50 MHz opening between Alaska and Europe - 5th July 2021

On the 5th of July 2021, there was a remarkable three hour opening between Alaska and Europe on the 50 MHz band. In this post, I'll present all the information that I was able to find on it.

The map above from the PSK Reporter website shows the paths open from KL7HBK in Alaska on the 50 MHz band. I have listed the stations at the end of this post. 

I was unable to find any other reports of any other station in Alaska hearing or being heard in Europe during this opening. KL2R who is a few hundred kms to the north however did report seeing signals over the pole but these digital signals had too much flutter to decode.

It should be noted that while the opening was in the middle of the day for the European stations, it was the middle of the night for stations in Alaska which would explain the lack of activity.

This is a map of the European stations which shows their distribution...

These are the spots from the DX Cluster...

G3ZSS 50323.0 KL7HBK 14:55 05 Jul Heard clg CQ Alaska
G8BCG-@ 50325.6 KL7HBK 14:41 05 Jul FT8 Alaska
S57RR-@ 50314.5 KL7HBK 14:28 05 Jul FT8 -05dB JN65um<>BO49 TU! Alaska
F5LNU 50323.0 KL7HBK 14:20 05 Jul JN04JV<>BO49 ft8 -14 big surpr Alaska
IK5YJY 50313.0 KL7HBK 12:43 05 Jul TNX !!!! #242 Alaska

Analysis: To be honest, when I first read about this opening on 50 MHz, I thought it couldn't be true. The perceived wisdom is that an opening on a VHF band like 50 MHz between Alaska and Europe is highly unlikely.

The fact that KL2R was also hearing signals across the pole and that the opening was in the middle of the Alaskan night convinced me otherwise (The opening started at 4:07am local time in Alaska).

I did a check on the DX-Cluster and I noticed that some stations in the north of Scandinavia and Russia were reporting auroral conditions on 144 MHz just after this 50 MHz opening from Alaska to Europe. This may have been a significant factor.

It's unlikely that one single propagation mode was responsible for this opening. It's likely that the first hop near Europe may have been the usual type of Sporadic-E.

Further north, Auroral-E propagation may have preceded the arrival of the small aurora.

We are right in the middle of the season for Noctilucent Clouds and scientists have recorded radar echoes from that part of the atmosphere. It's possible that this region was also a factor in this opening.

When we consider the many openings on 50 MHz between say the UK and Japan during the Summer months with signals traveling over the far north of Russia then maybe an opening from Alaska to Europe shouldn't be that suprising.

Problems and Opportunities: First off the problem. FT8 is a digital mode and it's not ideally suited for making contacts across the Polar regions where there can be a lot of distortion on signals. Some of the reported signals during the opening on the 5th of July were in the region of -6dB which should be strong enough for a weak CW contact. It's unwise to depend 100% on FT8.

The opportunity really is for stations in Alaska to get active during the night and explore this VHF path to Europe. It's also a reminder for more stations in Europe to beam north and to check for conditions.

Is an opening on 50 MHz to Alaska possible in the middle of the night in Europe?

Can beacons be heard rather than just FT8? 

If you beam north, are there distorted FT8 signals on the waterfall?

Is the period before a predicted aurora the best time for this type of trans-Polar propagation?

There is probably a lot more going on propagation wise over the Polar regions than we realise and it's an area that should be explored for possible paths.

FT8 spots from the PSK Reporter website...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

