Today, I decided to try 2m 3W FT8 instead of 6m in the hope of some Es.
UPDATE 1043z: Spotted by 13 Eire, English and Welsh stations have spotted me with the best EI2FG (563km). 5 English stations have been spotted here. EI2FG has spotted me several times this morning - scatter?
UPDATE 1425z: In the last hour I reduced the power still further to 2W FT8 to the big-wheel omni antenna. Despite this, I am still being spotted in Eire and N.Ireland. No sign of Es here today on 2m FT8.
To me, it seems inevitable that we will evolve to electric vehicles (EVs) in the coming years.
There has been a lot in the press about a breakthrough promising huge ranges, lower costs and fast charging times. It would appear that there are many competing approaches and it is far from clear which will emerge as winners.
There is clearly a wish to move away from rare earth materials, to ensure safety and move away from fossil fuels.
In my view we are not (quite) there yet, but we are now getting very very close to a breakthrough.
My beacon was turned on before breakfast.
UPDATE 1014z: 22 stations spotting me. Some have spotted me over 60 times!
As I write this piece Israel and Iran are in the middle of a shooting match that will get the world nowhere.
All that will happen is yet more distrust and hatred.
When will people ever learn?
UPDATE 1049z: Yes, they ARE all mad!! Israel, USA and Iran. Mad and stupid.
At the moment I don’t have any plans to return to 8m FT8. Instead I plan a return to 3W 6m FT8 and 200mW 10m WSPR …as long as there is no thunder!!
The Es season is well with us again. The usual sport is working loads of short skip on VHF.
Later in the season people get excited by far more distant E layer propagation such as across the Atlantic.
Often DX may be worked with really low power . Signals can be fleeting but strong and often quite localised.
When I first came to Cambridge I recall hearing 2m AM signals from Italy as strong as locals.
UPDATE 0914z: It looks like 2m Es in Eastern Europe. Today, I may try 2m 3W FT8 rather than 6m FT8.
In the past I had no problems with spelling.
Either as a result of my 2013 stroke or old age, it would appear that I can no longer just see by looking how some words are spelt. It is as if my built-in spell-check no longer works as well as it did.
To close the day, I have QSYed to 8m FT8 on 40.680MHz RX.
UPDATE 1821z: No spots. QRT soon.
If there are copyright issues let me know and I’ll remove it.
Iran has been viewed by many as an evil state, but there are better ways to deal with them.
In the past I have always found the people I have met in and from the USA to be kind and generous. The current situation saddens me.
