28 Jan 2020

80m FT8 with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Just for a change I am trying 80m FT8.

At this frequency some may argue that as much energy is radiated by the wire running along the garden fence as is radiated by the "loop in the ground". I cannot be sure.

Anyway, it certainly works. I had to use my FT991A auto-ATU to get a low SWR and I am still limiting power to 10W so my PSU is well within its ratings (20A max).

So far this afternoon, my CQs have been spotted across Europe and I have spotted 77 stations on FT8 RX with best DX R4IK (3218km).

UPDATE 1938z: So far this evening plenty of EU stations spotting my 10W. On 80m FT8 RX 298 stations spotted so far.
Stations spotting my 10W FT8 TX so far
UPDATE 2047z: Now 359 stations spotted today on 80m FT8 RX.
80m FT8 RX so far today

1 comment:

  1. Interesting results. One qualitative way to tell if ground currents are large is with a whip field strength meter at the electrodes end of the wire. If no ground current the E-field strength will be high. If conduction ground currents are high then E-field should be continuous along the wire.

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