My favourite band of all is 10m (28 MHz). At 1.7 MHz wide, there is room for all modes. Apart from daytime in the better years of the sunspot cycle, it is unusual not to find clear frequency. Even with low power and small antennas worldwide DX is possible.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/10m-operation .
As far as I know this is on as a face-to-face convention later this month after a couple of dire Covid years rather getting in the way.
Often the big manufacturers announce new products here, sometimes well before release. I guess they are testing the market interest. It will be interesting to see what is announced. This is an ideal chance for Yaesu to announce a proper successor to the FT817/818 series. The recent offering (the FT818) was distinctly underwhelming! With sunspot numbers rising this is an ideal time. Or will Yaesu again "miss the boat"?
This is one of the largest amateur radio gatherings on the planet. I have never been.
See https://hamvention.org/ .
As regular readers will know, Jay', W5OLFs 10m WSPR beacon is a small stand-alone 500mW WSPR beacon that I have used for many years. It is still in use this very minute. With it, I have reached all parts of the planet.
Despite writing to Jay some days ago, I have not got a reply. Does anyone have any news please?
At the moment I am again on 10m WSPR TX with the W5OLF 500mW beacon. So far, spots from the Canary Is and Turkey.
UPDATE 1135z: Still the same stations spotting me.
Once again, my intention is to stick with FT8 today on 40.680 MHz USB dial. So far, I have been copied in 4 European countries and expect this to increase during the Es season.
The impression I am getting is that other than Es openings my QRP is not capable of being spotted at any distance. Also, I think there are fewer stations with TX permits this year. I was expecting more to be asking for these. Overall, I am a bit disappointed. Other than stations in the UK, Croatia, Slovenia and possibly Eire, I suspect the chances of exchanging FT8 reports are small. Once these countries are "worked", I suspect interest might wane.
If I am honest I was expecting stations across Europe to be active this Es season. Sadly, this is not the case.
Personally I think a very small 8m, digital only, allocation to the amateur service would really help research in radio propagation science. I think OFCOM and the RSGB have been totally stupid over their attitude to this! You feel that they are not really interested in real self training and research. Talking about gardens and arthritic knees on 80m with Japanese commercial rigs is fine!!
UPDATE 0835z: For about an hour I have been on 8m FT8 TX. I was spotted (yet again) by EI9KP (649km) in the west of Eire. Nobody spotted here, although I am currently RX only.
UPDATE 1320z: No further 8m spots. Currently RX only again.
