There have been Es openings in Europe on 10m and 6m, but nothing yet to suggest my 10mW ERP 8m WSPR would be copied. This is the power that anyone may use licence free with ISM rules in the UK as long as IR2030 is met.
I still have to replace my 8m dipole. I shall probably do this the week after this. Hopefully someone during this Es season will get my 10mW ERP WSPR on 40.680 MHz USB dial. My reluctance is ladder work as I get giddy up ladders!
There are two factors working against me - the low power and too few 8m monitors. Results on 10m suggest 10mW should be enough, but 8m suffers from too few monitors. However, I remain hopeful.
Es is usually good during May, June and July. In my experience the season goes on during July, August and September, but it is on the wane by August.
My 2.5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was turned on at about 0915z. So far, just one local spot.
UPDATE 0950z: 9 spots of me.
EA8BFK (2880km) has spotted me multiple times (F2?). At 500uW this would probably not have been possible.
UPDATE 1922z: So far, just EA8BFK has spotted my 10m 10mW WSPR over 100 times!! This looks like single hop F2. I was surprised nobody else spotted me. Perhaps his noise floor is exceptionally low.
On Saturday, we went to Wicken Fen. Although we saw swallows, we saw no swifts. The odd straggler may have arrived, but most have not. Once they arrive they will be quite common.
Not a bad session overnight. No great DX spots of me and I continue to be really disappointed by how few people there are on TX in the UK. For now I am staying with 630m QRP WSPR.
