so i was just messing around last weekend and 10 meters was absolutely packed with FT8, like i havent seen it this busy in probably 15 years. worked a bunch of south american stations and even a couple contacts into europe which i wasnt expecting at all given it was like 2pm local time here in the midwest. solar flux was sitting up around 190-something which is pretty wild compared to where we were a couple years ago. feels like we're really hitting the stride of solar cycle 25 now and honestly it's gotten me back into HF in a big way after spending most of last year just doing local VHF stuff.

also saw some chatter that Icom might be announcing something at the tokyo hamfair this year, anybody hear anything concrete about that? im not usually one to chase rumors but there's been enough smoke that im starting to wonder. my IC-7300 is fine but you know how it is, always curious what's coming next.

yeah 10m has been nuts, i worked a ZL station on Sunday which was unexpected to say the least. the solar cycle really has been delivering lately. as for the Icom thing i saw something on a blog that was speculating about a mid-range SDR-based rig but honestly that could mean anything. people have been saying Icom is due for something new for like 2 years now so who knows. i wouldnt hold my breath but also wouldnt be surprised if something shows up.

I'm pretty new to HF, just got my general back in March, and I had no idea 10 meters could be like this. I set up a simple dipole in the attic and even with that I'm pulling in stations from all over the place on FT8. Kind of makes me wish I'd upgraded sooner honestly. Is this level of activity going to stick around for a while or is this like a temporary thing? I read a bit about solar cycles but I'm not totally clear on how long a solar maximum usually lasts.