CHAPTER 5 630M OPERATING MODES AND HOW TO …njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Chapter-5_Operating-Modes.pdf1/22/16 JT9 Merv, K9FD/KH6 / WH2XCR successfully completed

CHAPTER 5

630M OPERATING MODES AND

HOW TO RECEIVE THEM

Chapter 5

630m Operating Modes and How to Receive Them

1/9/16 The European MF QSO Party using JT9 and WSQ2 turned out to be a very active and

successful event in Europe. Hans, DC1RJJ, reports hearing I5EFO, OR7T, DG3LV, DL6II,

IW4DXW, DF8UO, YO8IS, DK7FC, F6CNI, IZ7SLZ, and F4DTL while working OR7T,

DG3LV, IW4DXW, DF7FC, and IZ7SLZ. Screen captures of Hans console and waterfall are

shown below:

DC1RJJ JT9 Console, January 8 MF QSO Party

1/22/16 JT9

Merv, K9FD/KH6 / WH2XCR successfully completed JT9 QSO’s with WH2XGP and

WI2XBQ for QSO’s number 2 and 3 with KH6 from North America on 630-meters,

respectively. Merv provided screen captures to document the activity but a technical problem

resulted in only the capture for WI2XBQ being available at this time. Merv notes that after the

QSO’s were completed both stations were at -5 dB S/N or better and good enough for a CW

QSO’s but it was late and time got away from them so that will have to happen next time.

WI2XBQ JT9 QSO from the perspective of WH2XCR

2/15/16 The big news of the session is the first ever JT9 QSO between Neil, W0YSE/7 /

WG2XSV in Vancouver, Washington and Laurence, KL7L / WE2XPQ, in Wasilla,

Alaska. While the path to Alaska from the Pacific Northwest is open most evenings, the high

latitudes of Alaska and the location of the auroral oval can make the path challenging when

trying to achieve persistent communications but Laurence and Neil were successful at

exchanging reports with one another. Neil and Laurence both provided screen captures of their

success:

WE2XPQ JT9 console during QSO with WG2XSV

Laurence added that this was his first QSO on 630-meters and as this was an impromptu event,

he had to scramble to get the system on the air. He was driving the MF Solutions transmit

downconverter with a Kenwood TS-850 and the output of the amplifier was about 280-watts

TPO to the Marconi vertical. QSB was quite bad but they were able to exchange

reports. Congrats to all involved and its great that John, VE7BDQ, was able to be present to

witness this event in real time.

8/17/16 VIEWPOINT: LET’S TX/RX 630M JT9 MORE THIS SEASON

Today, I venture an opinion in favor of more JT9 this season. Along with WSPR, JT9 is

part of WSJT-X: http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main.html . If

you haven’t got JT9 already, download from:

http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx.html . Or exercise the JT9 mode by more

fully employing the WSJT-X software you've already downloaded for WSPR.

If 630m in USA is going to become a ham band sooner or later, let’s have more QSOs

among Part 5 stations and more JT9 reception-readiness among us USA hams who remain 630m

receive-only for the time being.

WSPR tells whether you have a path at least one way. For long 630m paths, such as between

N. America and Australia, WSPR gives us important 630m information since QSOs are unlikely.

JT9 is a QSO mode, WSPR isn’t. We have the ON4KST reflector to let others know what

time of night TX ops intend to be JT9-active. JT9 isn’t the only 630m QSO mode but it’s the

most frequently mentioned and used 630m QSO mode, as far as I can tell.

Yes, you have to attend your equipment to use JT9, while WSPR can build a record of 630m

receptions while you sleep. But what’s accomplished by repeatedly decoding the same call

signs, grids, and frequencies night after night? Haven’t we done that already several seasons

now?

If you are a new to 630m, do emphasize WSPR to start with. There’s important 630m

propagation work to do with WSPR, and some well-established stations should focus on it too.

But not almost everybody, right?

JT9 won’t yield a 630m QSO or even a reception from a given 630m JT9 TX station every

night. So: Isn’t that precisely what our experimentation is about—to improve our antennas,

equipment, and operating techniques? To build up more and more 630m QSO readiness,

demonstrated results and reliability?

What do you think, either way? If you have an opposite opinion, let us know so we can blog

the reasons.

On the other hand, if you more good reasons for 630m QSO emphasis than offered above,

tell us so we can blog your views too.

Some of us are getting more JT9-oriented already. Bravo! E-mail us with any improvement,

technique or tip that promotes more QSOs more of the time, more conveniently!

8/19/16 JT9 W/O TYING UP TRANSCEIVER & TRANSVERTER

David, G0MRF, reports that he was encouraged by W5EST’s recent discussion on using JT9

and is working to implement his new “2Xf” amplifier (amplifier requiring an input signal at

twice the frequency of the output) with JT9 and he hopes to do it without tying up a transceiver

and transverter. He is currently evaluating one of the development releases of WSJT-x and

hopes to have something working by one of the upcoming European activity weekends this

coming season.

9/5/16 PREP FOR VERY FIRST VE7-VK4 JT9 QSO

John WG2XIQ blogged: During the early morning, Steve, VE7SL, and Roger, VK4YB,

attempted what would be the first 630-meter JT9 QSO between North American and

Australia and likely the longest distance two-way QSO ever completed on 630-meters. Steve

was hearing Roger consistently but Steve is currently only running 68-watts TPO until he

completes the switching mods for his QRO amp resulting in Roger seeing only bits and pieces of

Steve’s signal in Queensland. This QSO will be forthcoming and will be a really big deal once

it’s completed. I even cancelled my morning CW and JT9 activity so that I could watch the

drama play out in the ON4KST chat/logger. …[See VK4YB antenna discussion, Ch. 10.]

Steve, VE7SL, provided the following comments on this morning’s activities from his

perspective including his first time WSPR reports in VK:

“John … finally got the frequency doubler working well and driving the big amp from

the vk4yb xvrtr (attenuated) but still need to build the switching unit for antenna and xvrtr

changeovers. I ran the system in tx mode only for a few hours last night at my max 5W

eirp…enclosed is the map grab.

Had two spots from Roger very early this morning so got out of bed and switched to

JT9 but can’t do it with the amp yet. His two spots were my first ever to VK so I’m pleased

with the performance of everything and need to finish the switching unit. It looks like I

would have had a ton of spots from him had I left the amp going….Steve 73 1019 -28 0.0 1225 @ CQ VK4YB QG62

1045 -27 0.0 1025 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1053 -28 0.0 1025 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1055 -25 -0.1 1025 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1057 -27 0.1 1025 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1059 -27 0.2 1025 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1103 -27 0.1 1025 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1123 -26 0.1 1026 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1125 -27 0.1 1026 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1217 -28 0.0 1035 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1223 -27 0.1 1040 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62″

VE7SL, as reported by VK4YB * FIRST TIME REPORT!

9/10/16 Steve, VE7SL, and Roger VK4YB made another attempt at completing a low power

JT9 QSO this morning. Numerous enhancement periods were observed over the course of a few

hours but Steve expects to have his QRO switching hardware completed very shortly so that both

stations can take advantage of the recently improved trans-Pacific conditions. Here is a transcript of JT9 calls from VK4YB as received at VE7SL: 1109 -26 0.3 1098 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1111 -28 0.3 1098 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1147 -24 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1149 -27 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1153 -27 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1159 -26 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1209 -26 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1225 -25 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1227 -26 -0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1229 -24 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1239 -23 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1247 -26 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1249 -26 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1253 -23 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1255 -28 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1257 -26 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1303 -27 0.2 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1305 -23 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1307 -25 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1309 -23 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1313 -25 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1319 -27 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1323 -22 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1325 -25 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1327 -24 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

1329 -25 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62

Steve indicates that during this session he received an alert from Roger at 0345 local

time. Roger uses a numerical code from zero to nine to classify the urgency of each

opening. A six or lower means “don’t get up” while a seven means “you decide” and anything

above a seven means “get up now!” Steve adds that today was a seven. He also reports that he

“shutdown at 0330 to run JT9 with Roger. Had 25 WSPR decodes including VE3CIQ and

ZF1EJ…vy good to the east for a change. No JT9 decodes from Roger but had 26 of him as

daylight approached. Estimate .5 erp with barefoot xvrtr not enuff. Hopefully tmrw will be closer

to max erp as relays arrived yesterday.”

