15m FT8 QRP

A little while ago I turned on the gear to go on 15m FT8 QRP. As usual, 2.5W and the indoor loop on the shack windowsill. Better results expected on 15m compared with 10m. 

On 15m FT8 TX I have been spotted by 1 station in Greece and 18 stations spotted on RX. No great DX yet.

UPDATE 1204z:  2 spot of me on TX with 53 stations spootted so far on 15m FT8 RX.

Stations spotted on 15m
FT8 RX today to 1650z

UPDATE 1820z:  6 stations have spotted me today on TX and 170 stations spotted on RX in 5 continents.

15m FT8

It is now 0916z and I have been on 15m FT8 for about an hour with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop antenna on the shack windowsill.  So far, just 1 station spotted on RX and no-one has spotted me.

UPDATE 0950z:  12 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX and nobody has spotted me yet.

UPDATE 1040z: 1 station in Germany near the Danish border DJ3LE (666km) has spotted my QRP and I have spotted 21 stations so far today on 15m FT8.

UPDATE 1235z:  3 stations have spotted me so far today.

UPDATE 1340z:   So far today, 81 stations spotted on RX and 4 stations have spotted me with the furthermost being UA3D (2519km). With QRP and the tiny tiny loop indoors I am amazed that anyone spots me!

UPDATE 1512z:  4 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 107 stations today on 15m FT8  RX.

15m FT8

At about 1515z, I switched to 15m FT8 using 2.5W and the poorer indoor loop. Several USA stations already spotted, although they did not appear on PSKreporter for some reason.

UPDATE 1548z: 1 station has spotted me and I have spotted 4 so far with the furthermost being KB8BIP (6266km) in West Virginia.

15m FT8 QRP

It is now 1354z. For about 45 minutes I have been on 15m FT8 with 2.5W to the indoor loop. Nobody has copied me yet, but I have spotted 15 stations.

UPDATE 1515z:  42 stations in 4 continents spotted so far today. 2 spots of me so far with the furthermost being WE9V (6313km).

15m FT8 QRP

Since 0805z, I have been on 15m FT8 with 2.5W and the indoor loop antenna. No spots yet today.

UPDATE 1336z:  No spots of me yet today on 15m, but 75 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost being KP4JRS (6801km) in Puerto Rico.

UPDATE 1530z:  195 stations spotted so far today.

15m FT8 QRP (2.5W to the indoor loop)

Today I am on 21MHz FT8 with the loop indoors and 2.5W.  38 stations spotted so far (at 1055z), but nobody has yet spotted my 2.5W.

UPDATE 1219z:  79 stations in 3 continents spotted so far on 15m FT8 RX with the furthermost being YB2MM (11920km) in Java. On TX 3 spots of me so far. Results with the indoor loop continues to astound me. This is the poorer loop too! On the loop with copper pipe it is several dB better. The first Caribbean  station has just been spotted today.

Stations spotted to 1450z today

UPDATE 1450z: 169 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX so far today.

15m FT8 RX

For about 15 minutes (it is now 1000z) I have been on 15m FT8 RX. So far, 15 stations spotted using the indoor loop. 

UPDATE 1358z:  210 stations spotted so far on 15m FT8 RX today. Best DX spotted is PP5BK (10115km).

UPDATE 1540z: Now 235 stations spotted today on 15m FT8 RX with the indoor loop.

15m FT8 RX

Using the indoor loop, I have been on 15m FT8 RX since 0845z. The UK clocks changed last night and it often takes me several days to adjust!  So far (it is now 0857z) 11 stations have been spotted with the furthermost being UF0W (5659km) in Asiatic Russia.

UPDATE 1244z:  505 stations in 5 continents spotted so far today on 15m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop. 

UPDATE 1441z:  So far today 662 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX. Although I have only been on about 20 minutes, already my 2.5W FT8 to the indoor loop has been spotted by 17 stations.

Stations spotted to 1458z today

UPDATE 1533z:  31 stations have now spotted me and I have spotted 672 stations on 15m FT8 with the indoor loop today. Compared with a 15m dipole outside I must be losing a few dB, but I am still doing pretty well. With my loop tuning I can almost certainly get on 20m. I need to see if I can reach 30m or even 40m later.

UPDATE 1737z:  784 stations have been spotted on RX and I have been spotted by 64 stations so far today on 15m FT8 TX (2.5W). Furthermost are the Canary Is and the Azores.

UPDATE 1747z:  QRT.

15m FT8 with 4W and the indoor loop

Since 1300z, I have been on 15m FT8. No spots given or received yet. 

UPDATE 1430z:  No spots still on RX or TX. I may try 20m FT8.

15m FT8

Since just before lunch, I have been on 15m FT8 with the indoor loop. Apart from a very brief period, this has been RX only. With no spots at all, I suspect something is wrong. I am going to check!

UPDATE 1330z: Nothing untoward spotted, although there was a very high noise level on the band, possibly due to a local source?

15m FT8 RX

Since about 0740z I have been on 15m FT8 RX using the FT817ND and the indoor loop.  Already a couple of European stations spotted.

