23 May 2022

8m beacons

There is a growing interest around the world in the 8m band for propagation research. 

The band is between 10m and 6m, at the transition between HF and VHF. Sadly, the few beacons there are there are on different frequencies and modes.

In my view, they would be far more use if they all included an FT8 sequence and were all on a single USB dial setting (different audio tones so they are not on top of each other). They could be on 24/7 and widely monitored with ease by many.

Personally, I think we would all benefit from this. Propagation research would be greatly advanced.

FT8 works with weaker signals than CW, WSJT-X software is free, and even very brief openings get spotted.

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