Well once the headphones were repaired and I ran through the starting of the radio software and making sure it was speaking politely to the radio I was off to try my hand at FT8. I was calling CQ on 20m and on
Hamspots my call was being spotted in Europe and I was thrilled! Back at my condo QTH in Toronto, I was only spotted in the U.S. and there was a spot in Iceland as well. It was not long at all until IU8DON from Italy answered my CQ call on FT8!! I was amazed that my signal was making it finally across the ocean. I did not have too much time after the sorting of the software and radio communication testing but the contact with Italy just made my day!
4 comments:
Wow, Mike that is great. I can imagine you were surprised. But the antenna situation compared to toronto has certainly improved. I guess this was on the 20m band? I hope to work you one of these days. 73, Bas
Good morning Bas, yes I was very pleased and surprised for sure. Yes the contact was made on 20m in the early afternoon. I would only imagine that its'a matter of time before we run into each other on the air.
73,
Have a good week
Mike
VE9KK
I'm envious. My condo in Oakville faces the US and although I can hear Euro stations, they can't hear me. I've resorted to making a mobile FT8 station with my ft-857, a battery, hamsticks and an old Android TV box that runs Armbian OS and WSJT-X. It works well. My last outing netted me 9 contacts into Europe including Greenland. So I'm happy to be able to do it but it is cumbersome to set up. I'd rather be able to do it in the comfort of my home.
Congrats again and good DX.
Paul VA3ZC
Good evening Paul and very nice to hear from you, I too was in a condo for a long time and had the same issues with hearing a QSO but not being heard. It really is nice being able to just change bands and not worry about retuning the mag loop. FT8 is a great mode and it's way cool that it came out just as the solar cycle was bottoming out, it sure has kept lots of hams on the air during this time.
Have a great week Paul and thanks for taking the time to comment.
73,
Mike
VE9KK
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