I had a fun couple of hours this afternoon. I found my 30m band Delta Loop antenna packed away in the loft, got it out and put it up in the garden, 1.2:1 SWR across the band and I was soon listening to Morse conversations on the band.
Connecting my MacBook Pro to the Yaesu FTDX10 I soon had WSJT-X FT8 mode running and started working a few stations. I found I needed to reduce the output from the Apple MacBook so that the ALC on the radio barely moved, this tidied up the transmitted signal and ensured I wasn’t splattering. Setting the radio O/P to 10w my first contact was into Cyprus, followed by a couple of contacts into Ukraine.
One thing I did notice was how strong many of the signals were. I’m sure some operators are using huge power levels on the FT8 part of the band with some of the signals +10db or more over S9. FT8 is supposed to be a weak signal mode, there really is no need for huge power levels. The funny thing is, many of these high powered stations are heard by DX stations but, they don’t hear the them coming back to them, classic case of shouting louder than they can hear. There really is no point being heard if your station isn’t capable of hearing the replies coming back.
I’d forgotten how good my Delta Loop antennas are, super quiet on receive and great for finding weak signals on the band.
I checked the PSK Reporter site to see where I’d been heard and was pleasantly surprised to see I was heard in Australia! I did call an Australian station but, never got a reply from him, so it was great to get confirmation that my signal was making the trip.
Due to the direction of my garden the antenna is beaming north west / south east, long path to Australia. It’s amazing how 10w of RF can cover almost 9000 miles!
So what next?
Well, I need to purchase some coaxial cable as the bits I have from France have gone stiff/brittle and really are past their shelf life.
I also need to buy some wire to start making some antennas. I’m going to put together a top loaded vertical for the 160/80/40m bands and some delta loops for the higher bands.
I’m also going to make some end fed half wave verticals for 20m and upwards.
Lots to do, if only the weather would improve!
More soon …