Opening from Guam to Ireland on the 50 MHz band - 5th Nov 2024

Tuesday 5th Nov 2024 - I had a quick listen to the FT8 frequency of 50.313 MHz today and almost straight away, I got FT8 decodes from India and Sri Lanka. It was obvious that there was some really good F2 propagation on the band.

I checked the PSKReporter website later to see if there were any good DX paths. I was interested to see that there was a path open from KG6DX on the island of Guam in the Pacific to Ireland & the UK.

Sometimes, it's not the distance that matters but how far north or south the path goes.

In this case, did the 50 MHz signals really go direct and pass that far north over Russia? Or was the path skewed with the signals following a path further south?

The solar flux today was 246 with a smoothed sunspot number of 191.

Here are some of the stations that had a path open to Guam (12,000kms +)

 Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC) SNR

CT1EEB KG6DX 6m FT8 13398 km 11:20:13 -15
KG6DX CT1EEB 6m FT8 13398 km 11:18:59 -15
CT7BIZ KG6DX 6m FT8 13360 km 11:25:43 -17
KG6DX EA5K 6m FT8 13311 km 11:18:59 -18
F4BKV KG6DX 6m FT8 12588 km 11:28:13 -18
F8BON KG6DX 6m FT8 12540 km 11:35:43 -15
F8DBF KG6DX 6m FT8 12494 km 11:20:13 -7
KG6DX F6HRP 6m FT8 12429 km 11:18:59 -12
G7RAU KG6DX 6m FT8 12377 km 11:39:43 -13
KG6DX G7RAU 6m FT8 12377 km 11:18:57 -1
G8BCG KG6DX 6m FT8 12309 km 11:35:43 -16
EI7BA KG6DX 6m FT8 12305 km 11:21:13 -16
EI3EBB KG6DX 6m FT8 12290 km 11:23:43 -11
KG6DX GE1SDX 6m FT8 12267 km 11:18:59 -11
KG6DX G0KDY 6m FT8 12260 km 11:18:59 -15
KG6DX G0ABI 6m FT8 12243 km 11:19:29 -7
G0GGG KG6DX 6m FT8 12150 km 11:24:43 -18
GW7SMV KG6DX 6m FT8 12147 km 11:29:13 -10
KG6DX GW7SMV 6m FT8 12147 km 11:19:56 -11
KG6DX G0KTN 6m FT8 12141 km 11:26:00 -9
F6GCP KG6DX 6m FT8 12140 km 11:18:43 -17
G4CCZ KG6DX 6m FT8 12068 km 11:21:13 -16
KG6DX GW0WZL 6m FT8 12052 km 11:18:57 -6
F5OHS KG6DX 6m FT8 12027 km 11:30:43 -16
G0MTN KG6DX 6m FT8 12019 km 11:28:13 -10
KG6DX GW8ASD 6m FT8 12005 km 11:18:56 -10
GW8ASD KG6DX 6m FT8 12005 km 11:17:13 -14

K6JEY talks to Ham Radio Workbench podcast about Earth Moon Earth Amateur Radio Operation

 

Over the last few months. I've been listening to some of the back catalogue of podcasts from the Ham Radio Workbench while I've been out walking. I recently listened to one titled 'Earth Moon Earth Operation'. 

In the podcast. Doug Millar, K6JEY talks to George, KJ6VU and Mike, VA3MW about his experience operating moonbounce on the 144 MHz and microwave amateur radio bands.

While the podcast is from September of 2020, I think a lot of people who are interested in the VHF and microwave bands will find it of interest.

The podcast itself at 2 hours 33 minutes is very long. The first 32 minutes is general chit chat with some microwave operation discussed.

The first part of the presentation proper begins at 32:00 and lasts until about 1:52:00. The photos and notes for this first section are shown in a PDF slideshow titled SIDEWALK EME... Link HERE 

The second part of the presentation starts at 1:52:00 and concludes at about 2:30:00. The second PDF slideshow is titled 10GHz EME Project... Link HERE 

40 MHz option added to popular ON4KST Chat site...

The ON4KST 'CHAT' website is a very popular tool for radio amateurs on the VHF & UHF bands as it allows them to exchange real time information with others about band conditions.

