August has turned out to be a very enjoyable month on the bands, with plenty of activity from the home QTH and some particularly interesting DX finding its way into the log.
By the figures, the month produced 342 QSOs, with 312 unique callsigns worked across 67 countries. Even more interestingly, I added 18 new Maidenhead grid squares, all of them on HF.
For anyone who enjoys the geographical side of amateur radio, those 18 new squares tell quite a story. They stretched from North America and South America through Europe, Africa and into Asia and the Pacific. Among the new grids were DN19, worked with VE7RK in Canada, EK70 with TI5RR in Costa Rica, GG98 with PY1GB in Brazil, KH44 with 9J2FI, PM97 with JA0EME in Japan and QN23 with JF8CFI.
The highlight: Chad
Perhaps the standout achievement of the month was adding Chad as a new DXCC entity.
The contact was with TT1GD, using FT8 on 10 metres. It was also responsible for the new JK72 grid square.
There is something particularly satisfying about seeing a new country appear in the log, especially when it comes with a new grid as well. And doing it on 10m makes it an especially nice addition to the month’s DX.
30 metres doing the business
Thirty metres was another particularly productive band.
Among the new DXCC entities worked during the month were Japan, New Zealand, the US Virgin Islands and Costa Rica, alongside Belgium, San Marino, Madeira and Monaco. These included contacts such as JN3MXT, ZL3BWE, KP2B and TI5RR, all worked using FT8 on 30m.
The new-grid list for 30m is equally impressive, including squares such as PM74 in Japan, RE66 in New Zealand, FK77 in the US Virgin Islands and EK70 in Costa Rica. There was also a particularly good mixture of European, Middle Eastern, Asian and North American locations appearing in the log.
FT8 dominates — but not exclusively
The statistics also show just how much digital operation featured in the month.
Of the 342 QSOs:
- 246 were FT8
- 83 were FT4
- 12 were SSB
- 1 was CW
That means FT8 and FT4 together accounted for the overwhelming majority of the month’s contacts.
It’s easy to think of FT8 simply as a way of making lots of contacts, but looking at the actual log demonstrates why it remains such a fascinating part of the hobby. From the home station, weak-signal digital modes opened up contacts across the world and produced a remarkable collection of new grids.
And there’s still room for the traditional modes. The log contains 12 SSB contacts and one CW contact, so the microphone and key haven’t been completely forgotten!
17 metres leads the way
The band statistics make interesting reading too.
17m was the most active band, with 74 QSOs, followed by:
| Band | QSOs |
|---|---|
| 17m | 74 |
| 20m | 60 |
| 15m | 57 |
| 40m | 56 |
| 30m | 42 |
| 60m | 23 |
| 10m | 19 |
| 12m | 11 |
What I particularly like about these figures is the variety. This wasn’t simply a case of sitting on one band all month. The station was active from 60m right through to 10m, with the higher HF bands producing some excellent DX.
20 metres reaches across the world
Twenty metres produced some excellent contacts as well, including Thailand with HS0ZOY and Luxembourg with LX1JH, both using FT4.
The new-grid list for 20m also includes Japan, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Indonesia and Thailand among others. Contacts such as VE7RK, JA6BZI, JA2QXP, HS0ZOY and 8B81JT illustrate just how far the band was reaching from the home QTH.
A month of collecting grids
For me, one of the most satisfying statistics is the 18 new gridsquares.
They included:
DN19, EK70, FF81, FH17, FN53, GG98, JJ94, JK72, KH44, KN71, KO83, LL85, LO55, NL59, OI62, OK14, PM97 and QN23.
That’s a fascinating collection of locations, and it shows that the month’s activity wasn’t simply about chasing countries. There was plenty of geographical variety within those 342 QSOs.
The numbers behind the month
The report records an average of 11.03 QSOs per day, with FT8 identified as the most-used mode and 17m as the most-active band. There were no satellite or EME QSOs recorded during the period.
One callsign that appeared particularly frequently was IQ4JO, with six QSOs. A number of others appeared twice, including CT3MD, F6BHK, VE3ARF, F4IRP, SP5EXA, HB9MZI and several more.
Looking back at August
Overall, August has been a very productive month from the home QTH.
342 contacts.
312 unique callsigns.
67 countries.
18 new grids.
1 new DXCC entity.
Eight HF bands in use.
And perhaps the most satisfying part is the variety behind those numbers: from Chad on 10m, to Japan and New Zealand on 30m, Canada on 20m, Thailand on FT4 and a whole collection of new squares scattered around the globe.
For a hobby that involves sitting in front of a radio at home, it’s remarkable just how much of the world can pass through the shack.
August certainly proved that the bands still have plenty of surprises waiting to be found.
73, and see you on the bands!