7 ms·

Ham Radio 101: What is WSPR?

peter_d_sherman 2y ago
>"WSPR transmits and receives but does not support normal types of on-the-air conversation. It sends and receives specially coded, beacon-like transmissions which establish whether particular propagation paths are open. Transmissions convey a callsign, station location, and power level using a compressed data format with strong forward error correction (FEC) and narrow-band, four-tone frequency-shift-keying (FSK)." [...] >"If you’ve wondered if a [ham radio, more broadly rf] band is open, WSPR can tell you." WSPR sounds somewhat analogous to 'ping' or perhaps 'traceroute' -- but for HAM radio (or more broadly, radio, rf) signal propagation paths... Related: https://vkradioamateurs.org/introduction-to-wspr/ https://vkradioamateurs.org/introduction-to-wspr/ >"The program can decode [weak] signals with S/N as low as −34 dB in a 2500 Hz bandwidth." https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/WSPR https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/WSPR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_(amateur_radio_software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_(amateur_radio_software) >"Stations with internet access can automatically upload their reception reports to a central database called WSPRnet, which includes a mapping facility.": https://www.wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map https://www.wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map
- bityard 2y ago
  The cool thing about WSPR is the weak signal aspect. I don't understand the math, but a receiver and the program to decode it can dig a signal out below the noise floor. If the band is open, you can literally transmit into a light bulb and have your signal picked up by dozens of receivers across the country. It's wild. And fun.
IgorPartola 2y ago
I am really curious what the future of Ham radio looks like. I have several times in my life tried to explore this hobby but mostly was turned off from it by the fact that it didn’t seem to offer much compared to what I could do on the internet aside from using public spectrum. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is cool and I see the use case for emergency response situations. But the idea of the community just never struck the cord with me how other communities have (mostly old white dudes, it seems). Am I wrong? Is there a place for hams in the world where you can more quickly and reliably reach anyone from anywhere across the internet?
- simonw 2y ago
  I have a Ham license precisely because of the emergency response side of things: I live on the California coast where we get storms that can cut off electricity and power (at which point mobile internet inevitably stops working too, either because of no power to the cell towers or because it gets overloaded with everyone who would usually be on their home WiFi)... and we also live under the threat of big earthquakes. So my wife and I got Ham licenses and joined our local ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group. (We also have a Starlink dish and a big battery.)
- aiforecastthway 2y ago
  The emergency response use-case feels SUPER contrived to me. I am not aware of any SAR teams in our area using HAM radios, and the only group I know of that does is... so old that they'd mostly be asking for help or needing to relay messages to people who (a) are physically fit enough to help but who also (b) don't listen on Ham spectrum. I think from a technical perspective the emergency use case has faded a lot since the early 90s. Since then, two things have happened that make use of Ham in emergency communications more of an "excuse to use a cool toy" than an actual necessary component of a solution. First, FRS / Part 95B. Second, and maybe primarily, satellite communications have come a long way. And even on the extreme off-chance that transmitting on Ham spectrum or using FRS outside of Part 95B is necessary... well... in an emergency situation... just fuckin' do it? So Ham exists for fun and for education. But even there, it seems to be losing relevance. I think, at some point, the spectrum reserved for Ham should be bifurcated and a portion of it should allow for (non-commercial) encrypted packet radio. I think doing so would make Ham relevant again and significantly advance the "hobby/education/science/international goodwill" goals.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - bityard 2y ago
