It is some time since I went on 8m FT8, preferring to concentrate on 6m FT8 instead. Both in 2024 and 2023 my few watts to a low dipole were enough to reach the USA, Canada, South Africa and the Caribbean as well as all over Europe and into Asia. On 6m QRP FT8 I have reached the USA and Canada by F2 this autumn.
If I can do it with just a few watts and low dipole, a station with more power and a small beam at moderate height would find it much easier.
Stations have worked thousands of miles with just 10mW under ISM rules at 8m. The band would get far more F2 openings than 6m. For Es and MS, I would not expect much difference. Certainly if more countries had 8m available there would be more interest.
When my current 8m TX permit expires in the summer, I do not think it is worth me renewing it. My purpose was to find out what was possible with QRP. I think I now know.
Time for a new challenge!
1 comment:
What happened with your 23cm experiments….
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