06-02-2021, 07:54 PM
I have now finalised the results for the 2020/2021 WSPR Leaderboards.
Well done to everyone who ran their 2m & or 6m WSPR stations over the December January period.
It really is a huge effort by the dedicated people who ran their stations every day or even left them running 24/7 to get the maximum impact on their results. Speaking from experience, it can be a relief to get to the end of January at times as the DX can really be all consuming, especially with the amount of top quality stations we had on air who really know their stuff, it brings out or shows up more DX paths than we were ever used to in the past and keeps us on our toes almost the whole way through the period.
Its also a testament of the workmanship and skill of the stations who ran for two months straight without any failures, or for those who did experience some rough weather and had damage, many quickly popped some other antenna up in the air and got straight back on the air ASAP.
Big congratulations to those who were able to feature in the Two-Way Reports Top 20, or in the distance records for each month or the overall Leaderboards. Within the top 20 Two-Reports, there really is some guys who put in a big effort to get as many two ways as they can.
There has been some comment that the Two-Way reports is not really a good measure with people close to big cities getting an advantage, while that may be somewhat true, but if a Sporadic E opening shows up in the right location, its easy to pull out those stations from a couple thousand km away.
True it would be good if I could get data for Two Way reports in excess of 500 km, that would be ideal, but at this point that data is not readily available. Just have to make do with what we have, and really it works fine.
There was so much action through the two months, where can I begin, here are some thoughts -
Chris N3IZN, life would be a bit shorter without Chris who puts in a huge effort to get signals down under on the 6m WSPR frequency. Thanks heaps Chris.
Ricky VK4LW, wow, took the bull by the horns at the beginning of the month and went with it through January to maintain number 1 spot for for the month for 6m WSPR Two Way reports, it was really interesting to see.
We seemed to be somewhat restricted this summer when it came to double hop on 2m WSPR from ZL1SIX, I think last summer there was a few more. A shame we didn't see the ZL to VK6 path happen on 2m. Guess we'll have to wait till next season now. Im sure it will happen, its just a matter of time and propagation.
Thank you to Bob ZL1RS for running ZL1SIX, I am sure the whole VK community shares in those words. A brilliant beacon with the 4 stacked yagis covering from VK4 to VK7.
Just out of interest, I'd like to see a full list of how many stations heard ZL1SIX over the two month period on 2m WSPR, but, here is a list of VK calls who heard ZL1SIX past 2 weeks - VK3ZYC, VK1SV, VK4UH, VK2DVM, VK2BCC, VK2DLI, VK2IJM, VK2EFM, VK2VHF, VK2KCM, VK2DVZ, VK2MAX, others I can find in January VK3WRE, VK7DC, VK7CMV.
The evening the heavens opened for Sydney to Perth on 2m WSPR, WOW! Thats going to stick in the minds of many probably for ever. Congrats on that magic VK2IJM and VK2DVM, along with VK6KXW. Also VK6CPU and VK5AYD topping that off with a single hop 2m across similar path.
Bight path tropo was really quite poor for the most part I would say, particularly in December. It got better in January.
Alternatively ZL tropo was probably better in December and not the best in January.
Lloyd running VK4TVL from Townsville, boy, without Lloyd, I think nearly half the openings we were able to find on 6m & 2m via Sporadic E would be gone in eastern Australia. Thanks Lloyd.
I did see mentioned elsewhere that more VK4 participation would be really beneficial, yes it would.
Hayden VK7HH running his remote station on the mountain, another wow station. I think in the latter half of December the VK7HH signals were everywhere! There was a lot of really southerly Es at one point on 6m, particularly to ZL but also toward the north. And how about VK7HH on 2m? that VK7HH to VK5's is now a very common occurrence at 1000 km+, quite amazing, also the LONGEST Tropo path for the season to VK6KXW.
Speaking of VK6, Nigel VK6NI, Peter VK6KXW, Nigel VK6CPU where quite dedicated on 2m WSPR. Thank you to Nigel VK6NI down the south coast who runs the 2m WSPR station there full time and its running exceptionally well. In January I see VK6NI with 9 individual Two Way reports, 2 x VK2, 2 x VK3 (actually a low number in all honesty), 1 x VK7, 4 x VK5.
In general, there was quite a lot of active VK6 stations on 6m and a growing amount on 2m which was good to see.
A shout out to Mark VK2EMA near Dubbo NSW who got his first ever 2m signals from VK6 on the 18th Jan. Mark heard 4 signals from VK6NI @ 2792 km and was able to get one back to Nigel to complete a two way. Thats a big achievement on tropo from that location.
