This is one of the VHF contacts that caught my attention during the summer last year.
On the 2nd of July 2020, HZ1SK in Saudi Arabia and K4MOG in the USA completed a successful FT8 contact on 50 MHz.
What was unusual about this contact was the fact that it was in the region of 11,460 kms. To put that into context, that is the equivalent of London to Hawaii or London to the NW of Australia.
The propagation mode was probably multi-hop Sporadic-E with at least six hops being required. While single hop or double hop Sporadic-E is reasonably common, the chances of getting six Sp-E clouds in the right spot and the correct distance apart is much lower.
The very first 6m contact between the USA and Saudi Arabia took place just a few weeks earlier when K1TOL in the state of Maine in the NE of the USA worked 7Z1SJ. The distance on that occasion was around 9933 kms which may have been five hop Sporadic-E.
1 comment:
This kind of distance on 6m Es is rare but possibly more common than people might think. Perhaps there isn't a theoretical limit but it's a game of chance, requiring propagation and stations to be in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time - obviously chances reduce significantly with each extra "hop". Thankfully (some would question?) "being in the right place at the right time" has been made easier with the advent of digital modes, although it still requires a lot of dedication, and some skill, to catch this type of opening.
To add to the data: From EI I have a couple of 6m Es QSOs beyond 11,000km - one with DU7/PA0HIP at 11,721km (PK10XH, JT65A, 22/07/2017 08:32z) and a very memorable one with VK3ZL at (an Es record) 17,370km (QF22FE, FT8, 24/07/2019 07:24z). Unsurprisingly the QSO rate increases a lot as the "hop count" decreases (e.g. I have some 180 6m Es QSOS > 9,000km), but whenever there's an opening that makes it down into the tropics, or even into the far polar regions, then anything seems possible on "The Magic Band"!
73, de Mark EI3KD, IO51vw
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