Sunday, August 13, 2017

MSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter)


There is always something new to try in Ham Radio one being MSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter). Actually MSPR is not new I dabbled with it about five years ago not pursuing at any great length, other things were on my mind. My new interest came about after seeing a very small low power transmitter advertised. It transmits on 20 and 30 meters out of the box. Others bands can be added by adding a filter that comes in kit form. The wheels turned and the 30 meter vertical antenna that was not being used could work very well with this unit. It was ordered and in a very short time delivered. It does not come with a few adapters but luckily I had them in my junk box. It was assembled and connected to the antenna then powered on. It requires only 5 volts coming from a charger for a cell phone or a battery through a USB cable. The RF output is only 200Mw or less. This is 2 tenths of one watt. This is extremely low power. A computer, tablet, or smart phone enables you to see who is receiving the signal. The first time I brought up the web page I was totally amazed. My 200Mw signal on 30 meters was being received by other Hams hundreds of miles away. Later that night when conditions were better the signal made it all the way to New Zealand, some 8,218 miles away, this was almost unbelievable to me. keeping an eye on the distance being covered it has been received even further to Australia and many countries in Europe. By hooking it to various antennas you can judge the efficiency and directivity also the best times of day or night to use your other transmit modes such as SSB. All and all a not only fun gadget but a very useful one.
See a Youtube video about MSPR
https://youtu.be/HvHFV244Wxg

Click to enlarge