7.040101 -25 0 JN46dx 0.5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1240 306
2012-12-03 22:42 4X1RF 7.040171 -24 0 KM72ls 0.2 EI3HDB IO62pn 3975 316
2012-12-03 22:40 HB9TMW 7.040022 -12 0 JN36gq 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1154 309
2012-12-03 22:38 KF2AT 7.040088 -17 0 FN30as 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 5098 51
2012-12-03 22:38 DL1FX 7.040116 -22 0 JN49gr 0.2 EI3HDB IO62pn 1107 292
2012-12-03 22:36 DC2XX 7.040012 -7 -4 JO53dp 10 EI3HDB IO62pn 1138 271
2012-12-03 22:36 K5CGM 7.040059 -19 -1 EM25ax 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 6869 44
2012-12-03 22:32 HB9TMW 7.040022 -16 0 JN36gq 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1154 309
2012-12-03 22:32 S59I 7.040044 -4 0 JN76me 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1718 302
2012-12-03 22:28 DC2XX 7.040013 -7 -4 JO53dp 10 EI3HDB IO62pn 1138 271
2012-12-03 22:28 DA4XIQ 7.040036 -25 1 JN57lt 0.5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1360 299
2012-12-03 22:22 HB9DUK 7.040101 -24 0 JN46dx 0.5 EI3HDB IO62pn 1240 306
2012-12-03 22:22 KE7A 7.040130 -23 0 EM12kx 5 EI3HDB IO62pn 7186 42

160m band
121202 2150 13 -18 -0.5 1.838132 RX3DHR KO94 37 0 1 0

80m band
121202 2124 14 -16 -0.6 3.594021 PA0HCK JO33 37 0 1 0
121202 2124 26 -4 -0.5 3.594107 DK4XI JN39 37 0 1 0
121202 2110 13 -18 0.4 3.594085 OH8GKP KP24 37 0 1 0
121202 2112 5 -27 -1.6 3.594103 GI4OYM IO65 37 0 59 0
121202 2114 14 -16 -0.5 3.594021 PA0HCK JO33 37 0 1 0
121202 2114 26 -5 -0.6 3.594107 DK4XI JN39 37 0 1 0
121202 2046 2 -28 -0.5 3.594126 EI7GSB IO52 37 0 4701 0
121202 2048 4 -26 -0.6 3.594055 RD3AMP KO85 37 0 5314 -9

40m band

121202 1904 4 -26 0.4 7.040099 IK1JLL JN33 37 0 70 0
121202 1910 10 -23 0.1 7.040101 DC2XX JO53 47 -1 3 0
121202 1912 6 -25 0.1 7.040098 IK1JLL JN33 37 0 1 0
121202 1918 14 -16 0.1 7.040101 DC2XX JO53 47 -2 1 0
121202 1922 3 -29 -1.1 7.040039 DL2ZQ JO42 33 0 1360 18
121202 1922 18 -14 0.7 7.040101 DC2XX JO53 47 -2 1 0
121202 1926 13 -17 1.8 7.040102 DC2XX JO53 47 -2 1 0
121202 1934 6 -26 0.8 7.040048 S59I JN76 37 0 1267 0
121202 1938 11 -22 1.5 7.040067 DH9FAC JO40 37 0 1 0
121202 1938 10 -22 2.4 7.040103 DC2XX JO53 47 -1 2 0
121202 1940 4 -26 0.9 7.040058 PE1MPX JO32 37 0 4 0

30m band
121202 1824 8 -24 0.8 10.140204 OK2SAM JN99 27 0 1 0
121202 1828 6 -26 -0.1 10.140136 EA7/DL8FCL 37 0 2 0
121202 1830 4 -25 3.1 10.140132 <...> MVO6QI 6 -4 2025 -28
121202 1834 5 -26 0.4 10.140115 DK9MS JO40 33 0 195 0
121202 1834 8 -22 -0.9 10.140158 DD7ZY JO40 37 -1 18 0

If you are not in academia, the price of Matlab can buy you one of the very best of Yaesu or Icom rigs. G8MCU suggested that the Matlab analysis of wspr be ported to the free Octave. I downloaded Octave 3.2.4 onto Ubuntu 12.04-LTS. To my surprise, although it is not as user friendly as Matlab, it is just as good. One mistake I made was to commingle the Matlab wspr files with Octave wspr files hoping to build the files on the fly. Everything is similar but not exactly compatible and the files overwrite one another, cost me an additional cup of triple-shot Espresso coffee. The Octave wspr files are a direct port of the Matlab wspr files, with one upper case letter for each file - lesson learned.

