The value of 6m JT65 was again witnessed this morning. Monitoring PSK Reporter Maps you can see who you are spotting and where others are receiving you, if on TX. As the JT65 allocation is quite small, all users tend to be in a similar place making activity concentrated. In fleeting Es openings it is quite easy to miss stations. This is far less likely with digital modes. They work with very weak signals and PSK Reporter Maps can give you a picture of activities and openings well after the event too. Although I have not tried it, I am told many 6m JT65 users have already switched to FT8 mode which is available in a beta release of WSJT-X. I am waiting until the official version comes out.
This morning, I was copied well over Europe with 6m JT65 (1W ERP). At the moment I am on 6m JT65 RX only.
UPDATE 1203z: Lots of Es spots today on 6m JT65 RX from all over Europe.
UPDATE 1307z: Best DX on 6m JT65 RX is currently OH6GKW (1839km).
Hello Roger, I have been using FT8 for a few weeks now and when I first started with it, there was a lot of activity on 6 mtrs, I assume sporadic E. There is a fully working version in wsjt-x now.
ReplyDeleteMartin, G4FFC
Thanks Martin.
ReplyDeleteOn the WSJT home page, click on wsjt-x
ReplyDeletescroll down the page, nearly to the bottom and look for version 1.8.0-rc1
that is what I am using.