While there are several different platforms for information, each one tends to serve a different function.

The DX-Cluster is good for spotting DX stations on a particular frequency but the exchange of information is very limited.

There is the 40 MHz & 60 MHz group on Facebook with roughly 1200 members but that's more for post-opening analysis and the sharing of images.

The ON4KST pages have their own niche and it allows for the rapid exchange of short live time messages about what's happening on a particular band.

An screenshot of the CHAT site is shown above.

There used to be some 40 MHz traffic before on the 50 MHz chat page but with more people experimenting on the band, Alain ON4KST has kindly set up a separate page for 8m activity.

The link is http://www.on4kst.info/

For more info on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page.

17,000km+ opening on the 50 MHz band from the UK to Sydney, Australia - 27th Oct 2024

There's an expression in the English language called 'CAN'T SEE THE WOOD FOR THE TREES'. Sometimes DX on the VHF bands can be like this, you can see a flood of reports and contacts on a particular band during an opening but the exceptional DX reports often get missed.

There have been many reports of openings in the last week from Australia to Europe but a lot of these are from the south of Europe and to places like Western Australia (VK6). There's a huge difference between say an opening on 6m from Perth to Athens compared to say an opening from the UK to New South Wales.

Conditions on Sunday the 27th of October 2024 were really good on the 50 MHz band and Stewart, G0LGS in the west of England reports working VK2IR in Sydney, Australia... a distance just under 17,120kms.

Stewart sends on the following report... "After being on six (on/off) since 1985 I was lucky to get one of those magic moments on Six just after 07:00 on Sunday 27th October 2024

I was up early and had the beam looking East for a while on 6m FT8 (50.313) when at 07:07:15 I saw VK2IR calling an OZ station (Denmark).

I immediately stated calling CQ and after 4 calls at 07:09:15 UTC. VK2IR called me giving me -17. Report, my report back was R-17 and at that point the conditions faded a little (I could see faint trace in waterfall but no decodes) and I was not sure if we would complete however at 07:11:45. I finally received RR73 for my first ever 6m contact with VK at 17,089km.

This QSO was later confirmed on LoTW

Paul G4RRA saw things a little better than I did and during that period when VK2IR also worked PA3GCV and then just after that PA0O and PC5C as can be seen from Paul's Screenshot.

I am told that this might be the best distance Terrestrial DX on 6m from the UK so far this season.

On Monday some UK and EU stations managed to make SSB QSOs with VK6 and on Tuesday some had SSB QSO's with DU6/PE1NSQ and FT8 with both DU6/PE1NSQ and 4S7AB and others, but I missed out on those.

Currently (Weds 0820) VK's are getting good propagation to East EU and Scandinavia."

G0LGS was using an ICOM IC-7300 with an Acom 1000 Linear (set to about 700W) with a 4 Ele LFA at 7m above ground level.

Analysis... As we reach the peak of the current sunspot cycle, conditions are really getting good on the 50 MHz band. Unlike previous solar peaks when the dominant modes were SSB and CW, there are now huge numbers of stations using weak signal modes like FT8 which allows reception of very weak signals buried in the noise. It's probably fair to say that openings and contacts are being made now that would have gone unnoticed in the past.

On the 27th of October, the solar flux was at 246 and the sunspot number was 198. The propagation mode was via the F2 layer of the ionosphere.

Over the next few months, we're likely to see more remarkable paths appearing on the 50 MHz band and now is the time to be active on the band. If the 6m band can open from the NW of Europe to the SE of Australia then there should be plenty of more opportunities.

Link... See my 50 MHz page for more reports of other long distance openings on the 6m band.

Trans-Atlantic opening on the 50 MHz band - 31st Oct 2024

Now that we're at or near the peak of the sunspot cycle, there are plenty of reports on the 50 MHz (6m) amateur radio band. While north-side openings are reasonably common, it's the east-west openings from more northerly latitudes that are more difficult.

One of the key indicators of very good conditions on the 50 MHz band is an opening across the North Atlantic from Europe to North America. On the 31st of October 2024, there was one such opening as can be seen above.

