10m FT8

Trying to compare 10m WSPR with 10m FT8 is difficult. On WSPR I can use my stand-alone 500mW WSPR beacon without the PC, whereas for FT8 I have to use the FT871ND and the PC. In both cases the antenna is the indoor loop.

Today, I am on 10m FT8 using the FT817ND and the indoor loop. Power is 2.5W. So far (0820z) I have been spotted by no-one at all. On 10m FT8 RX a couple of Spanish stations have been spotted.

UPDATE 0840z:  One QSO so far and 1 spot of me from northern Spain. On 10m FT8 RX, 8 stations spotted with best DX being UA9CAW (3817km).

Stations spotting me on
10m FT8 TX today with 2.5W 

UPDATE  1922z: So far today, 60 stations have spotted my 2.5W 10m FT8 to the indoor loop. With already nearly 5 times more stations spotting me on FT8, I conclude that FT8 seems to have largely replaced WSPR as a weak signal mode.  WSPR is about 10dB better than FT8, and the power level I use of FT8 is less than 10dB more.

UPDATE 2038z:   Now 70 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 2130z:   73 stations have spotted me. On 10m FT8 RX 6 South Americans spotted with best DX spotted CE4WJK (11814km). In total, 373 stations spotted. Soon be time to go QRT.

Sunspots - Saturday May 23rd 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=2.

Covid-19 hope? - NOT amateur radio

It would appear that many of the most seriously ill patients with Covid-19 have low T-cell counts. A trial has started to see if giving a drug treatment to counter this can help recovery.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52754280

More updates on ICOM IC-705 availability

On the MLS webpage they announce that the ICOM factory in Japan is to start full production of the IC-705 transceiver in June. This is earlier than I was expecting. Often there can be teething troubles with early production models. Those that have placed deposits will get theirs first. Should I buy one, I would wait until these teething troubles with the hardware and software are eliminated. This could be several months.

See the MLS IC-705 webpage for more details.

10m WSPR (500mW)

Once again I am giving 10m WSPR TX a go using the stand alone WSPR beacon and the indoor loop antenna. This leaves the PC free for 6m FT8.

Theoretically, WSPR should be about 10dB better with weak signals than FT8. However, it takes 120 seconds (nearly) for a transmission burst whereas FT8 is only 15 seconds (nearly). I am not sure how little of each is needed for a successful decode.

UPDATE 0930z:  Spotted twice by OZ7IT (853km).

UPDATE 1037z: Now spotted by HB9TMC (905km).

UPDATE 1300z: Now getting spots by OE9GHV (871km). I notice the HB9 is giving me up to -4dB S/N, which is massive for 500mW to the indoor loop. Also being spotted by OE9HLH and DL4TOM/RX. I am getting 10m WSPR spots from more stations than I expected.

Unique stations spotting my 
10m WSPR today. Quite a 
few have copied me multiple times.

UPDATE 1354z: So far today, my 500mW WSPR beacon on 10m to the tiny indoor loop in the shack has been spotted by 9 different stations. Definitely more 10m WSPR activity than I was expecting.

UPDATE 1436z: Just after 1400z OZ7IT was getting my 500mW at 0dB S/N. On a quiet band with no man-made noise, this suggests he might have copied me on the indoor loop if I was running 0.5uW!! (yes half a microwatt!).  Incredible.

6m FT8

Just after breakfast I turned on 6m FT8. So far, spots of my 10W from 14 stations with some Es. It is now 0800z.

UPDATE 1245z:  170 spots of me so far today.  Best DX is by EA8AKN (2985km). 2 QSOs so far this morning.

UPDATE 1510z:  254 stations have spotted me in the last 12 hours on 6m FT8. I have lost count of the number of QSOs!

UPDATE 1557z: 274 stations have spotted my 10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna today so far. Nothing copied from the Americas or Caribbean here yet. Better equipped stations may have been more fortunate. I guess beams and height could be worth 10dB more. In the past though, real DX signals on SSB and CW have been quite good. If the path opens, I don't usually miss much.

UPDATE 1843z:  305 stations have spotted me so far today on 6m FT8 TX.

UPDATE 2140z:   No signs here of "real DX" so QRT.

Sunspots - Friday May 22nd 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=2.

QRT

At about 2045z I went QRT on all bands. Not bad on 6m FT8, but useless on 10m WSPR TX using 500mW to the tiny indoor loop antenna.

TUI - NOT amateur radio

In the past we have had some great holidays in Corfu with TUI (now part of Thompson).  Sadly, we had to cancel our latest planned trip as holidays to Greece were likely to be axed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were promised a 70% refund within 5 working days.

10 weeks later we are still waiting for our refund!

On the BBC TUI is consistently mentioned as being one of the worst companies in this crisis. We have emailed several times and these bounced. We waited for 2 hours on the phone to be given an email that immediately bounced. They seem to be hopeless at communicating with their customers.

Based on their recent performance, they have lost a valued customer.

ICOM IC-705 latest news

On the ICOM website they just say this has been delayed until "later in the year".  As reported some days ago MLS is saying July, but I think it will be much later.  They may be having technical issues and they have the Covid-19 pandemic to deal with.

Although the price is too high, it covers multiple bands and has some novel features such as Bluetooth and GPS.

For the latest news check the ICOM website or sign up for their newsletter.

See https://icomuk.co.uk/IC-705-HF-VHF-UHF-Mobile-Transceiver/3977/1338/14/