CT1IUA KL7HBK 6m FT8 8742 km 15:10:41
CT1BOL KL7HBK 6m FT8 8286 km 15:08:56
EA6VQ KL7HBK 6m FT8 8713 km 14:54:11
KL7HBK F1IXQ 6m FT8 7865 km 14:53:59
KL7HBK EA6VQ 6m FT8 8713 km 14:53:59
KL7HBK G3NSM 6m FT8 7324 km 14:50:29
KL7HBK G3ZSS 6m FT8 7430 km 14:50:26
GM4WJA KL7HBK 6m FT8 6676 km 14:45:41
KL7HBK CT1ILT 6m FT8 8321 km 14:43:29
KL7HBK F1GTU 6m FT8 8069 km 14:41:27
G8BCG KL7HBK 6m FT8 7401 km 14:39:42
KL7HBK G4IFX 6m FT8 7400 km 14:38:29
G4IFX KL7HBK 6m FT8 7400 km 14:37:44
KL7HBK CT1CJJ 6m FT8 8321 km 14:34:59
KL7HBK I4AVG 6m FT8 8318 km 14:29:26
F1GTU KL7HBK 6m FT8 8069 km 14:22:12
I4AVG KL7HBK 6m FT8 8318 km 14:20:14
KL7HBK S57RR 6m FT8 8225 km 14:19:59
KL7HBK F4GGJ 6m FT8 8265 km 14:19:59
KL7HBK EI3KD 6m FT8 7162 km 14:16:29
EA6SX KL7HBK 6m FT8 8729 km 14:15:41
KL7HBK EA5IYK 6m FT8 8808 km 14:14:29
KL7HBK F6FRR 6m FT8 8071 km 14:12:29
KL7HBK F5LNU 6m FT8 8102 km 14:12:26
F5LNU KL7HBK 6m FT8 8102 km 14:12:11
KL7HBK F5BZB 6m FT8 8238 km 14:09:29
KL7HBK I4GAD 6m FT8 8310 km 14:09:26
KL7HBK OE9GHV 6m FT8 7970 km 14:08:15
F5BZB KL7HBK 6m FT8 8238 km 14:06:14
KL7HBK IK4MGP 6m FT8 8374 km 14:04:29
I4EWH KL7HBK 6m FT8 8332 km 13:54:11
EA5IYK KL7HBK 6m FT8 8808 km 13:50:14
IK5YJY KL7HBK 6m FT8 8445 km 13:40:41
IK5PWJ KL7HBK 6m FT8 8379 km 13:39:11
KL7HBK IK4BHO 6m FT8 8332 km 13:38:59
KL7HBK IK4DRY 6m FT8 8322 km 13:38:59
CT1EKY KL7HBK 6m FT8 8536 km 13:38:44
IZ5EKV KL7HBK 6m FT8 8398 km 13:37:41
IZ5EME KL7HBK 6m FT8 8498 km 13:37:11
EA1YV KL7HBK 6m FT8 8182 km 13:36:11
KL7HBK EA1YV 6m FT8 8182 km 13:35:30
IK5DNF KL7HBK 6m FT8 8431 km 13:32:41
KL7HBK IK5PWJ 6m FT8 8379 km 13:25:29
I6WJB KL7HBK 6m FT8 8569 km 13:23:41
KL7HBK EI2GLB 6m FT8 7063 km 13:23:29
IK0FTA KL7HBK 6m FT8 8611 km 13:12:12
KL7HBK IZ0AEZ 6m FT8 8567 km 13:10:29
EA5ISZ KL7HBK 6m FT8 8797 km 13:10:11
IK0YVV KL7HBK 6m FT8 8566 km 13:09:11
I0JX KL7HBK 6m FT8 8607 km 13:09:11
IW0FFK KL7HBK 6m FT8 8623 km 13:08:11
KL7HBK IS0AWZ 6m FT8 8857 km 13:02:00
KL7HBK TK5MH 6m FT8 8552 km 13:01:29
KL7HBK IK2GSO 6m FT8 8157 km 13:01:29
KL7HBK EA8/DF4UE 6m FT8 9446 km 13:01:27
IZ5BRW KL7HBK 6m FT8 8402 km 12:50:14
KL7HBK IZ5EKV 6m FT8 8398 km 12:48:59
IK5MEJ KL7HBK 6m FT8 8413 km 12:47:11
KL7HBK EA3A 6m FT8 8498 km 12:47:00
PC5C KL7HBK 6m FT8 7295 km 12:38:14
KL7HBK IZ5IMD 6m FT8 8371 km 12:34:59
KL7HBK IZ2XZM 6m FT8 8190 km 12:30:04
KL7HBK IK5MEJ 6m FT8 8413 km 12:27:29
KL7HBK EA8BFK 6m FT8 9450 km 12:18:59
IS0DDL KL7HBK 6m FT8 8687 km 12:07:11