The map shows the 50 MHz paths on FT8 from EI3KD on the south coast of Ireland but I'm sure there were plenty of other similar paths for stations in the UK and Ireland.

It's interesting to see the footprint of the signals in the USA dropping off around the 6,000km mark which would suggest perhaps 2 x 3000km hops.

The key takeaway message is that now is the time to get on the 50 MHz band and make the most of the good openings. There should be plenty of openings on the 6m band over the next few months.

40 MHz reception report from Bill Smith, W1-7897 for May to August 2024

Thanks to short wave listener Bill Smith, W1-7897 for sending on his 40 MHz reception report for May to August of 2024.

Bill who is located near Douglas in Massachusetts in the United States is using a Yaesu FT-847 as a receiver on the 40 MHz (8m) band with a 5-element beam for the 50 MHz band about 6m above ground level.

The period in question covers the summer Sporadic-E season and it's a good example of just how hard to hear any relevant signals if there is no-one in range.

At first sight, the north-eastern part of the USA might seem like a good location for Sporadic-E and it is on bands like 50 MHz / 6m. On the 40 MHz band however, nearly all of the amateur radio or experimental stations are located well outside the 1-hop Sporadic-E range of about 2300kms.

During the four months of May, June, July & August, the pickings were slim with just two stations heard in the Caribbean which may have been double hop Sporadic-E.

40 MHz reception report from Bill Smith, W1-7897 for May to August 2024:

1st May 2024: PJ4MM in Bonaire (FK52) brief CQ 19:36 to 19:37 UTC  -16dB in strength. No Reply. 

3rd June 2024: ZF1EJ (EK99) logged 12:37 and 12:39 UTC calling CQ from the Cayman Islands. No answer. Signal Strength -17 dB on 40.680 MHz FT8.

15th June 2024: PJ4MM (FK52) logged at 20:50 UTC one CQ Call with no answer; Signal strength -16dB  on 40.680 MHz FT8.

18th June 2024: PJ4MM (FK52) called CQ from 16:47 until 17:03 UTC. No answers. Signal Strength ranged from -19dB to -7dB on 40.680 MHz FT8.

RX: FT-847.  Bill Smith, SWL W1-7897 Douglas, MA (FN42DA).

Thanks for the report Bill!

For more information on the 40 MHz band, go to https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Opening on the 40 MHz band between N Australia and NW Europe - 23rd Oct 2024

A week ago on the 16th of Oct 2024, I reported on how there was an opening on the 40 MHz (8m) band from the north of Australia to the south of Europe. Conditions are gradually improving and on the 23rd of October, there was a similar opening but this time, it was from the north of Australia to the north-west of Europe. I have included a log of reports at the bottom of this post.

The map above shows the FT8 reports from PSK Reporter and the frequency is use was 40.680 MHz, the main centre of activity for all modes on the 8m band.

Mark, VK8MS in Australia was operating under the terms of the LIPD (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence.  LIPD allows Australian citizens to operate on several bands in the low VHF spectrum with the need for a licence if the power output is below certain levels.

For the frequency range of 40.660 to 41.000 MHz (340 kHz), a maximum of 1-watt ERP can be used.

I have more details about the Australian LIPD licence in this previous post... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2024/01/low-vhf-band-lipd-licence-in-australia.html

In general, the further the path moves away from the equator, the more difficult the path. It's one thing for VHF signals from Australia to reach the south of Europe but when path opens to places like the UK and Ireland then it's worth taking note.

The key takeaway from this post is that conditions on the 40 MHz band are improving and if the maximum usable frequency is reaching as high as 40 MHz then there is a chance that an opening on the 50 MHz band isn't too far behind.

Link... For more information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page.

Log for VK8MS on PSK Reporter...

A mystery QRSS signal on 28 MHz from North America - 21st Oct 2024

Over the last few days, there has been a mysterious QRSS signal on 28.1246 MHz USB which is also the WSPR frequency on the 10m band. I was seeing it during the afternoon and evening so I guessed it was probably from North America.

