On the face of it, it offers DX over a good proportion of the planet, without fading, linears, beams or towers. Antennas are small, can be low and are fixed.
I very much doubt the Japanese big manufacturers will do anything as the satellite footprint does not cover Japan or the USA.
It is many years since I did any CB operation. I think the last time was testing a couple of single channel hand portables. I guess that was in the 1990s.
I see on this week's Amateur Radio Weekly that there is a field day for "freeband" enthusiasts at 11m. The legality of this is not known although there is an ISM band around here.
How much power can legally be used will depend on where you are. In the UK, it looks like the limit is 100mW ERP according to IR2030.
Although I get a few spots a week with this tiny power, I get very few spots overall. Maybe there are fewer people using 10m WSPR?
My conclusion is this is just too little power. It is surprising to me as I was expecting to be spotted more often on Es, as signals can be very strong. I suspect that much of the time I am below the noise floor with many stations. For now, I shall stick with this power on 10m WSPR.
UPDATE 1209z: No spots. Next week, I may try 10mW on 10m WSPR to see if that is better.
I decided to stay on 6m QRP FT8 overnight. In all, 386 people spotted my 2.5W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna. The band did not open (for me) to the USA, which I was hoping for. Almost all of these spots were Es.
UPDATE 1021z: 121 stations have already spotted my QRP 6m FT8 signal this morning. There seems to be plenty of Es about.
It was hard to avoid the impression that most attendees are boring old farts (BOFS) which are mainly old white males. This does not bode well.
Although today has been my best day this season on 6m, the Es map (see below link) would suggest otherwise.
See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .
UPDATE 1106z: It has just suddenly changed!
My 10m WSPR beacon was re-synced to internet time just after breakfast. No spots.
Just 14 spots of my 2.5W 6m FT8 so far, all in the UK.
UPDATE 1056z: 134 spots of me so far. Strong Es is now evident.
Just 3 stations spotted me overnight. I shall carry on a little longer, although I suspect the season is drawing to a close, especially with my 10mW ERP.
At the moment I am doing two experiments.
Firstly, my 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR beacon is on.
Secondly, I am trying 2.5W FT8 on 6m.
Every day I get Es spots from Europe with my 6m QRP FT8. 10m WSPR at 500uW is proving far harder with just a few spots a week being average.
In theory WSPR works with signals having a far worse S/N than FT8. However, WSPR needs almost 120 seconds for a TX burst whereas FT8 needs just under 15 seconds.
I suspect that the longer time to successfully decode a WSPR signal and the fact that a 500uW signal is probably buried in noise is working against me.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/8040m-pixie-and-micro80-transceivers .
My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on at about 2145z . So far just spotted by a single station.
In no way can (or should) I express views on how the people of the USA should vote for their president in November. They will rightly vote for the person they choose. But I am puzzled. Let me explain.
The following have been notified to me. Always check if travelling a long way.
Sunday June 9th - Junction 28 Radio Rally, Alfreton, DE55 7BD. Contact j28rally@snadarc.com .
Sunday June 9th - Mendips Rally, Farrington Gurney, BS39 6UA. Contact mendipsrally@hotmail.com .
Amazon, the online delivery service, is like a UK wheat spread in that some hate it and some love it. Over the years we must have ordered hundreds of items. Only once has a delivery ever gone wrong, and that was just to an address a few doors away.
I recall my wife trying to buy some very ordinary nail scissors from our local chemist. She was told they had none and would be getting none in. She went on Amazon and got them delivered next day to the door at a lower price.
Yes, shopping patterns are changing, with many people preferring the convenience of home delivery. Many retailers will close or adapt.
Today I wanted some wood filler, forgetting I had given my last to our son. I went on Amazon and two tubes will be delivered to my door tomorrow for less cost than 1 tube at our local DIY store. Delivery is free.
Yet again, my 500uW 10m WSPR is turned on.
UPDATE 2020z: No spots all day today.
