EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity: February 2024

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - VK4BAP in Australia 28th Feb

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 28th of February, I noticed VK4BAP Queensland, Australia.

For my first attempt above, I managed to get a positive ID on the signal. However, a very strong OH station from Finland just above using WSPR was playing havoc with my audio levels. I tried to adjust the volume as best as I could and managed some sort of screen grab.

Finland is just one F2 layer hop from my location on the south coast of Ireland and signals are usually very strong. The QRSS signal from Australia by contrast is just about visible in the noise.

It's a bit like waiting on the bank of a river and waiting for a fish to bite. I'd start to get a reasonable QRSS signal from VK4BAP only for the OH station to then clobber it! :o)

Eventually, the timing got to a stage so that the VK station started just after the OH station had finished transmitting and I managed to get a reasonable if somewhat weak screengrab.

My target at the end of the day is to get a full screengrab of a signal which can be positively identified regardless of how weak it is.

The distance was about 16,070 kms and the propagation mode was via multiple F2 layer hops. There may have been some chordal hop in there as well. The time for the reception reports was about 09:00 UTC.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 16-callsigns & 9 DXCC.

1) 08 Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10 Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8
14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK
15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER
16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9

Addendum: Brian, VK4BAP reports that this was his first day ever transmitting QRSS. He was using 1 watt to a Moxon beam pointing to Europe.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - NM5ER 27th Feb

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 27th of February, I managed to get a good capture of NM5ER in New Mexico.

The QRSS signal of NM5ER can be seen above at the top of the screen and this was the best one of several that I saw today. It really was a marginal signal and it didn't take much fading for me to lose large parts of the signal.

By contrast, the other signals listed about were a lot more consistent.

The distance was about 7800kms and I suspect the propagation mode was either two long or three shorter F2 layer hops.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 15-callsigns & 8 DXCC.

Addendum: Evans NM5ER confirms that his location is Las Cruces in New Mexico (DM62qq). He is running about 1.75 watts into a MFJ-1982LP End Fed Half-Wave Wire antenna tuned to 28 MHz.

Monday, February 26, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - VE6NGK 26th Feb

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 26th of February, I managed to get a good capture of VE6NGK in the city of Calgary in the province of Alberta, Canada.

As can be seen from the image above, there was quite a bit of frequency drift on the QRSS signal. In reality, the signal only drifted upwards about 5Hz over the space of about 8 minutes but in the world of QRSS, these small changes are easily visible.

About 20 minutes later, I got a second screen capture when the signal was stronger.

The distance from Calgary to my location on the south coast of Ireland is about 6620kms. The propagation mode was probably two F2 layer hops but what make this path more of a challenge is that it goes well to the north.

I also saw NM3ER in New Mexico but I was unable to get a good screen grab. Another day.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 14-callsigns & 8 DXCC.

Addendum: Kam, VA6CA reports the following... "VE6NGK is my other call. I was running 5W at the time I believe. Was at 500mW at the beginning but not getting anywhere.

Below is the transmitting station. It's a homebrew project using components from my junk box. The controller uses TTL logic chips. and the dual tone audio generator (the bottom board) uses two "tuning fork resonators" at frequencies 410 Hz. I physically trimmed one to get the audio tone frequency difference I need. The 410Hz was 4X up using PLL to get the output harmonics outside the FT817 SSB filter to minimize splattering."

Friday, February 23, 2024

Notice: Upcoming HAARP ionospheric tests from Alaska - 28th Feb to 3rd Mar 2024

High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is based in Alaska and it's a high-power, high frequency (HF) transmitter for studying the ionosphere. The principal instrument is a phased array of 180 HF crossed-dipole antennas capable of radiating 3.6 megawatts into the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Transmit frequencies are selectable in the range of 2.7 to 10 MHz.

The research team have announced that they will be carrying out tests from the 28th of February to the 3rd of March 2024.

The press release is shown below and I've added a map to show location and distance.

To: Amateur Radio & Radio Astronomy Communities
From: HAARP Program Office
Subject: Notice of Transmission

The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) will be conducting a research
campaign February 28-March 3 UTC, with operating times specified in the table below. Operating
frequencies will vary, but all HAARP transmissions will be between 2.8 MHz and 10 MHz. Actual
transmit days and times are highly variable based on real-time ionospheric and/or geomagnetic
conditions. All information is subject to change.

Some examples of experiments planned for this research campaign are the production of ELF and VLF emissions and studies on the effects of ionospheric plasma waves on orbiting satellites. These experiments will help lead to a greater understanding of the production and enhancement of ELF/VLF waves, as well as lay groundwork for future studies of satellite interactions with space plasma. For more information on ELF/VLF wave generation with HAARP, see the online HAARP FAQ at
https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu/faq.

