[600MRG] WSPR reception problem

[John Langridge]

Pat, hopefully someone will have some insight into what is going on and why you are no longer decoding me on WSPR. I remember you telling me now that you had heard the CW ID so its definitely me.  The drop outs in the screenshot are interesting and are the only real possibility I can think of at the moment.  If that is the result of your local noise blanking me out - wow!

As for QSO's, I have worked Eric XJM twice on CW and I know he is dealing with some antenna projects right now.  John XKA and I have been watching the WSPR reports in hopes of pulling off a JT9 QSO soon.  We are currently in a little bit of a lull compared to two weeks ago when conditions seemed to be all night.

I am hoping to work Rudy once he is up soon.  I know he is dealing with getting setup and resolving his noise problems.

WG2XUX in KS was supposed to be up in late october so hopefully he is forthcoming.

Neil, WG2XSV, is caught in some sort of NTIA/FCC whirlwind which may have to do with his proximity to an AF base.  Thats purely my speculation.  I feel horrible about that because I encouraged him to apply.

The band is starting to quieten up as it gets cooler here.  During the week I'm not in a position to be up late and typically punch out by 9 or 10.  The last few weekends have had storm fronts moving through and this coming weekend is no exception if it holds together.  Once that pattern breaks, late weekend nights work well for me.

I was hoping some update from the recent ARRL executive committee meeting would yield some additional hope that something was going to happen - the subject was on the agenda.  I guess silence is golden.  There are plenty of guys interested in working this band.  I've spent the summer meeting with them and speaking to them.  Many have been in my shack to see a demonstration.  My hope is that something will eventually happen.  What else can one say in a position of no power in the matter?

I'm interested in knowing where a lot of the original 600m guys have gone.  I know some are SK but not all of them.  If you could get 3 or 4 of those guys on somewhat regularly, you would have a party. I realize that a lot of those guys are playing on other bands and that is a good thing too but it does dilute the waters a bit.  A lot of the listeners seem to continue to make the rounds night in-night out.

Instead of considering relocating band segments again, consider cross band.  I worked /12 last winter while he was still on 495 cross band to 472 and it worked well.  I hope to work Mike again soon now that he is in the 472 band.  What happened to Ralph /7?  He has neen off for quite a while, it seems.

So thanks for trying to listen to the WSPR.  I look forward to a definitive CW QSO soon.


73,

John WG2XIQ/KB5NJD


________________________________
 From: Pat Hamel <pehamel at cableone.net>
To: 'John Langridge' <jlangridge at sbcglobal.net> 
Cc: SHMRG <600mrg at w7ekb.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 3:10 PM
Subject: RE: WSPR reception problem
 


 
John,
I have heard your CW ID and seen it on the
two-minute cycle ending.
 It is too fast to copy through the
static, but your signal is at or near where it used to be on the WSPR
waterfall.
ALL,
We need to start scheduling QSOs with
whoever will come up. 
Beaconing is a way to lay claim to the
frequency during the summer, but QSOs are what makes the band a band.
It takes me about five minutes to QSY so I
don’t know if there are northeast stations on the air.
WE2XGR/6 in New York had his full 200 watts ERP and we were
able to have QSOs about 8 or 9PM central almost nightly either last year or the
year before. 
It was just the RST and local temperature,
but he was able to copy me with my 10 watts ERP.
 
My local news comes on at 10PM central,
but I have been fairly regular to call CQ at 11PM (0400Z) and midnight (0500Z)
central for about 15 minutes.
I am not a clock watcher, when my CWID
starts after a QRSS3 sequence I switch from computer to keyer and call CQ.
 
I don’t know if I should move back
above 500KC or hope more stations will listen down here for me and tell me
their frequency.
Opinions requested.
73,
Pat /6
 
 
 
 
 

________________________________
 
From:John Langridge [mailto:jlangridge at sbcglobal.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013
9:59 AM
To: Pat Hamel
Subject: Re: WSPR reception
problem
 
Pat, 

The first thing i see is that there are numerous holes in the transmission, not
associated with my CW ID at the end of each 2 minute cycle.  I will assume
those holes are from noise and static crashes on your end rather than some
intermittence there.  WSPR uses an interleaving process for deep signal
detection but even partial signals in most cases should have enough to
decode.  I am going to have to think about this a bit more.

Yes, i recall decodes from you before.  I've decoded signals that had more
content missing than what is in your screen shot so my earlier theory may have
nothing to do with the problem.  the software is pretty good at doing its
own signal process so any local noise ingress should be handled in the
software.

Just so I am clear - you are seeing this signal at 2 minutes intervals with a
CW ID at the end.  I want to make sure this is not some local carrier and
is actually me. Recently K5DNL, up near OKC, indicated that there was a carrier
that was constantly transmitting very near where I was transmitting.  it
was stable and even looked like me in many ways but it was something
else.  I moved away from it and the problem was solved.  i have heard
the same carrier locally before so it seems to get around.  Are you
certain that the signal in the screen shot is me?

Again, I will think about this a bit and get back to you.  It certainly is
a mystery.

Hopefully Rudy will be on soon.  I had hoped for a few more guys to show
up but this thing may die out if some action is not taken soon.  i hope I
am wrong.

73,

john
 
 

________________________________
 
From:Pat Hamel
<pehamel at cableone.net>
To: ' John Langridge ' <jlangridge at sbcglobal.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013
12:55 AM
Subject: WSPR reception problem

John,
I have tried both the WSPR-X and WSPR2 programs with different online
internet-time loading. I deselected all filtering. I created an ARGO capture
of your signal and think the static chopping it up is the problem.
What do you think?
WSPR worked a month or two ago.
73,