Field operations resume!

A few spare hours today saw a clear-out and check-out of the 'countryside shack' after the winter break.

The good old TS-480 worked without a hitch, as did the Raspberry Pi and its screen.

The loaded dipole, showing top disc end load.  Matches all bands 20-6m.

I generally now use the end-loaded vertical dipole, which is very useful in this period of variable and often unpredictable propagation.  Power is from a standard 70Ah car battery, which is fed by a 60W mono solar panel.

Though simple, the dipole gets out well.  Here are a few plots, starting with 20m, of FT8 stations hearing my 15W over an hour or so this afternoon.  I even managed a few reports on 12m (not shown)! 

Reception reports of FT8, 14MHz.

18MHz.

21MHz.

About 10 minutes' worth of 1W WSPRing, 14MHz.