    I'm not an emcomm whacker but I think that take is too dismissive. Ham radio was a much more viable for emergency communications before cell phones, Internet, and FRS/GMRS/MURS. But we still get news stories about hams who provide vital communications every time there's a major tornado outbreak or hurricane. E.g. https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-helene-milton-north-carolina-florida-amateur-radio/ https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-helene-milton-north-ca... Perhaps when all cell phones can reliably and routinely communicate with satellites, emcomm on ham radio won't have much purpose. But we're not there just yet. > a portion of it should allow for (non-commercial) encrypted packet radio If the message is encrypted, how can anyone tell whether it is commercial or not?
ipunchghosts 2y ago
We don't have cell service in areas I mountain bike so I carry a ham/gmrs radio and leave one with my wife. Helpful if I get a flat in the woods and need her to come pick me up.
ipunchghosts 2y ago
Ham feels a little like the internet did in the 90s.
fortran77 2y ago
I have two WSPR beacons running, one in Sunnyvale CA and the other in Binyamina-Giv'at Ada, Israel. Both are running 200 mw into EFHW antennas just 6 meters off the ground. I can routinly pick up the signals between the two sites. I get signal reports everwhere from a US military base at the South Pole, Australia, and throughout Europe and Asia. The transmitters are homemade, a Rapsperry Pi Pico, and a small external circuit of a Si5355, a couple of MOSFETS and a lowpass filter -- maybe $30 in parts. It's fascinating how the amount of electrons needed to light up a few LEDs can be heard around the world when modulated correctly.
- colelyman 2y ago
  Did you follow plans for your homemade transmitters? Or if not, have you written it up? I would definitely be interested in making some.
  - fortran77 2y ago
    I based it off something similar to this https://blog.marxy.org/2018/12/minimal-wspr-transmit-with-arduino-and.html https://blog.marxy.org/2018/12/minimal-wspr-transmit-with-ar... and moved it to Pico from arduino
RiOuseR 2y ago
As someone that just passed their general class this week, this post is very timely.
- amatecha 2y ago
  nice, congrats!
scojjac 2y ago
A friend and I were recently talking about working toward our General licenses! He put me on https://hamstudy.org https://hamstudy.org and I already have a Baofeng UV-5R. I've used it to access some weather radio here in North Carolina. I'm not sure about the community aspect, either, but I definitely can see the disaster preparedness value, especially after Helene's devastation.
- kweks 2y ago
  Newly minted HAM here. HamStudy is excellent, but / and works very, very well with these "No Nonsense" guides: https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ They are excellent - they're built around the exam questions, but structured in a way that you understand the mechanics behind everything. I'd attempted my license before, but never managed. After finding HamStudy + those guides, got my technician, general and extra class within 3 weeks. 73!
  - amatecha 2y ago
    sweet, congrats! checked in on any local 2m nets yet? hehe :)
relistan 2y ago
I’m licensed in both the United States and Ireland. As a software engineer and electronics hobbyist, I find so many interesting things in ham radio circles. And if you’ve never experimented with RF stuff, you are missing out on a lot of fun. WSPR is one of many experimental modes worth trying. Home built and simple software defined radios like the ATmega-based https://dl2man.de/ https://dl2man.de/ (tr)uSDX put HF radio bands in your pocket for under $75. I’ve used digital modes on that radio to reach people on their computers 3000 miles away on 5 watts. Give it a try and I think you’ll find it’s a lot of fun.
- slow_typist 2y ago
  +1 DL2MAN rocks.
- contingencies 2y ago
  If you like (tr)uSDX I'm working on a somewhat similar transceiver at the moment https://github.com/vk2diy/adxi https://github.com/vk2diy/adxi as a means to familiarise myself with radio. Key differences: one cable instead of four, no screen/buttons/blinkenlights, designed for a metal 'tiffin' enclosure, USB-C power only, built-in USB hub and USB audio chipset, modular frequency-specific late-stage boards, fully open design and design documentation including KiCad sources, components, calculations, etc.
  - relistan 2y ago
    Looks cool!
hag 2y ago
I recently bought an RTL-SDR. I've had so much fun with it so far and learned so much, which was my goal. I designed my own antenna in Fusion 360 and built it. I'm currently developing my own SDR application with a custom spectrum display etc. So far I can demodulate AM/FM/SSB and I'm trying to get into decoding digital modes as well. There is so much to learn and enjoy even without transmitting. I like to listen in on air traffic control and download weather satellite images.
user070223 2y ago
I remember reading about some guy claims using past wspr database ?timing? anomalies to find mh370 flight path (i.e a plane crossing line of communication causes measurable disturbance) though people have debunked it
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

