#wspr

@vnikolov@ieji.de @dougmerritt@mathstodon.xyz @mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org @AmenZwa@mathstodon.xyz @kabel42@polymaths.social @raven667@hachyderm.io @tut@fosstodon.org @sjmulder@bsd.network I'll add that watching various types of digital and quasi-digital transmissions on the "waterfall" (x=freq, y=time, color=amplitude) display of a cheap $30 software-defined radio dongle is hella fun. XD I really need to get off my bum and set mine up again. The last time I had it running, I was able to hear #WSPR beacons from Japan on the dinky little "rabbit ears" antenna that came with the dongle. :D

@rl_dane@polymaths.social wrote: «I was able to hear #WSPR beacons from Japan on the dinky little "rabbit ears" antenna that came with the dongle.» Nice. A comparable feat is listening in on the US Coast Guard (East Coast) from Bulgaria. The distance is smaller than to Japan, but a public broadcaster would transmit at higher power (I presume WSPR is one). Perhaps your achievement is greater, because of the antenna. @dougmerritt@mathstodon.xyz @mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org @AmenZwa@mathstodon.xyz @kabel42@polymaths.social @raven667@hachyderm.io @tut@fosstodon.org @sjmulder@bsd.network

@vnikolov@ieji.de @dougmerritt@mathstodon.xyz @mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org @AmenZwa@mathstodon.xyz @kabel42@polymaths.social @raven667@hachyderm.io @tut@fosstodon.org @sjmulder@bsd.network #WSPR beacons are usually private, and not terribly high-powered, but the WSPR protocol itself is immensely fault-tolerant. I can't remember the specifics, but the "packet" time is something like five minutes long. Also (according to Wikipedia), it's 1.5 baud. XD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_(amateur_radio_software)

@kabel42@polymaths.social @vnikolov@ieji.de @dougmerritt@mathstodon.xyz @mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org @AmenZwa@mathstodon.xyz @raven667@hachyderm.io @tut@fosstodon.org @sjmulder@bsd.network Looked it up, the transmission time is two minutes long. :D https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/WSPR Yeah, the guys that come up with stuff like #WSPR and #FT8 are scary smart. XD Also, IIRC, it's written in #FORTRAN?!? XD XD XD