Happy to be back on 80m as SWL!

 I used to work on 80m in late 1980s when the solar cycle started going down and propagation on 40m started deteriorating. I made necessary changes in my homebrew 3 x 807 TX and used my Philips Prestige BC radio as RX. I could tie an 80m dipole on top of tall coconut trees at my parents' QTH then. I could work local stations on CW and AM and used to check in to the EC (East Coast) Net at 10 pm regularly controlled by VU2TTC (SK) and others.


Currently I am told that EC Net is no longer there. Only net on 80m currently is the morning net on 3.6 MHz at 7.15am. Today I was having a QSO with VU3WEW on 7.1 MHz when he told me that 80m net is due and moved to that frequency. I listened to 3.6 MHz with my 40-10m combination inverted V dipole antenna and could hear VU3WEW, VU2MIE and later VU2OJ.

Tried the autotuner of my FT-710, it would not tune to that frequency. Later I tried with my shortened EFHW for 20-10m, which also did not tune, as it had only 10m of wire up. On coming back to 7.1 MHz, VU3WEW told me that VU2XTO had worked 80m with a loading coil on his 20m antenna. I am on the look out for a similar option to come back on 80m as I do not have space to mount an 80m dipole.

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