For the first time since 2017, I spotted Japan on 6m. This time it was FT8 with the V2000 vertical omni antenna. Last time, with the same antenna, it was JT65.
With a beam at a decent height, I would expect to spot stations some 10dB weaker. I suspect I would copy Japanese stations every year on 6m FT8.
Nonetheless, I was very pleased to spot Japanese stations on 6m FT8 yesterday with the V2000 omni antenna.
Why?
We have been fighting wars in Afghanistan since the first half of the 19th century when Victoria was queen. Countless people have been killed or maimed.
What will happen now the western troops leave? Most likely it will descend into civil war again and the Taliban will again fight for control. In many ways things will be as bad as when we arrived.
In my view, we should stop interfering. Yes, we wish to support democracy and freedom, but we do not exactly a good track record. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan to name a few.
We have a great record in soldiers and civilians being killed or maimed and wasting billions. Instead we could spend the money on fighting climate change.
Although we may experience a few showers, it is quite warm outside. The thunder risk looks low with most storms over Denmark.
I think there is some link between thunder activity and Es, although I have not studied it. I think it has something to do with sprites? There must be people who know far more than yours truly! If you know the link, please leave a comment.
See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=0.00;ts=0;y=38.0295;x=8.3248;z=4;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;
At the moment I am on 10m WSPR TX and 6m FT8 RX.
The W5OLF beacon is totally self contained (no PC needed) and about the size of a pack of cards. It is on 100%, but randomly changes frequency each slot. In the past it has been spotted in every continent with simple, wire antennas.
No spots yet at 1037z, although I have only just turned it on.
UPDATE 1137z: Just 4 WSPR 10m spots so far by F4CWN (969km).
UPDATE 1303z: 16 unique stations spotting me today.
UPDATE 1640z: 23 spots of me so far today.
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| Photo from Wikipedia Commons |
The first ever photo to capture a person is supposed to be a Daguerreotype taken in 1838. This is a street scene and shows a person having his shoes cleaned. This person had no idea he was making history that day! The photo was taken out of a window in Paris. The image here does not do it justice. The man having his shoes cleaned is in the bottom left.
Photography was invented (I believe) in the 1820s. Just imagine if we had had photography centuries earlier. Samuel Pepys would have been busy!
See https://medium.com/thinksheet/the-first-ever-photograph-of-a-person-56ab2142819b .
Quite a few stations are calling the Far East on 6m, suggesting there is propagation from Western Europe to the Far East on 6m. This regularly happens at this time of year.
It seems linked to noctilucent clouds that form about now, although I am not clear about the mechanism. It looks like E layer propagation, although I think multi-hop Es idea is wrong in my view! There would have to be so many hops and this makes this so improbable. It would not surprise me if we discovered some new E layer mechanism in the next few years.
There are quite a few incorrect myths about. Never believe all you are told!! Look at facts and make up your own mind.
UPDATE 0908z: 149 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX including 2 in South Korea and 1 in Japan, JA6SBW (9053km) being the furthermost. Although better equipped stations have been spotting and working the Far East, this is the first time I have spotted Japan on 6m since 2017. This is my first time I have spotted Japan on 6m FT8. I think my V2000 vertical omni needs signals to be strong to copy them although at -15dB S/N this station was quite strong here. On TX (2.5W) 37 spots, but no spots from the Far East unsurprisingly!
UPDATE 1112z: 50 spots of my 6m FT8 (2.5W) so far today.
UPDATE 1305z: 92 spots of me so far today on TX. 247 spots on RX plus several QSOs.
UPDATE 1644z: 133 stations have spotted me so far today on TX. 330 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.
When I am on 6m FT8, I keep forgetting that my 10m antenna is not in use! So, I am on 6m FT8 (2.5W) and 10m WSPR with the 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon. Much to my surprise I got 3 spots on my first transmission with the furthermost TF4X (1995km) on 10m WSPR. I shall leave the 10m WSPR TX running to see what other reports come in.
UPDATE 1242z: Glad I went on! Now being spotted in South America with 500mW.
