Thurs 8th July 2021: I reported recently on how a FM radio station on 88.0 MHz in Iceland had been heard near Cape Cod on the NE coast of the USA, a distance of some 3900kms. I can now report that a FM radio station on the Azores was heard in Ontario, Canada on the same day.
At 10:39 UTC on the 8th of July, William Hepburn near Grimsby in Ontario, Canada managed to hear RTP Antena 3 on Ponta Delgada in the Azores on a frequency of 87.7 MHz.
The distance was approximately 4,520 kms which is very close to the limit for double hop Sporadic-E.
William writes... "It took some investigation, podcasts, and a mix-up with Azores vs. Portugal time zones, but I managed to confirm reception of 87.7 RTP-3 Ponta Delgada, Azores (Pico de Barrosa xmtr) here in Grimsby, ON at 6:38-6:40 p.m. EDT July 8th. Top-of-the-band skip to Newfoundland was in at the time."
You can find a recording of what was heard on William's blog post HERE
For this extraordinary catch, William was using an ICOM R-8600 with a CHANNEL MASTER CM-3671 antenna.
Analysis: This is yet another example that Sporadic-E regions with a high maximum usable frequency (MUF) up as far as Band 2 (88-108 MHz) can occur over the North Atlantic. It may be possible that at times, one of the two regions may have a MUF up as high as 144 MHz.
It's interesting to look at the 4500 km circle and seeing how it reaches the Caribbean.
Is there anyone in the Caribbean listening for FM radio stations on the Azores and the Canary Islands?
Is there anyone on the Azores or the Canary Islands listening for FM radio stations in the Caribbean?
If a FM radio station on Band 2 (88-108 MHz) can be heard then perhaps a contact on 144 MHz might be possible?
2 comments:
thats the problem there is really not that many b2 dxers left , in my area in Scotland there is two one who is not very active and to be honest i couldnt name another b2 dxer here , same for England for the size of the country there is really not many who call b2 as their main hobby , i dont know any in Wales and in Ireland Paul is the only one i know so you can see where i am going with this , 73 David
You could be right David. FM-DXing is really a niche within a niche.
I think a lot of radio amateurs could use the band as a propagation tool. If the 88-108 MHz band is open via Sporadic-E then it can be a sign of things to come on 144 MHz.
That's why trans-Atlantic reports of Band 2 signals are so interesting. It hints at what might be possible.
Post a Comment