The Problem of Two WSPR Frequencies on 80m

Considering that there is pretty much no chance of any 28 MHz propagation at night, I decided to set the radio on the 80m WSPR frequency for the last two nights.

On the evening of Tuesday 26th March 2019, I set the radio to 3.59260 MHz which is the frequency that I had written down in my own notes and the one I had used in the past. It seemed to work fine and I heard plenty of stations that evening and the following morning on 80m.

On the evening of Wednesday the 27th of March, I went to tune the radio to 80m again but this time, I noticed that the frequency on the WSJT-X programme was different, it was 3.56860 MHz.

I used the new frequency and this is what I heard overnight on 80m on the night of the 27th - 28th of March 2019...

Signals heard on 80m WSPR - night of 27th to 28th March 2019

Closer view of European stations

So it would seem that there are two WSPR frequencies on 80m and both are in use.

After doing a bit of research, it looks as if there was some issue with stations in Japan being able to use the old frequency of 3.59260 MHz. As a result, it was decided to change to a new frequency of 3.56860 MHz.

The problem is that not everyone has changed and the net result for the moment is that WSPR users on 80m are split over two frequencies which is a bit of a mess.

I would guess that over time, the new frequency of 3.56860 MHz will gradually replace the old one but it might take a while.

Addendum :
Which is most used? ...Old or New Frequency?

As an experiment, I listened to the two WSPR frequencies on Wednesday the 27th of March from 20:00 to 22:UTC to see which one had the most activity.

This was well after sunset and to get a fairer idea of activity, I listened to the new frequency for 30 minutes at 20:00 and 21:00. I listened to the old frequency for about 30 mins from 20:30 and 21:30.

The result was that I heard 113 WSPR transmissions on the new frequency and 99 on the old one. I'm sure if I listened again on another evening then I may get a sightly different result. That works out at 53% to 47%.

It's probably fair to say that the WSPR activity on 80m is pretty much split pretty evenly between the old and new frequencies at the moment.

UKEICC 80m SSB Contest...Wed 1st March 2017

The UKEICC run short one hour contests on 80m which are ideal as they don't take up much time.

Back at the start of February, I was on for one of the SSB legs and I managed to work 8 stations with my 5 watts into an 80m dipole. At the time, I wasn't set up properly to log stations and submit an entry within the space of an hour. In hindsight, this was a pity as there is a multiplication factor of 4 for anyone working a QRP station on 5 watts or less.

The next SSB leg was on the 1st of March 2017 and I worked 18 stations this time around, again with 5 watts. Even though I started 10 minutes late, conditions seemed much better than last time and the map below shows the locators worked...

I tried calling CQ a few times but it's hard to have much of a presence on the band with 5 watts. Instead, all of the stations I worked were as a result of calling them.

The two furthest stations that I worked were PE4BAS in JO33 and SM5CSS in JO89. I was also their best DX and the multiplication factor of 4 for them for working a QRP station would have given them a good few extra points. As can be seen below, they finished 2nd and 3rd out of 44 entries in the Low Power (100w or less) Unconnected section.

Low Power - Unconnected

  Call Pwr Grid Raw Dupe Bust NIL Good Total -- Best DX --
  QSOs QSOs Pts Call Km
1 SO7BIT L JO91 47 0 2 0 45 209 EI5KF 1915
2 SM5CSS L JO89 36 0 0 0 36 202 EI7GL 1853
3 PE4BAS L JO33 61 2 0 0 59 187 EI7GL 1107

I heard several strong French stations but none calling CQ. I got an 'EI7??' back from DL8UD in JO43 but I was just too weak to complete a QSO. Strangely enough, I don't remember hearing any GM stations from Scotland...so maybe it was just chance?

All in all, it was really interesting to see just how far 5 watts can go.

Results on UKEICC website.