Hi Andy, I use 80m for a regular phone SSB sked with a ham 190 miles away. 80m is quite reliable at night apart from static crashes and a generally high noise level. We had a recent night where phone QSOs were just about impossible with high QRN so we did some RTTY tests. I transmitted at various power levels 10 - 50 watts and my friend received on his Icom 756 pro II - and copy was extremely good at all power levels - so I expect that digital operations over that same path would work very well using just about any mode. My 80m antenna is an inverted-L 40m in length with an ATU running against a ground system - it is only about a 1/4 wave high so is NVIS by default.
73, Brett VK2TMG
