Sunday 30th Dec - FT8

Tomorrow morning from 0700z, at least two SOTA activations will be taking place using FT8 mode on 20m. Would anyone else like to have a go and attempt some FT8 S2S.

I will of course be putting out general calls for all chasers too, and using at least one other mode.

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Hi Tom,

The local weather forecast says plenty of snow and no visibility.

I will be looking for FT8 activators from home.

Good Luck!
73 Heinz

Tom
Sorry ! tomorrow is a working day for me.
Have a good fun.
73 Roger

Me too - but at night!

Hi Tom,
I see your alert at 7:00, I will be active on summit not before 8:30…
I’d like to close the year with a ft8 s2s! if you can wait me.
I will try to contact you in digital mode.
see you tomorrow
73
Roby

Yes Roby I will operate until at least 0900.

Anyone else going to try to join us on 20m FT8 tomorrow morning 0700-0900z? Could be an interesting SOTA experiment!

Too dark and windy for an activation in Iceland this early. I will check from home, the band may open before 9:00z.
I took a look at my logs, this year I have 44 qso from 9 activations on FT8. The known SOTA chasers were ON4VT, G3VXJ, SA4BLM, G0VWP, IK2LEY, SP9MOV and DL3JPN.
I usually mention FT8 in the alert but do not self spot.
-Einar

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Will on Tom 0700hrs will look for you.

Clg now 14.092 FT8 , WSJT-X 2.0.

1210Hz TX even

Not surprising, but the 20m band is not open to any where with FT8 activity. Did one qso to England on 40m.

-Einar

Couldn’t decide whether to put this is this thread, or the SOTA on Tour thread. Anyway…

Sunday 30th December 2018 - The Cloud G/SP-015 & Gun G/SP-013

Gig: Matt Philips
Venue: Mytton Fold Golf Club, Langho, Blackburn

A repeat of one of the Lancashire summits might seem more sensible for this, but the drummer booked on the gig was also from Macclesfield and we’d arranged to travel together - making “SOTA En Route” not really appropriate. In any case, I was keen to get out early and try for a DX S2S on 20m FT8.

Alas, the hoped-for QSO with Willis BX2AFU never came off. We were QRV simultaneously on 14.092MHz FT8, but I don’t think either of us appeared in each others’ WSJT-X display.

The good thing about operating away from the hustle and bustle of 14.074MHz was the time and space to work four consecutive SOTA chasers. That I did enjoy. In total I made 12 QSOs on FT8, with ER1PB (Moldova) and EA9ACD (Ceuta & Melilla) being the highlights. Thank you to Heinz OE5EEP for emailing me these screenshots:

2018%20Dec%2030%20SP-015%201

I then switched to 20m SSB for the S2S with EA1/CT2GSN/P on EA1/PO-026 before finishing with a couple on 2m FM.

Despite the damp weather, there was no surface water anywhere on the path up to Gun G/SP-013. The summit was shrouded in mist though, which was a little cold and damp. Just two QSOs were made on the 2m FM handheld; I’d really just gone for the walk for this one.

Tomorrow’s SOTA will be a little bit more genuinely “on the way to a gig”, but again probably won’t appear in the Tour thread as it will bring up a different landmark for me! More on that tomorrow…

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Hi,!
back home now,
It was a very windy day.
I activated i / lo-230 in 20m cw, before I tried in ft8 mode but it was a total failure, I had problem with modulation.
Speaker was able but when I plug in jack cable on kx3, ALC wasn’t working.

When I went back to the park. I carried on to Bisbino mountain i/lo241. Here the wind was even stronger and I could not mount the hf antenna. so I decided to activate the top in 2m fm.
Tom see you next year for qso in ft8.
73
HNY

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Hi Tom,

I heard BX2AFU earlier. He was very weak (don’t remeber his dB) and I could not get through.

On 20m FT8 I run 8W from my KX3 into a 3-el tribander. Contrary to the common myth that FT8 is a weak signal mode I always get reports 10 - 15 db below what I give. The only explanation is that other stations run up to 100W or more. Therefore I usually call only stations whose signals are close or above 0dB to have a chance of a response. This calculation obviously does not apply to low power portable stations.

It was a good idea to operate at 14.092 far away from the pack. We might consider to adopt this for SOTA FT8! It was surprising to see how crowded the FT8 sub-band was and how empty it is a few kHz above.

For me 30m would be even better, but I know, you have no antenna for 30m (hint!)

From the screen shots you can see that your signal strength increased with passing of the grayline and plateaued at around -5dB.

If you plan further SOTA activations with FT8 I am ready from home. I have no mobile set-up and given my experience so far I will not delve into mobile FT8. Nothing tops the simplicity and efficacy of CW as a simple (read: no cabels, no computer, no additional weight) weak signal mode! This statement should not stop others to pursue what they like (and carry whatever they can carry onto a summit)!

73 Heinz

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