It was usually very weak and I was usually only getting fragments of the QRSS signal. I tried to make sense of the dots and dashes but I couldn't be sure if I was actually get real dots and dashes or was it just part of the signal that was missing.

The screen capture above is one of the better ones from the 20th of October. The QRSS signal at the bottom is from AE0V but who was at the top? It didn't seem to make any sense.

On the 21st of October, I got two reasonable screen captures. I then posted these to https://groups.io/g/qrssknights to see if anyone could help. This forum is the main source for all up to date information regarding QRSS signals.

Thanks to Halldór, TF3HZ in Iceland, he was able to solve the mystery! He posted the following...

Finally with this information, all the pieces fitted into place. These are my screen grabs from the 21st of October with the signal shown.

The mystery signal is from KC2CHK in the state of New York and his locator / grid square is FN13WD.

With most QRSS signals, a dash is represented by a long dash and a dot is represented by a short dash. 

KC2CHK is using the same length of short dash for both dots and dashes except that the real dashes are at the top of the QRSS waveform whereas the dots are at the bottom.

In the example above, you can see it starts with 'Up - Down - Up' which is 'dash dot dash' which is the letter K.

Some letters can be particularly confusing especially when the signals are weak. An example is the letter H. When the signals are very weak, it looks like one very long dash. But on closer inspection, you can see that it's actually four short dashes on the lower part of the waveform i.e. four short dots which is the letter H.

Mystery solved, thanks Halldór!

WSPR... I checked the WSPR ROCKS website and sure enough, I had actually heard KC2CHK sixty-nine times over the space of three days (19th, 20th & 21st of Oct 2024) on 10m. His power is listed at just 0.2 watts and is likely alternating between WSPR and QRSS signals for his transmissions.

The strongest WSPR signal is -18dB which means in reality means that it's inaudible to the human ear. If the QRSS signal wasn't shown by software on a screen then I wouldn't have known it existed.

Propagation... The distance of the path from my location on the south coast of Ireland to KC2CHK in New York is about 5000kms which suggested to me that it was F2 layer double hop.

The map above from VOACAP seems to support this as you can see the skip zone in the middle of the Atlantic and the second F2 hop covering parts of western Europe.

Equipment... Frederick, KC2CHK reports that he was using a QRP-Labs Ultimate3S for the transmitter which is running about 200-milliwatts into a half wave dipole about 5.5m above ground level. It was only built in October of 2024 so this is a new QRSS signal on the band. The antenna is oriented east west which means the best radiation is probably in the north south directions.

QRP Labs Ultimate 3S units for 50 MHz & 28 MHz at KC2CHK

Frederick also confirms that he is running DFCW instead of FSKCW just to speed up the transmission, as it can go out in much less time than FSKCW.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 26-callsigns & 11 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1

2) 10th Jan 2024: VA1VM

3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2

4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT

5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3

6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4

7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW

8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5

9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6

10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV

11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7

12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ

13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8

14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK

15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER

16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9

17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ

18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10

19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ

20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B

21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B

22) 3rd Jun 2024: M0GBZ

23) 3rd Jun 2024: G0FTD

24) 17th Oct 2024: AA7US

25) 19th Oct 2024: DJ5CW - DXCC #11

26) 21st Oct 2024: KC2CHK

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - DJ5CW in Germany - 19th Oct

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 19th of October, I heard / saw the QRSS signal of DJ5CW in Germany.

QRSS is a mode where a morse code signal is sent very slowly over the space of several minutes allowing very weak signals to be displayed on a waterfall display.

The story behind this reception report started at 10:23 UTC when I got an email from Fabian, DJ5CW to say that he was doing QRSS tests on 28 MHz until 14:00 UTC and if I wanted to try and capture his signal.

The thing about QRSS is that it is a 'visual mode' and I use the SpectrumLab software to capture the waterfall display in 10-minute periods. This means that if I'm not checking the screen on a regular basis then it can be easy to miss a signal.

I checked for the QRSS signal from DJ5CW and there was nothing on the screen. I did notice however that I was hearing WSPR signals from Germany so I suspected that there was some Sporadic-E propagation about.

