VK3TPM on 40m WSPR

 

After a week of RX I decided to switch on TX with 1W WSPR as well on 40m. I was very surprised by  this spot from fellow blogger VK3TPM Peter. The greyline on both sides probabely boosted the signal.

VK3TPM was previously VK2TPM but moved from Sydney to Melbourne in 2020. Peter is also known for his great WSPR watch app made for iOS.

Inverted-V versus HF multiband vertical on 40m WSPR RX

 

Curious about how the vertical (blue) receives compared to the inverted-V (red). The vertical is theoretically a DX antenna and should receive good signals from low angles. However, a vertical also picks up much more noise compared to a horizontal oriented antenna. Overall the vertical did not pick up half the amount of spots the inverted-V received.

Again it seems the SNR is better on the vertical at night. What causes this is unknown. My guess is that there is less noise from the neighbourhood.

The inverted-V proves to be a good DX antenna once again.

The vertical is not that bad. Unfortunately a lot of bogus spots again. I think the computer causes this. Unfortunately I have no better computer for the second station at this moment.

Inverted-V versus LOG on 40m RX

 

Red line is inverted-V, blue line is LOG (Loop On Ground). Measuring from approx. 21 UTC-21 UTC. Number of total spots is more as twice on the inverted-V compared to the LOG. During the night the LOG comes close.

Looks like the LOG beats the inverted-V on signal to noise ratio at night. I'm surprised!

The inverted-V is clearly the winner at DX distances. The peak you see between 10-9 hours is a bogus spot.

So, you probabely think the LOG would be a good NVIS antenna. But evidence shows it is almost equal compared to the inverted-V.

DX stations (>7000km), 23 in total on the inverted-V

DX stations (>7000km), 14 in total (after substracting at least 3 bogus spots seen in the map) on the LOG. Notice I received VK4CEG on the LOG and not on the inverted-V. De LOG is a bit directional and favours the east direction for me.

Others can have different comparisations with their reference antenna. In my case the LOG is no miracle antenna for receive. But like I wrote before, I do not suffer from extreme local noise/QRM you find in cities and larger villages. 

More about LOG experiments can be read here: https://www.g8jnj.net/loop-on-the-ground

WSPR Marathon 2022 challenge

 

4th edition? Why have I never heard about this? Well, I think it is a local initiave which they want to bring to a larger public. It seems to be open for every station. Fun is that you don't have to be a radioamateur. Everyone with a shortwave receiver and computer with internet (to upload spots) can participate. Time given is local time, it will be 9:00 UTC "international" time. You can register till one hour before this is starting.

It is a nice initiative. Something like this does already exist on a daily basis. So if you want to check your results: http://wspr.pe1itr.com/index.php

The only thing is.....you can't get an award from PE1ITR. Reason enough to participate?

I'm shure everyone is welcome to participate in this event. Unfortunately so far I didn't find any english written participation rules on https://desteendert.nl/ although part of their website is in english.

Rules are simple though. Only own receivers and antennas are allowed. No webSDRs!

Inverted-V versus 160m sloper on 40m WSPR RX

 

Number of spots last 24 hours. Red line is inverted-V, blue line is my 160m sloper, At the point the lines cross I switched to the LOG (Loop On Ground). Next 24 hours will be a comparisation between the inverted-V and the LOG.

Two or more WSPR receive stations with different antennas will quickly reveal which one is best. Although you need at least a 24h comparisation.

http://wspr.rocks/head2head/

Progression

 

I realize I didn't post much on my blog since the start of this year. As a matter of fact, I didn't even make a single QSO this new year. The only thing I did was listening once and a while.

To the left you see the feedpoint of my log (loop on ground) receiving antenna. It consists of a loop approx 5x5m directly on the ground fed by a 1:6 balun. Measured the R and SWR, it is about 50 Ohm from 7-30MHz. However, I'm not really impressed yet. It receives about the same as my multiband vertical at top of my tower. Compared to my 2x20 doublet in inverted-V configuration it is just not what I expected. I plan to do a decent receive test with two WSPR stations.

I decided to install my 160m sloper again as well. I hope to use it in the upcoming PACC contest. You can click on the photo at th right to view it in a bigger format. At top you can see 3 wires going from the tower, one of them, obviously the one in the same direction of the beam is the sloper.

If time allows I would like to listen to some AM MW broadcast stations as well with this antenna. Although I found that my all band vertical does well on listening on MW.

To increase the efficiëncy I did ad some radials to the base of the tower as well. Last year I made one QSO to VK (Australia), till now my record distance on topband.

Well, I decided to slow down my HAMradio activities. I really like this hobby but there are so many other things in this life. It is, of course, always a matter of priorities.

Winding coax and other chords

 I wish I knew this years ago. A golden tip to wind coax, rope, electrical chords, garden hoses etc.

FT8 DXpedition robot

For those that think there is a real operator on the FT8 computer answering every incoming call manually at any DXpedition these days.

https://youtu.be/ku4WfaJ-LvM?t=615

It still is a bit controversial but get down to earth, this is the future of digimodes during DXpeditioning. The technology is available, why shouldn't we use it.

2021 statistics

 

I was surprised to see that the percentage of CW has been higher compared to previous years. SSB is still my prefered mode. The total number of DXCC worked this year is higher as well. I really love to work DX.

Always interesting to see what bands I've been on. 80m due to contesting is counting a large amount of QSO but it is not my prefered DX band. I made a lot more QSO on 30m, most of it new band DXCC. We are finally officially allowed on 30m FT8 since this year.

Didn't experiment a lot with new modes. I have been listening with the new FST and Q65 modes but never made a QSO. Hopefully that will change in 2022. The one FM QSO I made was with AE7KI from the USA on 10m. No JT9 and AM last year. I believe it was the first year I didn't make any JT9 QSOs despite I love this digimode.

Well, the usual graph I think. High number of QSOs in March and Oktober due to the big CQWW contests. In December only 55 QSOs due to circumstances beyond my control.

2022 Agenda

As always for archive purposes...

My radiohobby agenda for 2022. Feel free to copy.

I always have to balance my time between my family and hobby. With an agenda and planning I want to prevent conflicts if possible.

This year less contests compared to previous years. I don't expect to have extra time for the hobby.

12/13 Feb. 12-12 UTC 24 hrs PACC 2022 contest (SOAB QRP)

26/27 Mar. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs CQWW WPX SSB 2022 contest

29/30 Okt. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs CQWW DX SSB 2022 contest

13 Nov. 10-12:30 local time PA-beker contest SSB section 2022

20 Nov. 11-14 local time Friese 11 steden contest 2022

10/11 Dec. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs 10m ARRL 2022 contest