SV8/SP5ISZ

September 14, 2018 Marek SP5ISZ announced that he had started up QRP from the island of Milos. He had an ICOM 703 (10W only) with a 7.5 Ah battery, an LW 41m antenna about 6m above the ground, about 50m from the sea on the beach. With a 9: 1 transformer, the antenna has tuned up from 3.5 MHz upwards. Calling CQ did not give anything, the call of the station which he heard on 59+ was more effective. He made 6 contacts with G, DK, PB, SM with reports from 51 to 57. Conditions were difficult. 3.5 MHz totally empty. 7 MHz several stations, 14 MHz as normal to noon, then the level of interference exceeded S9. The next day on Sunday around 9 am (local time) I managed to make contact with Marek with quite good audibility in both directions.

On Monday morning, Marek as SV8/SP5ISC/p tried to call on 14 MHz. After receiving the SMS, I appeared on the band, but I didn’t catch Marek.  After an hour of CQ and 1 contact with the German from Frankfurt, Marek decided that swimming in the sea makes more sense. Strong wind was blowing. The tent did not fly because it was heavily loaded. I attach a picture showing the work conditions of Marek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miro SP5GNI

 

Number of Comments: 2

  • Worse than propagation conditions were local insects. I worked from a rural area, where sheep and goats are more numerous than people. With livestock came flies. The usual 15% DEET insect repellent was unable to get rid of them. I received multiple bites, after which I moved the QTH to our rented house, with much worse antenna conditions and no swimming. Overall I am quite happy with the SV8/ operation. All my equipment worked OK and I even had a few DX QSOs. With SSB operation having 100W is much more fun than 10W, but carrying a car battery to the beach is no fun at all. It’s time to go CW or digital.
    Marek SP5ISZ

    Reply
  • Yes, in the face of the exploding popularity of the FT8 mode, it makes sense, especially for QRP.
    During the rehearsals, there is a new mode called FT8Call, probably the name JS8 will be accepted, see http://js8call.com/. The software has been restructured and redesigned for keyboard-to-keyboard message passing. For now there are trial versions, I am waiting until December 2018 for the first official version.
    Mirek SP5GNI

    Reply

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