Note that numerous experiments will operate at frequencies based on the f0F2 frequency from the
Gakona ionograms. Experiments that are dependent on f0F2 will typically operate 0.5-1 MHz below
f0F2 at the time of transmission. There are no specific data collection requests from funded
investigators, but reception reports are appreciated and may be submitted to uaf-gihaarp AT alaska DOT edu or to: HAARP, PO Box 271, Gakona, AK 99586

For updates on ionospheric conditions in Gakona, please consult ionograms from the HAARP
Diagnostic Suite: https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu/diagnostic-suite

Additional Resources for Reading Ionograms
Understanding HF Propagation and Reading Ionograms from Bootstrap Workbench:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTFKNCo3Cl8

Reading Your Ionogram-Keeping It Simple from John (VE6EY):
https://play.fallows.ca/wp/radio/shortwave-radio/reading-your-ionogram-keeping-it-simple/

The image above is an annotated ionogram from HAARP that describes features that may be of
interest. Note that f0F2 is calculated at the top left.

f0F2 is the critical frequency of the F2 layer of the Earth’s ionosphere. This is the frequency at
which radio signals stop refracting off the ionosphere and begin passing through to outer space.
For certain HAARP experiments that deal with interactions in the ionosphere, transmission
frequencies below f0F2 are desirable, while for other experiments (such as those involving high altitude satellites), staying above f0F2 is required.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - PY3FF 21st Feb

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 21st of February, I managed to get a good capture of PY3FF in Brazil, South America.

The QRSS signal from PY3FF can be seen at the top of the screen grab above. Rafael reports running 700 milliwatts into a dipole from his location in the south of Brazil.

The path length was around 10,000kms and it's likely it was three F2 layer hops. The G0MBA/G0PKT duo also shown in the screen grab are from the east coast of England and are about 700kms from my location. I believe that I am getting those signals via F2 layer backscatter.

The VOACAP propagation map below shows that the path from my location to the south of Brazil is reasonably good.

It is however one of my worst directions as I have a hill that is 3-degrees above the horizon. On 28 MHz, the signals must have been above that angle.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 13-callsigns & 8 DXCC.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Australian stations heard on 28 MHz WSPR over a 4-week period - Jan & Feb 2024

Conditions on the 28 MHz band have been really good for the last few weeks as can be seen from the map above which shows all of the WSPR stations that I heard from the 23rd of January to the 19th of February 2024.

In total, there are 1334 individual stations which is a lot for a mode like WSPR which after all is just a beacon mode and not designed to make two way contacts. There are a lot of interesting paths in the map but the one I will focus on here are the ones to Australia.

My location in north-west Europe is in the region of 15,000 to 17,500 kms from Australia. While it's not exactly the 'other side of the planet' i.e. 20,000kms, it's still a long way for a 28 MHz signal to travel.

In total, I heard 28 stations from Australia over the 4-week period on 28 MHz. The list is shown below...

local y-m-d txCall txGrid rxCall rxGrid MHz                W SNR drift kms
2024-02-15 13:58 VK6TQ OF76of EI7GL IO51tu 28.126101 20 -16 0 15139
2024-02-01 13:22 VK6MJV OF77 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126135 10 -27 0 15028
2024-01-31 12:56 VK6LDL OF77vx EI7GL IO51tu 28.126201 5 -20 1 15047
2024-02-13 12:34 VK6HQ OF87av EI7GL IO51tu 28.126028 0.2 -26 0 15071
2024-02-06 12:26 VK6CRO OG65ud EI7GL IO51tu 28.126137 0.2 -24 -2 14335
2024-02-13 12:22 VK6BMT OF78ve EI7GL IO51tu 28.126038 0.2 -25 0 15031
2024-02-03 07:58 VK5ZBI PF95ga EI7GL IO51tu 28.12613   10 -27 0 16794
2024-02-09 07:54 VK5ADE PF94hj EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 20 -22 0 16849
2024-02-01 08:54 VK4TMT QG62 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126097 0.1 -18 0 16894
2024-02-01 08:56 VK4SA QG62 EI7GL IO51tu 28.12615   0.2 -26 0 16894
2024-02-19 08:58 VK4PK QG62qi EI7GL IO51tu 28.126134 0.2 -19 0 16923
2024-02-14 08:42 VK4NE QG62nj EI7GL IO51tu 28.126133 0.1 -26 -1 16909
2024-02-19 09:00 VK4LA QG62 EI7GL IO51tu 28.125991 0.2 -26 0 16894
2024-02-01 08:42 VK4JBY QH30jq EI7GL IO51tu 28.126168 0.2 -28 -3 15801
2024-02-19 08:42 VK4EKA QG62ap EI7GL IO51tu 28.126177 1 -7 0 16838
2024-02-19 08:58 VK4BA QG62 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126196 0.2 -20 0 16894
2024-02-03 09:10 VK4AGR QG53wg EI7GL IO51tu 28.126187 0.2 -27 0 16768
2024-02-04 09:18 VK3VJP QF12 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126022 0.2 -20 0 17273
2024-02-16 08:06 VK3KCX/1 QF22qd EI7GL IO51tu 28.12603 5 2 -14 0 17449
2024-02-18 09:46 VK3CWF QF22ke EI7GL IO51tu 28.12606 5 -25 0 17415
2024-02-01 08:18 VK3AMW QF22ir EI7GL IO51tu 28.12607 5 5 -16 0 17362
2024-01-30 08:52 VK2XSM QF56og EI7GL IO51tu 28.12605   1 -19 -1 17419
2024-02-06 08:12 VK2VJ QF57vb EI7GL IO51tu 28.12604   1 -21 1 17373
2024-02-01 08:22 VK2QQ QF55gt EI7GL IO51tu 28.126209 5 -23 -2 17427
2024-02-12 09:20 VK2KYB QF56lf EI7GL IO51tu 28.126085 5 -27 0 17410
2024-02-19 09:52 VK2HL QG56 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126156 0.2 -25 0 16406
2024-02-16 08:06 VK2GDF QF67ch EI7GL IO51tu 28.126142 0.2 -14 4 17369
2024-02-01 07:56 VK1KF QF44mr EI7GL IO51tu 28.126049 5 -22 -3 17445

