Wq2xdm

08/24/2026

In the words of Monty Python "and now for something completely different". I'm going to switch it up and go from my 8 meter quarter wave ground plane to my G5RV that runs at a dog leg. So, we're switching from a vertical antenna to a horizontal antenna. I have used the G5RV antenna on 6 and 10 meters with great results, so it should work fine on 8 meters. My Palstar tuner will tune anything.

08/23/2026

I ran FT8 all week with very dismal results 😢 on 4 meters. I will be going back to 8 meters today on the top and bottom of the even hours @ 40.680 MHz. Tracking through PSK Reporter from EL98bt (Central Florida)

08/19/2026

UPDATE: TX/RX on 4 meter FT8 @ 70.154 since Monday 7am-9pm EDT Top/Bottom of the hour from EL98bt

08/08/2026

I Will be running 8 meter FT8 all day on the top and bottom of the odd hours. 40.680/1700

08/05/2026

I have ceased 4 meter WSPR, maybe 2 signal reports total. 8 meters is not much better. I guess I will give it a few more days and then go back to 8 meter FT8.

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08/02/2026

Good morning and welcome this Sunday here in Central Florida. So with lots of research I found out that there is a service menu on the 710 that Yaesu says does not exist. In this mode you can actually transmit anywhere without having to do the Mars mod. But it's temporary. As soon as you shut the radio off it'll reset itself. For me though it works perfect to get on 8 meters. I will be running 8 meter WSPR around the clock the next few days on 40.680.

07/22/2026

In case you are wondering how I am scheduling two separate transmitters/antennas and wsjtx programs on two separate computers, I am using a program called Auto Hotkey. Here is the 8 meter script. 4 meters is exactly the same, but on the odd hours. The reason for this is to prevent both transmitters from keying at the same time. Probably no chance of damage, by why chance it?

AutoHotkey v2.0
Force

lastAction := ""

SetTimer(CheckWSPR, 5000)

CheckWSPR()
{
global lastAction

hour := Integer(FormatTime(, "H"))
minute := Integer(FormatTime(, "m"))

; 8 meters only on EVEN hours
if Mod(hour, 2) = 0
{
; Turn ON at :00
if minute = 0 && lastAction != hour . "ON"
{
ToggleTX()
lastAction := hour . "ON"
}

; Turn OFF at :40
if minute = 40 && lastAction != hour . "OFF"
{
ToggleTX()
lastAction := hour . "OFF"
}
}
}

ToggleTX()
{
if WinExist("ahk_exe wsjtx.exe")
{
WinActivate("ahk_exe wsjtx.exe")
WinWaitActive("ahk_exe wsjtx.exe",, 3)
Sleep(500)
Send("!n")
}
}

07/22/2026

4 meters through 7/21/2026

22 unique 4-meter reception reports
7 reporting stations
3 countries/entities: United States, Canada, and Bonaire
Longest report: PJ4MM, Bonaire — 2,331 km / about 1,448 miles
Date range: June 19 through July 20, 2026

Reporting stations were WQ2XIL, WB2IMB, N0KQX, VE3SLO, N2OTO, PJ4MM, and KQ4TCL.

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