Opening across the Atlantic on the 40 MHz band - 18th Apr 2022

Sunday 18th April 2022: During the afternoon, WM2XEK in the state of Georgia in the United States was heard across the Atlantic by EA8BFK on the Canary Islands on the 40 MHz band.

WM2XEJ is one of seven stations in the USA who have experimental licenses for the 40 MHz band at present.

 Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
WLO/O5 8m FT8 561 km 17:45:45
EA8BFK 8m FT8 6508 km 17:45:30

It's likely that the mode of propagation was via the F2 layer with the maximum usable frequency (MUF) going up above 30 MHz and reaching 40 MHz. 

It's probably no accident that the opening occurred at what is a reasonably southerly latitude. The MUF over a more northerly East-West path would be have been much lower.

At the moment, there are signs of plenty of North-South openings at 40 MHz but it's the East-West ones that usually more difficult.

The solar flux on the day was 135.