Sporadic-E on 28 MHz - 3rd May 2021

 

Monday 3rd May 2021: Just another typical Sporadic-E day for the start of May with 234 stations from Europe heard on FT8 on the 28 MHz band.

The pattern has been much the same for the last two weeks. It starts off with FT8 stations appearing on the screen that were buried in the noise and I couldn't hear. 

Eventually the FT8 signals get stronger and I can actually hear plenty of them. I do a scan of the beacon band from 28.150 to 28.300 MHz and I hear nothing.

At some stage, the FT8 signals get stronger and I can see the S-meter moving up to S5 and above. When I do a scan at that stage, I might hear a weak CW beacon. I'll try WSPR and hear nothing. Once I go back to the FT8 frequency, it's full of signals.

Traditionally, CW beacons were used to show that a band was open and stations would call then on SSB or CW. They seem to have a lot less relevance now.

I heard just one beacon on the 3rd of May.

EI7GL 28237.4 LA5TEN/B 18:41 03 May IO51TU<ES>JO59JP Norway