8m FT8 RX (Sunday)

My gear is on 8m (40.680) FT8  RX. I know activity is way down on 6m.

UPDATE 1711z: No spots. I suspect people are on 6m, 4m and 2m Es.

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.

6m 3W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 0840z.

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

8m love affair?

 At about 1350z, I turned off my 10m 200mW WSPR TX beacon and 3W 6m FT8 and went on 8m FT8 and WSPR RX on 40.680 MHz. At best, activity on 8m is very low sadly.

UPDATE 1600z: Nobody spotted.

6m 3W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on at about 0600z.

UPDATE 1340z: 148 stations spotting so far.

FT8 versus WSPR

 This is definitely NOT a very controlled test!  

On 6m, my usual power is 3W FT8.  On 10m I usually run 200mW of WSPR. WSPR takes almost 2 minutes to TX a message, whereas FT8 takes about 15 seconds. WSPR is able to use far weaker S/N ratios. WSPR can detect down to about -32dB S/N. FT8 can detect down to about -23dB S/N.

Even though I am using different powers, different bands and different antennas, the impression is FT8 is more often used and achieves better results than WSPR with Es. Maybe shorter TX times help when conditions are more up and down? I certainly get far more spots with my 3W 6m FT8 than my 10m 200mW WSPR.

I would be interested to know if anyone has done a proper, scientific comparison.

What is not in doubt is that both modes are superior to SSB and CW.   Things may be different when the path is stable, such as with scatter, tropo or F2.

6m 3W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0815z.

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

8m FT8 RX

From about 1108z, I have been monitoring 40.680 FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1420z: No spots.

6m 3W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0852z.

UPDATE 1106z:   Spotted by 23 stations. 

8m FT8 RX (Monday)

Yet again (more in hope than expectation) I am again on 40.680MHz FT8  RX.

UPDATE 0905z: Just EA7Y (1831km) spotted (on the wrong antenna at my end!). I am sure it is mainly lack of activity rather than poor conditions that prevents more stations being spotted. Despite that, I seem addicted to 8m!

UPDATE 1816z: Just EA7Y and EI2IP (605km) have been spotted.

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.

8m FT8 RX (Sunday)

My RX started monitoring 8m FT8 on 40.680 at about 0910z.

UPDATE 0919z: No spots.

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,

8m FT8 RX (Tuesday)

Until thunder rudely stopped play, I went on 8m FT8 RX. A couple of Spanish stations were spotted before the storm came and everything had to be disconnected after just a few short minutes.

2m 3W FT8 (Monday)

Today, I decided to try 2m 3W FT8 instead of 6m in the hope of some Es.

UPDATE 1043z:   3 Eire, English and Welsh stations have spotted me with the best EI2FG (563km). 5 English stations have been spotted here. EI2FG has spotted me several times this morning - scatter?

UPDATE 1425z:  In the last hour I reduced the power still further to 2W FT8 to the big-wheel omni antenna. Despite this, I am still being spotted in Eire and N.Ireland. No sign of Es here today on 2m FT8.

UPDATE 1802z:  Now QRT - thunder!! 20 stations spotted my 2m QRP FT8 today. See map.

8m FT8 RX (Sunday)

 To close the day, I have QSYed to 8m FT8 on 40.680MHz RX.

UPDATE 1821z:  No spots. QRT soon.