Sunday, March 01, 2009

WSPR@Home

I've been running WSPR fed by my own radio instead of the WebSDR. Guess what: it's active in the USA too! Here are some hits:

10138.6 2 mar
0504 -22 0.8 10.140175 1 W3HH EL89 33
0510 -16 0.7 10.140190 0 AA0DW DN70 37
0514 -11 5.9 10.140186 -1 WT5N EL09 37
0526 -16 6.1 10.140151 -1 WT5N EL09 37
0544 -22 0.8 10.140134 0 AA0DW DN70 37

7038.6 2 mar
0606 -15 1.8 7.040069 0 K0FT EM17 37
0608 -21 0.9 7.040077 0 KC2QII FN20 40
0616 -11 1.5 7.040069 0 K0FT EM17 37
0620 -19 0.9 7.040078 0 KC2QII FN20 40
0626 -19 1.0 7.040078 0 KC2QII FN20 40
0628 -12 0.6 7.040070 0 K0FT EM17 37

10138.7 2 mar
0634 -16 0.7 10.140151 0 AA0DW DN70 37
0636 -23 0.6 10.140122 1 WD8INF EM79 37
0638 -25 0.6 10.140138 0 W3HH EL89 33

For those interested in propagation spotting, I'm in DM04.

All signals are deep in the noise. Typical transmitter powers are around one watt, or lower. In fact, the program does not work as well on very strong signals. No wonder they call it whispering.

30 meters was completely dead otherwise. Maybe we've found a way to communicate on HF in the post-sunspot, pre-HomePlug era.

Here's a list of suggested WSPR frequencies, all USB. Park on one, make sure your computer clock is in perfect sync, and check back every even minute to see what your computer has found for you.

Band Dial freq (MHz) Tx freq (MHz)
160m 1.836600 1.838000 - 1.838200
80m 3.592600 3.594000 - 3.594200
60m 5.287200 5.288600 - 5.288800
40m 7.038600 7.040000 - 7.040200
30m 10.138700 10.140100 - 10.140300
20m 14.095600 14.097000 - 14.097200
17m 18.104600 18.106000 - 18.106200
15m 21.094600 21.096000 - 21.096200
12m 24.924600 24.926000 - 24.926200
10m 28.124600 28.126000 - 28.126200
6m 50.293000 50.294400 - 50.294600
2m 144.488500 144.489900 - 144.490100

(I've also seen 10138.6. It really doesn't seem to make a difference for casual utility receiving.)

Links:
WSPRnet
http://wsprnet.org/drupal/
Where to get the program
http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/
And how to use it
http://www.frenning.dk/OZ1PIF_HOMEPAGE/Whisper_Guide.html