472 kHz reception on WSPR

Having played around with the Wellbrook loop on 7 MHz the other evening I decided to try some 472 kHz reception on WSPR. I had never tried 472 kHz before, as the combination of local noise and poor antenna has always put me off.

The Elad FDM-DUO seems quite sensitive down to 100 kHz (the specifications says 10 Khz), and coupled with the Welbrook this seems to work really well. The signal to noise ratio of received stations has improved dramatically, and the screen was soon populated with stations all over Europe.

The Elad also has 2 antenna sockets on the rear, one is configured as RX only, and the other TX/RX. Although I didnt transmit this type of set-up works well if you intend to use a separate receive antenna.

Radio user completed a review of the Wellbrook antenna, and you can read that on-line.

The Elad is a QRP radio that works on all HF bands from 1.9 MHz to 50 MHz with power selectable from 0.3w to 5w. RADCOM did publish a review in March 2015, available for members to read. Its a SDR that can be run standalone, and works like a normal radio with a front panel and VFO or connected to a computer.

Dial freq for WSPR is 474.2 USB. Using software available free from Joe Taylor K1JT.

Here is a screen shot showing stations received.

472_rx_wspr

After 24 Hrs I had received the following stations. This data can be represented on a map

472_24hr_v4

Some graphed data, signal v time for PA3ABL/2

pa3abk

 

Graphed data DK7FC signal v time.

dk7fc

 

 

 

 

73 Dave M0TAZ

2 Comments

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  1. I remember you laughing and John M0UKD and I, when we were transmitting on 472 kHz some years back. Looks like you’ve caught the bug now!

    1. Not laughing, just amazed anyone could hear you 🙂 Never considered it before as RX was so full of plasma TV and SMPS, but the loop seems to improve the s/n

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