9/11/16 Roger, VK4YB, was decoded by Steve, VE7SL, during this session:

VK4YB, as reported by VE7SL

Steve, VE7SL, spent the session checking out his recent switching project, running 10-watt TPO

JT9 during the session. This morning’s conditions did not permit a QSO attempt with Roger,

VK4YB, however, and something happened near the end of the test that appears to have resulted

in a FET failure. Steve indicates that this was the first failure in six or seven years…

9/14/16 Roger, VK4YB, issued a “Code-6” for propagation and band conditions during the

early morning in North America so he and Steve, VE7SL, made another attempt at a JT9

QSO. Unfortunately the band proved to be a bit flat on this higher latitude path so after a

number of calls they suspended the attempt. They are approaching this the right way, in my

opinion, and are following the sage advice that has been so long repeated by successful operators

on 160-meters: “Your butt better be in the chair in front of the radio every morning (and every

night).”

9/15/16 VE7-VK JT9 SUCCESS AT LAST!

On the other side of the continent, trans-Pacific openings allowed a number of reports to be made

on both sides of the Pacific. This has never been more true than during this session as VE7SL

and VK4YB completed a historic two-way QSO between North America and Australia

using JT9, signaling the most distant two-way QSO (11802 km) ever registered on 630-

meters under amateur service rules (as reported by 472khz.org). This is a particularly difficult

path in spite of being mostly over salt water because of a hill near Steve’s QTH in the direction

of VK4YB. Steve reports in a recent blog post, “My location on the ‘wrong’ side of Mayne

Island requires me to fire directly into a very nearby 600′ hilltop, directly in Roger’s path.”

Path profile showing the nearby obstruction from VE7SL in the direction of VK4YB

Roger, VK4YB, issued a “code-7” early this morning, indicating that Steve should wake

up and head to the ham shack, which he did. The QSO was excruciating to watch because band

conditions were poor compared to last week so many exchanges over what seemed like an hour

were required for all of the elements to be decoded on each end. They finally got it

done. Congrats to Roger and Steve on this historic occasion. This is a very BIG deal.

Steve recounts the details from his perspective in this blog post. Neil, W0YSE/7 /

WG2XSV, provided this transcript of the sessions JT9 transmissions from his perspective,

specifically showing VE7SL’s transmissions near the end. Screen captures and comments from

the operators are posted below:

“Hi John, It was a real struggle but finally got there. I thought we were going to miss out

because all the big signals had taken a dive. Obviously the path to VE7 was still hanging in

there. The screen capture is attached as the original bit map. 73 Roger”

VK4YB’s JT9 console showing the historic two-way QSO with VE7SL

“well it wasn’t pretty as in ‘pretty-quick’ but it’s done. Tomorrow should be much easier

as the band has improved each morning so far, little by little. Signals were way down

compared to last week but I was running barefoot only then.Today the full 5W eirp helped a

lot. I’d say it was a ‘code 6.5’ morning but Roger tricked me and got me out of bed with a

‘code 7’ alert

Steve”

VE7SL JT9 console showing historic two-way exchanges with VK4YB

VE7SL receive window showing JT9 details

10/10/16 Phil, VE3CIQ, and Steve, VE7SL, completed their first JT9 QSO together during this

session. Phil reports that the QSO was spread over two hours but took only 12-minutes to

complete the QSO once solidly underway. The band was opening briefly on this path about once

an hour. Phil provided the following screen capture from his station:

VE3CIQ JT9 QSO with VE7SL

QRSS 1/9/16 QRSS3

As further support that the session was not a total loss in North America, Mike, WA3TTS,

provided screen captures on LOWFER of Frank, K3DZ / WH2XHA running QRSS3 on 477 kHz

and “MP” running QRSS6 on 475 kHz.

WH2XHA, as visualized by WA3TTS

“MP”, as visualized by WA3TTS [QRSS6]

1/29/16 Joe, VO1NA, reported that he would be operating QRSS3 on 477.7 kHz through the

session. Roelof, PA0RDT, reported excellent copy of the signal all night with a peak at 0530z

and complete fade out after 0600z.

VO1NA QRSS3, as reported by PA0RDT

2/4/16 Spiros, SV8CS, posted a nice screen capture of Ottar, LA1TN, who was operating

QRSS3 on 473.80 kHz. The path was 2948 km and Spiros is seeking a normal CW QSO with

Ottar.

LA1TN, QRSS3, as reported by SV8CS

SLOW SPEED 1 WPM MORSE CODE CW

1/28/17 John WG2XIQ reports: The evening had some unconventional activity as Neil,

W0YSE/7 / WG2XSV, and I spent some time assessing sub-audible CW that might not be as

obnoxiously slow as traditional QRSS CW. Jim, W5EST, describes the concept at the end of

this summary from mid-January. The basic idea is to operate at one to two words-per-minute,

using Argo in QRSS3 view mode. The approach should gain several dB of improvement, much

like traditional QRSS without the significant time component. Our goal was to ultimately

complete a QSO but Neil and I didn’t really know what to expect so we spent much of the

evening assessing the band at different times. Propagation was sufficiently unstable with lots of

fast QSB on Neil’s signal and while WSPR reports from recent sessions suggested that by 0600z

the band should improve, it is my opinion that the band started stronger than it

ended. Fortunately there was zero noise. I settled “into a groove” where my assessment

transmissions were at 2-wpm, then 1-wpm, and finally at 0.6-wpm. Eden, ZF1EJ, reported that

I was S6 to S7 on Cayman and noted that the signal was consistent. It’s also interesting to see

the improvements as the speed is slowed down on these captures from Phil, VE3CIQ:

WG2XIQ 2-WPM -> 1-WPM -> 0.6 WPM at VE3CIQ

Ken, SWL/K9, located in Indiana, submitted the following very strong captures of my signal at

one point in the evening. My signal almost always seems to be heard well in the Midwest:

WG2XIQ QRS CW (actual speed unknown) at K9/SWL

Jim, W5EST, submitted two captures of my signal, both at 1-wpm, although the earlier capture

is in a fade, the latter capture was strong and goes a long way to show the variability in the band

through the evening:

WG2XIQ early capture by W5EST at 1-wpm

WG2XIQ later capture by W5EST at 1-wpm

As I mentioned earlier, Neil’s signal was viewed here better early in the evening but part of that

may have been the adjustments that I made to Argo after the initial reception reports. There

seems to be an optimum value of contrast and sensitivity and I’m not sure if my adjustments

helped or hindered what I was seeing. Initial views of Neil are very light but the signal can

distinctly be seen:

Very light signal from WG2XSV (click to enlarge)

WG2XSV with enhanced contrast

This last capture was a late test to determine which viewer mode was best for a given

transmission speed. I believe that Neil was transmitting at QRSS10 at this point as the path was

deteriorating while I was viewing in QRSS3. Neil sent a series of letters for me to ID in order to

determine the feasibility of a QSO but with fades, QRSS10 made it difficult to determine.

QRSS10 viewed in QRSS3. QRSS10 was not the right choice for the high speed QSB

It was at this point that we determined that a sub-audible two-way QSO was not going to happen

tonight but Neil submitted these captures of my final transmissions at various speeds. I expect

we will try this again on a better night. It was a tremendous amount of fun and it was something

different to break up the monotony of life on 630-meters. Thanks for the fun Neil!

