As we are out taking our grandson to film some bells until about 1000z, I shall not be on until we get back. As the main Es season has ended, I shall hope to catch a brief Es opening or some F2 when I go on 40.680 MHz USB dial QRP FT8 later.
UPDATE 0948z: Gear now on QRP FT8 8m TX.
We are now moving out of the main Es season into F2 being the main propagation mode. Using WSPR I mainly copy European stations whereas with FT8 I often copy South Americans. This is with the same RX, antenna and WSJT-X software!
My only conclusion is that far more people are now using FT8 than WSPR or that much shorter openings are caught with a 15 second burst of FT8 than a much longer WSPR burst.
This is the new radio announced by ICOM. I have serious doubts about it ever making it to market.
It is meant to cover 2m-3cm with a control head based on the IC-705 and an RF unit that could be mounted next to the antenna.
It looks expensive and I just can't see it selling in huge volumes. Also, I cannot imagine it being low cost.
If it ever gets to market I can see this being a flop. Nice idea, but unlikely to make them rich.
After a huge amount of thought I have decided not to buy this radio.
Apart from 4m, it is unlikely to offer me much more than I already have. I am sure the IC-705 offers nearly as much. The 100W is wasted on me! What I might have bought was a 10W version or a real FT817 replacement.
There is little doubt that this is an excellent transceiver especially with the special bank holiday deals from MLS.
So, I'll pass. Maybe I'll regret this.
The 10m WSPR 500mW beacon has been on since 0735z. It is now 0846z. So far only spots from local G6TUS (17km).
UPDATE 1734z: 6 unique stations have spotted me today on 10m WSPR QRP.
My 17m QRP FT8 (about 4W) was turned on at about 1618z. Within a few minutes, I was spotted by 33 stations, See map.
