6m FT8 (2.5W to V2000 vertical omni)

Perhaps I am just a sucker for punishment, but I decided to try 6m FT8 again today. The gear - FT817ND and the V2000 vertical with cheap CB coax - was turned on at 0811z. 

UPDATE 1108z: Just 3 spots of me so far and 1 spot of others here today on 6m FT8. All are Gs.

UPDATE 1402z:  Nothing further on TX so far today. No Es here. Just a couple of G stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX.

Sunspots - Monday October 12th 2020

 Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 26. A=3 and K=0.

2m FT8 (2.5W to the big-wheel omni)

At 1845z, I QSYed to 2m FT8. Already spotted by 6 G stations, but nothing yet spotted on  RX.

Stations spotting my 2.5W
to the big-wheel tonight 

UPDATE 2045z :  12 stations have spotted me and I have spotted some. 

6m FT8 (2.5W and V2000 vertical omni)

It is now 0857z and I have been on for about 15 minutes. No stations copied on RX, but G3XDV (45km) has already spotted me. No 6m FT8 QSOs yet. 

UPDATE 1845z: 7 stations spotted on RX and 6 stations today - all G.

Operating on 6m

Some call 6m "The Magic Band". This is for good reasons as at times almost every sort of propagation is possible. 

Sometimes it behaves as a good HF band, but most of the time it behaves as a VHF band. With sporadic-E (Es) one can work all of Europe from the UK with simple antennas and low power on SSB.  

FT8 has transformed operation on 6m. Most DX is worked on FT8 these days. Often all you hear is white noise.  Serious 6m operators run full power and big beams on big towers. There is no doubt these will help, but surprising fun can be had with simple gear.

Even in years of very low sunspots some remarkable DX has been worked. Some of this may be due to multi-hop Es, but I think some other form of E layer propagation is involved for some of these contacts.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/6m_op

Fungi - NOT amateur radio

This photo appeared on a Facebook group recently. It shows a toadstool that I am not familiar with. 

OK, the jokes were on Facebook!

Sunspots - Sunday October 11th 2020

 Solar flux is 74 and the SSN 26. A=2 and K=0.

Covid-19 humour - NOT amateur radio

There are lots of jokes doing the rounds on the Internet based loosely on Covid-19. You may have seen this before.  

Certainly mask wearing with glasses can be a problem. Luckily, I am at an age where my short-sightedness has improved that glasses are less necessary.

VHF scatter?

Stations spotting my
2.5W 2m FT8 to the
big-wheel omni today

The perceived wisdom is that long distance VHF scatter communications is due to aircraft. Time and again I have questioned this as I seem to get spotted at great distances at almost any time with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna on 2m using FT8.

FT8 works with signals that are weaker than SSB and CW and I wonder if we are able to make use of some other scatter mode? Either that or there are so many planes in the air that the time of day doesn't matter. Somehow the latter doesn't seem likely as at the beginning of lockdown I could still get as many distant spots and QSOs on QRP 2m FT8.

It would be interesting to hear the views of others.

Yet again on 2m FT8 (2.5W to the big-wheel omni)

At about 1015z, my 2m FT8 kit was turned on. So far, 2 stations are spotting me, with best DX a spot by F5APQ (180km). On RX just G3PFM (237km) so far and no QSOs.

David G0LRD, on the far side of Cambridge, has a screen grab showing what he copies on 2m FT8. This is quite useful to me as I can check all is OK. Dave kindly erected my 2m antenna some years ago.

See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/

UPDATE 1215z:  Already spotted by 7 stations with best DX spot being by GI6ATZ (479km). On RX 11 stations spotted so far.  Just 1 QSO.