10m FT8

The last day on 10m FT8 TX
(5W and indoor loop)

There is no doubt that WSPR works with far weaker signals than FT8. However, there would appear to be far more FT8 activity.

Take for instance 10m. Yesterday I went on 10m WPSR for about 6 hours with 500mW WSPR and got not a single spot. I switched to 10m FT8 with 5W (again using the indoor loop) and was spotted by 57 stations. Even the 10dB more ERP cannot account for this.

This morning (it is now 0819z) I am on 10m FT8 with 5W and the indoor loop. Already, 7 spots of me!

UPDATE 1351z: Stations spotted in 4 continents on 10m FT8 RX.  19 stations have spotted me so far today and 1 QSO had.  Still running 5W to the indoor loop.

Stations spotting me on
10m FT8 today so far

UPDATE 1811z: 49 stations have spotted me today on 10m FT8 with 5W and the indoor loop. On 10m FT8 RX several USA stations spotted. Several QSOs with EU stations too.

UPDATE  2049z:  Now QRT.  67 stations spotted my 5W to the indoor loop. Quite amazing. I am really impressed how well the indoor loop works.

Sunspots - Friday July 10th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

10m FT8 (5W to the indoor loop)

As I was not having any success with 10m WSPR, I decided to have a go with 10m FT8 (5W) using the indoor loop. It is now 1455z.  19 spots of me already with the furthermost being CU2GI (2575km) in the Azores.  45 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX with furthermost being N4CC (6877km) in Georgia, USA.

UPDATE 1755z:  Now my 5W has been spotted by 47 unique stations.  On 10m FT8 RX 178 stations spotted here so far.

Another cancelled rally

News of another cancelled rally came in earlier. As before, my apologies if this is hard to read on some screens, but this is how I received it.

Sunday 12 JULY : CANCELLED

McMICHAEL RADIO RALLY AND BOOT SALE. Reading Rugby Football Club, Sonning Lane, Sonning on Thames, Reading RG4 6ST Talk-in station on 145.550MHz. Doors open 9.30am (traders can set up from 7.30am), admission £3 with under 16s free. Car boot sale pitches £10 (with two passes). There will be trade stands and exhibition displays. Catering is available on site as well as a bar. More details at https://mcmichaelrally.radarc.org.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

10m WSPR TX (500mW to the indoor loop)

Although active since breakfast, no spots of me yet. It is now 0750z.  Running the W5OLF designed WSPR-AXE, I can be totally independent of the PC.

UPDATE 1128z:  No spots of me yet today.

6m FT8 (10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna)

Since breakfast, I have been on 6m FT8. 15 stations have spotted me so far, but no QSOs yet.  On RX, a couple of stations spotted (OH and G). It is now 0747z.

UPDATE 0815z:  Although I have been spotted by 24 stations already this morning, I suspect my low ERP is preventing me working and spotting many 6m DX stations. I am probably at least 10dB down on the better stations. On FT8, being 10dB down can make a lot of difference. I suspect JT65 and WSPR would be better,  but I think FT8 activity levels will be higher and the 15 second TX periods would favour short openings. I suspect this is a case when higher ERP really does matter.

UPDATE 1126z: 2 QSOs with OH stations so far today on 6m FT8 TX and 49 stations have spotted me.  82 stations spotted so far on 6m FT8 RX, all in Europe.

UPDATE 1334z:  3 QSOs so far today. 84 stations have so far spotted me with the most distant being 4X4DK (3580km) and 113 stations spotted on RX.

Iceland 9 years ago - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows Iceland 9 years ago. It is a beautiful country.

Yesterday on 6m FT8

Although I was spotted by fewer stations than a few weeks ago, I managed my first transatlantic 6m QSO in many years, this time with OX3LX (3283km) in western Greenland as well as being spotted by 3 stations in New England, USA. Not bad for 10W and a vertical omni antenna.

Seen earlier this week - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows what we saw at Anglesey Abbey on Tuesday.  A butterfly and bee are on a thistle.

Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust property about 5 miles from us that recently re-opened its gardens.  You have to pre-book. The house remains closed. There is plenty of opportunity for social distancing as the grounds are very big.

Online magazines

Someone kindly sent me a link to a 73 Magazine article.  All the 73 mags are there. No doubt other mags may be available too.

See https://archive.org/details/73-magazine-2003-07/page/n29/mode/2up

Just by changing the date file, other months can be accessed. If I knew this before, I had forgotten it! Hours of fun, HI.