Jim,
Participation varies. At the moment there are more active WSPR stations
on 630 meters than on 160! But as we roll into winter there will more
show up. It is important to remember that this is a long term project,
I.E. you need to set up and monitor for hours, days, even weeks to
really get a feel for activity as many only use the system for a few
hours at a time.
You are correct in that a "critical mass" is important but it turns out
that fewer stations than you might expect are needed to obtain useful data.
The most important thing to remember is that you absolutely need a
second station as a partner in order to eliminate propagation effects.
Otherwise you are not comparing two antennas, but just sampling prop.
The other thing to remember is that you need a statistically significant
number of data points which will require a minimum of three days/nights
to a week of sampling.
Larry - W7IUV / WH2XGP
On 01-Sep-14 10:37 AM, Jim Brown wrote:
On Mon,9/1/2014 8:36 AM, Larry wrote:
I have used the WSPR system to watch propagation and evaluate both TX
and RX antenna systems on several bands. On 160 meters, using a "gold
standard" partner station to compare against and averaging data taken
over a week long period, I have been able to resolve differences in
station performance within a fraction of a dB.
That's very encouraging, Larry. I've wanted to do exactly that,
comparing two of my 160M antennas to each other, but didn't think there
was critical mass in the form of others using WSPR on the band. Based on
your results, I'm encouraged to move ahead with it.
73, Jim K9YC
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