Friday, July 16, 2021

Opening on 50 MHz from Europe to Western Australia - 15th July 2021


15th July 2021: There was a small opening on 50 MHz this time between the west coast of Australia and Europe. The two stations concerned were VK6KXW and VK6OX near Perth and the maximum distances were just over 15,000kms.

These are the spots from the PSK Reporter website...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
CT1EKY VK6KXW 6m FT8 15143 km 07:10:14
VK6KXW IZ7NLJ 6m FT8 13052 km 06:45:56
IZ7NLJ VK6KXW 6m FT8 13052 km 06:42:44
4O6AH VK6KXW 6m FT8 12924 km 06:40:14
YT1Q VK6KXW 6m FT8 12865 km 06:51:14
Z37CXY VK6KXW 6m FT8 12724 km 07:29:14
VK6KXW UR0MC 6m FT8 11898 km 06:45:26
UR0MC VK6KXW 6m FT8 11893 km 07:19:14

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
VK6OX CT1APE 6m FT8 15043 km 07:19:29
CT1EKY VK6OX 6m FT8 15036 km 07:14:44
VK6OX SV2DCD 6m FT8 12581 km 06:50:57
UR0MC VK6OX 6m FT8 11794 km 06:45:44



The only other Australian stations reported were from Darwin in the north of the continent.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
UR0MC VK4ABW 6m FT8 11218 km 06:06:44
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
UR0MC VK8MS 6m FT8 11235 km 06:11:44

It seems unusual that there seems to be more openings from Europe to the SE of Australia (VK2 & VK3) than the west coast (VK6). From the perspective of say someone in central Europe, the west coast of Australia is a lot closer.

I would have expected a lot more openings on 50 MHz to the west of Australia (VK6) than the SE of Australia (VK3). Instead, it seems to be the other way around.

Is it a lack of big stations on the west coast? If VK6KXW is not on air then does it just seem like the VK6 area is missing?

These are the spots from the DX Cluster...


Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
VK6KXW 50313.0 Z37CXY 07:29 15 Jul tnx qso North Macedonia 
VK6OX-@ 50313.4 Z37CXY 07:26 15 Jul FT8 -13dB North Macedonia
VK6KXW-@ 50313.4 Z37CXY 07:24 15 Jul FT8 -10dB North Macedonia
VK6KXW-@ 50315.2 CT1EKY 07:13 15 Jul FT8 -12dB 15150km Portugal
VK6OX-@ 50314.9 UR0MC 07:07 15 Jul FT8 11766km -15dB Ukraine
VK6KXW 50313.0 IZ7NLJ 06:52 15 Jul tnx best -03 Italy
VK6KXW-@ 50314.6 YT1Q 06:52 15 Jul FT8 -24dB 12895km Serbia
VK6KXW-@ 50314.3 IZ7NLJ 06:46 15 Jul FT8 -19dB 13084km Italy
VK6OX-@ 50314.9 UR0MC 06:46 15 Jul FT8 11766km -18dB Ukraine
VK6OX-@ 50314.3 IZ7NLJ 06:43 15 Jul FT8 12952km -21dB Italy
VK6KXW-@ 50313.9 4O6AH 06:40 15 Jul FT8 -19dB 12967km Montenegro
VK6KXW-@ 50314.3 IZ7NLJ 06:37 15 Jul FT8 -19dB 13084km Italy
VK6KXW-@ 50315.0 UR0MC 06:32 15 Jul FT8 -16dB 11894km Ukraine
VK6KXW-@ 50315.0 UT9EZ 06:24 15 Jul FT8 -14dB Ukraine
VK6KXW-@ 50315.0 UR0MC 06:17 15 Jul FT8 -06dB 11894km Ukraine 
VK4ABW-@ 50314.9 UR0MC 06:14 15 Jul FT8 -17 best, tks 4 qso Ukraine
VK6KXW-@ 50315.0 UR0MC 06:05 15 Jul FT8 -20dB 11894km Ukraine
VK4ABW-@ 50314.7 UR5LAK 05:44 15 Jul FT8 -18 11321km Ukraine
VK4ABW-@ 50314.0 UR5LAK 05:39 15 Jul FT8 -21 Ukraine
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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi John,

Your comments regarding lack of activity from VK6 is fundamentally flawed for the following reasons:

1: Altough VK6KXW appears with many spots or contacts, he is a "big" station some 100 odd kms east from Perth. Peter runs a 9el yagi on a tower which affords him a great view twds EU. His location is also relatively flat, which helps.
2: Compared to the eastern VK population, there are few active stns on 6 in WA. However, those of us that are, include VK6CPU, 6AKT, 6RK, 6RZ apart from Peter and myself.
3: The rest of us are in urban areas which precludes high antennas due to draconian council laws.
4: Peter Vk6KXW is not always the 1st stn to see prop into EU from VK6.
5: We here in the SW of Western Aus suffer from the angle of the geomagnetic equator compared to VK4,5,3,2 etc.

I hope this helps you in a better understanding of the situation from VK6.

A final comment: distance is meaningless, the ionosphere governs what happens!!!

Cheers and 73,
Andy VK6OX

July 17, 2021 at 11:38 AM

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