I sent Fabian an email an email at 10:41 UTC to say that I would look for his signal. Needless to say, as soon as I sent the email, his signal appeared! 😂

At 10:52 UTC, I got a good capture of the QRSS signals on the waterfall and these are shown above.

As noted already, I believe the signal from DJ5CW was via Sporadic-E and as can be seen, it's a nice clean display. 

I think the signals from G0PKT and G0MBA near London are via F2 layer backscatter and there is a certain amount of fuzz on these signals. I see these two signals every day and they are almost ever present as long as there is some sort of decent F2 propagation on the 10m band.

G0MBA and G0PKT are about 650kms from my location and are usually a bit too close for Sporadic-E. DJ5CW at just under 1500kms is just about perfect for Sporadic-E when it appears on the band.

Equipment... For this reception report, I was using a simple CB half-wave vertical about 4m above ground level. DJ5CW was using an Elecraft K2 transceiver which is keyed by an Arduino microcontroller. The power output was 1-watt into a 13m long vertical antenna on a fiberglass mast looking out of a skylight window of his 4th floor flat in central Munich

LCWO... As you might guess from the callsign, Fabian is a big fan of CW / morse code. He is the owner of the Learn CW Online website... https://lcwo.net/

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 25-callsigns & 11 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10th Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8
14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK
15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER
16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9
17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ
18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10
19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ
20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B
21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B
22) 3rd Jun 2024: M0GBZ
23) 3rd Jun 2024: G0FTD
24) 17th Oct 2024: AA7US
25) 19th Oct 2024: DJ5CW - DXCC #11

VIDEO: Solar Cycle 25 - predictions V reality ...by Steve Nichols, G0YKA

At the recent RSGB Convention, there were a number of presentations given on the live stream. On the stream for Sunday 13th October 2024, Steve Nichols, G0YKA gave a presentation titled 'Solar Cycle 25 - predictions V reality'.

In the presentation, G0YKA looks at what the predictions for the peak of solar cycle 25 were, what the peak is actually turning out to be like and what the near future might hold.

The live stream for Sunday 13th Oct is embedded below. Use the controls to move forward to 5:31:52 for the start of the presentation. 

The talk is about 45-minutes in length and ends at 6:16:35.

See video below, just press the red play button...

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - AA7US in Arizona - 17th Oct

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 17th of October, I heard AA7US in Arizona during an F2 layer opening during the afternoon.

The QRSS signal can be seen at the top of the graphic above. I also heard AE0V who I had heard earlier this year.

QRSS is a mode where a morse code signal is sent very slowly over the space of several minutes allowing very weak signals to be displayed on a waterfall display.

G0MBA and G0PKT were probably via F2 layer backscatter to the west.

The path from my location on the south coast of Ireland to AA7US in Arizona is just over 8000kms which was probably 2-3 F2 layer hops.

John, AA7US was using 1.5-watts from a QRPGuys AFP-FSK Digital Transceiver III kit into a horizontal Hamstick dipole mounted about 5 metres above ground on a mast on the back of an RV.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 24-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10th Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8
14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK
15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER
16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9
17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ
18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10
19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ
20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B
21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B
22) 3rd Jun 2024: M0GBZ
23) 3rd Jun 2024: G0FTD
24) 17th Oct 2024: AA7US

Opening on the 40 MHz band between Australia and Europe - 16th Oct 2024

It was interesting to see that there was a good opening on the 40 MHz (8m) band on the 16th of Oct 2024 from the north of  Australia to Europe.

The map above shows the FT8 reports from PSK Reporter and the frequency is use was 40.680 MHz, the main centre of activity for all modes on the 8m band.

Mark, VK8MS in Australia was operating under the terms of the LIPD (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence.  LIPD allows Australian citizens to operate on several bands in the low VHF spectrum with the need for a licence if the power output is below certain levels.

For the frequency range of 40.660 to 41.000 MHz (340 kHz), a maximum of 1-watt ERP can be used.

I have more details about the Australian LIPD licence in this previous post... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2024/01/low-vhf-band-lipd-licence-in-australia.html

I have included a log of reports below...

Some of these are reception reports by the stations in Europe but FT8 reports were exchanged with EA7KBX in Spain who was running 25-watts to a 4-element beam.

