Category Archives: FT8

Worked Crozet FT8WW

Posted on January 3, 2023 by robert

I had put about six hours into trying to work FT8WW on 30m during his first week.  I found that propagation wasn’t the greatest as he was decoding around -22.  My luck changed yesterday (Jan 2), as signal levels were … Continue reading →

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Another Winter Project

Posted on August 13, 2022 by robert

I’m always thinking ahead.  The record-breaking summer heat and humidity (rare but becoming more common for Rhode Island) is making me think of the fall and winter, which are great times for radio projects. I’ve fallen in love with QRP-LABS.COM, … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Mode, FT8, QRP | Leave a comment

Outstanding DX!

Posted on May 5, 2022 by robert

It has been very exciting to participate in 17/15/12/10-meter openings these days.  China, Indonesia, Nepal, etc. are pretty easy pickings.  I’ve started running 15 and 10m on the CWT contests. The image below is 17-meter FT8 – wall to wall … Continue reading →

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Worked VK5PW on 160m this morning

Posted on October 20, 2021 by robert

I’ve only heard Australian stations a couple of times on 160m, but they have never heard me before.  This morning broke the curse, and I was able to work VK5PW on 160m via grey-line.  Now I’m hoping that he uploads … Continue reading →

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Six Meters Amazing

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Bob Beatty

I’m not really a 6m person, in fact I don’t have a decent antenna, but I have to admit things are hopping.  I’m seeing Spain, Canary Islands to the East, and California to the West. Decoding 24-30 stations each 15 … Continue reading →

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VP8PJ FT8 Success 18.095 MHz

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Bob Beatty

It took slightly less than 30 minutes to work VP8PJ on FT8 this morning around 9:30 AM local time (14:30 UTC).  There pretty much was a wall of EU stations (understandable), but despite occasional deep fades, eventually I got through … Continue reading →

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How rare is 5BDXCC – Part 2

Posted on October 8, 2019 by robert

I received a nice note from Sharon Taratula, the Awards Manager at the ARRL today.  She mentioned that the 5BDXCC award is so old that it predates computers, so all records are on paper.  She also indicated that the most … Continue reading →

Posted in 160-Meters, DX, FT4, FT8 | Leave a comment

First FT4 QSO

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Bob Beatty

I finally bit the bullet and installed WSJT-X version 2.1.0-rc5  I figured why let everyone else have all the fun!  (I can admit that debugging new software can be a huge time investment). Anyway, installation went fine, but you must … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Mode, FT4, FT8, LotW, WSJT-X | 4 Comments

Joe Taylor’s upcoming FT-4 and the value of bit shaping

Posted on April 24, 2019 by robert

I was watching a video of Joe Taylor giving a presentation at the Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club (Thanks, Bob W1YRC, for that reference).  Joe started giving some details of his upcoming FT-4 protocol (starts at 15:35 mark).  FT-4 might … Continue reading →

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10,000 QSOs in the Log

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Bob Beatty

How appropriate, on the first day of winter, for a non-fan of cold weather, snow & ice, that I should reach QSO #10,000 in my logbook?  My small contribution to the one billion QSOs entered into LotW as of 12/19. … Continue reading →

Posted in From the OM, FT8, LotW, Operating | Leave a comment