160m Opera

Just when I thought I wouldn't accomplish anything interesting this week because of work commitments an interesting bit of DX popped out of the bag.

Opera, which looks like a slightly clunkier version of WSPR, sits on my desktop. If tempted to turn it on I seem to end up on 14.065 because that's where everyone else is. So, this time I didn't - 1.836 MHz, 10 watts, and off down the garden for a cup of tea.

I pop back a bit later and there's a 2-way (heard and hearing, which Opera decorates with the label "QSO") with RX3DHR, in KO94ks. That's 2700 km, approximately, which beats my previous DX of just under 2000 km. Bear in mind all my QSOs are low power, if not strictly QRP.

Opera is worth a try if you like this sort of digital mode. It's all a bit low-tech in comparison with WSPR. The WSPR algorithm looks state-of-the-art. Opera's is a twist on QRSS CW so, as I write, the rig is being keyed by the soundcard sending an Opera beacon. Allegedly, the performance is beter than WSPR. I have yet to corroborate that - The consensus of opinion seems to be that it's about the same, but since far fewer souls spend their lives in Opera, WSPR gets far more DX because there are more people playing.

Could do with a few more on some bands though. 2m WSPR beaconing seems to be an inefficient way of warming the shack up...

The mysteries of propagation

G4VXE and I had another little play on 2m JT65. Same QRG (144.165.000 if you're interested in joining us), same kit, same antenna, just 24 hours different.

Completely different ballgame. We had to go up to 20W, and only just completed.

It confirms what we all know, of course: that when bands are open, you need no power. When they're shut, you need lots of power and it's still difficult- these two occasions were more than 22dB different! You can't make that up with a linear. Even a linear AND a beam. The interesting thing is what's different about the two times. I don't think last night's "opening" was forecast by anyone or anything, and the band wasn't crowded with DX chasers.

We followed this up with a short burst of JT9-2. Clearly, JT9-2 wasn't designed for a closed VHF band, but there seemed little point in trying JT9-1, with essentially the same "floor" as JT65. Anyway, it was a spectacular failure, despite being able to see the other trace on screen and, in G4VXE's case, measure it as -22 - well useable.

We put the failure down to version incompatibility - I was on v0.3, he was on 0.2