HamSCI WSPR Enthusiast Files Comments with FCC

Long time HamSCI contributor, propagation analyst and (to put it mildly) WSPR enthusiast Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL, recently authored a response to the Federal Communication Commission's Request for Comments on the May 10, 2024 geomagnetic storm, regarding its effects on the US communication sector.  The paper's focus was on the HF bands, for the period of 10-14 May, 2024.

Gwyn began by giving a thorough explanation of the why's and wherefore's of Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) data generation and collection, including the WSPRDaemon database which holds terrabytes of WSPR reception reports.  

Not one to simply explain his findings, via colorful graphs and succinct text, Gwyn created a series of dashboards specifically for use by the FCC, by providing the FCC with their own unique login and password in the Grafana data visualization tool, available on the WSPR Daemon website.  Rather than simply giving the FCC bureaucrats and engineers a document to read, he gave them opportunity to visualize the data, delving in as deeply as they desire, via their own mice and keyboards.

Gwyn's conclusions, best viewed directly in the Response to Comments, covered subjects such as HF noise measurements, propagation disturbances, signal-to-noise ratio and frequency spread of HF signals.

Gwyn noted that the response was from WsprDaemon - a US-led, international group of radio amateurs making, reporting, archiving, interpreting and publishing data and information on radio propagation. 

The full paper can be viewed here.

Well done, Gwyn, and the entire WsprDaemon community!