XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated

EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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700km+ D-STAR contact made on the 70cms UHF band across the Caribbean - Apr 2021

Posted: 28 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/04/700km-d-star-contact-made-on-70cms-uhf.html




I came across details of this QSO recently which I thought was interesting. While long distance contacts in the region of 700kms on the 70cms UHF band
are probably not that unusual in the Caribbean, this one was of interest as
it was via D-STAR, a digital voice mode.
On the 18th of April 2021, Brett PJ2BR on Curacao completed a successful contact with Jose WP4KJJ on Puerto Rico on 432 MHz using D-STAR. See video below.
It's very easy to find videos or information about D-STAR being used for working through local digital repeaters or local contacts but it's unusual
to see it being used for a long distance contact on the 70cms UHF band.
When you think you’ve done it all...Opening on 70cm to Puerto Rico. @WP4KJJ and I had a short DV/Dstar QSO on 70cm!! I am ecstatic! Distance 736Km, DV. Breaks the Covid lockdown routine 😁 One for the books. pic.twitter.com/iEVKESi2Re— Brett Ruiz (@pj2br) April 17, 2021

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Weak opening on 28 MHz - Tues 27th Apr 2021

Posted: 28 Apr 2021 01:00 AM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/04/weak-opening-on-28-mhz-tues-27th-apr.html

Tuesday 27th April 2021: This was one of those days where the signals seem
to be buried in the noise all day with the occasional one being heard.

Just two long distance FT8 reports were uploaded to the PSK Reporter
website, LU9FVS in Argentina and ZD7JC on St Helena Island.LU9FVS 10m FT8 10718 km 18:43:33
ZD7JC 10m FT8 7542 km 18:20:44
The main Sporadic-E opening to Europe was to the south of Spain. I did one
scan of the beacon band when the signals appeared modest but heard
nothing.I really got the impression that FT8 signals need to be up around
S5 before any CW beacons will be heard. Whatever people think about FT8,
it's a great propagation tool.A total of 45 stations in 13 countries were
heard on FT8 and uploaded to the PSK Reporter website.

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