1/11/17 SUB-AUDIBLE CW 630m RECEPTION FOR 630/2200M

How can you do MF/LF CW if you can’t hear it? After all, due to low radiated power, we

can expect MF/LF ham/experimental stations to have CW SNRs way below SNRs on HF ham

bands. Answer: Maybe you have noticed already some CW receiving and display equipment can

actually let you see CW that you cannot hear!

See if you have a receiver / display that is advanced enough that you can see it show the

transitions and lines in WSPR or JT9 spread out over at least 15 seconds on a waterfall when the

decoder for it reports -18 dB or fainter SNR. If you do, then you can most likely copy slow-

speed sub-audible CW directly off the screen. Just make sure the display system itself isn’t

adding a lot of local RFI QRN of its own to the band noise!

Regular speed CW audibility threshold is -10 dB to -13dB WSPR SNR. QRSS3 can be

imaged down into the weak mid -20s dB WSPR SNR. That suggests there exists an intermediate

range we can call “QRS ½” to “QRS 1” from 2 WPM down to 1 WPM—a range with fast

enough information rate for QSO and still imageable in the midst of MF/LF band noise. That’s

about 5-15 Morse characters a minute.

This QRS intermediate range 1-2 WPM is far faster than QRSS3 and can support 630m

manually operated and copied CW QSOs. Such QRS 630m CW can be sub-audible CW that

offers favorable dB headroom beyond audible CW on MF/LF. A keyer or software feature to optionally transmit 1-2 WPM (words per minute) is

preferably employed on transmit to support such QRS CW operating. If a commercially

available keyer doesn’t go that slow, one could readily homebrew, say, a 1-15 WPM keyer with

Arduino or Raspberry Pi and key that. That way, uniform lengths of dahs, dits, and spaces are

generated under operator control and make eyeball visual reception easier.

On receive, the MF/LF operator copies the 630m QRS CW by eyeballing a waterfall running

at a rate visualizing the 1-2 WPM QRS 630m CW. The human eye/mind is the best pattern

recognizer there is. I repeat: the human eye/mind is the best pattern recognizer there is. Eyeball

copy of CW at these speeds is probably less tedious and more pattern-accurate by eye than by a

CW regenerator* you might try use to make the QRS CW audible.

On Jan. 10, I copied WG2XIQ’s software-generated CW CQ’s at 1 WPM using a

Winradio G33DDC SDR. In my test setup the XIQ CW was sub-audible for about 15 minutes

(even though some other stations received audible CW from XIQ). Here the SDR waterfall

display imaged the sub-audible QRS CW down to -22 dB.

In my opinion, -25dB SNR is visible on the G33DDC but not copyable at 1wpm CW, and -

27 dB JT9 was simply not visible in the feathery wisps of its image noise. (The dB SNR

estimates are from comparisons with same SDR display of WG2XIQ JT9 earlier that evening.

The 630m frequency spread the SDR displayed spread every 20 Hz about ½ inch or 12 mm. )

Results will vary depending on your own receiving equipment. Here at W5EST I have high

noise and an attic antenna. Actually, that’s a testing advantage because the test worked at sub-

audible CW SNRs down to -22 dB, meaning S/N dB instead of signal strength alone. XIQ QRS

CW, even when sub-audible, copied ok here in Arkansas at 485 km distance. That means QRS

CW will work at much longer distances for better equipped stations where -22 dB corresponds to

far lower received RF signal strengths. At well-equipped stations, the same deep CW SNRs I

tested correspond to much lower receivable signal strengths and much higher performance

receptions--which point to future sub-audible CW successes on far longer paths.

Concurrently in the test I set up the SDR with a tight CW filter, 50-100Hz, so that when

QSB fade-up eventually took the WG2XIQ signal up into audibility range, then I could copy by

ear as well. If a station at other end reports they can audibly hear the sending op, then sending

op can send faster at regular CW speeds, as John XIQ himself did before long. The G33DDC waterfall’s CW signal visibility outperformed the spectrum display’s

confusing peaks at low SNR. I was unable to get visually copyable sub-audible CW results from

ARGO and Spectran on either their CW (NDB) mode or QRSS3 mode. If you know how to use

either of these two popular software modules for sub-audible CW, tell us so we can blog your

techniques.

Between 1 WPM and 2 WPM, sub-audible CW would be roughly comparable to JT9 in info

throughput. So why not just use JT9? I think sub-audible MF/LF CW has a certain cachet about

it. Any CW has a more traditional hands-on, human-in-the-loop operating experience that no

digital mode can match! Tell us your viewpoint! TU & GL!

*ENDNOTE: CW regenerator cleans up audible CW: https://qrqcw.wordpress.com/an-icw-

interface-with-cw-regeneration-designed-by-joe-loposzko-kf7cx/ Presumably some well

designed software could run an audio oscillator to render sub-audible CW for the ear, but noise-

induced errors would still be a challenge. Way 1: FFT drives threshold detector and pulse noise

suppressor to control an audio oscillator. Way 2: FFT to ARGO-like optical display and s/w to

read the display at user-specified frequency and generate and process audio to go with it.

For further discussion of CW regenerators, see:

https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/pure-cw-its-all-about-that-tone-bout-that-tone-

no-noise

1/12/16 TIME-SHORTENED 1-2 WPM QSO: SUB-AUDIBLE CW ON 630/2200M

Yesterday’s blog described keyer or software-generated “QRS 1” CW at 1 or 2 WPM for

MF/LF. If the TX station is below about -13 dB SNR, your ears probably can’t hear it, but your

RX waterfall may nevertheless display successfully for visual copy. WG2XIQ at 1 WPM

yielded visual CW copy down to -22 dB SNR on the G33DDC SDR waterfall here.

Today, let’s delve deeper. How does one transmit more information in a short time at a CW

speed that's so slow? Well, MF/LF hams and experimenters know a lot about CW QSOs and

630m/2200m, and about each other.

Many CW QSOs even on HF are relatively stylized and capable of information compression

to say the same things and observe etiquette in fewer characters if we wish. For QRS CW QSO

procedure on MF/LF, we can look for analogies (see Endnote*) from digital mode QSO

exchanges, QRSS, DXing, and EME.

CW speed choices should be kept few and familiar in timing. I’d recommend just three

choices: A) 1 WPM with 1.0 second dit, B) 2 WPM with 0.5 second dit, and C) regular CW at

whatever speed you prefer to send and can tell from the circumstances would be convenient for

the other station op to copy. Using the 1.0 or 0.5 second dit can help the receiving op visually

deduce a character that’s partially obscured in noise. Some waterfalls edge the display with 1.0

second time ticks for your reference.

MF/LF ops have an MF/LF TX station list, so op name & QTH are optional info at the

present time and until band activity greatly increases. CQing station should give their full call

sign. On 630m QRS 1, a replying station can probably just send the last three letters of CQing

station’s call sign to signify that CQ station--before identifying self with full call sign.

Applicable regulatory requirements for station identification and procedure are paramount, of

course, and operating award rules now or in future may also dictate various information elements

in an MF/LF QSO.

Unlike HF where the signal report may often be merely informational, MF/LF sub-audible

CW will more frequently demand on-the-fly operating decisions of the TX station operator to

depend on the reception level at the RX station in the QSO. Especially on 630m, signal strength

may dramatically decrease or increase in even a 20 second interval due to QSB fade-downs and

fade-ups. See WH2XXP-swl/k9 three-second signal strength curves in this blog Jan. 4 for

instance. http://njdtechnologies.net/010417

The TX station's sub-audible CW operator is essentially “flying blind” without help from the

RX station operator in the QSO. Depending on band conditions, on each station’s TX and RX

antennas and equipment, and on distance and other factors, one station may need to use 1 WPM

to be copied at the other end while the other station can use full speed CW!

