today was a real first for me. Completed my first successful FT8 contact on 20m using a homebrew antenna annd a Z-match I build from a kit. This is also my first ever successful HF contact.
Antenna work/play time today. I'm testing a little 20m dipole that I built in an inverted V config. It seems to be working well. Low SWR and being heard well on #FT8 - nicer radiation pattern than my sloper EFHW
#amateurradio sort of afternoon.
Pretty good conditions on 10m / 28MHz with strong North American stations although the QSB was also strong.
Got into the New York 10m repeater and made a couple of contacts.
I would have got into the London Ontario repeater but it was hogged by a couple of blokes talking politics for over an hour!
I resorted to #FT8 and got Kentucky, Sth Carolina & Georgia before getting bored.
Still nothing heard on my new 4m / 70MHz handheld!
Been staring at #meshtastic#lora radios for a little bit now. Should probably play with the radios I already have, though. Been a hot minute since I've touched anything radio related. I think I enjoy theory more than communications, which is why #ft8 was so nice for me. I am quite mic shy.