20 Meters FT8 Jan 23 2024

Tonight was a good one we did about an hour of FT8 using the following:

• WSJT-X
• HDSDR
• RTL SDR Dongle
• MLA 30 Loop antenna
• Surface Pro Laptop
• No Internet Required To Run The Above!

We were able to pick up transmissions from France 16,726 km from Australia F6FDY & Italy IZ0ZIP they were the farthest away from us tonight.  We did however hit Arizona USA and Guam – Korea – Western Australia and Melbourne Australia.  Over all it was a good night as our antenna is just sitting in our window at the QTH. 

The purpose of us posting these reports one or 2 weekly is to show people that love radio that you don’t have to have a HAM radio license to not only listen but actively engage in SWL and Radio.  We are sending out 20 QSL cards to people we picked up tonight and most will send us one back. 

Our station in the photos below you will see in this blog post shows where we are and that we are a shortwave station. There is an accurate report of the stations we picked up and their distances from Australia. You can also see the frequency and program we used to collect this information and it happens in almost real time.

Another cool bit is anyone on HAM radio that is using PSK Reporter can see us on as well.  This is what we mean by taking SWL to a new level.  When you know how to put all the pieces together you can have lots of fun!

Below in the slide show you can see HDSDR & WSJT-X – Our Station On PSK Reporter – Distance to USA Station & The Nights Log of stations heard by my station! Great Tool For Checking Your SWL Reception!

SWLérs can be more active right from inside their home or doing it QRP in a park.  We can send QSL cards and test our antennas while we are out.  My equipment fits in my Mini Laptop bag and I have a 65 watt power bank as well with me – My Surface pro laptop & tablet  – RTLSDR dongle – Mini antenna extender that coils 20 feet CLICK HERE to see antenna $20 on Amazon / The Antenna we connect to the dongle is this one CLICK HERE  & that’s it for QRP go anywhere and setup not bad.

We will keep doing more tests on FT8 and a few other modes as well and post results so that you can see what we doing and maybe get yours going.

If you have not joined our Digital Radio Group what are you waiting for?  Go to our Home page and scroll down to Digital Radio Club – click on More info for More info

73’s till the next one CJ – VK2021SWL – WRYG735