630m QSB may clip off the beginning or end of a character or word, not to mention possibly

obscuring them entirely. 630/2200m QSB is unlikely to be so brief and sudden that it would

only take out a single dit or the middle of a dah of CW. (Tell us if you know different.)

Partially masked signaling characters should allow a human operator to deduce the meaning

in spite of QSB. Today’s TABLE shows some signaling characters for QRS 1-2 WPM that I’d

suggest, subject to your better wisdom. Tell us how to improve it!

Unlike HF full break-in (QSK) that works in a small fraction of a second, we can instead

expect that for hardware and antenna reasons many 630m/2200m stations need a few seconds to

change from receive to transmit. Fortunately, a normal pause in QRS CW can provide those

several seconds for the TX station operator to briefly learn whether the RX station needs you to

toggle QRS speed at the TX station.

One should probably maintain the same QRS speed and not be too quick to go to a faster

speed since that can complicate visual copy at the other end. In short, "keep it simple" and

maintain a steady hand at the QRS helm--even if you don’t take advantage of every temporary

fade-up that may strengthen SNR. TU & GL on sub-audible CW!

TABLE: QRS 1-2 WPM CW SIGNALING CHARACTERS

MF/LF QRS Transmission Remarks

CQ WG2XIQ Just one CQ & full call sign at 1 WPM. RX before repeating.

XIQ WH2XZO Last 3 letters of CQ station 1 WPM. Full call sign of replier. RX in between.

K Don’t use K. Simply stop after any transmission predictable in its format.

JOHN VT Name and state abbreviation are optional from either station.

E E E E E E AGN, pls maintain QRS speed and repeat previous transmission.

T T T Same as E E E E E E. Use if you prefer. (TMO code)

M M M Partial copy, can deduce most or all. (TMO code)

O O Perfect copy. (TMO code)

A, U, W, V, S, B, Z, D, G, N Try shortening 1-9 to send RST or #.

VWN=439. SZN=57. SNN=59 (Can’t hear sub-audible tone, assume 9.)

AA AA Please increase speed to ordinary CW speed from QRS 1-2 WPM. --or--

CW CW Please increase speed to ordinary CW speed from QRS 1-2 WPM.

I I I I I Please toggle from 1 WPM to 2 WPM or vice-versa depending on

current sending speed. If on regular CW, pls go to 1 WPM now. di-dit, di-dit, etc

NN NN Not reading you. Pls do not TX, and try receive my blind transmission now.

RRR All received. May mean “Yes” depending on context.

SRI I am no longer trying to copy you, too buried in noise. Pls try later. TU & GL.

_______ 4 dahs, 0 spaces, means “TU 73 dit-dit SK CQ.” You’re callable by others, w/o

CQ.

/ / # (di-dah-di-di-dit) Please wait for me. Number 1-9 # of minutes is optional.

Use when adjusting station and can’t attend RX to copy QRS.

QRT Closing down station.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code

* ENDNOTE

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwjw8bL

LnrjRAhWCz4MKHZi6DFIQFggoMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marc-

radio.org%2FARRL%2520Operating%2520Procedures.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGHvoriGX1pk3JGE

PebFYQo5QDNDA ARRL, Operating Procedures:

QRP DXing and DX procedure http://home.windstream.net/johnshan/dx_ss_working.html

JT9 example: http://njdtechnologies.net/010917/ (scroll 10%; WI2XBV, WG2XIQ,

WG2XKA)

JT9 across Pacific at -27dB: http://njdtechnologies.net/091516/ (scroll 15%)

QRSS procedure, TMO: http://www.w0ch.net/qrss/qrss.htm (scroll to bottom)

EME procedure:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwix697

TnLjRAhVK4oMKHTW1BNYQFghkMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nitehawk.com%2Fras

mit%2Fg3sek_op_proc.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHTU5pP__4lxF1YazB3sWgSg2WJow PDF 2002

http://lists.moonbounce.info/pipermail/moon/2015-December/001536.html Message board

http://www.k4lrg.org/Projects/K4MSG_EME/ (scroll 80%)

REGULAR SPEED MORSE CODE CW

10/1/16 Steve, VE7SL, and Roger, VK4YB, completed another JT9 QSO this morning. [CW is

discussed here too.] With so much JT9 and WSPR activity it is amazing that they were able to

hear well enough to complete the QSO. Joe, NU6O / WI2XBQ, sent a capture of his JT9

windows showing portions of the JT9 QSO between Roger and Steve in addition to his QSO

with WG2XXM:

WI2XBQ’s JT9 window showing the QSO between VK4YB and VE7SL in addition to Joe’s QSO

with WG2XXM

After the opening began to transition to the North and conditions improved slightly on the

trans-Pacific path, both stations decided to try a CW QSO. Both stations used an even / odd

minute calling style similar to what is used with JT9. Joe, NU6O / WI2XBQ, sent a short

sample recording of VE7SL calling VK4YB: (Try opening audio player twice.)

Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ve7sl_cw-100116.mp3

Roger reports that he heard Steve’s CW twice during their attempt while Steve

reported a number of nice sequences. Both stations will be working to develop a strategy that

results in the least loss of sleep while completing the CW QSO in the future.

Roger posted the following WSPR statistics for the session on the ON4KST chat/logger:

“Rx 23*wg2xxm (-18) 1*wg2xiq (-27) 9*wh2xgp (-17) 37*wh2xxp (-5) 10*wi2xbq (-16)

24*wh2xcr (-17) Tx 3*we2xpq (-27) 20*wh2xcr (-5)”

10/12/16 CODE-8: THE QUEST FOR VK4-VE7 CW QSO CONTINUES

The trans-Pacific path was also very robust during this session. Roger, VK4YB, issued an

astonishing “Code-8(!!!)” and he and Steve, VE7SL, began their pursuit of a CW QSO…

The CW QSO with Steve was not completed during this session but Roger, VK4YB, reports that

he heard Steve at 1119z and had hoped propagation would have improved.

9/2/16 CROSS-COUNTRY 630M CW AND JT9: INFO FROM PREVIOUS SEASONS

I’ve wondered “What QSOs have 630m stations accomplished on cross-country paths

before now?” Thanks for any such information you e-mail to us for this blog! Here's what I've

learned so far.

Larry W7IUV/WH2XGP: Eric sent you log info for our 630m QSOs, so I won't repeat any of

those: From July 2014 until the present, WH2XGP has completed 57 two-way 630m QSOs with

12 unique US experimental stations. Of those 57, only 12 were CW, the rest JT9.

For some others of WH2XGP’s more notable log entries, see the Table here:

Date Local Time Station Mode Reports

22 Feb 2016 0507z WH2XCR JT9 S -15 R -14

28 Oct 2015 0246z WH2XZO JT9 S -24 R -27

25 Jan 2015 0530z WG2XNI CW S 449 R N/A

14 Jan 2015 0428z WD2XSH/12 CW S 559 R N/A

14 Nov 2014 0216z WG2XKA JT9 S -23 R- N/A

Larry continues: It is very difficult to make a CW QSO over distances more than 300 miles

or so unless you have good stations, good operators, and outstanding conditions at both ends of

the path. Note that it is very difficult to get people to turn off their beacons and actually try for a

QSO. I hope this will change if/when we get amateur authorization.

TS-590S is RX/TX for all WH2XGP WSPR/JT/CW work on 630 m. Homebrew 400 watt

linear amp yields an estimated 5-10 watts ERP depending on what's going on at the antenna at

any given time. 630m TX antenna: 44 foot vertical, top loaded, (note: the loading coil is at

the 33' level not down in the dirt) with 64 radials from 25' to 70' in length. RX antenna(s):

various, including but not limited to beverages, BOG's, Flag, e-probes, and untuned short

verticals.

Eric NO3M/WG2XJM: I have attached a screenshot of my WG2XJM log. Ten (10) QSOs with

Larry that I have on record, two (2) CW and eight (8) JT9. These are all two-way

630m QSOs. Power on my end generally runs 5-20W ERP, but there may have been a few

QSOs with up to 50W ERP or more.

