24 Jan 2021

2m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

At about 0950z, my 2m FT8 gear was turned on. Running , as usual, 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. It is now 0956z and I have been spotted by 6 stations already.

UPDATE 1000z: Already a spot of my QRP 2m FT8 by EI2FG (565km).

UPDATE 1445z: 17 stations have, so far, spotted my 2.5W 2m FT8 QRP on TX. These include spots in Eire, N.Ireland and Germany. Considering no beams here, quite credible, although this seems possible with 2m FT8 QRP at almost any time. As the times seem so frequent and random, I am not convinced this is aircraft reflection. I am still wondering if FT8 allows some other sort of scattering to be possible with QRP?

UPDATE 1844z:
23 stations have spotted my 2m FT8 QRP today (see map). On SSB these sort of distances would only be possible with lots of power and a big yagi high up. And remember, I see this every day with just 2.5W and a big-wheel omni.

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