AmateurRadio.com

As the propagation columnist for several amateur radio magazines, I hear from a diverse group of interested people that find space weather and the propagation of radio waves fascinating. I admit: I am a space weather and radio propagation nut, and it is always good to correspond or meet with other interested folks. This is an aspect of our hobby that never grows old, as there is so much that we don’t yet know–we communicators are in a perfect space to make discovery and to make improvements to our understanding of this science.  Over the years, I’ve heard a lot from readers of my columns, expressing their fascination with the science of radio and solar phenomenon.

Are you interested in learning about the Sun and the Sun-Earth connection (space weather), including topics of sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and so on?  Do you want to delve deeper into topics including the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, and how radio waves propagate from transmitter to receiver?

You might consider a time-proven “course”–material that is very comprehensive–that you can self-study, to become well-versed in this information. The course (one that has been used in professional disciplines) is offered either stand-alone, or bundled with the ray-tracing PropLab PRO software. 

Some may say, “But, I like the magic of just getting on the air and trying my luck! If I learn all this stuff, then it becomes science, and not a hobby.” It is true that there’s a joy at being dazzled with the magic of radio; buy a super cool transceiver, and a factory-made antenna with coax already fitted with connectors, adding the necessary accessories to make it come alive, then begin exploring the shortwave frequencies. Magical, indeed! But, there are many in the hobby that wish to learn how all of that works. Some even begin learning how to build antennas, radio kits, and discover the joy of the “science” of radio. A few eventually take the step with gained “scientific” knowledge of electronics, and they design and build equipment for their hobby. The course is part of that mix: learning how the Sun affects getting a radio signal from point A to point B, and how to leverage their time and efforts, is a joy, indeed.

Interested?  Here’s the web page: http://hfradio.org/swp_course/

 

 

If any disclosure is necessary, here you go: The proceeds from a purchase of this course go to the funds I use to keep cw.HFRadio.org, swl.HFRadio.org, and other resources at HFRadio.org, plus http://SunSpotWatch.com up and running. There are monthly fees, yearly fees, and software licensing to cover, as well as the purchase of hardware from time to time. These operating and maintenance funds are mostly covered by me, Tomas, NW7US, out of my personal funds. Any donations and sales helps out. Haters and Hecklers can send their comments to the bit bucket.

73 de NW7US

Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

Just CN8LI (2113km) at 1724z at -6dB S/N this evening via 6m Es. Otherwise very quiet on 6m.  Most spots were by G4IKZ (18km) who has been spotting me all day. A few spots from G4KPX (14km) too.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Me and my son 22 years ago

We have our relatives over from jolly old England so it has been very little radio (until today) and all showing the sights of Toronto. It has been a blast showing off our city and seeing and hearing the excitement about places we take for granted. Today we had a "rest" day so once the house chores were done it was RADIO TIME!!! I flipped the switch on around 1pm local time and the bands were dead out this way. I checked the solar data and it was not good but that did not stop me from checking the bands! In the past I have found that even when they say the conditions are poor I have still been able to make some decent contacts. This time around it was not the case at all so I did get the thrill of spinning the the VFO as for a contact.....not so much. It was then time to blog about my none contact day.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

 These are some of the reasons I like WSPR mode:

• About 100 stations (or more) can co-habit in a 200Hz wide WSPR sub-band on each band, time and frequency sharing. In reality, usually far fewer stations on worldwide per band.
• Low power is all you need 1mW to 5W is quite fine. I tend to use 1-2W, but have been spotted at DX distances with a few mW. Some even use uW power levels!
• If there is an opening everyone has a fair chance (anyone can be spotted at great ranges)
• Simple antennas work. No need for beams on HF.
• Can monitor activity (your own and that of others) in the lounge by visiting website www.WSPRnet.org on any PC or tablet.
• Speaking not needed (saves my stroke damaged voice).
• Highly sensitive (12-14dB better than 12wpm CW?).
• Can do other things whilst WSPRing.
• Automatic – requires no manual intervention once running.
• Ideal for accurate comparative measurements (e.g antennas, rigs).
• Ideal for propagation experiments.  
• About QRSS10 equivalent.
• Works from VLF to UHF (watch stability on higher bands).
• A QRP man’s dream mode.
• For 2-way QSOs use JT9-1 (about 2dB worse than WSPR).

Disadvantages:

• Needs accurate timing (usually sync’d to internet time).
• Need good frequency accuracy.
• Usually needs a PC (not always e.g Hans Summers Ultimate 3 and similar kits).
• Needs careful interfacing to rig to avoid loops and 50, 100Hz sidebands.

Download WSPR software at http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html .

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Just exchanged WSPR spots around 1144z on 6m with CT1GVN (1798km) This is the first 6m Es seen here in a couple of days. Signals are strong both ways.

UPDATE 1251z:  Exchanging strong (Es) 6m WSPR spots with DL4MFC (916km). 9 spots exchanged so far by 1320z.

UPDATE 1304z:  Currently 44 WSPR stations active on 6m worldwide (same as active on 10m). 6m is a good band at this time of the year – Magic Band!

UPDATE 1422z:   No more 6m Es here since 1354z.  Probably will have to wait until teatime for more?

UPDATE 1655z:  Still no more 6m Es here since 1354z. 

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

In the next few days I must continue my search to find out which beacons will be good propagation indicators. I am surprised how well some (long way away) beacons can be copied nearly all of the time.

Access to the shack will be more limited these next few days as I have to walk through the guest bedroom to get there and we have visitors staying. I have still to hear the GB3MCB 2m beacon in Cornwall and I am wondering if it is operational? By ow I would have expected the odd MS ping, at least.

I am looking forward to a more complete 70cm beacon network again. At the moment there are very few operational 70cm beacons in the UK. GB3UHF at Fairmile in Kent should be very useful when it becomes operational as I can peak the beams using the 2m GB3VHF beacon first.

During the last solar peak I remember copying a 6m beacon in NW Canada on just a whip antenna!

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Today the sunspot count is 155 (good) but 20-30MHz conditions are expected to be poor. Mind you they were meant to be poor yesterday yet CX2ABP was a decent signal on 10m WSPR last evening.

So far this morning 6m has been disappointing with just locals spotting me and no Es seen, as yet.  It was quiet on 6m yesterday , which was why I spent most of the day on 10m.

We are now in basically summertime conditions so we can expect F-layer DX to be mainly N-S with fewer E-W openings on 15, 12 and 10m. Of course Es livens the summer months and some quite exceptional DX is possible on rare days. This is one of the pleasures of summertime DXing, you can never be sure, even on 6m or even 4m. The latter is band I’ve rarely used.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.