Two more attachments show QSOs with Rudy WD2XSH/20 (N6LF) and Ron WH2XND

(NI7J). There was also a QSO with WH2XND on SSB that is not in the log, which happened

either late last year or early this year.

Also, CW crossband QSOs were completed with VE7SL transmitting on 630M running 5W

EIRP. RST is that sent to VE7SL. He was QSX on either 80 or 160M. These are probably the

most Amateur-like 2x QSOs in terms of power output on the 630M side (VE7SL), as XGP,

XSH/20, and XND were probably over 5W EIRP during any QSOs. RX antenna used to copy

VE7SL was either 160M phased beverage array (2x 1000ft, 300 ft broadside, West) or 630M

8-circle array (W / NW).

2014-11-01 0435z 473.0 CW 449

2015-02-15 0603z 473.0 CW 339

2015-02-15 0706z 473.0 CW 559

2015-11-15 0534z 473.0 CW 549

2016-02-06 0348z 473.0 CW 449

My overall QSO breakdown according to the log is more evenly divided, 37 CW QSOs and

39 JT9 QSOs, but I know for a fact there are probably dozens more CW QSOs that never got

logged, while all JT9 QSOs should be accounted for.

4/4/16 Warren, K2ORS, reported that he would be on the air with CW as WH2XIL, running

about 60W into a 500′ dipole laying on the ground. WG2XSB was also QRV with a CW beacon

about 10-miles away from Warren using an 80m delta loop fed as a top loaded vertical with 32W

TPO. John, WA3ETD / WG2XKA, captured the signals with Argo and recorded audio,

presented below:

WH2XIL and WG2XSB, as reported by WG2XKA

Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WH2XIL-040416.wav

2/6/16 John WG2XIQ reports: I began transitioning my station around 2330z, about 30

minutes before sunset in North Texas. My first operating activity would be CW on 474.5 kHz

so I adjusted the match a bit by throwing a series of high speed CW dits and adjusting the motor

that controls the variometer as I watched the scope match. In between transmissions I was

hearing a signal – it was “XJM” as in Eric, NO3M / WG2XJM, in western Pennsylvania. It was

now 20 minutes prior to sunset and Eric was a strong RST559. This QSO set the stage for what

was going to be a very strong session and at least two more CW QSO’s with Eric during the

evening, one at a ridiculously low power level.

I caught Eric CQing a bit later on 474 kHz and it sounded like this: AudioPlayer

http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WG2XJM-020616-0034z.mp3

The Canadians had variable start times for their operations and Mitch, VE3OT, was the first to

enter the bullpen for two-way cross band CW QSO’s. I should note that I had no copy on Joe,

VO1NA, in Newfoundland. Mitch sounded great on 477 kHz and was hearing me very well on

7058 kHz. I had the presence of mind to start the recorder as Mitch was sending his final

transmission: Audio Player

http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/VE3OT-020616-0055z.mp3

More CW at WG2XIQ yielded a QSO with Larry, W7IUV / WH2XGP, in Washington state

followed by a very loud second QSO from Eric, NO3M / WG2XJM, that sounded like this:

Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WG2XJM-020616-

MOPA-LOUD.mp3

Not too long after the second QSO with Eric, it was time to start looking for Canadian cross

band stations again. Next in the bullpen was Steve, VE7SL. I had listened for Steve earlier but

it was much too early. When he finally popped out of the noise, his signal was there to stay and

Steve remained strong each time his signal was on the air. The recording was made rather early,

before his signal on 473 kHz had a chance to strengthen but it yielded a good QSO with me

transmitting on 7066 kHz. As in previous instances, I remembered to press record and was able

to get a small sample just before our QSO began:

Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/VE7SL-020616-

before-our-QSO.mp3 More CQing yielded the final formal CW QSO with WG2XJM for the evening and this one

was incredible. Eric was using the MOPA during the event and had turned the power down to

7W TPO which was as low as the transmitter would go. He called me and was a solid RST539

and was easy copy. He indicated 7W during the QSO, but it did not register at the time that he

was talking about TPO and not ERP. Eric notes this morning that the ERP was probably

somewhere between 0.5W and 0.7W. That’s remarkable and takes me back to my 1W ERP

days! For stations questioning their ability to put an effective signal on the band, let this be an

example for what is possible. Equally amazing was that Ken, SWL/K9, recorded part of the

QSO, presented below. In this recording, WG2XKA’s beacon is the higher-pitched signal and

Eric is the lower-pitched signal, telling me that he is running 7W TPO. I am heard later in the

recording, responding to him, not realizing just how QRP he really is at the moment. Thanks to

Ken, SWL/K9 for providing this recording:

Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WG2XKA_B-with-

WG2XJM-at-7W-TPO-in-QSO-with-WG2XIQ-020616.mp3 I also had a nice note from Larry, WD0AKX, in Minnesota, who had heard my CQ during this

same CW cycle: [0319z, 549, strong, easy copy.] At this point I decided to tune around a bit to

see if I could find any random stations CQing and found Rudy, N6LF / WD2XSH/20, operating

a beacon on 472 kHz:

Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WD2XSH20-beacon-

020616.mp3

Followed by Brian, WA1ZMS / WD2XSH/31, higher in the band: Audio Player http://njdtechnologies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WD2XSH31-beacon-

020616.mp3

2/7/16 VE7SL-wa3tts 630m CW:

http://njdtechnologies.net/night-2-the-midwinter-630-meter-activity-weekend-report-we2xpq-

wh2xcr-ja1nqi-2-vk3elv-wh2xcr/ (scroll 20% and play video)

2/25/16 Roelof, PA0RDT, reports VO1NA’s CW at audible levels during the

session. Interestingly enough, keying sidebands are observed. That’s a strong signal!

VO1NA, as reported by PA0RDT

5/30/16 Joe, VO1NA, reports that his CW on 477.7 kHz was going to be active until sunrise this

morning. In the previous session, Roloef, PA0RDT, reported that while noise levels were high,

limiting his ability to audibly hear the Joe’s CW, the signal was visible on Roloef’s spectrum

display and these reports represent the sole trans-Atlantic reports for that session. During this

session, Stefan, DK7FC, reported Joe’s signal on the northwest receive antenna from his remote

forest receive site:

VO1NA, as reported by DK7FC

6/2/16 Warren, K2ORS / WH2XIL, operated a CW beacon on 470 kHz using the on-ground

dipole that he has tested earlier in the season. Jay, W1VD, made a recording which can be heard

here. Warren reports that he operated at 80-watt TPO through the session and continues to run

the system at decreased power of 36-watt TPO through the day today. Warren reported heating

in the matching circuit at the feed point last Winter and has subsequently rewound the

transformer on an FT-240-77 with an 8 turn primary and 12 turn secondary.

Joe, VO1NA, was reported by Roelof, PA0RDT, in the previous session in spite of the Italian

beacon very close to Joe’s CW frequency of 477.7 kHz. After processing to remove some of the

noise, Roelof posted the following screen capture showing both signals during the session:

VO1NA, as reported by PA0RDT

8/29/16 BEACONING IN 630m EVENT

RSGB reflector:

“CW Beacon G3WCB is now transmitting on 476.2 kHz for the CLE. 50 seconds of

carrier, followed by 12 wpm CW i/d. Power about 10watts RF into a 10m sloping wire at

6m height. Transmissions will (hopefully) continue until tomorrow morning.

73, Dave G3WCB IO80EI.”

