The W S J T G R O U P' s International Page

(Use your Refresh Button often with all the WSJTGROUP pages since they are often updated with new information) The accuracy of this informtion is dependent on the data received from volunteers. Information can be sent to: wa5ufh@ykc.com

Activity Periods are scheduled times for meteor scatter operators to make random qso’s.
The random qso’s are a result of calling or answering a CQ that is originated on a specified
frequency using Standard Operating Procedures designed for the session. Activity Periods
can best be described as "Fun".

North American Activity Periods

Random Hours are weekly, on each Saturdays of the year!
Saturday Mornings:

Eastern / Central Time Zones
2m hour from 0800-0900 Eastern / 0700-0800 Central
6m hour from 0900-1000 Eastern / 0800-0900 Central

Mountain / Pacific Time Zones
2m hour from 0800-0900 Mountain / 0700-0800 Pacific
6m hour from 0900-1000 Mountain / 0800-0900 Pacific

All stations are encouraged to complete qso's in progress if it requires running outside the scheduled times.
Link to the "Random Hour Infol" for North America

Schedule Fall/Winter Meteor Scatter Sprints:

Last sprints in NA were in 2005 & have been canceled because of activity levels being low...

Africa Thanks to Hal (ZS6WB) for providing the Activity Period Information for South Africa.
The www link is: http://www.qsl.net/zr6dxb/Digital/Skeds.htm

WEEKEND WSJT DIGITAL OPERATION
Weekend operations using WSJT will continue on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 0330 utc until 0600 utc and primary calling frequencies will be 50.245 and 144.245 MHz. The FSK441 mode is used primarily for meteor scatter work and JT44 for long-distance tropo work.
If you aren't already equipped for WSJT we urge you to try it and you will be amazed what your VHF station is capable of. With 100 watts on 144 MHz and a small Yagi fixed on the horizon you will be able to make contacts in North America by reflecting your signals off the moon.

Additional information from Hal: We have standardized on EU defaults. That way you always know who the report is coming from.   On 50 MHz we use a 15 second period. Our distances are short so pings are generally good and contacts go faster. On 144 MHz we use a 30 second period.   As most of our contacts are north-south the northern station normally transmits first period.   TX 1 line ia changed to read "%T % M % L". When monitoring it help identify the calling station and you have his grid which is a required exchange in our contests.   TX 6 line is changed ti read "CQ %M %L" which again gives a head start on grid and helps the other station get his beam pointed in the right direction.   If a grid expedition is going out a specific frequency is reserved for him for the period of the trip and he will always transmit first period regardless of direction.    In a contest situation we will not give a signal report until we have received the full grid of the other station. Our contest scoring uses points per km so six digits is required. Grids are used as multipliers.   Hal

DX : The 2000 range maximum puts a number of countries within MS range of my QTH  including 3DA0, 5h, 5R, 7P, 7Q, 9J, 9Q, C9, D2. FR/E, V5 and Z2. However in several cases the only areas of some of the countries that are technically within range have no activity or even cities from which future operation might be expected.

Asia No data yet avaliable.... check back often

Europe Thanks to Catharinus (PE1AHX) for providing the following information ....
To my knowledge there are no specific activity periods. There is very much activity at all times because we have a high number of active stations within (not always easy) reach of one another. Activity is best during showers of course but even these low reflection months there is (random) activity every day. Best activity on Saturday and Sunday, as well as evenings during the week.

We do have 1 contest: the BCC Meteor scatter contest. It has been in existence for several years. For info see http://www.bavarian-contest-club.de/contest/ms-contest/index.html The number 1 in 2002 made 100 QSO's, number 1 in 2003 not known yet, but several stations made > 100 QSO's from the info I have seen.

I am not aware of any awards available for MS other than the Random QSO award on your WSJTGROUP page.
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If anyone know of any Schedules MS Activity Periods or any being planned in perhaps other areas of Europe, please send the informtion in for posting on this page.

Oceania Activity Periods
Thanks to Rex (VK7MO) for providing the Activity Period information ....
Activity sessions are covered by the following web site http://www.vhfdx.oz-hams.org When you get to the site go to <digital modes> in the index at the left and then to Operating Procedures in VK: FSK441-Proc

We work from 7:00 am to 8:00 am local each Saturday and Sunday morning - thus the times vary from 2000 to 2100 UTC in Summer to 2100 to 2200 in Winter. At the present time we are using FSK441B although we have tried FSK441 C which is definitely worse on 2 meters. We are not sure which is better for activity sessions between FSK441A and
FSK441B.
Kind Regards
Rex

The 40 Meter Frequency: A call-back is held just prior to and just after each session on 40 meters on 7085 kHz (or close by) during which people share experiences. In order to ensure stations in the same area do not interfere, the following Types of Session are conducted and advised the week prior on 40 meters and also on the Australian VHF Reflector:

South America No data yet available.... check back often

Map WAC ...