>"WSPR transmits and receives but does not support normal types of on-the-air conversation. It sends and receives specially coded, beacon-like transmissions which establish whether particular propagation paths are open. Transmissions convey a callsign, station location, and power level using a compressed data format with strong forward error correction (FEC) and narrow-band, four-tone frequency-shift-keying (FSK)." [...] >"If you’ve wondered if a [ham radio, more broadly rf] band is open, WSPR can tell you." WSPR sounds somewhat analogous to 'ping' or perhaps 'traceroute' -- but for HAM radio (or more broadly, radio, rf) signal propagation paths... Related: https://vkradioamateurs.org/introduction-to-wspr/ https://vkradioamateurs.org/introduction-to-wspr/ >"The program can decode [weak] signals with S/N as low as −34 dB in a 2500 Hz bandwidth." https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/WSPR https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/WSPR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_(amateur_radio_software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_(amateur_radio_software) >"Stations with internet access can automatically upload their reception reports to a central database called WSPRnet, which includes a mapping facility.": https://www.wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map https://www.wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map

bityard 2y ago
The cool thing about WSPR is the weak signal aspect. I don't understand the math, but a receiver and the program to decode it can dig a signal out below the noise floor. If the band is open, you can literally transmit into a light bulb and have your signal picked up by dozens of receivers across the country. It's wild. And fun.

IgorPartola 2y ago

I am really curious what the future of Ham radio looks like. I have several times in my life tried to explore this hobby but mostly was turned off from it by the fact that it didn’t seem to offer much compared to what I could do on the internet aside from using public spectrum. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is cool and I see the use case for emergency response situations. But the idea of the community just never struck the cord with me how other communities have (mostly old white dudes, it seems). Am I wrong? Is there a place for hams in the world where you can more quickly and reliably reach anyone from anywhere across the internet?

simonw 2y ago
I have a Ham license precisely because of the emergency response side of things: I live on the California coast where we get storms that can cut off electricity and power (at which point mobile internet inevitably stops working too, either because of no power to the cell towers or because it gets overloaded with everyone who would usually be on their home WiFi)... and we also live under the threat of big earthquakes. So my wife and I got Ham licenses and joined our local ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group. (We also have a Starlink dish and a big battery.)
aiforecastthway 2y ago
The emergency response use-case feels SUPER contrived to me. I am not aware of any SAR teams in our area using HAM radios, and the only group I know of that does is... so old that they'd mostly be asking for help or needing to relay messages to people who (a) are physically fit enough to help but who also (b) don't listen on Ham spectrum. I think from a technical perspective the emergency use case has faded a lot since the early 90s. Since then, two things have happened that make use of Ham in emergency communications more of an "excuse to use a cool toy" than an actual necessary component of a solution. First, FRS / Part 95B. Second, and maybe primarily, satellite communications have come a long way. And even on the extreme off-chance that transmitting on Ham spectrum or using FRS outside of Part 95B is necessary... well... in an emergency situation... just fuckin' do it? So Ham exists for fun and for education. But even there, it seems to be losing relevance. I think, at some point, the spectrum reserved for Ham should be bifurcated and a portion of it should allow for (non-commercial) encrypted packet radio. I think doing so would make Ham relevant again and significantly advance the "hobby/education/science/international goodwill" goals.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- bityard 2y ago
  I'm not an emcomm whacker but I think that take is too dismissive. Ham radio was a much more viable for emergency communications before cell phones, Internet, and FRS/GMRS/MURS. But we still get news stories about hams who provide vital communications every time there's a major tornado outbreak or hurricane. E.g. https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-helene-milton-north-carolina-florida-amateur-radio/ https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-helene-milton-north-ca... Perhaps when all cell phones can reliably and routinely communicate with satellites, emcomm on ham radio won't have much purpose. But we're not there just yet. > a portion of it should allow for (non-commercial) encrypted packet radio If the message is encrypted, how can anyone tell whether it is commercial or not?

