[600MRG] WSPR Flavors

[John Andrews]

Frank,

Just to clarify Brian's remarks (as I think he meant to say WSJT-X 
instead of WSPR-X):

He is entirely right that virtually all of the WSPR activity these days 
uses WSPR-2, that is 2-minute transmit/receive periods. The transmitting 
protocol for WSPR-2 has been unchanged for years. The following current 
programs can be used to decode WSPR-2:
WSPR 2.0
WSPR 2.1
WSPR 2.12
WSPR-X
WSJT-X

WSPR 2.0, WSPR 2.1 and WSPR 2.12 should offer similar capabilities - the 
details of their differences are on the 
http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html web site. The 
differences between them likely don't have much to do with LF/MF operation.

WSJT-X offers an improved WSPR-2 decoder, and is highly recommended for 
LF/MF use. At my QTH, it seems less prone to false decodes in the 
presence of switcher crud and similar residential noise. I'd vote for 
using this version.

There is presently one other WSPR mode, WSPR-15. It uses 15 minute 
decode periods, and was an attempt to provide better SNR performance at 
LF/MF. Only one version of WSPR software runs it: WSPR-X. That program 
can be buggy, and a number of people have had issues with various 
computers and operating system versions. At present, Lowfer SIW is using 
WSPR-15 for part of its week, but there is very little use of that mode 
otherwise. Word from Joe Taylor this winter was that his group would 
likely be "orphaning" WSPR-15, but was considering coming up with 
something better suited to LF/MF work, and with a shorter send/receive 
time than 15 minutes.

That's it. There is no 10-minute version of WSPR, to my knowledge. If 
you use the WSJT-X program, you will achieve maximum happiness with WSPR-2.