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.
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
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
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:
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…
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
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)!