Thank you to all the VK8's who ran 2m & 6m WSPR. Many big paths into Darwin on 6m. Maybe 2m next season? Thanks also to the Alice Springs club for running a WSPR station on 6m.
Massive thank you to Phill who runs 3D2TS & FK1TS on 6m mainly and 2m at times. Huge appreciation for your efforts Phill. And for running through cyclones and all types of weather.
E51WL, dont know about this station, but similarly thank you for being there on 6m, maybe on 2m at times too im not sure, one of the other guys may comment on this.
The VK7 contingent was HUGE on both 2m & 6m WSPR! Hayden has been spreading the word to many people I think.
Phil VK5AKK, on tropo, that path with VK6NI is just so easy across the Bight. Phil is on another level (and elevation) when it comes to tropo to the west from VK5. Very interesting to observe.
Really good to see the activity in the SE VK4 area.
Running 6m WSPR during the night appears to be a really good way to predict possible Sporadic E MUF levels which may occur the next day, usually mid to late morning MUF which could reach 2m or the FM broadcast band at least. There was surprising amounts of stations running through the night which gave a good indication of what to expect the next day, it was really good.
Thank you to the few stations in Japan who came onto 6m WSPR and got some signals through to VK.
I hope that everyone monitoring the WSPR activity was able to learn something new about the propagation, or maybe something they didnt expect to see.
Leo VK2WTF thanks for providing us a station from outback NSW at Broken Hill.
Alan VK3DXE, John VK2IJM, David VK2DVM, almost forgot, but super effort on both 2m & 6m WSPR two-way reports! Its pretty tough at the top! And on 2m also good to see 3YCQ, 7DC and 3ZTE pushing up there. Some big Two-Way number by all you guys, impressive.
I can only comment on what I see, but Jim VK3II, very consistent here on 6m WSPR over the whole period and it shows with his top spot on the 6m TX distance into Japan, and also very good RX with N3IZN.
OH New Zealand stations in general on both 2m & 6m.. thank you!
Everyone contributes in some way, as Ive often said, the more stations running, the more interesting its becomes, and this summer was no doubt the best yet. Thanks all, your efforts are appreciated.
Please see the other posts for the Leaderboard data.
I'd welcome comments and observations from others who ran 2m or 6m WSPR over the December and January period. People from other states and areas etc, would be great.
Feel free to respond below.
Well done to everyone who ran their 2m & or 6m WSPR stations over the December January period.
It really is a huge effort by the dedicated people who ran their stations every day or even left them running 24/7 to get the maximum impact on their results. Speaking from experience, it can be a relief to get to the end of January at times as the DX can really be all consuming, especially with the amount of top quality stations we had on air who really know their stuff, it brings out or shows up more DX paths than we were ever used to in the past and keeps us on our toes almost the whole way through the period.
Its also a testament of the workmanship and skill of the stations who ran for two months straight without any failures, or for those who did experience some rough weather and had damage, many quickly popped some other antenna up in the air and got straight back on the air ASAP.
Big congratulations to those who were able to feature in the Two-Way Reports Top 20, or in the distance records for each month or the overall Leaderboards. Within the top 20 Two-Reports, there really is some guys who put in a big effort to get as many two ways as they can.
There has been some comment that the Two-Way reports is not really a good measure with people close to big cities getting an advantage, while that may be somewhat true, but if a Sporadic E opening shows up in the right location, its easy to pull out those stations from a couple thousand km away.
True it would be good if I could get data for Two Way reports in excess of 500 km, that would be ideal, but at this point that data is not readily available. Just have to make do with what we have, and really it works fine.
There was so much action through the two months, where can I begin, here are some thoughts -
Chris N3IZN, life would be a bit shorter without Chris who puts in a huge effort to get signals down under on the 6m WSPR frequency. Thanks heaps Chris.
Ricky VK4LW, wow, took the bull by the horns at the beginning of the month and went with it through January to maintain number 1 spot for for the month for 6m WSPR Two Way reports, it was really interesting to see.
We seemed to be somewhat restricted this summer when it came to double hop on 2m WSPR from ZL1SIX, I think last summer there was a few more. A shame we didn't see the ZL to VK6 path happen on 2m. Guess we'll have to wait till next season now. Im sure it will happen, its just a matter of time and propagation.
Thank you to Bob ZL1RS for running ZL1SIX, I am sure the whole VK community shares in those words. A brilliant beacon with the 4 stacked yagis covering from VK4 to VK7.