The ones I find of special interest are the low power stations which are in bold running output powers of 100 to 200 milliwatts. On my side, I'm just using a simple cheap half wave vertical CB type vertical to hear all of these stations.

It's just an example of how good conditions are now on 28 MHz at the peak of the sunspot cycle and is in marked contrast to the minimum a few years ago.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - IK2JET & N8NJ 16th Feb

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 16th of February, I managed to get screen captures of IK2JET in the north of Italy and N8NJ in Ohio in the US.

1) IK2JET... At 16:17 UTC, I managed to get a successful screen capture of the QRSS signal from Alberto, IK2JET.

As can be seen from the image above, the signal wasn't too strong but it was a positive ID all the same and a new DXCC for 2024.

You can note how the QRSS signal has a slight 'fuzz' to it and is slightly distorted. It's similar to the backscatter signals from G0PKT & G0MBA which are going across the centre of the screen.

2) N8NJ... At 16:24 UTC, I got another screen capture and this time, I got a nice QRSS signal from Larry, N8NJ in Ohio.

The signal from N8NJ can be seen above at the top of the screen and it looks cleaner with less 'fuzz' than some of the other signals.

These are the WSPR decodes that I got from N8NJ during that hour and it suggests that the QRSS signal might have been in the region of -10dB.

local y-m-d txCall txGrid rxCall rxGrid MHz W SNR drift kms
2024-02-16 17:00 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -13 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:50 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126082 1 -5 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:40 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -13 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:30 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126083 1 -10 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:20 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -10 1 5574
2024-02-16 16:10 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -7 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:00 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -12 0 5574

Propagation Modes???.... What were the propagation modes responsible for these signals? I generated this propagation map below with VOACAP and the stations are marked in black.

N8NJ at 5570kms seems to be about right for two F2 layer hops and that one is easily explained.

The signal from IK2JET at 1550kms is more difficult. If it was a few more hundred kms away, I'd be more certain of one F2 hop but it seems a bit close.

It could be Sporadic-E but we're in the middle of February and not the Summer Sp-E season. I did note plenty of other of WSPR signals on the day from the white skip zone around my location.

The signal as noted had some 'fuzz' to it which is unlike a nice clean one hop signal and that might suggest a back scatter or multi-path quality about it.

Sometimes, you just look at the evidence and it's hard to come to any firm conclusion.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 12-callsigns & 7 DXCC.

Saturday, February 10, 2024

EI1CAH 40MHz beacon heard in California - 9th Feb 2024

Chris, N3IZN near San Diego in California reports reception of the Irish EI1CAB beacon on 40.016 MHz on Friday 9th of February 2024. Chris was able to decode the PI4 signal from the 8m beacon and as it shows in the graphic above, the signal level was down at -22dB which is well below what is audible to the human ear.

The EI1CAH beacon is located on the west of Ireland and it's 25-watt signal is often heard across the Atlantic in the eastern part of the United States. This isn't all that unusual now that we're near the peak of the sunspot cycle.

The more northern path to California is much more difficult and it's interesting to see a signal at 40 MHz complete the 8,124km path.

Link...
1) For more information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page.