I believe EA3ERE who was running 10-watts also exchanged FT8 reports with VK8MS.

In conclusion... This is a nice example of some long distance paths which are now possible at the peak of the solar cycle on the 40 MHz band. There will be many times where the maximum usable frequency will support 40 MHz propagation but 50 MHz is a little too high. Sometimes, these 40 MHz openings can give advanced warning of potential openings on 6m.

Over the next few months, we should see plenty of long distance paths like this on the 8m band.

If you want to try and you have a suitable radio, just tune to 40.680 MHz USB and set up FT8 on your computer. Leave your radio on that frequency during daylight hours and see what you can hear.

Link... For more information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page.

L-Match antenna coupler for the low VHF bands - 40 MHz to 70 MHz

Peter, VK3YE has just released a video on his YouTube channel about a very simple L-match antenna coupler for the 50 MHz band.

As Peter marks in the intro to the video... "Most HF antenna couplers have too much minimum inductance and capacitance to work up to 50 MHz. Here's one that uses just two parts. "

In the video, Peter uses a ferrite core but you could also try an air spaced inductor to get the required 0.5uH.

According to the calculator on the M0UKD website, an 11-turn coil with a diameter of 10mm and 20mm in length will give an inductance of 0.49 uH. Website HERE

This type of simple L-match will also work on the other low VHF bands. For 40 MHz, try an extra 2-3 turns and a little bit more capacitance. For higher bands like 70 MHz, try a few less turns and lower capacitance. The key is to experiment.

Many people use non-resonant antennas when they are trying to listen to the low VHF bands like 40 MHz, 50 MHz or 70 MHz. A lot of short wave listeners and radio amateurs may have antennas for the HF and short wave bands but may not have anything for listening above 30 MHz.

A simple L-match antenna coupler like this is an interesting way to get a better antenna match and improve reception.

See the video below from VK3YE...

Video: Factors Affecting F-layer Propagation at 50 MHz - Roger Harrison, VK2ZRH

On the 9th of October 2024, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH have a presentation titled 'Factors Affecting F-layer Propagation at 50 MHz as Solay Cycle 25 peaks' to the Madison DX Club.

In the video, Roger looks at the current sunspot cycle and the potential for some F2 layer and Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) paths.

The presentation is about 25 minutes in length and is shown below...

Link... See my 50 MHz page for other presentations and posts about some long distance paths on 50 MHz.

Madeira HF beacon CS3B back on air after forest fire

Back in October of 2023, I had a post on the blog about how the HF radio beacon CS3B on the Portuguese island of Madeira was destroyed in a forest wildfire on the 12th of October 2023... See HERE

After a 9-month break, the beacon returned to service on the 3rd of July 2024. The photo above shows the new ICOM IC-7200 which replaces the old one which was destroyed in the fire.

CS3B is part of the International Beacon Project which is a series of HF beacons operating on 14.100, 18.110, 21.150, 24.930 & 28.200 MHz.

New antenna

On the 4th of October, I had a listen and I could hear the beacon on all five frequencies from 20m to 10m in the space of 75-seconds. It's easy enough to try. All you need to do is set the VFO on each band to the frequencies above and the once the sequence starts, you start on 20m and go up a band every 15 seconds.

The sequence for the beacon can be found here.. https://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/

The beacon is about 2230kms from my location which is ideal for one F2-layer hop from the ionosphere. The fact we're at sunspot maximum and it's a north-south path, F2 layer propagation even on 28 MHz will support these shorter skip distances.

If you want to check the path to your location then use this site and mess about with the values... https://soundbytes.asia/proppy/p2p

FT8 activity nights on the VHF/UHF bands - Q4 2024

There are FT8 activity nights on the VHF & UHF bands every Wednesday evening in Europe for the 4th quarter of 2024.

The European activity evening which uses both FT8 and FT4 rotates through the 2m, 70cm, and 23cm bands each week. Activity is from 17:00 to 21:00 UTC.

This might be an opportunity not only to try FT8 on the higher bands but also just to have a listen and feed the reception reports up the the PSKReporter website.