Octave version of wspr is in google drive, go to file tab and click download for the zip file:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxVcMZf0HEzoQ3FCb1p4Y0pmUEk
Matlab version is in Matlab Central File Exchange.
http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/39221-wspr-txrx

73,
Jonathon Cheah (NZØC)

Hi all wspr friends,
There are moments, - also in our wspr life that should be shared.
A screenshot may say a lot more than words can express. ;-)
Instead of posting the links on the chat I will put them here on this blog with a short comment.

1.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10291921/radio3/K9AY%20vs%20bigloop.JPG

I have had the K9AY loop up for a few weeks now. To start with I was not at all amazed.
Probably due to the fact that I have to test it under the right conditions, - low angle radiation!
Also contributing to not so great success is that the other two antennas here, the big loop and the inv L are good antennas as well. More screenshots later.

2.

- not a screenshot, it is my old SmallWonderLabs PSK-30 modified with the FA-SY Si570 module
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10291921/radio3/PSK-30%20with%20FA-SY%20inernall...

It is located in my cold garage (-12C this morning). This will affect the frequency of the poor thing.
I try to keep it running on 30m most of the time.

Was very happy to read the article by Thomas Baier DG8SAQ in the latest issue of Funkamateur on how to use temp. compensation with the FA-SY / Si570.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10291921/radio3/FA-SY%20Temp%20Comp.jpg

3.

I have been testing WSJT-X and the results are quite ok with the JT9-1 and JT9-2 but I do have some problems with decoding on modes JT9-5 and above. Here is a screenshot from today:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10291921/radio3/JT9-1%20OE3EPW.JPG

I have just uploaded to Matlab Central file exchange "WSPR TXRX".

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/39221-wspr-txrx

The purpose is to enable easy analyses of the WSPR system design. The matlab files allow every step of the signal processing from user entry to getting received message to be easily exposed as well manipulated. Hopefully, by porting wspr to Matlab will stimulate some interests in the ultra-low baud rate communication research.

I coded the matlab files as straight forwardly as I know how, I shall be very interested in feedbacks.

Jonathon Cheah (NZoC)

I've been looking at my 10Mhz WSPR observations.

Seems to me that:

The ionosphere become useable one hit by the suns rays at local civil sunrise.

Civil sunrise being defined when the sun is at +6 degrees from the observer site, as opposed
to astronomical or locally defined sunrise which has a massive 2 hour difference in defination !

Ionospheric switch off time always seems to take longer as the ionosized particle recombine, so I assume
that it's easier to ionise and takes longer for the ionised particle to re-combine, although it still seems
that once civil SUNSET occurs the band does *start* to decline.

Comments ?

73 de Andy

Ultimate QRSS kit built and on the air in WSPR mode 10140.2

1538 -26 -1.1 28.126020 1 PY2SDR GG56 37 . PY2SDR received over 9821 km in the Netherlands NL13646

Date Call Frequency SNR Drift Grid dBm W by loc km
2012-11-16 14:58 G3YJR 28.126036 -19 0 IO93fj +30 1.000 K1JT FN20qi 5483

Nice to see Joe Taylor's computer decoded a packet from me. I hope to work him by SSB some time!

Graham.

2012-11-23 17:12 G3YJR 28.126035 -22db PY2SDR GG56tv 9624km 222

If I'm reading the log correctly, PY2SDR heard my 1W at 9624km, so I'm pleased with that for the day.

KO6SY near Los Angeles was a good distance at 8537km was my only west coast USA hop.

A decode of HS8KAY in Phuket, Thailand was a surprise at 10:10 GMT for 9953 km, but then he was belting out 5W!

Graham.