6m 1W FT8 (Tuesday)

 

My gear was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE 1657z:  10 stations spotting me.  See map.

6m 1W FT8 (Monday)

My 6m gear is on. 

UPDATE 1415z: 14 stations spotting me so far including several in Spain and Portugal. See map.

6m 1W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear has been on most of the day.

UPDATE 1526z:  9 stations (all British Is) have spotted me.  The Es seaon is well and truly over!

6m 1W FT8 (Friday)

 My gear has been on all day.

UPDATE 1545z: 11 stations have spotted me.

6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE 1045z:  11 stations have spotted me in 5 countries including GI, GM and OZ. See map.

UPDATE 1244z:  14 stations have spotted me today. I wonder if the EI, who recently spotted me, was by aircraft reflection? That may account for some other DX spots.

70cm FT8 activity contest

It never fails to amaze me how far I can copy stations on 70cm FT8 RX. Last night was the UKAC FT8 activity contest and 30 stations in 7 countries were spotted despite me having just a 2m big-wheel omni antenna! See map. 

6m 1W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at about 1300z.

UPDATE 1307z: Just one spot by GW4VXE (365km). As the spot was quite strong I wonder if this was aircraft scatter?

UPDATE 1746z: Spotted by 9 stations (G, GW and EI). No continentals. I suppose as we move higher in frequency local noise will improve and scatter becomes more effective.

10m 1W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0645z.

UPDATE 1056z:  Just 1 local spotting me.  I was surprised. The SSN is quite good as is the solar flux.  Maybe there is even less activity now the Es season is over?

UPDATE 1529z:  Increased my power to 3W. I was worried that my 1W signal was being buried in local noise? This noise is increasing on the HF bands and lower VHF bands, getting worse as you go lower. I do not have a problem on 6m FT8. 3 stations spotting me, probably tropo.

UPDATE 1642z: Spotted by 8 stations (see map). Now QSYed to 10m 200mW WSPR.

2m 1W FT8 (Monday)

As there was no Es evident on 6m, I switched to 2m FT8 at 1W, getting a QSO with a Belgian station on my first call! 

If this was SSB I would be very pleased, but it is far easier on FT8. My antenna is just an omni big-wheel, so nothing special.

6m 1W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 0610z.

UPDATE 0728z: 7 English stations spotting me.

6m 1W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 0808z.

UPDATE 2008z: Just 15 stations spotting me from Wales and England plus 1 in Germany.

6m 1W FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear has been on most of the day. Spotted by 6 stations with the best OH2FQV (1713km).

6m 1W FT8 (Friday)

 

My gear has been on most of the day, but QRT soon.  In all, 12 stations have spotted me (see map).

2m FT8 activity contest

Stations spotted on 2m FT8
yesterday evening

My 2m antenna is just a big-wheel omni with perhaps a very slight gain in the horizontal plane. 

It never fails to astound me how far away stations can be spotted. 

I wonder if with FT8 we can tap into weak troposcatter signals?

6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0754z.

UPDATE 1510z:  12 stations spotting me. No Es evident.

144MHz FT8 activity contest

The 2m FT8 activity contest is this evening. I am on RX only. 

UPDATE 1927z: It never fails to amaze me how far away stations can be copied on FT8. I have already copied stations along way away in many countries. See map.

6m 1W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0620z. 

UPDATE 1409z:  8 stations spotting me. See map.

UPDATE 1551z:  10 stations spotting me.

6m 1W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on at about 0950z.

UPDATE 0938z: Spotted by just 1 English station so far. Outside of the Es season, many abandon 6m.

UPDATE 1742z:  Spotted by 8 stations. I suspect some are aircraft reflections? Some may be Es. QRT soon.

6m 1W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on before breakfast.

UPDATE 1906z:  Spotted by 27 stations across Europe. QRT soon.

6m 1W FT8 (Sunday)

 My gear should be on at about 0915z.

UPDATE 1335z:  Gear turned on at 0936z.  14 stations spotting me.