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Fun with FT-8.
23 October 2019 | by  |
| Those hearing me on 20m FT-8 |
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| Those hearing me on 30m FT-8 On 20m I was being heard in Japan, South America, Central America, Europe(including Iceland) and all over the U.S. On 30m FT-8 the food gates opened to Europe and all over the U.S but Japan closed down. Overall I am very pleased with how my Endfed antenna preformed this evening. |
2 Responses to “Fun with FT-8.”
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Hi Mr. Mike.
All I got after trying for almost a hour was VP6R on Pitcairn Island… Sigh…LOL.. FT8 on 30 and 20 meters can be a lot of fun and full of surprises. I have found most evenings, near sunset and a bit after that Japan (I call the rice bowl express) and Hawaii (The Pineapple express), can net me many contacts. Then the shock happens. All of a sudden I will log a EU contact… So that blows any idea I had about how propagation works…
If the FT4 people are on, strap yourself in the chair and get ready for some high speed contacts…
Glad to hear you are settling in to your new place and things are working out. Retirement can be fun and tiring.. Oh my retirement station just got a shocking upgrade. I was telling my xyl about the 7300 group going nuts when one ham asked if anyone would buy a second IC-7300. It was also posted that over 41,000 have been sold to date. Then in passing I mentioned the IC-9700 and how it will never hit 41,000 but for Satellite work it seems to be a winner and looks just like the 7300. She asked how much. I told her. She said I should get one as a early birthday/Christmas gift… I was in shock.. Then I went to qth.com and there was one that was just listed for only $1,200… I jumped at it. Should see it next week.. Now to find buyers for my Kenwood TS-711A and TS-811A…
Hope to work you of FT8 one day soon. So far I have around 8,000 contacts and that is part time. I have a lot of fun with it… Hope you will too.
73 to you and yours
Harry
Good morning Harry and as always it’s great to hear from you, as for DXpeditions and FT-8 I am going to have to do some reading up to find out how that swings. It was during the sunset hours that Japan came in for me and I was being called by other stations in Japan but we just never seemed to make a solid FT contact. I was shocked and having a great time with the sunset contacts.
I will hold off on FT-4 as I am still getting the hang of FT-8 even though it has been out for sometime now I just have had other things on the go. It’s great that this mode came along as with the down turn in the solar it sure is the hot spot to be these days and DX is happening like we are in the high times of a solar cycle…..imagine what it will be like once the sun takes a positive turn and the solar numbers really start to rise.
The 7300 is a very nice radio and since the 7610 came out I am not surprised that the numbers have hit 43,000. Last year around this same time my wife also me to get the 7610 as a Christmas/bday gift. It’s great that you will be looking into an IC 9700! Are they on the second market already…….1200.00 if you get it will be a great deal for a nice rig. If and when you get one it will be great to hear from you and how you like it?
I am sure we will cross on the FT-8 or 4 waterfall one day Harry.
Keep me up to date with how the IC 9700 goes?
Take care and have a great week.
73,
Mike
VE9KK