Openings on 28 MHz - Mon 25th to Sun 31st March 2019

The week of the 24th to 31st of March 2019 was pretty quiet for the most part on 28 MHz although it did open to South America on the 29th and 31st. The Solar Flux was down around 70 which is pretty much the lowest it can be at the the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

This is a breakdown of the week...

Mon 25th March ... A quiet day on 10 metres with just two stations heard on FT8.
DJ8QX 10m FT8 1058 km 13:53:55
PC4N 10m FT8 897 km 10:38:02

Tues 26th March ... Another quiet day with just three stations heard.

094000   6 -0.9 1153 ~  CQ G0OYQ IO93
124215   0 -0.0 1159 ~  CQ PD4KK JO21
124215  -5  0.1 1400 ~  CQ DO8WA JO30



Wed 27th March ... I forgot to record the stations heard but it was very quiet again.

Thurs 28th March ... Just two signals heard on 28 MHz after listening for 12 hours!

G0OYQ 10m FT8 579 km 13:38:16
F5ROX 10m FT8 845 km 10:24:30

Fri 29th March ... This was an interesting day and goes to show how 28 MHz can throw up some suprises.

It was initially pretty quiet with a small Sporadic-E opening to Norway around 12:00 to 13:00 UTC. I heard one LA station on FT8 and the LA5TEN beacon near Oslo.

LA3WJA 10m FT8 1438 km 12:05:44
G4YBI 10m FT8 592 km 13:50:15
G0OYQ 10m FT8 579 km 14:00:14
DJ8QX 10m FT8 1058 km 14:02:44
Also heard G4SGD in QSO with a LB station on FT8... 
131830   0  0.1 1500 ~  LB5WB G4SGD R-12

DX Cluster
EI7GL 28237.4 LA5TEN/B 12:44 29 Mar JO59jpIO51tu Norway

Then the band closed and that seemed to be it for the day. Once it gets dark, I assume that 10m will be dead for sure.

Not today however. I forgot to turn off the radio and the band opened to South America after 8pm.

ZV1FF 10m FT8 8988 km 20:25:44
PY2VA 10m FT8 9178 km 20:18:29
PU1JSV 10m FT8 8928 km 20:17:44
PY2LCD 10m FT8 9172 km 20:15:59

201545 -12  0.0  974 ~  YV4BCD PY2LCD GG66

These signals were heard about 70 to 80 minutes after sunset.

Sat 30th March ... A quiet day with just two signals from Germany.
114930   1  0.5 1580 ~  CQ DJ5JD JO33
115745 -14 -0.3 1016 ~  CQ DJ8QX JO31

Sun 31st March ... This day was split into two openings.

From about 11:00 to 13:20 UTC, there was a Sporadic-E opening from here to the north of Germany and Poland. As can be seen, the footprint of the stations heard is roughly in the shape of an oval which is a classic pattern for Sporadic-E.

I heard DJ5JD in JO33 square call CQ on 67 occasions during the opening. SQ4OJD was heard 20 times. The DB0UM and DB0TEN beacons were also heard.

091815  -9 -0.1 1398 ~  CQ MM0HVU IO85
105100  -2 -0.3  901 ~  CQ G0OYQ IO93
105830 -13  0.4 1767 ~  CQ DJ5JD JO33
115415 -12 -0.1 1055 ~  CQ 2E0RUS IO91
115630  -9  0.0 1858 ~  CQ SQ4OJD KO03
121100  -7  0.5 1299 ~  CQ SP5XMU KO02
124530 -17  0.4 1887 ~  SQ9OZJ PB2AB JO33
124815 -14 -0.0 1945 ~  CQ DL7VEA JO62
131600 -16 -0.4 1196 ~  CQ DJ8QX JO31

EI7GL 28279.0 DB0UM/B 12:22 31 Mar JO73ceIO51tu Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28245.0 DB0TEN/B 12:25 31 Mar JO42uvIO51tu Fed. Rep. of Germany

Even though the WPX contest was on, there did seem to be a distinct lack of stations using the band for contesting or for FT8.

Later in the afternoon around 15:00 UTC, the band opened again with a weak opening to South America. I heard PS2T in Brazil on SSB in the contest and ZP4KFX in Paraguay on FT8.

DX Cluster
EI7GL 28470.0 PS2T 14:49 31 Mar WPX Brazil

FT8
150700 -16 -0.2 1866 ~  CQ ZP4KFX GG14

In Conclusion... This was a pretty typical week of late on 28 MHz around the time of the equinox. Five days of practically nothing and then two days of any real activity.

As well as there being a lack of propagation, it's also pretty obvious that there are a lack of stations on 28 MHz. Once the band opens, the level of activity is often pretty low.

In three weeks or so at the end of April, we should have the start of the summer Sporadic-E season and that may well link to some more exotic DX to the south on occasions.... and hopefully more activity! :o)