These are getting very close now.
President Trump has been out on the campaign trail just 2 weeks after being hospitalised with Covid-19. I have no idea what the election out come will be. The people of the USA will elect the president they want to lead them.
It is now 0756z. For about 10 minutes I have been on 2m FT8 using 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. Already 4 Gs (best in Devon) have spotted me and I have spotted 1 F.
UPDATE 0850z: Best DX on 2m FT8 RX is DL6YBF (471km).
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| Spots of me at 1000z |
At 8pm UK time on Mondays we hold the East Cambs net on 144.575MHz FM. This usually lasts about 30 minutes although some stay on to chat longer. At least one person cannot make Monday nights, so a change of nights is being considered.
One possibility is to combine this with the Wednesday night net held by the Cambridge club (CDARC). All in the area are most welcome.
At about 1406z, I QSYed to 2m FT8. So far just 2 spots of me by G4MSA (222km) and G0LRD (26km). The photo shows my signal on G0LRD's grabber.
See http://82.71.9.63:8080/cap/
UPDATE 1455z: GI6ATZ (479km) has spotted me. One RX just 1 spot.
UPDATE 1612z: 3 stations spotted today on 2m FT8 RX with best DX F0EYI (465km) in Brittany.
UPDATE 2005z: QRT.
Most of my FT8 QSOs are with 2.5W and very simple antennas. Although I own an FT-991A, I was considering trading this in for an IC-705. This ICOM radio runs 5W off the battery and up to 10W with an external PSU. This would be more than adequate for me. Most of my FT8 QSOs are with 2.5W and the FT-817ND.
Most of the time I use resonant antennas, so the internal auto-ATU on the FT-991A is not essential. Some worry about the extra loss in ATUs, but this usually just a fraction of an S-point. The IC-705 was going to cover 4m but no longer does on TX. It does not have an internal auto-ATU and is very expensive. Maybe later, when the price drops and the initial bugs are resolved.
In 2017 I bought a Windows PC. I have just waited and waited as it booted up, installed updates and did its thing. Meanwhile my Chromebook booted up within seconds.
Now, I am aware that the windows machine probably has lots of bloatware and will need a defrag. My question is why? I am totally delighted with my Chromebook. Compared with the Windows machine it is so much better. Comparing the Chromebook and the Windows 10 machine it is "chalk and cheese": the Windows PC is so slow!
If you are thinking about getting a new PC think about a Chromebook.
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.
As a young child, I spent my childhood living in Salcombe, Devon. This property is on the market not far from Salcombe, so I could move back...
