My 500mW WSPR TX beacon was turned on about 0948z. No spots of me yet.
UPDATE 1035z: Spotted by an OH and SM station many times. I have noticed several times that more northerly stations spot me, or are spotted, more often later in the Es season. I wonder if this really is the same mechanism?
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.
As readers will know, I have been strongly considering one of these.
At the moment MLS is offering a very good deal, but I am still undecided. I am probably not buying one, although it is very highly rated in the Sherwood RX tests. With the £100 MLS gift voucher and Yaesu £85 cashback, now is probably the very best time.
It has a very good receiver, 4m and an auto-ATU, but not 2m or 70cm. At 100W on HF it has about 20 times the power I would ever use!
Yesterday, my 40.680 MHz QRP USB dial FT8 was spotted by 2 Iberian stations with 1 "QSO". The gear was turned on this morning at 0737z.
UPDATE 0959z: No spots.
Our elder grandson loves to ring bells. He has now rung in 40 towers and, as I write, is ringing locally for a wedding.
If you have recently written to me and have not got a reply, it was probably my mistake.
I just emptied my bin and, too late, noticed something that I think should not have been there. Write again please. I try to respond promptly. Please accept my apologies. Writing again is probably the best thing to do if you got no response.
My 500mW WSPR TX gear was turned on at 0939z. At 0949z, no spots.
UPDATE 1240z: Several spots from just Sweden. Limited Es opening?
UPDATE 1325z: Now spotted in Spain.
UPDATE 1335z: Now spotted in Norway.
These 2 trees were planted in our churchyard in the 1800s to celebrate the battle of Waterloo in 1815. They are just coming in to leaf. For...
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