Further details available at www.ft8activity.eu

A look at the new ICOM IC-7760 HF & 6m transceiver

At the 2024 Dayton Hamvention in the USA in May, ICOM gave away some details about a new product called the 'X-60'. I covered this in an earlier post HERE 

In late August 2024, it was finally revealed by ICOM that the new product was the IC-7760, a fully featured HF & 6m transceiver with a 200-watt output power.

As can be seen above, the radio comes in two parts... a control head and a RF deck. These are the dimensions...

RF Deck - 425 × 149 × 442 mm (16.7 × 5.9 × 17.4 in)

Control Head - 340 × 118 × 103.5 mm (13.4 × 4.6 × 4.1 in)

The radio has two receivers which allows for the monitoring of one band while tuning another. The two receivers can also be locked to each other allowing diversity reception. It's possible say to listen to one receiver with a horizontal antenna and the other receiver to a vertical antenna. You can listen with headphones and hear the received signal with one polarization in one ear and the other polarized signal in the other ear.

The rear of the Control Head has a number of connections including a RJ-45 socket to connect a LAN cable to the RF Deck. This could be a few metres or up to 100 metres. The obvious attraction here is that the RF deck could be placed at the bottom of a mast and doesn't need to be inside the house. This obviously reduces the need to run coax cables into the house.

There is also provision for an external monitor to show the displays in more detail if required.

The front of the RF Deck is pretty bland while the rear panel has a host of connections.

The unit is mains powered which eliminates the need for a high power 13.8 volt supply. There are multiple RF sockets as well as multiple other connections.

There's no doubt that it's a superb looking radio with a lot of features but what about the price?

The current guideline seems to be around the $6,000 mark. In the UK, it seems to be about £5,700. WIMO in Germany are saying €6,600.

I suspect for most, this is an eye-watering price that is just way too expensive. After all, it is at the end of the day just a HF & 6m transceiver and any good operator could work 99% of the stations with a radio costing a quarter of the price.

I'm sure there are a minority though that could justify the price for a fully featured radio with a fully rated 200-watt output.

Over the weekend, WIMO Germany released this video previewing the new radio.

Remote Operation... One thing that is not totally clear is whether remote operation is possible? 

The one obvious thought is that someone might want to say put the RF Deck in a holiday home while keeping the Control Head at home and connecting the two over the internet. Apparently this is not possible due to latency issues.

ICOM's solution is to use their Dualwatch compatible IP remote control software to control the remote radio. As the chart shows below, the IC-7760 is a supported radio.

I would assume that this has more limited functionality as compared to a direct connection from the Control Head to the RF Deck.

For more information, have a look at the WIMO video above or go to the ICOM website... https://www.icomjapan.com/lineup/products/IC-7760/

SDRplay announce new networked SDR receiver

SDRplay are well known for their range of popular SDR receivers which cover all the radio bands up to 2 GHz. They have now just announced a new SDRplay nRSP-ST model which can be networked and is intended for remote operation.

The SDRplay nRSP-ST is a 14-bit ADC wideband SDR receiver covers all frequencies from 1kHz to 2GHz, with no gaps. It can remotely monitor up to 10MHz of spectrum at a time from a choice of 3 antennas.

The release price is in the region of $500 which is about double some of their other current models. It is expected that it will be available to purchase towards the end of 2024.

Analysis... This is an interesting development from SDRplay and mirrors some of the trends with other manufacturers of HF transceivers catering for remote operation.

In the case of the new SDRplay nRSP-ST receiver, all someone would need to do is to provide power, a network connection and antennas at the remote location. The concept of remote receivers isn't new but in most cases, a remote computer/PC is required as well as a receiver. In the case of the new SDRplay model, no remote PC is required.

The new SDRplay nRSP-ST would seem to have the same radio features as the RSPdx-R2 model except that it can be connected to a network for remote control.

One particular nice feature is that it has three antenna ports which allows for dedicated antennas to be connected at the remote end. Without this, it would be a case of having just one antenna port to cover all the radio bands below 2 GHz.

It's not hard to imagine how this remote receiver might be of interest to some people. Many live in towns and cities in noisy RF environments and the thought of having a remote receiver located somewhere quiet in say a holiday home or a friends or relatives house is attractive.

