These little rigs from Yaesu have basically remained unchanged since 2000. They cover all bands from 160m-70cm (not 4m or 1.25m), all modes, 5W. With transverters, mine have been used from VLF upwards on all available bands. They work well, but I was surprised Yaesu did not do an upgrade in time for the last sunspot peak. Also, I was surprised they had no real competitors. These days there are a few SDR radios around, but the FT817 reigns supreme.
With mine I have worked the world including some great handheld DX. For base station use I recommend the Z817 auto-ATU. I tried the Elecraft auto ATU but prefer the Z817. I am very happy with the FT817, although the early ones had PA failures with low voltage. This was fixed (I think) in the FT817ND.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft817 .
19 Aug 2017
Still good Es on 6m
After a brief transceive period before breakfast, I am again on 6m FT8 RX. So far, plenty of early Es about. Best DX on 6m FT8 RX is SV1QEZ (2402km).So far, 5 countries spotted on 6m FT8: England, Spain, Slovenia , Italy and Greece, but it is only 0835z.
UPDATE 0900z: Now 7 countries spotted with the best DX on 6m FT8 RX SV9RGI (2776km) on Crete.
UPDATE 1332z: Another excellent Es day on 6m FT8 RX. The photo shows the stations copied so far today on 6m. This mode has really "taken off".
UPDATE 1935z: Even more 6m FT8 spots!
UPDATE 0900z: Now 7 countries spotted with the best DX on 6m FT8 RX SV9RGI (2776km) on Crete.
UPDATE 1332z: Another excellent Es day on 6m FT8 RX. The photo shows the stations copied so far today on 6m. This mode has really "taken off".
UPDATE 1935z: Even more 6m FT8 spots!
10m WSPR TX (500mW)
So I returned to 10m WSPR TX just before breakfast. Already DK8FT (898km) has spotted me. Not sure of the reason, but I wonder if weak signal digital modes, or different monitoring patterns, are finding Es paths open we would have missed in the past?
UPDATE 1322z: 12 unique 10m WSPR spots, so far, with best DX spot being by CT7AEZ (1618km).
UPDATE 1614z: 16 unique spots today so far of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. A good Es day.
UPDATE 1752z: 17 unique spots today, so far, on 10m WSPR with reports as widespread as Spain, Faroes and Belarus. A great day.
UPDATE 1940z: Now 18 unique spots of my 500mW WSPR today.
UPDATE 2210z: 19 unique spots. Time to go QRT on all bands.
UPDATE 1322z: 12 unique 10m WSPR spots, so far, with best DX spot being by CT7AEZ (1618km).
UPDATE 1614z: 16 unique spots today so far of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon. A good Es day.
UPDATE 1752z: 17 unique spots today, so far, on 10m WSPR with reports as widespread as Spain, Faroes and Belarus. A great day.
UPDATE 1940z: Now 18 unique spots of my 500mW WSPR today.
UPDATE 2210z: 19 unique spots. Time to go QRT on all bands.
Sunspots - Saturday August 19th 2017
Solar flux is 81 today. Sunspot number is 41. A=21 and K=4.
Labels:
sunspots
18 Aug 2017
Now QRT on all bands
Even though propagation was still good, I decided to go QRT for the night. All being well, I'll be back on again at breakfast time - storms permitting.
Labels:
qrt
Still good 6m Es
Well I went into the shack with the intention of going QRT. Instead 6m was wide open, so I had a QRP QSO (1W ERP) with EA7AH on FT8. I see I was also copied in southern Portugal on 6m FT8. The gear is still on.
And another one.....NOT amateur radio
Donald has fired another one! Still there are over 200 million people left in the USA.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40980994 .
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40980994 .
Labels:
trump
LF - 137kHz
In all the time I have been at this QTH (now over 4 years) I have never once used 137kHz. At the old QTH I did use the band occasionally. At various times I used a 137kHz QRSS beacon and WSPR using the TX transverter shown here. Best TX range was 250km. On RX I copied Sweden.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/mflf/137khz_tvrtr .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/mflf/137khz_tvrtr .
Thunder - QRT
We have just had thunder, so I decided to go QRT and disconnect everything. I may go on again later after the storm passes through. At the moment the storms look quite widespread and we have heavy rain.
See https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?lang=en .
UPDATE 1405z: The storms seem to have passed, although I'm not sure about what is happening just west of here. Maybe I'll give it another hour and maybe go on the air again? At the moment, the sun is shining. 😕
See https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?lang=en .
UPDATE 1405z: The storms seem to have passed, although I'm not sure about what is happening just west of here. Maybe I'll give it another hour and maybe go on the air again? At the moment, the sun is shining. 😕
Labels:
storms
Rally this Sunday
20 AUGUST 2017 : RUGBY ATS ANNUAL RADIO RALLY
Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby, CV23 9PY Doors open from 10am to 4pm and admission is £3. Sellers can gain access from 8am. There will be a car boot area. Catering is available on site. Details from Tony, G0OLS on 0775 968 4411 or by email to rally@rugbyats.co.uk. www.rugbyats.co.uk
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/ rallies/
Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby, CV23 9PY Doors open from 10am to 4pm and admission is £3. Sellers can gain access from 8am. There will be a car boot area. Catering is available on site. Details from Tony, G0OLS on 0775 968 4411 or by email to rally@rugbyats.co.uk. www.rugbyats.co.uk
A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/
Labels:
rally
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