Even though the SWR was too high to TX, I decided to take a look at 40m FT8 with the earth-electrode "antenna" on RX. It is now 1849z and already 117 stations have been spotted with the furthermost UA9MA (4598km) in Omsk. This was after just a few minutes.
UPDATE 1930z: 276 stations have been spotted so far on 40m FT8 RX.
UPDATE 2107z: 505 stations spotted so far on 40m.
At 1450z, I QSYed to 20m FT8 RX with the indoor loop. So far, after a few minutes, 41 stations spotted. There is little doubt that most daytime FT8 DX is to be found on 20m.
UPDATE 1517z: 94 stations spotted.
UPDATE 1825z: 317 stations spotted in 5 continents on 20m FT8 with the indoor loop.
At 1335z I QSYed to 17m FT8 RX using the FT817ND and the improved indoor loop.
UPDATE 1431z: 23 stations in 4 continents spotted so far.
Southgate News has a report about the helicopter on the latest NASA Mars lander.
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| Our back lawn earlier |
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| Stations spotting my QRP on 160m FT8 |
On RX both North and South America spotted on 160m FT8 as well as Asiatic Russia.
With the improved loop, I am on 10m FT8 RX at the moment. I must like punishment! It would not surprise me if I get no spots all day. Certainly, the morning was poor with not a single spot.
UPDATE 1333z: No spots.
Think I shall QSY to 17m FT8 RX.
At about 1915z, I QSYed to 160m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.
UPDATE 1923z: Already my QRP has been spotted by 3 stations on TX and I have spotted 14 stations on RX.
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| Stations spotting my 160m FT8 QRP this evening |
I have just switched to 20m FT8 QRP with 2.5W QRP and the (improved) indoor loop. I was very briefly on TX, but mostly on 20m FT8 RX.
Furthermost on 20m FT8 RX was W7RIS (7963km) on the west coast of the USA in Oregon. In all, 107 stations spotted on RX.
UPDATE 1904z: 251 stations spotted. Furthermost is ZS6LKF (9089km).
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| Stations spotted overnight on 160m FT8 RX |
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| Stations spotting my 2.5W QRP FT8 on 160m last evening |
At the moment I am on 17m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop antenna. At 0725z, no spots on RX or TX. It is very early.
UPDATE 0805z: No spots.
UPDATE 1122z: 42 stations spotted on RX. I may try TX again later. |
| Modified loop |
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| Stations spotted on 17m FT8 RX |
Thanks to the blog at EI7GL, this is a list of HF amateur beacons which is regularly updated.
At 1942z, I turned on 160m FT8 using 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Immediately, 13 stations across Europe were spotted on RX and my own QRP was spotted by 10 stations on TX. All this within about 5 minutes! By contrast, I was on 10m FT8 all day without spotting anyone.
UPDATE 1951z: Amazing! 22 stations spotted on RX and 12 stations have spotted my QRP on TX.
UPDATE 2041z: 66 stations spotted on RX and 18 stations have spotted my 160m FT8 QRP on TX.
At the moment, 10m has not "got going" . The Es season has not properly started and the F2 openings are few.
Better equipped stations are copying more than me. John in Eire is certainly doing a bit better than me! I am not sure what gear and antenna he uses. It certainly must be better than my indoor loop made with thin wire, HI.
Cambridge is usually busy with overseas visitors, but these are absent this year. Hopefully they will be back in 2022.
The compensation is we have all these sights to enjoy!
As yesterday (ever hopeful!), I am on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop on the windowsill. Yesterday I only copied 2 Gs on 10m. Maybe today will be better?
On 10m, I get RF feedback on the indoor loop even when on QRP TX. I have tried ferrite beads, but without success, so RX only at the moment. This is with the FT817ND. It works fine on 20m, 17m and 15m TX.
UPDATE 1701z: No spots. So far today quite dreadful on 10m FT8 RX here.
UPDATE 1925z: No Spots!! Even worse than yesterday.
This one (oast house?) is at Dalham, near Newmarket. I do not know when it was last used. It is by the road and looks fascinating. I have no idea what it is used for now.
As you will see in the comment from Chris below there are differences between maltings and oast houses. I have changed the text as a result of the feedback from Chris.
One advantage of Zoom is both the speakers and viewers can be anywhere on the planet. A few weeks ago we had a talk from Canada.
Although clearly aimed at club members, I think others are able to watch. Who knows, you may want to join as a country member!
This week's talk is at 1900z and is by G4AWP. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8673
As regular as clockwork, stations in western Europe make contact with Japan on 6m in June. I was reminded of this by mention of sprites in the USA on Southgate News.
Personally I believe these Japanese openings are due to E layer ionisation as a result of noctilucent clouds.
Although I am not a great royalist, the death just announced today of the death of the queen's husband at 99 years of age is a sad day, especially for the queen. It is a pity he just missed his 100th birthday.
There were a handful of stations on shortly after as the photo shows
See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swallow/ .
Today I decided to go on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna. No spots yet.
UPDATE 1610z: No spots so far.
UPDATE 1830z: Just a single G spot all day.
UPDATE 2050z: QRT. Just 2 Gs spotted all day.
At the moment, 10m seems a bit too high for consistent DX certainly with my loop. It opens at times, but lower bands are better.
In PW today (May 2021) is report on the new St Helena 2m beacon ZD7GWM/B being copied in South Africa and Namibia. This is a sea path over water that is mostly warm, so some tropo ducts can be expected at times. It will be interesting to see if this is copied in South America or the Carribean.
In the last few years FT8 has taken off like crazy. It is very sensitive and works with very weak signals, much weaker than SSB and CW. It ...
