Monday, April 20, 2009

Minimalist WSPR by Bill of SolderSmoke

I was very excited to read Bill, N2CQR's recent post about how he was able to get spotted on the WSPR network using a very simple transmitter (double side band) comprising an oscillator, a mixer and some audio from a PC sound card. (Based on one from W3PM).

Recently I played around with WSPR on 80m although there isn't nearly as much activity as there is on 30m.

wspr.png


The Google Map looks more gorgeous every time I look at it.

I really think we need to break the shackles of the requirement of accurate timing of transmissions for WSPR or find another mode that can be transmitted with minimal hardware. With WSPR, the smarts are in the reception, and the shared "spot" reporting makes this a fantastic tool for figuring out propagation.

Would it be possible to slow down PSK31 and make, say, PSK3 for the equivalent of QRSS3?

Keep up the great podcast Bill and your contribution to the art is a real bonus too.

1 comment:

Bill Meara said...

Thanks Peter! The timing thing is not really a problem. I tweak my clock every day or so... 73 from Rome