6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear has been on most of the day.

UPDATE 1908z: So far, spotted by 176 stations, mainly Es in Europe. I think I need to try re-installing WSJT-X or get a new PC. It seems to fail to upload spots I make and cannot access certain memory locations as if my hard drive is failing. Never seen this before. Seems to work fine unless the program tries to use these memory locations.

6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0851z.

UPDATE  0856z: So far, 5 spots with some Es.

15m FT8 RX (Wednesday)

 For a change, I QSYed to 15m FT8 RX at about 1545z.

6m 1W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on after breakfast.

UPDATE 1333z:  37 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 2129z:   By chance I went back on 6m FT8 this evening. My 1W FT8 was spotted across the Atlantic by VO1SIX (3931km) and VO1NC (3755km). Now QRT on 6m.

UPDATE 2135z:  52 stations have spotted my 1W 6m FT8.

CB FT8

 A few days ago I read that 27.265MHz was a popular spot for CB FT8, so I am monitoring it.

UPDATE 1436z:  329CZ045 (1020km) has appeared on PSKreporter screen from the Czech Republic. I guess I must mug up on CB callsigns!

UPDATE 1556z:  Spotting several CBers in southern Europe. Many of the callsigns mean nothing to me! I need to search these on Google.

UPDATE 1559z:   A useful resource appears to be https://www.radio-workshop.co.uk/pdf/cb-callsigns-table.pdf.

UPDATE 2057z: 11 stations have been spotted. See map. Now QRT. That was quite interesting. 27.265  will be worth monitoring in the quiet years when 10m appears dead.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0715z.

UPDATE 1326z : 22 stations spotting me.  Best is K3FEF (5590km). See map  from WSPR Rocks.

6m 1W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 0600z. 

UPDATE 0625z: Just UK spots so far.

UPDATE 0803z: Plenty of Es stations from southern Europe. Power set at 1W (was 5W).

UPDATE 1404z: My 1W 6m FT8 spotted by 368 stations so far today with the best VE1PZ (4504km). Yet again across the Atlantic with 1W on 6m. See map of stations spotting my 1W 6m FT8 today.

6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

 

Stations spotting my 3W 6m FT8 today at 0810z

My gear has been on since before breakfast.

UPDATE 0810z:  66 stations have spotted me. I see Europeans (better equipped than me!) are working the Far East on 6m FT8.

Stations spotted here today on 6m FT8

UPDATE 1813z:  Spotted by 357 stations with the best UN0GY (5528km). Yet again 6m was open to the USA and Caribbean. Although I could spot stations, my 1W was not enough. 

6m 500mW FT8 (Wednesday)

Still plenty of Es on 6m.

UPDATE 1923z:  So far today, my 500mW 6m FT8  has been spotted by 201 stations.

6m 500mW FT8 (Tuesday)

 It was late afternoon before I went on.

UPDATE 1845z: Spotted by 27 stations in Europe.

Yesterday on 6m FT8

Yesterday was another good 6m day. 

My 500mW FT8 was spotted widely by 358 stations in the last day including KP4AA (6905km) in the Caribbean.  So my 500mW 6m FT8 has now been spotted across the Atlantic twice in 2 days!

On RX, several stations in the USA were spotted on 6m FT8. The map shows the stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX yesterday.

6m 500mW FT8 (Monday)

 My gear was turned on mid-morning.

UPDATE 1026z:  Spotted by 69 stations with the best D4L (4517km) in Cape Verde Islands. Good Es again today with 500mW.

UPDATE 1533z:  Spotted by 281 stations today. On 6m FT8 RX quite a few stations in the USA and Caribbean have been spotted.

This is far from scientific, but the impression I get with Es is that 6m QRP FT8 TX is more productive than 10m QRP WSPR. I know this is like comparing apples with pears, but it seems easier with 6m FT8 than 10m WSPR. On 10m I run 200mW whereas on 6m 500mW.  I would guess ERPs are similar. WSPR can decode far weaker signals, but needs far longer. I guess Es conditions often are fleeting and less suited to WSPR.

Yesterday with 500mW 6m FT8

Even with just 500mW FT8 from the rig, cheap CB coax and a V2000 omni antenna I was spotted deep in the USA on 6m. 

There were lots of USA stations spotted on RX and 80 stations spotted overall after a mid-afternoon start.

500mW seems quite enough!

6m 500mW FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 1415z.

UPDATE 1428z:  Spotted by F6BNX (1099km) and EA8JF (2831km).

6m 500mW FT8 (Sunday) - not yet!

My shack PC is playing up again. 

When I try to enter my PIN, it thinks I am offline. Apparently this is a common issue with Windows.  Last time it just fixed itself, so I shall try again later with fingers crossed.

My intention was to try 500mW FT8 today on 6m.

6m 2W FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0620z.

UPDATE 1924z: Spotted by 241 stations today. Tomorrow I shall probably try 500mW FT8. QRT soon.

2m 5W FT8 (Friday)

 For a change, I am on 2m FT8 with 5W to the big-wheel omni antenna.

UPDATE 1537z:  So far, spotted by 10 English stations. Furthest is G7RAU (460km) in Cornwall.

6m 3W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on about 0900z.

UPDATE 1817z: So far spotted by 152 stations today.  Mostly European Es.

6m 3W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear was turned on at teatime.

UPDATE 2010z:   Spotted by 78 stations this evening.

Effective FT8 communications

 FT8 is a popular mode, especially if you are chasing DX. This video gives some tips to optimise FT8. I think sometimes people use FT8 in preference to SSB or FM. This is good in the short-term, but most are very unlikely to find the hobby by chance.