Well, as an experiment I stayed on 20m FT8 overnight. There is a big take-up in the USA and Europe of this new mode. I lost count of the USA stations spotted using 20m FT8, but it was at least 21. In the other direction Kuwait and all over Europe were spotted. There is little doubt this will become the de facto digital mode for QSOs, especially on 20m.
It is a pity there is not a WSPR mode with a shorter period, maybe 30 secs. Several brief openings are missed on WSPR and WSPR is an ideal beaconing mode.
UPDATE 1708z: JA1BOQ (9484km) is currently the best DX on 20m FT8 RX.
Roger, If you are able to, monitor 160mtrs FT8 over night. I have copied quite a few Stateside stations.
ReplyDeleteMartin, G4FFC