If you wonder why they call this "the magic band" take a look at this. This is the Australian winter yet still signals were spotted in Europe on 6m!! Remember this is still close to sunspot minimum and this is a VHF band! Most springs and summers very modestly equipped stations can work 1500km or so.
Some years ago (after my 2013 stroke) my doctor said to me, "is it all too much?". I replied, "of course not". I guess he asks this quite often of old people.
I guess if I had replied, "yes, it is all too much" he would have interpreted my answer as looking to palliative care rather than seeking a cure in the event of serious illness. Many years later, I get tired easily. Life is more of a struggle.
If he asked me now though, I would still give the same answer. I guess as you get older you have to adapt and accept that some things you once could do you cannot.
John EI7GL reports on some amazing DX on 2m across the Atlantic from the Canary Is to the Caribbean. Yet again, FT8 was mainly used although there was some SSB too.
See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/08/day-2-of-trans-atlantic-opening-on-144.html .
There is a lot of rubbish and misinformation about this out there. Ignore it!!!
Some time ago I was pointed to the talks (usually updated daily) by Dr John Campbell. His videos are usually between 20-30 minutes long. He works with published facts and always shows the original source. I often look at these. He is frequently interviewed internationally. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers. The video below came out yesterday.
Another good source of accurate data is the ZOE app and the weekly updates by Professor Tim Spector.
Above all, get vaccinated.
You are far safer with 2 doses than with no vaccines. The vaccines work, are safe and help protect you and others. It is quick and painless. Do it, please.
We were supposed to have thunderstorms here, so I avoided connecting things. It looks like the storms are further east, so I shall go on 10m FT8 shortly.
UPDATE 0817z: Earlier I was briefly on TX with 2.5W for a few minutes. Nobody spotted me and no QSOs. On 10m FT8 RX 2 stations spotted so far, by what seems to be Es.
Southgate News has a piece on the history of SSB.
See Southgatearc.org/news/2021/august/the-history-of-single-sideband.htm#.YSEdbfLYrrc .
