WSPR (pronounced "whisper") stands for "Weak Signal Propagation Reporter". It is a protocol, implemented in a computer program, used for weak-signal radio communication between amateur radio operators. The protocol was designed, and a program written initially, by Joe Taylor, K1JT. Software is now open source and is developed by a small team. The program is designed for sending and receiving low-power transmissions to test propagation paths on the MF and HF bands.
WSPR implements a protocol designed for probing potential propagation paths with low-power transmissions. Transmissions carry a station's callsign, Maidenhead grid locator, and transmitter power in dBm. The program can decode signals with S/N as low as −28 dB in a 2500 Hz bandwidth. Stations with internet access can automatically upload their reception reports to a central database called WSPRnet, which includes a mapping facility.
We will mainly work on the receiving WSPR transmissions here but the Raspberry Pi can also be used as WSPR beacon.
It seems that the newest kernel includes a DVB driver for the dongle as a TV receiver. We do not require this for our purposed so we will create a config file to blacklist it.
- Update and add the information in
environment.samplefile to/etc/environment. This makes the environment variable accessible to the scripts executed by cron.
CALL="K0DEV"
GAIN="-a 1"
LOCATOR="FM18jv"
WSPR_RECV_PATH="/home/pi/wspr-receiver"
LOGPATH="$WSPR_RECV_PATH/wsprd-log/wsprd"
RTLSDR_WSPRD_PATH="/home/pi/rtlsdr-wsprd"- Add the entries in the
crontab.sampleby executing the commandsudo crontab -e
gantt
title Optimal Transmission Times for Each Band (EST & UTC)
dateFormat HH:mm
axisFormat %H:%M
section Optimal Times (EST)
Optimal Window 160 meters :active, 00:00, 06h
160 meters :opt1, 00:00, 03h
Optimal Window 80 meters :active, 00:00, 06h
80 meters :opt1, 03:00, 03h
Optimal Window 20 meters :active, 09:00, 09h
20 meters :opt1, 16:00, 01h
Transmit :opt1, 09:00, 01h
Transmit :opt2, 17:00, 03h
Optimal Window 60 meters :active, 22:00, 02h
Optimal Window 61 meters :active, 00:00, 06h
60 meters :opt1, 22:00, 02h
Optimal Window 40 meters :active, 20:00, 4h
Optimal Window 40 meters :active, 00:00, 9h
40 meters :opt1, 20:00, 2h
Optimal Window 30 meters :active, 19:00, 5h
Optimal Window 30 meters :active, 00:00, 9h
30 meters :opt1, 06:00, 3h
Optimal Window 15 meters :active, 10:00, 04h
15 meters :opt1, 10:00, 02h
Optimal Window 17 meters :active, 10:00, 06h
17 meters :opt1, 14:00, 01h
Optimal Window 10 meters :active, 10:00, 04h
10 meters :opt1, 12:00, 01h
Optimal Window 2 meters :active, 11:00, 05h
2 meters :opt1, 15:00, 01h
Optimal Window 6 meters :active, 10:00, 05h
6 meters :opt1, 13:00, 01h
section Optimal Times (UTC)
Optimal Window 160 meters :active, 05:00, 06h
160 meters :opt1, 05:00, 03h
Optimal Window 80 meters :active, 05:00, 06h
80 meters :opt1, 08:00, 03h
Optimal Window 20 meters :active, 14:00, 09h
Transmit :opt1, 14:00, 01h
Transmit :opt2, 22:00, 03h
20 meters :opt1, 21:00, 01h
Optimal Window 60 meters :active, 03:00, 02h
Optimal Window 60 meters :active, 05:00, 06h
60 meters :opt1, 03:00, 02h
Optimal Window 40 meters :active, 01:00, 4h
Optimal Window 40 meters :active, 05:00, 9h
40 meters :opt1, 01:00, 2h
Optimal Window 30 meters :active, 00:00, 5h
Optimal Window 30 meters :active, 05:00, 9h
30 meters :opt1, 11:00, 3h
Optimal Window 15 meters :active, 15:00, 04h
15 meters :opt1, 15:00, 02h
Optimal Window 17 meters :active, 15:00, 06h
17 meters :opt1, 19:00, 01h
Optimal Window 10 meters :active, 15:00, 04h
10 meters :opt1, 17:00, 01h
Optimal Window 2 meters :active, 16:00, 05h
2 meters :opt1, 20:00, 01h
Optimal Window 6 meters :active, 15:00, 05h
6 meters :opt1, 18:00, 01h