10m FT8

It is now 0811z. A few moments ago my 4W to the indoor 10m loop was turned on in the hope of some Es. 2 Es spots on RX but no spots of me yet.

UPDATE 0917z:  Now 9 Es spots of me already and 16 spots on 10m FT8 RX. Promising.

UPDATE 1235z:  23 spots of my 4W 10m FT8 to the indoor loop.

UPDATE 1807z:  24 stations spotted me today. On 10m FT8 RX the best DX spotted was PU5BOY (9961km). In all, 67 stations were spotted today.

Yesterday evening on 10m FT8

Yesterday evening I swapped from 6m FT8 to 10m FT8 with about 4W to the tiny indoor loop antenna. Quite a few Es spots of me and many southern European stations spotted on RX as well as a QSO via Es

IC-705 on the ICOM Japan website

The ICOM Japan website has more on the IC-705. Under "Optional Accessories" it mentions an antenna tuner at a later date (see yesterday's post).

See https://www.icomjapan.com/lineup/products/IC-705_eur/

Sunspots - Monday August 10th 2020

Solar flux is 74 and the SSN 13. A=3 and K=1.

IC-705 auto ATU?

According to the IC-705 Facebook page, ICOM is working on an auto-ATU to match the IC-705. They hope to release it this year. This is a stand alone external unit covering 1.8 to 50MHz.

Inter S51 QSO on 8m

Apparently the first QSO between stations in Slovenia has taken place on 8m. I hope we can all join in on 8m in the near future.

Cavenham Heath - NOT amateur radio

Cavenham Heath is about 15 miles from here. It is a national nature reserve and a great place to see rare stone curlews. We saw 12 but they were about 400m away. The heather will be at its best in about 2 weeks. There were damselflies (see photo) everywhere.

Rye - NOT amateur radio

In 2012 we went to Rye in Sussex. It's a delightful place with old houses and cobbled streets. We were fitter then!

10m WSPR

Since just before lunch I have been on 10m WSPR TX with the 500mW TX beacon. As yet (1342z) no spots so far.

6m FT8

Just before lunch my 10W and V2000 sending and receiving 6m FT8 were turned on. It is now 1326z. So far, 2 stations have spotted me today and I have spotted 6.

UPDATE 1500z:  7 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 14.