Experimenting with Weak Signal Propagation Reporter

Last week, Phil KL8DX mentioned the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) network and the initial success he was having using 8 watts on the low bands from his high-noise location in Healy, near Denali National Park.  G4ILO has a really nice writeup on WSPR.  I couldn't resist the temptation to play myself, so on Friday I configured KL2R to transceive using the K1JT software and report results up to the network.  I changed bands aperiodically from 160/80/40/20 as well as changed antennas.  Here's a map showing spots to/from KL2R during a 16-hour period on 40m using 10 watts and a dipole at 100 feet.

I can see immediately the potential application for contesting to notify the user of possible band openings, particularly on 10 and 160m.  Information on all bands is useful, because propagation from our location to a particular area can be very, very short-lived.  I can also imagine a long-term study using the spot data to better understand conditions required for those openings.  We need more WSPR stations in KL7, since conditions can be highly variable with latitude. 

For the first time in a long time, I am really excited about some new radio technology.