[W5SFA] Some WSPR tidbits

Sat Dec 16 08:43:16 CST 2017

Gil, 

I looked at the database view on wsprnet (http://wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/spots) and put in your call for the last week...looks like you were last heard on 12/14 at 13:40 zulu.  You had been getting regular spots up to that point.  So something happened around that time, think that is 7:40am Thursday local time if I have my time zones right.

Might be the antenna, or maybe the bs170 transistor failed.  If the latter, that is a cheap fix.  I have an extra one of you need it.

73, 

Roger

On December 16, 2017, at 8:09 AM, Gilbert Franke <g.a.franke at gmail.com> wrote:

Roger, thanks for these tidbits. Recently I noticed my beacon is not being reported. I went through set up again, maybe not real thoroughly, but all looks good. I hear myself on my hf rig, but not through wspr software. It could be some problem with protocol. I plan to check my antenna today. Can you see if you hear me on 30M? Maybe I have lost my power out transistor and am only hearing the driver power. Your report would give me an indication.

Thanks,

-- Gil
[www.gilbertfranke.com]
sent from my Dell tablet

On Dec 15, 2017 9:44 PM, "Roger Klein" <rwklein at katyweb.net> wrote:

W5SFA Members,

For those of you who are interested in WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporting), I wanted to share a few tidbits I've discovered.  Read on if interested...

1. The map view on http://www.wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map shows you spots:  what stations are hearing your beacon, or the beacons that your receiver is hearing).   But if you are both transmitting and receiving, you can't separate the spots in map view.  Here's the fix:  go to http://wspr.aprsinfo.com and you'll get a map view that allows you to separate the transmit spots from the receive spots.

2. If you're into excessive statistics, KB9AMG has a site that shows the top station spots, spotters, two way spots and reports by grid square.  And if you really have nothing else to do, you can look up your ranking in the spots/spotters lists.  See http://mardie4.100webspace.net/index.html   Remember, the person who dies with the most spots, wins!

3. SOTABeams sell a small transmitter called the WSPRLite.  It's kind of pricey at $80, but you can select the transmitter output level up to 200mW.  There is a pretty god video on that page that explains WSPR and their device.  They have a web site, http://www.dxplorer.net, where you can do comparisons of antenna performance if you've purchased the WSPRLite device.  However, the basic DXplorer.net site is available for anyone to use in Standard Mode (e.g. without the comparisons) and has some useful displays and stats.

4. I've set up a WSPR receiver using a Raspberry Pi and a $20 RTL-SDR dongle and some free software.  It runs continuously, listening for a couple of cycles on each band, and uploads any spots it picks up to wsprnet.org using the Pi's wifi connection.  The setup is totally automated, and I don't have to keep my expensive rig running to pick up WSPR spots.  If you're interested in more details, let me know.

73,

Roger N5RWK

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