Upcoming MSQP (August 11-12) - Practice Opportunity (this week!)

[Gary Mikitin, AF8A]

Hello All - Just a quick reminder that the HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party (MSQP) will be held in about two weeks, August 11-12, during the Perseid shower.  The MSQP Team has been tweaking the Operating Guidelines/Rules a bit.   A subgroup has been hard at work laying out the science objectives for this and future MS events.  They are in Section I on that same Guidelines/Rules page. (Thanks to Rob Suggs and Kuldeep Pandey for their efforts in that regard).   Operating hints can be found at hamsci.org/msqp.

Note that Earth is currently experiencing the Delta Aquariid shower, so there may be an opportunity over the next few mornings to transmit or monitor on 50.260 and/or 28.145 (MSK144 mode).  If you have success making Delta Aquariid MS QSOs, please share the story here.

73 de Gary, AF8A

[Randy Frum]

Thanks and great info, Gary!

For anyone interested... I have been leaving my radio on monitoring 28.145 MHz (MSK144) every night from about 9 pm until 9 am, and I am reporting to PSKReporter.  Using an end-fed currently, but if you want to give it a shot and transmit, you can always check PSKReporter to see if I am receiving you (located in Northern NJ (FN20vt)).

I will have a slightly better antenna up for the event on the 11th/12th and hope to fully participate (with my daughter) then.

73
Randy

AC4FD

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[Daniel Moser]

Hello,

Wouldn't it be better to use the 28.3 to 28.5 MHz range instead of 28.145 so that Technician class operators can participate? Just a thought. I will be participating as well as a couple other Ham's at my station from Boise Idaho. Thanks!

Very Respectfully,

Daniel Moser KK7UVA

[Gary Mikitin, AF8A]

Daniel - Thanks for looking out for all of the license classes, and it is good to hear we'll have participation from the Pacific Northwest.

As for the frequency,  I think we are fine.  Novice/Techs are authorized for RTTY and data between 28.0 and 28.3, and MSK144 is definitely a data mode (which is true even if the rig has to be set to USB to operate MSK144).  Note also that the meteor scatter community chose that frequency long before there was an MSQP - so we are following the norms that they established.

73 de AF8A

[Bruce Crandall]

There were a few of us active this AM ~7EDT.  I'll push for more ops this Sat/Sun.  

We recommend to monitor PingJockey and announce your active times to the group.  Many users there can easily switch from 6M to 10M to join in.

Bruce, KN4GDX

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73

[Daniel Moser]

I wasn't aware of that. I look forward to participating. Thanks!

Respectfully,

Daniel Moser KK7UVA
.

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[Daniel Moser]

I am currently monitoring the 10 meter and 6 meter frequencies 24/7. I am transmitting only on 6 meters when I have time to get on the radio. Only seen 2-3 CQ's come in so far. I look forward to the exercise on Monday and Tuesday! Let me know if there is a specific time I should get on and transmit before then👍

Daniel Moser KK7UVA

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[Daniel Moser]

Also, should I transmit on even or odd minutes? I'm in Idaho. Thanks!

Respectfully,

Daniel KK7UVA

[Randy Frum]

Hi Daniel,

Great question and I will attempt to answer at least one of your questions though I am not the expert.  

If you look at the HamSCI Meteor Scatter webpage: HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party | HamSCI you can find the following:

Other WSJT-X settings unique to the MSK144 mode:

1. Special operating activity (NA VHF) Yes/No? NO
2. Mode: MSK144
3. Decode (Fast, Normal, Deep) DEEP if your CPU can handle it
4. Tx even/1st (marked or unmarked) CQing to the West unmarked, CQing to the East marked
5. Tx F Tol (number) 200 if your CPU can handle it
6. Rx Hz (number) Rx  1500  Hz
7. Report (number) Will be filled in automatically when you call someone
8. T/R seconds (number) 15 s
9. Sh (marked or unmarked) Unmarked
10. Auto Seq (marked or unmarked) User preference

Under number 4 you can see that if your antenna is pointing west then the checkbox should be unchecked (Odd) or if you are pointing east, it should be checked (even).

For your other question I am definitely not the expert and maybe someone else here can answer but monitoring ping plotter/pskreporter recenty I find that activity tends to die off during the day (after 9am) and picks back up around 9pm. I won't go any further than that.

Thanks,

Randy

AC4FD

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[Aldo Perich]

Hello all,
I have made an QSO during the Delta Aquariid Meteor shower in 28.145 MHz using MSK144, TX odd, antenna rigid dipole, 60Watts.

200615 4 0.6 1525 & CQ N0ZHE EM17  U.S.A.

200615 5 3.1 1527 & CQ N0ZHE EM17  U.S.A.

200645 6 2.6 1526 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200715 -2 2.0 1527 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200715 1 2.1 1528 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200715 2 2.6 1526 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200715 3 3.3 1528 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200745 3 0.7 1526 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200815 3 0.7 1527 & OA4DPM N0ZHE EM17

200845 2 0.8 1527 & OA4DPM N0ZHE R+05

200845 3 12.4 1525 & OA4DPM N0ZHE R+05

200845 4 13.0 1525 & OA4DPM N0ZHE R+05

200915 4 0.6 1527 & OA4DPM N0ZHE 73

200915 5 0.7 1526 & OA4DPM N0ZHE 73

200945 -1 0.8 1491 & CQ KE5ZBG DM75  U.S.A.

