6m 2W FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0620z.

UPDATE 1924z: Spotted by 241 stations today. Tomorrow I shall probably try 500mW FT8. QRT soon.

6m 3W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on about 0900z.

UPDATE 1817z: So far spotted by 152 stations today.  Mostly European Es.

6m 3W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear was turned on at teatime.

UPDATE 2010z:   Spotted by 78 stations this evening.

6m 3W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear has been on since 0815z.

UPDATE 1425z:  11 stations spotting me so far. Most are English with, perhaps, one by Es. It would seem there is less Es today on 6m.

6m 3W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at about 1133z.

UPDATE 1942z: 336 stations have spotted me today.

Yesterday on 6m FT8

Yesterday was brilliant on 6m. 

Stations spotted yesterday on 6m FT8 RX

On RX I copied stations in Alaska and the west coast of North America. It came as a surprise that Alaska is about 500km closer. I guess the Mercator map projection distorts the path. Conditions must have been good as the path to Alaska is over the pole. In all, 487 stations were spotted with several in North America. 

Stations spotting my 3W 6m FT8 yesterday

On TX with 3W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni some 516 stations spotted me including the USA and Caribbean.

6m 3W FT8 (Tuesday)

 I have been on 6m FT8 since just before breakfast.

UPDATE 0845z:  So far 103 stations have spotted me with the furthest TF2CT (1927km).

These days, with Es, I seem to get better success with 3W FT8 on 6m than 200mW WSPR on 10m.

UPDATE 1420z:  283 stations have spotted my 3W 6m FT8 to the V2000 omni antenna with the best being KP4AA (6906km).

UPDATE  1645z: 354 stations have spotted me.

6m 3W FT8 (Saturday)

 

Stations spotting me at 1637z

Briefly, I was on 6m 3W FT8 TX. Now QRT.  15 stations spotted me.

UPDATE 1637z: Back on 6m FT8. Spotted by 23 stations. Es I presume for many.

6m 3W FT8 (Saturday)

Stations spotting my 3W 6m FT8 today at 1312z

My gear was turned on at breakfast.

UPDATE 1725z:  Spotted by 177 stations.

Far East 6m openings

So far, with my set-up, I have not managed to catch any Far East openings on 6m FT8 this summer. They occur as regularly as clockwork about now.

These amazing openings seem to be linked to the formation of noctilucent clouds in the mesosphere. Apparently, with global warming, these are becoming more common.

i guess compared with a beam at a decent height I could be down 10-15dB with my V2000 omni fed with CB coax. This means I could well miss some weak signals. I have spotted 6m Japanese signals in some years.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud .

6m 3W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 0840z.

UPDATE 1106z:  So far, spotted by 40 stations. 

6m 3W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on at about 0600z.

UPDATE 1340z: 148 stations spotting so far.

6m 3W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0815z.

UPDATE 1323z:  Spotted by 52 stations, probably Es.

6m 3W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0852z.

UPDATE 1106z:   Spotted by 23 stations. 

6m FT8 RX (Monday)

My 6m gear was left on RX overnight in the hope I might spot some Far East stations on 6m FT8 around breakfast.

UPDATE 0820z:   Just lots of Europeans on Es. Now QRT.

6m 3W FT8 (Sunday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0800z.

UPDATE 0915z: Plenty of European stations (Es I presume) spotting me. Now QRT.

6m 3W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turn on at 1322z.

UPDATE  1541z:  30 stations have spotted me.

6m 3W FT8 (Friday)

After the last few days, I think it is unlikely that 6m will open again today as it has for the last 2 days to North America. 

Early in the mornings some have been lucky enough to catch those seasonal openings on 6m from Western Europe to the Far East. These openings seem to coincide  with the formation of noctilucent clouds high in the atmosphere. I think I read somewhere that these are becoming more frequent with global warming, so maybe these openings will become more frequent?

In a few moments I expect to be on 6m 3W FT8

UPDATE 1936z:  191 stations have spotted my 3W FT8 and I have spotted 237 stations here. For the third day running, the USA has been spotted here on 6m FT8. This could be multiple hop Es, but I think some sort of chordal hop E is more probable personally. Signals were strong.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear was turned on just after 1100z. It would appear that 6m is again open to the USA.

UPDATE 1305z:   So far, 130 stations have spotted me and I have spotted plenty of Europeans and 3 stations in the USA. My best report is from D4L (4517km) in the Cape Verde Islands.

Thunder stops play

Stations spotting me today on 5W 6m FT8

We had (may still be having) the biggest transatlantic opening on 6m this Es season.  Already, I have been spotted by VA2WA (5221km) in Canada and I have spotted a wide number of stations on 6m FT8 in the USA and Canada.

Nearby storms

Then the thunder came and I had to disconnect everything! The map shows where my 5W to the V2000 vertical omni was spotted today .... before the storm stopped play,