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         de N2MLP Brian

       Monroe County PA

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I have always used PSK Reporter.info maps to track band/mode activity.

Currently (4:46 UTC), they are showing 70 PSK31 signals being heard by monitoring stations on all bands in the past 15 minutes, with almost half of those signals on 20 meters. There is some DX traffic between the US and Canada and various parts of Europe. so that is promising.

However, in contrast, there are 2437 signals using FT8 in that same 15 min period involving stations in North America, South America, the Carribean, Europe, Asia (including Japan), South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Although the largest number of signals are on 20 meters, there are some on every band from 160 meters up to 6 meters

I have not tried FT8, but I have got to admit that with poor band conditions during weak solar cycles, modes like FT8 and JT9/JT65 might be the best option for making contacts, especially if you are looking for DX. As a proponent of PSK, and PSK31 in particular, that is not an easy admission for me to make.

Ray N9RWC