WSPR (amateur radio software)

WSPR (pronounced "whisper") stands for "Weak Signal Propagation Reporter". It is a computer program used for weak-signal radio communication between amateur radio operators. The program was initially written by Joe Taylor, K1JT, but is now open source and is developed by a small team. The program is designed for sending and receiving low-power transmissions to test propagation paths on the MF and HF bands.

WSPR implements a protocol designed for probing potential propagation paths with low-power transmissions. Transmissions carry a station's callsign, Maidenhead grid locator, and transmitter power in dBm. The program can decode signals with S/N as low as -28 dB in a 2500 Hz bandwidth. Stations with internet access can automatically upload their reception reports to a central database called WSPRnet, which includes a mapping facility.

The WSPR Protocol

The type of radio emission is "F1D", frequency-shift keying. A message contains a station's callsign, Maidenhead grid locator, and transmitter power in dBm.^[2] The WSPR protocol compresses the information in the message into 50 binary digits. These are encoded using a convolutional code with constraint length K=32 and a rate of r=1/2.^[2][3] The long constraint length makes undetected decoding errors less probable at the cost, that the highly efficient Viterbi algorithm must be replaced by a simple sequential algorithm for the decoding process.^[2]

Protocol specification

• Standard message: callsign + 4-digit locator + dBm (e.g., K1ABC FN20 37)
• Messages with a compound callsign and/or 6-digit locator use a two-transmission sequence. The first transmission carries compound callsign and power level, or standard callsign, 4-digit locator, and power level; the second transmission carries a hashed callsign, 6-digit locator, and power level. Add-on prefixes can be up to three alphanumeric characters; add-on suffixes can be a single letter or one or two digits.
• Standard message components after lossless compression: 28 bits for callsign, 15 for locator, 7 for power level, 50 bits total.
• Forward error correction (FEC): non-recursive convolutional code with constraint length K=32, rate r=1/2.
• Number of binary channel symbols: nsym = (50+K-1) * 2 = 162.^[2]
• Keying rate: 12000/8192 = 1.4648 baud.
• Modulation: continuous phase 4-FSK, tone separation 1.4648 Hz.
• Occupied bandwidth: about 6Hz
• Synchronization: 162-bit pseudo-random sync vector.
• Data structure: each channel symbol conveys one sync bit (LSB) and one data bit (MSB).
• Duration of transmission: 162 * 8192/12000 = 110.6 s.
• Transmissions nominally start one second into an even UTC minute: e.g., at hh:00:01, hh:02:01, etc.
• Minimum S/N for reception: around –28 dB on the WSJT scale (2500Hz reference bandwidth).

Applications

Raspberry Pi as WSPR transmitter

Usually a WSPR station contains a computer and a transceiver, but it is also possible to build very simple beacon transmitters with little effort. For example a simple WSPR beacon can be built using the Si570.^[4] The Raspberry Pi can also be used as WSPR beacon.^[5][6]

Density distribution of WSPR spots, January 2014 vs July 2014, using only most distant reception per spot.

History

WSPR was originally released in 2008.

References

External links

• Official WSPR website
• Central database of reception reports
• Official WSPR open source project information, published as branch of WSJT

Amateur radio digital modes Frequency-shift keying (FSK) RTTY AMTOR / SITOR PACTOR CLOVER2000 Packet radio (Bell 103 Bell 202) Multiple frequency-shift keying (MFSK) Olivia MFSK Contestia JT65 FSK441 JT6M WSPR Phase-shift keying (PSK) PSK31 PSK63 Q15X25 CODFM MT63 (based on PSK) Non-traditional digital modes Hellschreiber (Feld-Hell) On-off keying Continuous wave Modulated continuous wave Pulse modulation Frequency-hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)