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WSPRNET monitoring at the Northern Utah WebSDR |
This WebSDR server is located near Corinne, Utah, at a site
previously used for HF propagation research. It is about 60 miles (94km) north of Salt Lake City and 14 miles (23km)
east of the Golden Spike National Historic site where, in 1869,
the first transcontinental railroad was completed, linking the eastern
and western United States by rail for the first time.
This WebSDR system was put online at this site on 28 February, 2018 with the
help of many local amateurs with the addtion of the KiwiSDR and WSPRNET monitoring added later..
There are TWO antennas used for HF reception on site:
- The "main"
receive antenna at this site is a TCI Model 530 omnidirectional Log
Periodic which is (mostly)
circularly-polarized and optimized for higher-angle incident waves,
having up to 6dBi gain over the 3-30 MHz range and lower gain down to
about 400 kHz. WebSDR servers 1-3 and KiwiSDRs 1-3 are connected
to this antenna.
- The "other" antenna is a U.S. Antenna Products (formerly "Hy-Gain") LP-1002 Log Periodic beam antenna. This antenna is pointed nearly due east (87 degrees, true north reference) and has 10-13dBi gain over the range of 6-40 MHz. WebSDR server #4 and KiwiSDRs 4 and 5 are connected to this antenna.
The monitoring of these bands is facilitated with the use of several
KiwiSDR receivers, stand-alone Linux-based receivers capable of
reception from 0 through 30 MHz. Rather than using the KiwiSDR's built-in WSPR decoder, audio-only connections are made (via the network)
to the on-site KiwiSDRs using the "WSPRDeamon" script, one connection
per monitored frequency range - see the wsprdaemon.org web page for more information about this software. Synchronized to UTC, these
recordings are processed starting at the beginning of each even minute WSPR period by
another machine that is on site using the the K1JT "WSPRD" program and the
results are automatically forwarded to the wsprnet and wsprdaemon. By
having an "audio-only" connection to the KiwiSDR, its limited processor
resources are minimially taxed, off-loading the
computationally-intensive decoding to another, faster machine.
On the 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meter amateur bands, both
the TCI 530 omnidirectional antenna and the LP-1002 beam are used for
WSPRNET monitoring. To prevent duplicate reports, the WSPRDaemon
software will select only the best of the two reports and forward it to the WSPRNET server.
WSPR reports from the Northern Utah WebSDR site currently use the callsign KA7OEI-1.
Go to the "Technical Info" page for more detail about the gear used at this site.
WSPR reception and reporting at the Northern Utah WebSDR:
Because of its location, good antenna and low noise, the facilities at
the Northern Utah WebSDR are used for WSPR reception and reporting to
the wsprnet.org web site. At present, all of the bands listed below are monitored 24 hours a day.
- 2200 Meters - While this band has very good groundwave
propagation out to about 800 miles (1300km)
during the day over land and even better at night. For this
frequency, a separate E-field whip is used as it provides better
performance at this frequency than the main antenna on-site. There
is currently an interference issue from on-site equipment near this
frequency that causes a bit of degradation at times that will be
identified and mitigated in the future.
- 630 Meters - Like 2200 meters, this band has good groundwave propagation so it
is possible to "hear" signals out to 500-700 miles (800-1100km) during the
daytime over land - but much farther at night.
- 160 Meters - During the daytime this band covers a radius of approximately 500 miles (800km) but can offer "DX" during so-called "grayline" period (e.g. near sunrise/sunset at one or both ends of the signal path) and at nighttime.
- 80 Meters (3568.6 kHz) - This is the "new" WSPR frequency for 80 meters. During the daytime this band covers a radias of approximately 500 miles (800km) but like 160 meters, it can offer cross and trans-continental coverage at night and during "grayline" periods.
- 80 Meters (3592.6 kHz) - This is the "old" 80 meter WSPR frequency: Monitoring of this frequency will eventually be discontinued.
- 60 Meters (5287.2 kHz) - This band has coverage similar to that of 40 meters (below) in that it has "local" daytime coverage but can go long distances at night. This frequency is being monitored experimentally and may be discontinued at any time. This frequency is not available for transmit by U.S. Amateurs.
- 60 Meters (5364.7 kHz) - This frequency is also used in some places of the world. This frequency is being monitored experimentally and may be discontinued at any time. This frequency is not available for transmit by U.S. Amateurs.
- 40 Meters - This band
has good propagation at all times of day or night. During the
daytime, it covers from between about 150 miles (250km) to 700 miles (1100km) but often misses close-in stations. At night the band goes "long" for cross and trans-continental coverage.
- 30 Meters - This band has good propagation at all times of day or night, tending toward longer paths at night.
- 20 Meters - This is
predominantly at "daytime" band, but often has good propagation at
night, particularly during medium-high sunspot activity. During
low sunspot activity this band can seem to "close" at night.
- 17 Meters - This is
mostly a daytime band - particularly during times of low sunspot
activity although - although it will occasionally open with surprising
results.
- 15 Meters - This is
mostly a daytime band - particularly during times of low sunspot
activity although it will occasinoally open - often with paths into
South America or Asia.
- 12 Meters - This is
mostly a daytime band - particularly during times of low sunspot
activity, but it may occasionally experience random openings.
- 10 Meters - This band is mostly a "daytime" band, particularly during times
of low sunspot activity, but it can experience "E-Skip" openings at any
time of day or night, particularly from May through July.
Contact information:
If you wish to find out how you can contribute to this project, or if
you have any questions/comments that weren't answered on the "latest news", "FAQ" or "technical info" pages, you may
send an email to Clint, KA7OEI using the callsign at arrl dot net. (Example: If my call was "wh2xyz" the email address would be "wh2xyz@arrl.net".)
If you wish to contact me, please avoid using an email service that has one of those "Please fill in this form to reply" type of SPAM filters. If you really
want me to reply, please have the courtesy to allow me to do so without
having to fill out a form and supply extra personal
information to who knows where, etc. - I wasn't planning to sell your email address, anyway!
Additional information:
- For answers to possible questions, visit the FAQ page (link).
- For more information about the WebSDR project in general -
including information about other WebSDR servers worldwide and
additional technical information - go to http://www.websdr.org
Go to the Northern Utah WebSDR landing page