UPDATE 1013z: 28 Europeans spotted so far today on 15m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1455z: 43 stations spotted today on 15m FT8 RX so far.

Antenna choices

As mentioned yesterday, I want to erect an external antenna for 10m, probably a dipole or inverted vee. It occurs to me that a nested pair of dipoles for 10m and 15m is still small and not much more difficult to erect. 10m is my favourite band, but 15m is often good when 10m is not. Having both bands available would give me choice. Neither would require an ATU.

15m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop

At  0830z, 15m FT8 RX was turned on. Apart from a few unstable carriers (local SMPUs?) nothing yet spotted.

UPDATE 0930z:  17 spots on RX so far today, all European.

UPDATE 1432z:  53 stations spotted here so far on 15m FT8. All are in Europe with best DX spotted SV1QN (2410km) in Greece.

UPDATE 1803z:  Currently 95 stations spotted here on 15m FT8 RX. Best DX spotted here is J68HZ (6860km) in St Lucia.

UPDATE 2110z: Now QRT. 105 stations spotted in last 12 hours on 15m FT8 RX with the indoor loop. Best DX spot was PU2OOC (9598km) in Brazil.

15m FT8

Rather earlier than usual, I am on 15m FT8 with 2.5W and the 45cm indoor loop. It is now 0615z. No spots yet.

UPDATE 0922z: No spots.

UPDATE 1040z: One G spotted on RX and one G spotting me so far.

UPDATE 1215z:  5 stations in Europe and North Africa have been spotted on 15m FT8 RX. So far, just the 1 station has spotted my 2.5W.

UPDATE 2011z :  QRT.

15m FT8

After breakfast I intend to go on 15m FT8 (2.5W to the indoor loop).

UPDATE 0730z:  All turned on at 0720z.

UPDATE 1032z:  Although 3 Europeans spotted so far on 15m FT8 RX, no-one has yet spotted me.

UPDATE 1140z: 7 Europeans spotted so far and 1 spot by LA6RJA (794km) of my 2.5W to the tiny indoor loop antenna.

Stations spotting me to 1253z

UPDATE 1253z:  Quite a few spots of my 2.5W to the tiny 45cm indoor loop mainly from Scandinavia. 17 spots on RX.

UPDATE 1932z:  On 15m FT8 RX a total of 72 stations were spotted and 13 Europeans spotted my 2.5W tiny indoor loop.

UPDATE 2151z:  QRT.

15m FT8 TX and RX (2.5W to the tiny indoor loop)

Yesterday I tried 10m FT8 with limited successs (just 1 spot), so today with the same rig and antenna I am giving 15m FT8 a go. The gear was turned on at about 0805z.

UPDATE 0840z:  No spots so far on RX or TX today.

UPDATE 1314z: 13 stations (including 1 Brazilian) spotted so far today on 15m FT8 RX, but no spots of me.  It looks like I was only running about 100mW, so this has now been increased to more like 2.5W.

15m Pipit QRP transceiver

Pretty sure this has appeared before, but not sure when!

Back in the 1980s I designed an 800mW, VXO controlled, transceiver for 15m CW. For quite a while this was the only rig I used.  As I recall it worked plenty of stations with a low wire dipole. I never seemed to struggle. The receiver was direct conversion.

It worked very well, and far better than I ever expected. It was first designed and built in 1984 and appeared in GQRP SPRAT in 1987.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/15m_pipit

15m FT8

A few moments ago, I switched to 15m FT8 after being QRT overnight. As of now (1000z) no spots given or received. I am using 2.5W from the FT817ND and the tiny loop on the windowsill again.

UPDATE 1645z: So far today 34 stations spotted on 15m FT8 with the best DX being ZS2EZ (9900km) in Eastern Cape. My 2.5W to the tiny loop was spotted by 5B60ALJ (3185km). Nobody has spotted me now since early afternoon.

UPDATE  1736z: Soon be time to go QRT on 15m.

15m FT8

About 5 minutes ago I went on 15m FT8 again. Guess what antenna? The tiny loop! No spots given or received yet. Using the FT817ND at 2.5W as yesterday.

UPDATE 1148z: No spots of me yet. 2 spots on RX so far with best DX OD5ZZ (3438km).

UPDATE 1403z: 14 stations spotted on RX so far. No TX spots.

UPDATE 1610z: 34 stations spotted and one European spotting my 2.5W.

UPDATE 2230z: Now QRT. Just a single TX spot. On 15m FT8 RX 48 stations spotted with best DX spotted being LU2DAJ (11212km).

15m FT8

At the moment I am on 15m FT8 using the FT817ND at 2.5W with the tiny indoor loop antenna. This is TX and RX as I get no feedback issues with this rig. Of course running just 2.5W must help. So far no spots.

UPDATE 1050z: 35 stations spotted on RX and 1 QSO with a G station so far today on 15m FT8. No spots of my 15m 2.5W FT8 yet on PSKreporter.

UPDATE  1354z: 76 spots on 15m FT8 RX and a couple of European spots on TX, despite running 6dB less than on 17m FT8 yesterday. I guess the loop is more efficient as you go up in frequency.

UPDATE 2215z:  Now QRT. I went QRT about an hour ago.