In the last day my QRP 80m FT8 has been spotted by 58 stations across Europe using just the outer of the coax up to my 2m big-wheel tuned with my ATU. 355 stations have been spotted on RX from across the world on 80m FT8 RX.
3 Jan 2025
80m QRP overnight
2 Jan 2025
30m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
Just to show it works, I tuned the coax outer and ATU up on 30m.
Just because a match can be obtained it does not guarantee efficiency. The ATU may be very inefficient and the antenna may be firing the signal right up!
What it does show is that almost anything can be matched with a suitable ATU, but this does not mean it will work well.
40m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
After the immediate success on 80m FT8, I have now QSYed to 40m FT8 using the coax to my2m big-wheel antenna via the ATU.
It would seem any band within the ATU range would be workable with this setup.
80m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
8m - am I losing my enthusiasm?
It is some time since I went on 8m FT8, preferring to concentrate on 6m FT8 instead. Both in 2024 and 2023 my few watts to a low dipole were enough to reach the USA, Canada, South Africa and the Caribbean as well as all over Europe and into Asia. On 6m QRP FT8 I have reached the USA and Canada by F2 this autumn.
If I can do it with just a few watts and low dipole, a station with more power and a small beam at moderate height would find it much easier.
Stations have worked thousands of miles with just 10mW under ISM rules at 8m. The band would get far more F2 openings than 6m. For Es and MS, I would not expect much difference. Certainly if more countries had 8m available there would be more interest.
When my current 8m TX permit expires in the summer, I do not think it is worth me renewing it. My purpose was to find out what was possible with QRP. I think I now know.
Time for a new challenge!
Does QRP SSB really work?
DXCC with 10W SSB was worked here on 10m back in the 1980s, so DX is rarely chased these days. Interesting to see this video comparing 5W to 45W on 40m SSB. There is a difference, but loads of contacts at 5W.
Getting lighter - NOT amateur radio
It has been getting a bit lighter in the evening for some days but it now starts to get lighter in the mornings too.
Psychologically this marks an important turning point for me with lighter days ahead. It is slow at first. We are heading in the right direction!
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