“LA1BCN is in with QSB….and a lot of lightning crashes…… I will continue all night

with LA3EQ CW beacon on 476.4kHz. Jan LA3EQ”

“Hi all you beaconeers, up to now (2040 UTC) no traces from LA1BCN (476.5 kHz),

LA3EQ (476.4 kHz) and G4WCB (476.2 kHz) her in JN59WK in spite of QRN being less

than yesterday, spikes now about S5 maximum. But IQ2MI (JN45NL) is good

visible/audible here as usual with S4/5 at Perseus with earth dipole. Want to go to bed

now – gl es cuagn! 73, Tom, DK1IS”

2/8/16 630M BANDWIDTH BASICS

Last weekend’s 630m event encouraged and exercised QSO modes like JT9 and CW as well

as WSPR beaconing. Any form of modulation occupies some bandwidth. The bandwidth

depends on which mode you are using and the information rate.

For instance, with CW, bandwidth widens when you key your TX at faster and faster words-

per-minute WPM. QRSS is just CW with very low WPM so QRSS has narrower bandwidth than

regular CW. Fine points of QRSS--like DFCW and Slant CW--can await some other blog day.

On HF, it’s easy to think of CW being just one frequency that goes on and off. But the

“on/off” means the amplitude of the transmitted signal goes high and low (full off). That’s like

old time 100%-modulated AM! The only difference: It’s not modulated with your voice.

Some types of modulation like WSPR and JT9 vary the frequency, which occupies some

bandwidth as a result. PSK31 varies phase; its bandwidth depends on how fast phase varies.

OK, great, but why does bandwidth matter anyway? One reason is: signal-to-noise ratio

SNR. SNR is usually measured in a 2.5 kHz noise bandwidth. Most people can’t hear CW that’s

less than -13dB SNR. Your digital mode decoder can’t decode its digital mode if it's below some

characteristic SNR. The web site http://hfradio.org.uk/html/digital_modes.html has screenshots

of some digital modes.

The TABLE shows some approximate bandwidths and SNR dB thresholds for several modes

that ops use on 630m. Comparison is the point. Narrower mode bandwidth lowers SNR

threshold and makes the mode more useful with weak signals. If the decoder does its own

filtering, you can set the RX to some wider bandwidth according to the user instructions.

Digital modes and CW are popular on 630m. And not just because the 472-479KHz 630m

band is only 7 kHz wide. (Note: USA Part 5 licenses will often vary from this.)

Likewise the frequencies people use for CW and digital modes often cluster either side of the

often-used WSPR band 475.600-.800.

EXTENDED MODE TABLE (2/15/16)

Choosing the right mode and bandwidth matters. Your digital mode decoder can’t decode its

digital mode if it's below some characteristic SNR. Ditto for you and CW.

http://hfradio.org.uk/html/digital_modes.html has screenshots of some digital modes. But choice

of mode involves more than just its SNR threshold.

WSPR is a beaconing mode for propagation reporting. A pair of stations can each receive

each other and the information goes to the WSPR database, even without operators in attendance.

That matters on an all-night long-path band like 630m. That's great, but a QSO--the way hams

think of it--goes beyond beaconing. So the table "QSO" column tells whether a mode can

support a QSO.

CW is the traditional mode for QSOs but CW generally has no client screen. So, other table

columns speak to client screen and database. Likewise, CW traditionally lacks automatic upload

to a central database, although logging software and QSL support tools do exist.

JT9 supports QSOs and has a client screen on which several different stations can see

decodes for themselves and others. Moreover, that client screen feature makes a kind of poor

man’s diversity reception possible, as I discussed in the Feb. 5 blog. On the downside, JT9 lacks

a central record-keeping database, so saving JT9 client screens is at operator discretion. Also, a

QSO mode entails both station operators attending their equipment, which can be difficult. But

otherwise, JT9 becomes simply another beacon mode that WSPR2 may outperform.

The TABLE's TX "Nonlinear ok?" column tells whether the mode accommodates nonlinear

amplifier classes C, D, E, etc.

One considers more than the technical features of a mode. Compared to 160m and HF, 630m

still has low usage and 2200m lower yet. For the time being, it’s important for most of us to

experiment with the more frequently used modes so that we can all build up some useful

experience with MF/LF. Accordingly, WSPR2, JT9, and CW will probably continue to be the

most-used modes at least in the next couple of years.

That said, absorption-resilient modes like WSPR15 and QRSS30, 60, 120 do deserve

experimentation, such as in daytime work and aurora latitudes.

SSTV arises at the high end of the bandwidth list. WG2XSV, VA7MM, andVE7CNF have

already worked on delivery of recognizable images over short paths. EXTENDED MODE TABLE CORRECTIONS Thanks to Neil WG2XSV W0YSE for pointing out a couple of corrections for the Feb. 15 Extended Mode Table. John has entered the corrections to the Feb. 15 blog itself. Correction 1:JT9 does not have a database that I know of. PSK Reporter does have a JT9 spotting service. PSK Reporter is a spotting service that includes selectable JT9 on the map link. No database appears there that I’ve found. A clickable geographic map does show information about recent stations spotted, see this link: http://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html . You can see stats and reporter call signs at: https://www.pskreporter.info/cgi-bin/pskstats.pl To check if your station’s WSJT-X feeds JT9 data to PSK Reporter, go to WSJT-X menu item File\Settings\Reporting. In mid-screen “Network Services” make sure the checkbox is checked: “Enable PSK Reporter Spotting.” When you are receiving JT9, check the PSK Reporter web site http://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html to make sure the upload is actually working. If not, e-mail and tell us the problem and any fix you know of. We’ll also try to find out more because there’s numerical URL information near that checkbox that may be relevant. Correction 2: Hellschrieber is NON linear, like CW. The Table is corrected to say “Yes” nonlinear is ok. Regarding Opera, I’ve changed the entry to “Yes?” until we find out differently.

# http://www.qsl.net/on7yd/136narro.htm#QRSS BW(Hz) = 5/6 WPM

* http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html ** http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main.html

^ http://www.pa3fwm.nl/technotes/tn09b.html ;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jokk3dfe0vofcuc/Le%20ROS%2C%20qu%E2%80%99est%20ce%2

0que%20c%E2%80%99est%20%20by%20F1UCG.pdf *** http://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/hellschreiber-bandwidth.htm + https://rosmodem.wordpress.com/ ; https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/O_P_E_R_A_/info http://www.obriensweb.com/operaguide.html ++ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_MFSK ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_MFSK +++ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_frequency-shift_keying

9/15/16 WSPR2 FROM GERMANY TO RUSSIA

Stefan, DK7FC, reported good DX reports in Russia [RX3DHR, RV3APM] and

Iceland [TF3HZ] in addition to the trans-Atlantic reports:

9/15/16 BBC DOC’s. WI2XBQ-VK4

Joe, NU6O / WI2XBQ, provided a really interesting link to several BBC research documents

which can be viewed and downloaded here. He reports that he was using 50-watts TPO and was

decoded by VK4YB. This works out to 22770 kilometers per Watt. Joe notes that at 1022z he

could had reduced power by 3-dB more and still “made it across”:

WI2XBQ, as reported by VK4YB

2/17/16 WSPR15 AND WE2XPQ

Laurence, WE2XPQ KL7L in Wasilla, Alaska, transmits 10 watts ERP or so on 630m. He

uses WSPR2 and WSPR15 at opportune times.

Japanese operators occasionally receive him ~5600km at JH1INM, JH3XCU, JE1JDL &

JA1NQI-1 on WSPR2. Successful as they remarkably are, JA1NQI-2 logs many more WSPR15

decodes by comparison. In North America, VE7BDQ, W0YSE, KK6EEW land WSPR15 from

Laurence. Who knows how much farther east in N.A. is possible!

Especially for aurora-prone higher latitudes where nighttime absorption prowls the 630m

frontier, WSPR15 may help you dive down to -37dB and deeper. Ditto for nighttime DX stations

who receive or transmit WSPR15. WSPR15 can help study 630m daytime prop at any latitude.