200945 0 8.2 1492 & CQ KE5ZBG DM75  U.S.A.

I have also made some good QSOs while the Lyrid shower, since then I have not made any other QSO, I hope this is useful for your interest.
I will see you all again during the Perseids.
73 de Aldo OA4DPM

[bryan thompson]

What time would be best to call cq? This is my first time trying msk144.

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[Gary Mikitin, AF8A]

Congrats to all of the MS rookies, like me, who are trying out the mode for the first time (whether transmit or receive-only).  To share my recent experiences:

This morning, I turned on my rig and Mac, running WSJT-X, listening to 6 meters, 50.260 MHz, using a 10m dipole in the attic, at about 0830 (all times UTC) , which is about two hours before sunrise here in NE Ohio.  My first ping was decoded at 0851, and the last at 1435 (10:35 AM local).  I've seen similar results over the summer, so those who've said it is mostly an 'early morning mode' seem correct.   That's about the same time window that I see, by far, the most chatter on pingjockey.net.  (I can't say enough to recommend that website as a real-time  resource.)

I see others are having success at other times of the day, which is wonderful.  One thing to keep in mind is non-MS propagation.  We know that 6m and 10m can open for long distance communications via many other propagation modes (primarily during the daytime):  F layer, E skip, tropo, etc.  HamSCI will be actively pursuing methods to determine, using WAV files from the MSQP participants, which decodes are meteor scatter and which might be via other modes.  

I took a quick look at my decodes by copying the decode window into a text file, and then into a spreadsheet pull apart the data.  I am in grid EN91, near Cleveland, OH.  These are the grids I copied this morning.  About half are to the east or northeast of me (the FNs), some up north (Michigan area, the ENs) and others to the southeast, but still East Coast (the FMs).

Bottom line, at least for my meager setup, looking in an arc from the north through the southeast seems most fruitful.  Of course, that only applies if you have a directional antenna.  If your antenna is fixed or non-directional, we are at the mercy of the propagation gods - but we're used to that ;-).     

All that being said, we're all about experimentation.  Don't be afraid to reach out, try something different, and report the results.  - 73 de Gary, AF8A

Grid         EN91 to Grid, in Miles (see ARRL Grid Calculator)

EM79 251.5
EN32 619.5
EN63 335.3
EN71 207.0
EN73 246.2
EN80 125.1
EN82 123.8
FM05 428.4
FM18 296.2
FN13 246.2
FN20 320.3
FN24 367.1
FN31 413.8
FN41 517.2
FN42 517.8
FN74 833.2

[Daniel Moser]

Thanks Randy and thanks Gary!

My antenna is a fixed dipole not particularly pointed East or West I've basically just been making sure to transmit opposite of the signals I hear. Although geographically the majority of the stations I could contact are going to be East of me since I'm in Idaho. I'll definitely try to figure out ping jockey and use that whenever I can. Attached are the stations I heard on 6 meters using MSK 144 today. Thanks!

Daniel KK7UVA

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[Vincent Leveque]

I'm listening on 10m.  I upgraded WSJT-X and noticed 10 meter is not configured by defAULT - i had to manually add it. 

Nothing so far.

I have previously tried monitoring 6m and would get a few stations in the AM hours.

[Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell Ph.D.]

I'm calling CQ on 28.145 MSK144 now.

73 de Nathaniel W2NAF

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From: ham...@googlegroups.com <ham...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Vincent Leveque <vincent....@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 9, 2025 11:37 PM
To: HamSCI <ham...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [HamSCI] Re: Upcoming MSQP (August 11-12) - Practice Opportunity (this week!)

 

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[bryan thompson]

How did you manually at the 10 m frequency?

[vincent....@gmail.com]

I think a request should be made to add 28.145 as one of the default MSK144 frequenciews

 

To add it manually see Section 4.6  of the user guide (https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.6.1.html#CONFIG)

 

 

I’ve copied and pasted the relevant section below for you.

4.6. Frequencies

By default, the Working Frequencies table contains a list of frequencies conventionally used for modes FT8, JT4, JT9, JT65, MSK144, WSPR, and Echo. Conventions may change with time or by user preference; you can modify the frequency table as desired.

• To change an existing entry, double-click to edit it, type a desired frequency in MHz or select from the drop-down list of options, then hit Enter on the keyboard. You can mark an entry as Preferred, provide a descriptive label, and indicate starting and ending dates and times for it to be displayed on the band-select control. The program will format your changed entries appropriately.
• To add a new entry, right-click anywhere on the frequency table and select Insert. Enter your desired information and click OK. The table may include more than one frequency for a given mode and band.

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[Bruce Crandall]

This is what I've seen on PSK for the last 6 hours.  10M MSK.

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73

[HETZAL HARTLEY]

I'm Rx/TX on 28.145 now.
Hetzal KN4HZ

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