WSPRing on 10MHz

I'd seen various posts on a few blogs over the last few days (the first in Italian) about K1JT's new program, WSPR

It looked interesting, so this evening, I downloaded the program, loaded it on my laptop and hooked up the FT1000 listening on 10MHz. After a bit of fiddling around (remember to ensure your computer clock is telling the right time!) and setting levels, the program sprang into life!

Joe, K1JT describes the WSPR mode as follows "WSPR (pronounced "whisper") stands for "Weak Signal Propagation Reporter." This program implements transmitting and receiving for a digital soundcard mode called "MEPT_JT", an acronym for "Manned Experimental Propagation Tests, by K1JT".

Sure enough, listening for an hour or so through sunset on 10MHz has revealed a number of stations operating on WSPR. The first stations heard were European; PA3ABK, I2KBD, OZ1PIF and F6IRF. The man himself, K1JT, quickly appeared too!

Oh! North America's starting to come through now. VE1VDM has just appeared.

This is interesting. Of course, there's a grid locator shown against each station, so you get a sense of what propagation's doing. So far, it's as you'd expect, EU dropping off a little after sunset and the North Americans coming up. It's never quite that straightforward.

Do give it a go! And of course, I'm just in RX mode. To contribute most fully, do enable the TX to give others a chance to hear you! You'll find the program to download on the link in the first paragraph.

Thanks Joe!