WSPR

Prompted by Julian G4ILO's musings about the possibility of volcanic ash being responsible for propagation he observed a few days back, I've been looking deeper into WSPR, the application that produced the data that inspired the notion.

First stop was the main WSJT site where Princeton physicist Joe Taylor K1JT outlines the application along with other weak signal communications applications. The WSPR page points to the 20pp. User's Guide (pdf).

There's also some information at the WSPRnet site - especially the stunning map and the detailed database of recent spots.

Full circle  - when I searched for a general introduction to the software and the mode it's based on - sure enough I end up back with Julian, G4ILO. He's published a very readable and comprehensive article which quite rightly comes up #4 on a WSPR google search. He describes how easy it is to become part of a global beacon network and contribute to the generation of up-to-the-minute propagation reports.

Right now, I'd really like to know how to interpret the colour and thickness of the lines tracing the transmission paths on the map.