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - VA3RYV 6th Feb

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 6th of February, I managed to get a good capture of VA3RYV in Ontario, Canada.

The QRSS signal of VA3RYV can be seen in the image above. It starts with a 'Slow Hell' image of the VA3RYV callsign followed by the signal in morse code. The whole sequence lasted about 6-minutes.

Wes, VA3RYV was using 100-milliwatts output power into a have-wave dipole about 15m above ground level. The path length was around 5,255kms and it's likely it was two F2 layer hops.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 10-callsigns & 6 DXCC.

10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV

Thursday, February 1, 2024

40 MHz reception report from Bill Smith, W1-7897 for Jan 2024

Thanks to short wave listener Bill Smith, W1-7897 for sending on his reception report for January 2024.

Bill who is located near Douglas in Massachusetts in the United States is using a Yaesu FT-847 as a receiver on the 40 MHz (8m) band with a 5-element beam for the 50 MHz band about 6m above ground level.

40 MHz reception report from Bill Smith, W1-7897 for January 2024:

3rd Jan 2024 - EI2IP in Ireland, Grid IO52QP heard on 40.680 FT8 calling CQ from 1338 to 1356 UTC. No Answers. Signal strength ranged between -20 and -10 DB.

10th Jan 2024 - EI2IP (IO52) called CQ from 1547 UTC to 1603 UTC. Signal strength ranged from -14 to -20 DB. At 1604 UTC ZF1EJ in the Cayman Islands (EK99) called EI2IP and a QSO resulted with EI2IP at -6db and ZF1EJ at -9db. ZF1EJ then (1606 UTC) worked G9PUV who was not heard here. ZF1EJ then called CQ until 1612 without an answer.

11th Jan 2024 - ZF1EJ(EK99) logged between 1337 and 1341 UTC Calling CQ with no answers. Signal Strength -14 to -18DB.

12th Jan 2024 - ZF1EJ (EK99) called CQ from 1444 UTC to 1518 UTC on 40 MHz FT8 on Jan. 12, 2024. No one answered. Signals ranged from -21DB to +23 DB.

13th Jan 2024 - EI2IP (IO52) logged calling CQ between 1403 and 1411 UTC on 40.680 MHz FT8. No answers. Signal strength -4 to -18 DB.

14th Jan 2024 - EI2IP (IO52) logged between 1624 and 1638 UTC calling CQ. No answers. Signal Strength ranged from -17 DB to 3DB on 40.680 FT8.

15th Jan 2024 - ZF1EJ (EK99) called SV1DH in Greece (KM27) at 1457 UTC with no contact. SV1DH not heard here. ZF1EJ then worked G9PUV (JO00). G9PUV not heard here. ZF1EJ was -18DB. EI2IP (IO52) called CQ from 1610 to 1628 with strength ranging from -20 to 2 DB. EI2IP then worked VA2CYX in Quebec, Canada (FN46). VA2CYX not heard here. EI2IP Worked S59F in Slovenia at 1639 UTC, and 9A5CW in Croatia at 1644 UTC. Unfortunately, I was not at home to shift antenna toward southern Europe so did not hear either station.

16th Jan 2024 - ZF1EJ (EK99) called CQ once at 1426 UTC. No answer. Strength -17 DB; EI2IP (IO52) called CQ at 1805-1807 with no answer; strength -17DB; LX5JX in Luxembourg (JO30) called CQ from 1808-1811 and worked VA2CYX (FN46) at 1812. Strength -3 DB. After both calling CQ between 1813 and 1817, EI2IP and LX5JX worked at 1829 UTC. LX5JX was strength 1 DB. LX5JX called CQ until 1855 UTC with no further answers.

19th Jan 2024 - ZF1EJ (EK99) calling CQ from 1543 to 1546 UTC on 48.680 MHz FT8. No answers. Signal ranged from -7 to 19 DB.

21st Jan 2024 - EI2IP (IO52) called CQ at 1423 UTC Signal Strength -18 DB; at 1517 UTC EI4GEB (IO52) called CQ, strength -14 DB.

29th Jan 2024 - ZF1EJ (EK99) called CQ from 1823 UTC to 1827 with no answer. At 1828 called PJ4MM with no reply. PJ4MM in Bonaire (FK52) was not heard here. ZF1EJ then called CQ until 1839. No answers. ZF1EJ signal strength ranged from -14 to -18 DB.

***

In summary... As can be seen from the map above, the path to the stations in Europe was about 5000-6000kms and was most likely two F2 layer hops. ZF1EJ in the Cayman Islands was about 2700kms to the south and was likely one F2 layer hop. VA2CYX in Quebec, Canada is about 500kms to the north and is too close for F2 layer propagation.

Thanks for the report Bill!

For more information on the 40 MHz band, go to https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Pages