2m wide open

Stations spotting me on 

2m FT8 in the last hour.

A local friend in the village Richard G3TFX alerted me that 2m is wide open. He tells me he just worked a station in Windermere who was using a handheld and 2.5W. I decided to call CQ at 2.5W to the big-wheel with FT8. No QSOs yet (apart from 1 G), but reports from several European countries with the best report being by OZ1BEF (721km). I shall stay on RX when I go to bed. On RX best DX is SM7MMQ (930km).

UPDATE 1055z: My best report (me on TX FT8 at 2.5W to the big-wheel) is SQ6POM (1059km). 3 QSOs so far, all Gs). Off to bed so time to switch to RX only.