Laurence and John XIQ dialog next. Summary Q&A about WSPR15 follow after. XPQ says: WSPR15 for 137kHz has a lot of merit. But I see a lot of pooh pooing it for 630m because of perceived

faster and rapid QSB sometimes seen…WSPR15 being too slow to follow the deep and fast QSB and therefore give

a positive decode. Over 4000km paths I sometimes see slower QSB than on shorter and higher angle multi hops. Important: Both 137 and 475 are very variable beasts. Ionosphere is a very difference place both in geographic

and magnetic latitude on a minute to minute to day to day basis. Like a global view of the swirling cloud patterns is

how I view the ionosphere. Ionosphere varies from place to place & depends on TX/RX locations and directions,

N/S better vs. W/E. In Alaska, I typically gain using WSPR15 with improved decodes over WSPR2 on long hauls. I think the

somewhat voiced negative view that WSPR15 is too “slow” for 630m needs another look. It’s worthwhile here. I’ve had long haul receptions of WD2XSH/6 and /7 in Mississippi and Louisiana over 5KKms away. QRSS10

clear here at times…DFCW10 even better and even though I beam E to SE for them, and how much Auroral spread

I’ve seen at 630m. QRSS speeds around 10 can be QSO-able speeds at this distance. XIQ says: WSPR-15 needs more stable package than WSPRx. Get dual mode simultaneous decode with WSPR2

and WSPR15 like JT9& JT65 in WSJTx. I need more TX stability for WSPR15. I used to use my U3 but its sitting

on the bench. XPQ replies: Yes…remove the grayed out box in wsjtx… I’m using U3 for WSPR15 on 475, and U2 for 137. They

run off their own GPS’s. U2 GPS occasionally needs unplug-replug the GPS to sync the TX periods so both 137/475

TX/RX same time…fun to watch both TXs kick on and off in sync. Temp-stabilize shack and osc heatsink. I use

parkmode 2…allows CPU run all the time with 65XXX offset. Clears up wobble.

http://www.qrp-labs.com/synth/freqstab.html

How do you receive WSPR15 without leaving WSPR2? Answer: Open a second instance

of your WSPR decoder client software. Set the mode to WSPR15. Set TxPct=0% in one client

and TxPct to your desired percentage in the client for the WSPR mode you want to

transmit. WSPR FAQs tell you how to give the 2nd instance of the client its own ID like

JA1NQI has done: JA1NQI-1 and 2. (You can also open one or more ARGO software instances

to their own audio center frequencies to receive QRSS elsewhere.)

Does the dial frequency for WSPR15 have to be different from dial for WSPR2? No, the

dial stays at 474.200 KHz.

Where is WSPR15’s subband? WSPR15 is a 25 KHz subband at 475.800-.825. The 1/8

width compared to 200Hz WSPR2 subband at 475.600-.800 tips you that the WSPR15 signal

itself uses 1/7.5 the bandwidth of WSPR2 and 1/7.5 the information rate and yields 1/7.5 the

maximum possible number of reports to tell you SNRs.

How can I find WSPR15 decodes in the database? Go to the regular WSPR database

except search by frequency. Or enter the WSPR15 TX station call sign like WE2XPQ and

search by distance. Then eyeball the results for frequencies in the WSPR15 subband.

When is transmitting WSPR15 preferable to WSPR2? I’d suggest if WSPR15 can deliver

more decodes at the desired RX station or region subject to the least favorable SNR, then try

WSPR15. This condition assumes you have judged SNR will be at least as deep as -30dB

during the entire 15 minutes of most of your WSPR15 transmissions. Otherwise, the decode

probability of WSPR2 sometime during the 15 minutes is likely to yield at least one decode of its

own.

If your WSPR2 TX has yielded 5 decodes/night or fewer for a given tough-to-reach RX

station, try increasing your WSPR2 power and TxPct if your transmitter can stand it and you

haven’t done so. If you’ve done all that on WSPR2, consider giving WSPR15 a try. Remember

WSPR15 can harvest no more than about 20 decodes per station per night due to its 15 minute

transmission interval twice per hour at 50% TxPct. Accordingly, it’s when WSPR2 yield already

is only a handful or none each night that then you can justify the TX mode change to WSPR15.

But on RX mode, you don’t have to choose. If somebody is sending WSPR15, just activate a 2nd

decoder software instance to receive them and keep receiving WSPR2 from other stations too.

And run ARGO instances concurrently as QRSS opportunities arise!

2/26/16 Paul, 9H1BT, sent a report of his QRSS QSO with Dave, GM3YXM. He noted in a

follow up email that Dave operated at QRSS10 speeds on the second over for 10 minutes, not 5

as stated in the comment below. Doing so helped tremendously with QRN on Paul’s end.

GM3YXM, also known as “XMBTR”

9H1BT, also known as “BTXMOO”

11/22/16 QRSS30 MODE

Ken, SWL/EN61, located in Indiana sent a very good capture of WA2XRM’s “RW” QRSS30

last night. It’s remarkable how loud Paul actually got, so much so that the “dog-bone” effect is

observed:

WA2XRM QRSS30 “RW” at SWL/EN61 in Indiana

3/2/16 JT65A AND JT9 DIGITAL MODES ON 630M

John WG2XIQ says: Larry, W7IUV / WH2XGP, and I completed JT9 and JT65A QSO’s

during the evening and even with variable signal levels, QSO’s were still easy to complete.

WG2XIQ JT9 console from QSO with WH2XGP

WG2XIQ JT65A console from QSO with WH2XGP

WG2XIQ continued: As a side note, I typically preach that because of the narrower bandwidth

of JT9, it is more suitable for a 7-kHz wide band. Larry notes that JT65A is actually somewhat

better when conditions are unsettled. I will have to examine this more closely. While JT65A is

considerably wider, Larry’s signal was audible in spite of being outside of the usual S/N range

for audible signals, particularly in USB receiver bandwidth!

3/15/16 Neil, W0YSE/7 / WG2XSV, Joseph, NU6O / WI2XBQ, John, VE7BDQ, and Toby,

VE7CNF operated WSQ2 again, the very slow FSK mode by ZL1BPU. Neil notes early reports

from Toby, a path of 232 miles in daylight:

Neil reported that he would be QRV again for WSQ2 QSO’s after 0300z. Activity was good

with Joseph and Neil completing a WSQ2 QSO. That’s a relatively rare occurrence here in the

US as WSQ2 has not found wide acceptance within the experimental community. There are a

couple of perspectives on this QSO, seen below, in addition to transcripts from John, VE7BDQ,

and Neil, WG2XSV.

WI2XBQ, as reported by WG2XSV WSQ2

WI2XBQ WSQ2 console capture during QSO with WG2XSV

3/20/16 Night one of the MF QSO Party in Europe …Markus, DF6NM:

“Thank you Vinny, for the nice idea and the invitation to the party!

For me, it sure was a lot of fun, and resulted in a number of JT9 QSO’s with OR7T, DG0RG,

SV8CS, SV3DVO, DL6II, DD2UJ, IW4DXW, LA8AV, F6CNI, and DK7FC. Most signals were

promptly decodable (except for my report from DL6II which was lost due to temporary drift). A

copy of my receive log is at http://df6nm.bplaced.net/MF/jt9_party_160319.txt .

But operating workflow was not easy for me. I don’t have an MF SSB transmitter available here,

just an AD8950 DDS-board with a three-wire serial interface. So I decided to modify my

homemade WSPR software, such that it reads a message from the command line, converts it to

tone numbers by calling Joe’s JT9CODE.EXE, and plays it at the beginning of the next

minute. Lacking the “late-start feature”, the text had to be typed and ready on time, and it was

practically impossible to immediately reply to a decoded message. This was further exacerbated

by the lack of automatic message generation (“three click QSO”), and some uncertainties

of shorthand versus free-text length. I’m sorry if I have been taxing the patience of my QSO

partners!

