Yesterday on 2m FT8

Stations spotted yesterday here
on 2m FT8 RX with the
big-wheel omni antenna

Quite remarkable seeing I only use 10W and an omni big-wheel antenna. In all, I was spotted by 88 stations in 16 countries and I spotted 150 stations. And this is 2m!!

Clearly I caught some Es. At first, I could not believe it.

8m allocations

A few days ago I asked John EI7GL if he knew which countries had granted people permission to operate on 8m.

At the moment this is very few, but there may be more next year. People need to ask their licensing people for special authority. This may be spot frequencies and limited power and times. In a few years this could be a most interesting band.

Sunspots - Monday July 27th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 11. A=3 and K=1.

472kHz transverter

One of my Facebook memories today was this photo of my 472kHz transverter from 8 years ago! I didn't realise it was that long ago.

Toadflax - NOT amateur radio

Just outside our house and garden is the 200 year old windmill.  This patch of toadflax (wild flower) is about 5m from our lounge window. It is on the grass in front of the windmill.

Old village house - NOT amateur radio

Burwell is a large village with a mix of new and old houses. The photo shows one older house seen on our walk earlier.

2m FT8

At the moment I am on 2m FT8 using 10W and the big-wheel omni antenna. So far, 8 stations have spotted me. It is now 0707z.

UPDATE 1340z:  I seem to have caught some 2m Es! On TX my  QRP has been copied as far as Serbia with best DX YT7PWR (1642km) and on 2m FT8 RX I have copied as far as Moldova. The map shows where my 2m FT8 signal has reached so far today. Quite remarkable. 136 stations spotted on RX so far today.

UPDATE 1435z:  64 spots of me today on 2m FT8 in 14 countries.

UPDATE 1553z:  75 2m FT8 spots of me today.

UPDATE 2300z:   QRT.

Interesting antenna

Chris, M0PZC, has sent me details of an interesting VHF antenna called the Hourglass that can be made with simple materials. He has built one in his loft.

Next week we may have a sked on 2m FT8 or SSB to try it out between us. I think we are about 60-70 miles apart. It is bidirectional and has a very useful gain over a dipole.

I see the ARRL website has an article on this antenna available for non-members to read.

See http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/December2018/Stanley.pdf

Sunspots - Sunday July 26th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the sunspot number 11. A=15 and K=1.

2m FT8 (10W and the big wheel)

For about 2 minutes before going QRT I tried 2m FT8. 5 stations spotted me.