ipunchghosts 2y ago

We don't have cell service in areas I mountain bike so I carry a ham/gmrs radio and leave one with my wife. Helpful if I get a flat in the woods and need her to come pick me up.

ipunchghosts 2y ago

Ham feels a little like the internet did in the 90s.

fortran77 2y ago

I have two WSPR beacons running, one in Sunnyvale CA and the other in Binyamina-Giv'at Ada, Israel. Both are running 200 mw into EFHW antennas just 6 meters off the ground. I can routinly pick up the signals between the two sites. I get signal reports everwhere from a US military base at the South Pole, Australia, and throughout Europe and Asia. The transmitters are homemade, a Rapsperry Pi Pico, and a small external circuit of a Si5355, a couple of MOSFETS and a lowpass filter -- maybe $30 in parts. It's fascinating how the amount of electrons needed to light up a few LEDs can be heard around the world when modulated correctly.

colelyman 2y ago
Did you follow plans for your homemade transmitters? Or if not, have you written it up? I would definitely be interested in making some.
- fortran77 2y ago
  I based it off something similar to this https://blog.marxy.org/2018/12/minimal-wspr-transmit-with-arduino-and.html https://blog.marxy.org/2018/12/minimal-wspr-transmit-with-ar... and moved it to Pico from arduino

RiOuseR 2y ago

As someone that just passed their general class this week, this post is very timely.

amatecha 2y ago
nice, congrats!

scojjac 2y ago

A friend and I were recently talking about working toward our General licenses! He put me on https://hamstudy.org https://hamstudy.org and I already have a Baofeng UV-5R. I've used it to access some weather radio here in North Carolina. I'm not sure about the community aspect, either, but I definitely can see the disaster preparedness value, especially after Helene's devastation.

kweks 2y ago
Newly minted HAM here. HamStudy is excellent, but / and works very, very well with these "No Nonsense" guides: https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ They are excellent - they're built around the exam questions, but structured in a way that you understand the mechanics behind everything. I'd attempted my license before, but never managed. After finding HamStudy + those guides, got my technician, general and extra class within 3 weeks. 73!
- amatecha 2y ago
  sweet, congrats! checked in on any local 2m nets yet? hehe :)

relistan 2y ago

I’m licensed in both the United States and Ireland. As a software engineer and electronics hobbyist, I find so many interesting things in ham radio circles. And if you’ve never experimented with RF stuff, you are missing out on a lot of fun. WSPR is one of many experimental modes worth trying. Home built and simple software defined radios like the ATmega-based https://dl2man.de/ https://dl2man.de/ (tr)uSDX put HF radio bands in your pocket for under $75. I’ve used digital modes on that radio to reach people on their computers 3000 miles away on 5 watts. Give it a try and I think you’ll find it’s a lot of fun.

slow_typist 2y ago
+1 DL2MAN rocks.
contingencies 2y ago
If you like (tr)uSDX I'm working on a somewhat similar transceiver at the moment https://github.com/vk2diy/adxi https://github.com/vk2diy/adxi as a means to familiarise myself with radio. Key differences: one cable instead of four, no screen/buttons/blinkenlights, designed for a metal 'tiffin' enclosure, USB-C power only, built-in USB hub and USB audio chipset, modular frequency-specific late-stage boards, fully open design and design documentation including KiCad sources, components, calculations, etc.
- relistan 2y ago
  Looks cool!

hag 2y ago

I recently bought an RTL-SDR. I've had so much fun with it so far and learned so much, which was my goal. I designed my own antenna in Fusion 360 and built it. I'm currently developing my own SDR application with a custom spectrum display etc. So far I can demodulate AM/FM/SSB and I'm trying to get into decoding digital modes as well. There is so much to learn and enjoy even without transmitting. I like to listen in on air traffic control and download weather satellite images.

user070223 2y ago

I remember reading about some guy claims using past wspr database ?timing? anomalies to find mh370 flight path (i.e a plane crossing line of communication causes measurable disturbance) though people have debunked it

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]