This would seem to be an all in one box solution for a problem and I'd imagine people will find all kinds of uses for it.

At about €500, it's not cheap for a receiver but it's also a new release with first adopters likely to be paying the premium price.

Links...

1) Page on SDRplay site for the new remote receiver... https://www.sdrplay.com/nrspst/

2) SDRplay press release... https://www.sdrplay.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/nRSP-STPressReleaseSeptFinal2024.pdf

Addendum...

6100km TEP contact on the 144 MHz band between Spain and St Helena - 25th Sept 2024

A little bit of history was made on Wednesday 25th September 2024 when EA4I in Spain and ZD7GWM on St Helena Island in the South Atlantic managed to complete a Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) contact on the 144 MHz (2m) band.

This is as far as I know the very first TEP contact on the 144 MHz band between these two countries.

José, EA4I in the west of Spain was running 700 watts into an array of 4 x 17-element Yagi antennas. As far as I know, the polarization was horizontal.

Garry, ZD7GWM on St Helena had a much more modest station with just 50-watts from a Yaesu FT-897 into a Diamond X700H vertical antenna.

While many other TEP contacts are made with the Q65 mode due to the TEP spreading and distortion, this particular contact was made with the FT4 mode.

Andy, EA7KBX reports... "A new record was set tonight between EA4I Jose and ZD7GWM Garry - a small group of us have been running TEP tests from Spain to St Helena Island on 2m / 144Mhz the QSO was completed using FT4 at 6,094.22Km !! 

Jose using 4x 17 element beams and 700w while Garry was using a Diamond vertical and FT- 897 with just 50w !! Amazing contact for the record books"

Analysis... 2024 has been a pretty remarkable year for Trans-Equatorial Propagation on the 144 MHz band. For the last few years, there have been many reports of TEP openings from Argentina & Brazil in South America to the Caribbean area.

Some were claiming that it wouldn't be replicated in other parts of the world because the Geomagnetic Equator was too far north but that hasn't turned out to be the case. We've seen regular 144 MHz TEP openings this year from Namibia to Europe, the Middle East to the Indian Ocean and from Japan to Australia.

As long as both stations are roughly equidistant from the geomagnetic equator and the signal crosses the geomagnetic equator at about 90-degrees then a path is possible.

The biggest obstacle is getting someone active at either end of the TEP path. In this case, Garry, ZD7GWM is the only person active at the southern end of this circuit.

I'm sure if the antenna was upgraded to something modest like a 9-element Yagi fixed in a northerly direction then even more 2m TEP contacts with Europe should be possible.

I wonder if there are any VHF DX groups that help out DX stations with modest antennas?

I have a previous post about Garry's set up HERE

For more information about other long distance openings on the 2m band, see my 144 MHz page.

Swiss state broadcaster confirms switch off of FM service by the end of 2024

In a press release dated Thursday 27th June 2024, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) confirmed that it would switch off all of the FM transmitters at the end of the year.

In a statement, SBC said..."Those who listen to the radio now largely do so via digital audio broadcasting (DAB+) or the internet, the SBC said on Thursday. Fewer and fewer very high frequency (VHF-FM) receivers are still in use in Switzerland, it said. Remaining, pure FM usage is stagnating at less than 10%."

A previous survey in 2020 had put the number of people listening on FM at 13%.

SBC continues... "In addition, maintenance of FM transmitters and investment in their renewal is expensive and disproportionate, the SBC said. In light of the organisation’s tough financial situation due to declining advertising revenues and inflation, further investment in outdated broadcasting technology is no longer justifiable. DAB+ and the internet offer better quality and a larger programme selection, are more energy and cost efficient, and can provide additional information in text and images."

FM was originally expected to be switched off throughout Switzerland by the end of 2024. The government extended FM licences for the radio industry for the last time in October 2023 to the end of 2026, after which radio stations in Switzerland will no longer be able to broadcast via FM, only digitally. The Swiss regulator OFCOM announced at the time that the final extension would give the radio industry the flexibility to complete the transition process from analogue to digital radio.