One thing that I’ve really enjoyed about FT8 is the ability to work smaller stations around the world. In contesting parlance, these are second tier stations – stations that aren’t necessarily running big power and big antennas.
It’s been a lot of fun on FT8 to work, for example, more SVs and TAs than ever before. Guys running 100w with a balcony or rooftop antenna in Athens or Istanbul are workable.
Last night on 30m, I had a great “deep Russia” run on 30m. Check it out:
2020-05-01,01:43:30,2020-05-01,01:44:45,UA9JLL,MP23,10.137300,FT8,-08,-14,,,
2020-05-01,01:49:30,2020-05-01,01:50:45,UA9LL,MO27,10.137300,FT8,-08,-17,,,
2020-05-01,01:52:00,2020-05-01,01:53:15,RA4LY,LO44,10.137300,FT8,-12,-06,,,
2020-05-01,01:53:45,2020-05-01,01:55:15,R1QA,KO99,10.137300,FT8,-10,-12,,,
2020-05-01,01:56:15,2020-05-01,01:57:15,UA4HJ,LO43,10.137300,FT8,-11,-10,,,
2020-05-01,01:59:00,2020-05-01,02:00:15,KE6PLA,DM04,10.137300,FT8,-08,-11,,,
2020-05-01,02:01:15,2020-05-01,02:02:15,RA9WAN,,10.137300,FT8,-09,-17,,,
2020-05-01,02:02:45,2020-05-01,02:05:15,KD4IE,EL98,10.137300,FT8,-08,-19,,,
2020-05-01,02:07:30,2020-05-01,02:10:15,W6JCH,DM13,10.137300,FT8,-07,-09,,,
2020-05-01,02:15:45,2020-05-01,02:17:15,VE7UM,CN89,10.137300,FT8,-17,-16,,,
2020-05-01,02:19:45,2020-05-01,02:20:45,UA4CCH,LO21,10.137300,FT8,-07,-20,,,
2020-05-01,02:27:15,2020-05-01,02:30:14,RW0AR,NO66,10.137300,FT8,-23,-20,,,
2020-05-01,02:30:45,2020-05-01,02:31:45,AD0WX,EM48,10.137300,FT8,-02,-03,,,
2020-05-01,02:32:30,2020-05-01,02:33:45,UA6HJT,LN14,10.137300,FT8,-16,-18,,,
2020-05-01,02:37:45,2020-05-01,02:38:45,RK4R,,10.137300,FT8,-06,-15,,,
2020-05-01,02:39:45,2020-05-01,02:40:45,R4IK,,10.137300,FT8,-06,-13,,,
2020-05-01,02:42:00,2020-05-01,02:42:45,R2DRE,,10.137300,FT8,-05,-17,,,
2020-05-01,02:43:30,2020-05-01,02:44:45,RK7C,LN05,10.137300,FT8,+00,-14,,,
2020-05-01,02:51:30,2020-05-01,03:58:01,RK4PH,LO45,10.137300,FT8,-13,-14,,,
I think this is what makes FT8 great. It’s opened up a pretty great world for small stations. I run simple antennas and low power but I know my signal predictability can reach most corners of the world at certain times on certain frequencies that I could not get too on SSB or CW.