Although many countries have allocated the full WRC band to amateurs, the UK has not. Instead, the UK has more allocations, some of which include parts of the WRC allocation.
Personally, I would settle for the full WRC shared band and lower power with fewer other slots in the UK.
Hopefully, the next few weeks will allow me to do some local tests from home.
The gardens are open, but not the house at present.
A friend recently sent me a Bottle Boys video. I later found them on YouTube. Never heard of them before.
It is now 0940z. For about an hour I have been on 6m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the V2000 vertical omni. No stations yet spotted on RX. My own QRP has been spotted again by G0PQO (50km) on 6m FT8 TX.
UPDATE 1020z: G4FKA (207km) spotted on RX.
UPDATE 1125z: F6HGB (985km) spotted. This could be Es.
UPDATE 1211z: 3 stations spotted so far on 6m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 1852z: In the end 2 G stations spotted me. QRT soon.
According to a piece in Southgate News, amateurs in Finland lost the 23cm band (apart from temporary access by special permit) back in April. They are seeking alternative spectrum, possibly the 220-225MHz band that is allocated in the USA. The prime driver is amateur television.
The authorities are concerned about future interference with Galileo navigation satellites. It is a pity they could not have retained access to 23cms, perhaps with a much reduced ERP on a "non interference" basis.
As far as I am aware there are no similar plans across Europe for 23cms. If the Finns get access to the 220MHz band, I think this would be the first in Region 1.
Personally I would have tried for low band 1, possibly including the 8m band, say 40-45MHz. The bottom could be narrowband and the rest for DATV on a secondary basis. Even if they only allocated 2MHz, this would be useful in under-used spectrum.
At about 0930z, I went on 6m FT8. Although I briefly went on TX (2.5W and the V2000 vertical), I am mostly RX only. It would be great to spot anyone!
UPDATE 0950z: Remarkably, G0PQO (50km) spotted my brief 6m FT8 CQ earlier. Nothing spotted on RX.
UPDATE 1332z: 1 G station spotted.
UPDATE 1845z: 3 G stations spotted.
UPDATE 2052z: At 1915z I returned to QRP TX. Nobody has spotted me this evening.
The blog of John EI7GL reports on some astounding DX on 50MHz (6m). Although reported as multi-hop Es, I have my doubts. This is like the super DX seen every June between Europe and the Far East.
My theory is this is E layer propagation but, importantly, not sporadic E. In my view, at least some of these very long paths are the result of some sort of chordal hop E layer propagation. The EU to Far East June 6m openings are at the time when mesospheric clouds are often seen. I wonder if this was the same in the southern hemisphere? Any thoughts?
See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2020/12/remarkable-13000-km-opening-on-6-metres.html
