Topband: Mr. good Ears ! VK2KRR

[Jim Brown]

On Thu,9/10/2015 11:12 AM, Art Snapper wrote:
> 5 Watts - Wow!  What are you using for a TX antenna?

Remember that WSPR and K1JT's JT65 and JT9 have a LOT of noise immunity. 
JT65 can decode down to at least -24dB, JT9 to -26dB, WSPR to -29dB. The 
dB reference is, I think, the noise in the RX bandwidth, which is 
usually about 2.5 kHz. The occupied bandwidth is about 200 Hz for JT65, 
20 Hz for JT9, and 6 Hz for WSPR.

All of these modes use a transceiver configured for USB. Joe Taylor, 
K1JT, recommends that the RX be run full bandwidth, not narrowed down to 
reduce noise. The reason is that IF filters introduce phase shift, which 
degrades decoding.

This is starting to be a good time to work the southern hemisphere. If 
you want to try some JT65 or JT9, download and install the latest 
version of WSJT-X, RTFM, and dive in. The USB dial frequency for JT65 on 
top band is 1838, for JT9 it's 1840.

73, Jim K9YC