Just out of interest, I'd like to see a full list of how many stations heard ZL1SIX over the two month period on 2m WSPR, but, here is a list of VK calls who heard ZL1SIX past 2 weeks - VK3ZYC, VK1SV, VK4UH, VK2DVM, VK2BCC, VK2DLI, VK2IJM, VK2EFM, VK2VHF, VK2KCM, VK2DVZ, VK2MAX, others I can find in January VK3WRE, VK7DC, VK7CMV.
The evening the heavens opened for Sydney to Perth on 2m WSPR, WOW! Thats going to stick in the minds of many probably for ever. Congrats on that magic VK2IJM and VK2DVM, along with VK6KXW. Also VK6CPU and VK5AYD topping that off with a single hop 2m across similar path.
Bight path tropo was really quite poor for the most part I would say, particularly in December. It got better in January.
Alternatively ZL tropo was probably better in December and not the best in January.
Lloyd running VK4TVL from Townsville, boy, without Lloyd, I think nearly half the openings we were able to find on 6m & 2m via Sporadic E would be gone in eastern Australia. Thanks Lloyd.
I did see mentioned elsewhere that more VK4 participation would be really beneficial, yes it would.
Hayden VK7HH running his remote station on the mountain, another wow station. I think in the latter half of December the VK7HH signals were everywhere! There was a lot of really southerly Es at one point on 6m, particularly to ZL but also toward the north. And how about VK7HH on 2m? that VK7HH to VK5's is now a very common occurrence at 1000 km+, quite amazing, also the LONGEST Tropo path for the season to VK6KXW.
Speaking of VK6, Nigel VK6NI, Peter VK6KXW, Nigel VK6CPU where quite dedicated on 2m WSPR. Thank you to Nigel VK6NI down the south coast who runs the 2m WSPR station there full time and its running exceptionally well. In January I see VK6NI with 9 individual Two Way reports, 2 x VK2, 2 x VK3 (actually a low number in all honesty), 1 x VK7, 4 x VK5.
In general, there was quite a lot of active VK6 stations on 6m and a growing amount on 2m which was good to see.
A shout out to Mark VK2EMA near Dubbo NSW who got his first ever 2m signals from VK6 on the 18th Jan. Mark heard 4 signals from VK6NI @ 2792 km and was able to get one back to Nigel to complete a two way. Thats a big achievement on tropo from that location.
Thank you to all the VK8's who ran 2m & 6m WSPR. Many big paths into Darwin on 6m. Maybe 2m next season? Thanks also to the Alice Springs club for running a WSPR station on 6m.
Massive thank you to Phill who runs 3D2TS & FK1TS on 6m mainly and 2m at times. Huge appreciation for your efforts Phill. And for running through cyclones and all types of weather.
E51WL, dont know about this station, but similarly thank you for being there on 6m, maybe on 2m at times too im not sure, one of the other guys may comment on this.
The VK7 contingent was HUGE on both 2m & 6m WSPR! Hayden has been spreading the word to many people I think.
Phil VK5AKK, on tropo, that path with VK6NI is just so easy across the Bight. Phil is on another level (and elevation) when it comes to tropo to the west from VK5. Very interesting to observe.
Really good to see the activity in the SE VK4 area.
Running 6m WSPR during the night appears to be a really good way to predict possible Sporadic E MUF levels which may occur the next day, usually mid to late morning MUF which could reach 2m or the FM broadcast band at least. There was surprising amounts of stations running through the night which gave a good indication of what to expect the next day, it was really good.
Thank you to the few stations in Japan who came onto 6m WSPR and got some signals through to VK.
I hope that everyone monitoring the WSPR activity was able to learn something new about the propagation, or maybe something they didnt expect to see.
Leo VK2WTF thanks for providing us a station from outback NSW at Broken Hill.
Alan VK3DXE, John VK2IJM, David VK2DVM, almost forgot, but super effort on both 2m & 6m WSPR two-way reports! Its pretty tough at the top! And on 2m also good to see 3YCQ, 7DC and 3ZTE pushing up there. Some big Two-Way number by all you guys, impressive.
I can only comment on what I see, but Jim VK3II, very consistent here on 6m WSPR over the whole period and it shows with his top spot on the 6m TX distance into Japan, and also very good RX with N3IZN.
OH New Zealand stations in general on both 2m & 6m.. thank you!
Everyone contributes in some way, as Ive often said, the more stations running, the more interesting its becomes, and this summer was no doubt the best yet. Thanks all, your efforts are appreciated.
Please see the other posts for the Leaderboard data.
I'd welcome comments and observations from others who ran 2m or 6m WSPR over the December and January period. People from other states and areas etc, would be great.
Feel free to respond below.