First Sporadic-E crossband contacts made from Ireland on 40 MHz...Sat 25th May 2019

Following on from news of the inter-EI activity on 40 MHz last weekend, here is a report of the first crossband contacts made on the 8-metre band via Sporadic-E.

Phil EI9KP has sent on the following (in Blue)...

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Saturday 25 May 2019.
I noticed there were strong Es signals from Europe on 10m and 6m.  I activated the 8m ‘beacon’ keyer on 40.250MHz (CW, call and locator, 30s cycle, 5W, Delta Loop, HP) but was unsure how to actually get feedback.   I posted a message on KST Chat but there was no immediate response.  Eventually I just started calling on 50.185 later on 50.250 just saying something like “have CW beacon running on 40.250 looking for reports, feedback XB on this frequency …).  I had about a dozen QSO’s in-band on 6m but those HAMs did not have receive capability for that unusual frequency.

At 1526 UTC in QSO with DG1VL on 50.250MHz, he listened on 40.250 and reported hearing my beacon 599 in JO61WB.  I subsequently changed the FT-857D to USB and we had a full 2-way cross band QSO 40.250 8m / 50.250 6m, with 59 signals.  This was my first 8m/6m cross band experience and I believe it is a first in EI cross band 8m/6m to Europe. 

At 1615 UTC in QSO with OK2KG (JN89JI), a similar experience XB 8m/50.250, first getting a beacon reception report then switching 8m to SSB for a 2-way QSO, with a 53 signal report.

Both stations were using their 6m Yagi for receive so not really optimized for 8m, however, it was just an amazing experience and totally unexpected on “Day 1” of my experiment!

Sunday 26 May 2019.
At 1424 UTC in QSO with DK7ME (locator JN47TN) on 50.250, excellent 59 signals both ways.    He reported hearing my beacon on 40.250MHz and I switched to SSB for a 2-way QSO 8m/6m.  I heard EI4GNB’s beacon earlier on the day and asked Carlos to listen on 40.300MHz; he subsequently reported hearing Tim’s beacon in IO63WE.  That’s interesting in a way as the 40MHz ‘zone’ at the time seems to cover EI East Coast to West Coast, a much wider area than I am used to on 6m propagation, it’s just an initial observation. Great for him catching 2 EI beacons in a day!

S57UHX (locator JN65UN) was following the above QSO unfortunately 6m propagation faded out so we did not have QSO on 6m, however, he reported (by email) receiving the 40.250MHz beacon 51.

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What Sp-E skip distances to expect on 40 MHz?? 


Considering that it is half way between 28 MHz and 50 MHz then it should be a bit like both.

Under intense Sporadic-E conditions, the skip distance may be as short as 600-700 kms on 40 MHz. Under typical conditions, ranges of 1500 to 2000 kms should be the norm.

If you are on the continent of Europe, have a listen for the manned beacons on 40.250 and 40.300 MHz.

There should be a new Irish beacon starting up in the next few weeks.