2019-12-29
New countries.. on the 70 centimeter band 3 weeks ago
I saw reports of special propagation on the 2 meter band and even on 70 centimeters today. Normally I can get something further than line of sight on 2 meter and line of sight is the hard limit on 70 centimeter. But with some propagation types it's different and signals can get further. So I tried FT8 on both bands and got Belgium, France, Germany and England in the log on 70cm and new callsigns on both bands. Denmark still got away, I had an almost-contact with a Danish station on 70 centimeters but it stopped after the initial exchange. This is all with the vertical antenna on the roof. I wonder what a beam or big wheel antenna for 70cm or 2meter could do. At the same time I spun the dial on the remote HF radio so I also got some calls in the log on 20 meters. Update: Current distance record on the 70 cm band is 803 kilometers to F8DBF in France and the first contact with Denmark has been made.