FT8 on CB?

Is FT8 legal on CB in Europe including the UK?  I gather there is some activity around 27.265 MHz. 

When solar conditions decline there is often far more activity on the CB frequencies than on the 10m amateur band suggesting it is a lack of activity rather than poor conditions.

In the UK I believe you do not need a licence to operate CB gear, but I think you must use CE marked gear?  It is a bit vague if you use compliant gear that is not marked. Also, I presume you can make up a call!

I doubt CB is policed and I know many use beams and (illegal) high power. I am just wondering if I should monitor and possibly TX?

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 5W was turned on at about 0900z.

UPDATE 1034z:  50 spots of me on TX and 24 stations spotted on RX. Mostly Es?

Sunspots - Sunday June 8th

 Solar flux is 121 and the SSN 103. A=20 and K=2.

10m QRP WSPR yesterday

 In all, 31 stations spotted my 500mW WSPR yesterday. All were European, probably mostly via Es.

6m pirates?

Earlier, when I went on 6m FT8, I was supposed to have spotted stations in Somalia, Asiatic Russia and North Korea. 

Somehow I don't think so!

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

 My beacon was turned on about 1014z.

UPDATE 1020z:  No spots.

UPDATE 1106z:  If helps if you turn on the PSU too. Doh!! PSU turned on at 1104z.

6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 At about 1012z I QSYed from 10m to 6m FT8.

UPDATE  1641z:  101 spots of me with the furthermost the Canary Is.. 

Leaving the market?

SteppIR, who are famous for their automatically adjustable beams, have announced they are leaving the amateur radio market in August. They made high-end products I have never owned.

Now I know this is not true everywhere, but it is probably mostly true that ours is a hobby of "mature" people. Indeed this is one of the reasons SteppIR has quoted for leaving the amateur radio antenna market.

It is my view that many who have been in the amateur radio market for many years as manufacturers or dealers are wondering if this is really for them.

It would not surprise me at all if we see a shake-out in the coming years.

Did Yaesu release a product too early?

This podcast seems to back up my assertion that the FTX-1 was launched in a hurry. 

Many are very happy with it, but I still think it is far too expensive.  It is even more expensive when you add features the IC-705 has had for years!

At £999 I might have considered it. As it is, like many, I will stick with my IC-705. With the recent price reduction the IC-705 looks far better value. 

I am puzzled that the Yaesu FT710 is far far less that the FTX-1. On the first Sherwood tests it is way down on the FT710 performance. Personally I think Yaesu is struggling and finding it hard to stay in the amateur radio business. If they were hoping the FTX-1 would be their saviour, I hate to disappoint them!

It is normal to see software bugs that are corrected, but this product look like it was released far too early. Some of these issues will be fixed in software updates. I hope they haven't got to do hardware changes too.

10m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

At the moment I am om 10m QRP FT8. The gear was turned on at about 0822z.

UPDATE 0855z:  16 spots of me. See map.

UPDATE 0949z:  35 spots of me with the furthermost South Africa.

UPDATE 1004z:  43 spots of me.