Regarding the receive software, if I had two free wishes this is what I would suggest:

– Show decodes as spectrogram labels:

Coming from visual QRSS, I like to “see” who I work. With many stations in the spectrogram,

it can be challenging to keep an oversight on who is who, and on which frequency. It would be

nice to see the decoded messages as labels near or on the traces in a wide horizontal spectrogram.

replying by clicking on colour-highlighted labels would seem more intuitive than clicking in the

separate text decode window.

– Show partial decodes:

When the signal is not too weak, the software could already attempt to decode a message before

it has been completely received. Decoding zero padded audio (e.g. two extra times after 30 and

40 seconds) would give the operator significantly more time to think up an appropriate (non-

automatic) response. Best 73, Markus (DF6NM)”

OPERA

1/30/17 VE7BDQ-ku4xr OPERA8

Andy, KU4XR, operated OPERA and WSPR overnight and submitted the following statistics

and comments for the session: “Garry got in on a test run last night .. It was on purpose.. I asked

John – BDQ if he would run a combo OPERA – WSPR test on the same frequency .. Not to see

which one was best, but rather to see how many ” MORE ” decodes of WSPR I could get from

him on a quiet frequency .. My belief that I am ( lose-ing ) several WSPR decodes due to

receiver desense became very evident when I saw 24 WSPR decodes this morning .. Even on the

best night on the WSPR frequency, I have only gotten 7 to 8 decodes. OPERA ” detected ” 1

more transmission in Deep Search than WSPR, but only because it was 45 minutes into daylight

here .. Test results are below ..Thanks John – VE7BDQ for helping me with this test … and 73 to

all:”

SSB 5/22/16 WG2XIQ tells us: Roger, VK4YB, provided more details about the crystal set of

Graeme, VK2FPQ, who has a You Tube video linked below of VK3HP in cross-band QSO

with Graeme. Roger reports that there has actually been quite a bit of operating activity in VK

recently, which is fantastic news!

VIDEO: http://njdtechnologies.net/052216/ (scroll 10%)

7/1/16 Roger, VK4YB, reported very high noise levels in northwestern Australia, peaking 40 dB

over S9 40% of the time. Hardly seems like Winter down under! Roger also indicated in the

ON4KST chat/logger that he “Worked Rick, VK2RR, Hugh VK4BM, Grant VK3HP on 2xSSB

tonight. Last night chatted with Phil VK3ELV for 25 minutes, 59 both ways.” Good to see guys

in VK taking advantage of the long Winter nights and operating in spite of weather conditions.

10/24/16 HELLSCHREIBER ON 630M

Stefan, DK7FC, reported that IW4DXW was active on HELL mode during the evening:

11/1/16 John WG2XIQ blogged: This Halloween brought out a number of creative stations that

painted digital mode waterfalls with elaborate pictures that were dressed to impress. Stefan,

DK7FC, noted a number of of transmissions on his grabber from IW4DXW. Half asleep when I

entered the ham shack this morning, I observed what looked like someone painting a skeleton on

my screen centered around 475 kHz…

“Halloween Hell” by IW4DXW as seen on the DK7FC screen grabber

11/12/16 MULTITONE AND SINGLE TONE HELLSCHREIBER

Neil also reported that he received Toby, VE7CNF, using Hellschreiber and specifically using

software that Toby developed himself. Toby indicates that the small characters in the screen

captures below are multi-tone and thus require a linear amplifier. As a result he was only

operating at 0.2-watts EIRP peak.

The larger characters are single-tone FSK with a non-linear amplifier at about 2.5-

watts EIRP. Toby indicates that he needs to optimize those a bit more. Congrats Toby – this is

great!

10/24/16 630M QRA64 IN EUROPE

Domenico, IS7SLZ, reported:

“I’m cq’ing on MF using QRA64 mode included in wsjtx 1.7.0 version. Qrg is dial

472.2kHz +1200 Hz. Tx even. See on-line screenshots here

http://www.qsl.net/iz7slz/OPDS/grabber.jpg Reports are welcome. 73, Domenico iz7slz”

Later in the evening, Tobias, DG3LV ,posted the following report:

“Hi Dom !

sorri, I did see your signal in the waterfall, but no decodes.

Later on heard G6AVK in mode QRA64 at JO53GV:

2033 -20 0.7 1201 :* CQ G6AVK JO01 ~England

2035 -14 0.7 1201 :* CQ G6AVK JO01 ~England

2109 -14 0.6 1200 :* CQ G6AVK JO01 ~England

73 de dg3lv Tobias”

Domenico added later,

“Tobias, thank you for watching my signal yesterday evening. Colin G6AVK has reported

also my signal there with thanks. There was also an attempted qso with Riccardo

IW4DXW. Since there are many wspr’s stations on-air in these days that, most

probably, can operate also QRA64 or JT9, i will repeat , this night, the test with QRA64

signal starting at 20.00 UT. QRG is dial 474.2 kHz + 1200 Hz . Hope to have a 2-way qso

using QRA64 on MF (maybe the first-one ?). In case of difficulties i can revert in

JT9. QRA64 is designed for EME QSO, so i don’t think it is directly useable here on

MF/LF. Its bandwidth is big compared to tipical modes in use on MF/LF but… it’s worth

trying. WSJT-X Version in use here is v1.7.0-rc1 r7107. Hope to have wspr-15 in the future

again available on WSJT-X for the use on LF. All the best. Domenico, iz7slz”

OPERA

1/25/17 630M OPERA-8 CONNECTS BC AND TN John, VE7BDQ, reports that he was transmitting OPERA8 beacon on 477kHz dial USB

(478.500 carrier) every 16min until about 1600z. He indicates that he has received reports from

KU4XR in Tennessee.

Andy, KU4XR, commented on his overnight OPERA listening activity with VE7BDQ on

LOWFER:

“WOW !! 630 meters was very good overnight ! Many thanks to John VE7BDQ for

working with OPERA OP-8 overnight. I totaled 16 decodes from his station, with 1 deep

search decode. This is the most receptions I have gotten from John on 630 meters to date. 73

to all, and hope to try this again with possibly more stations on the band.”

1/26/17 630M OPERA-8: CONTINENTAL AND DX!

Neil, W0YSE/7 / WG2XSV, reported that he was testing Opera during this session and

provided these comments:

“Hi John, I was RX only with OP8 this session:Rcvd XPQ several times on OPera8 on 477

kHz, best at -15 dB. Also BDQ “boo coo” times on OP8, best at +2, My OP8 tracks

were seen by KU4XR but no decode. Will try TXing again when I figure this pgm

out….hi”

Andy, KU4XR, was listening for OPERA overnight and submitted the following comments on

600-meter research group:

“Nice to see an increase in activity over the 1/25 – 1/26 overnight period .. The band

was very cooperative, yielding my first OPERA OP-8 TA reception of EA5DOM … The

reception was a Deep Search detection, and has been confirmed by local decodes at

EA5DOM by time frame, along with other stations decoding him, and my Spectrum

Laboratory screen captures showing his signal..

630M SSTV: SLOW SCAN TELEVISION

12/8/15 MFSK16 PICTURES FROM THE W7/VE7 GANG by John Langridge

Toby, VE7CNF, John, VE7BDQ, and Neil, W0YSE/7 / WG2XSV, had some fun with

MFSK16 during the evening. Toby was sending pictures which I did not know was possible with

MFSK16. Neil reports that the group was using FLDigi to send and decode and John, noted that

MFSK16 often does better than traditional SSTV. Even more important is that the mode does

not require a linear amplifier. Details on MFSK in FLDigi can be found here. Here are a few

screen shots of Toby’s transmissions from Neil and John:

VE7CNF MFSK16 color picture mode, as received by VE7BDQ

VE7CNF MFSK16 black and white picture mode, VE7CNF MFSK16 picture mode,

as received by VE7BDQ as received by W0YSE/7 / WG2XSV