EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity: 28 MHz

Showing posts with label 28 MHz. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

A mystery QRSS signal on 28 MHz from North America - 21st Oct 2024

Over the last few days, there has been a mysterious QRSS signal on 28.1246 MHz USB which is also the WSPR frequency on the 10m band. I was seeing it during the afternoon and evening so I guessed it was probably from North America.

It was usually very weak and I was usually only getting fragments of the QRSS signal. I tried to make sense of the dots and dashes but I couldn't be sure if I was actually get real dots and dashes or was it just part of the signal that was missing.

The screen capture above is one of the better ones from the 20th of October. The QRSS signal at the bottom is from AE0V but who was at the top? It didn't seem to make any sense.

On the 21st of October, I got two reasonable screen captures. I then posted these to https://groups.io/g/qrssknights to see if anyone could help. This forum is the main source for all up to date information regarding QRSS signals.

Thanks to Halldór, TF3HZ in Iceland, he was able to solve the mystery! He posted the following...

Finally with this information, all the pieces fitted into place. These are my screen grabs from the 21st of October with the signal shown.

The mystery signal is from KC2CHK in the state of New York and his locator / grid square is FN13WD.

With most QRSS signals, a dash is represented by a long dash and a dot is represented by a short dash.

KC2CHK is using the same length of short dash for both dots and dashes except that the real dashes are at the top of the QRSS waveform whereas the dots are at the bottom.

In the example above, you can see it starts with 'Up - Down - Up' which is 'dash dot dash' which is the letter K.

Some letters can be particularly confusing especially when the signals are weak. An example is the letter H. When the signals are very weak, it looks like one very long dash. But on closer inspection, you can see that it's actually four short dashes on the lower part of the waveform i.e. four short dots which is the letter H.

Mystery solved, thanks Halldór!

WSPR... I checked the WSPR ROCKS website and sure enough, I had actually heard KC2CHK sixty-nine times over the space of three days (19th, 20th & 21st of Oct 2024) on 10m. His power is listed at just 0.2 watts and is likely alternating between WSPR and QRSS signals for his transmissions.

The strongest WSPR signal is -18dB which means in reality means that it's inaudible to the human ear. If the QRSS signal wasn't shown by software on a screen then I wouldn't have known it existed.

Propagation... The distance of the path from my location on the south coast of Ireland to KC2CHK in New York is about 5000kms which suggested to me that it was F2 layer double hop.

The map above from VOACAP seems to support this as you can see the skip zone in the middle of the Atlantic and the second F2 hop covering parts of western Europe.

Equipment... Frederick, KC2CHK reports that he was using a QRP-Labs Ultimate3S for the transmitter which is running about 200-milliwatts into a half wave dipole about 5.5m above ground level. It was only built in October of 2024 so this is a new QRSS signal on the band. The antenna is oriented east west which means the best radiation is probably in the north south directions.

QRP Labs Ultimate 3S units for 50 MHz & 28 MHz at KC2CHK

Frederick also confirms that he is running DFCW instead of FSKCW just to speed up the transmission, as it can go out in much less time than FSKCW.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 26-callsigns & 11 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1

2) 10th 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

17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ

18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10

19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ

20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B

21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B

22) 3rd Jun 2024: M0GBZ

23) 3rd Jun 2024: G0FTD

24) 17th Oct 2024: AA7US

25) 19th Oct 2024: DJ5CW - DXCC #11

26) 21st Oct 2024: KC2CHK

Sunday, October 20, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - DJ5CW in Germany - 19th Oct

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 19th of October, I heard / saw the QRSS signal of DJ5CW in Germany.

QRSS is a mode where a morse code signal is sent very slowly over the space of several minutes allowing very weak signals to be displayed on a waterfall display.

The story behind this reception report started at 10:23 UTC when I got an email from Fabian, DJ5CW to say that he was doing QRSS tests on 28 MHz until 14:00 UTC and if I wanted to try and capture his signal.

The thing about QRSS is that it is a 'visual mode' and I use the SpectrumLab software to capture the waterfall display in 10-minute periods. This means that if I'm not checking the screen on a regular basis then it can be easy to miss a signal.

I checked for the QRSS signal from DJ5CW and there was nothing on the screen. I did notice however that I was hearing WSPR signals from Germany so I suspected that there was some Sporadic-E propagation about.

I sent Fabian an email an email at 10:41 UTC to say that I would look for his signal. Needless to say, as soon as I sent the email, his signal appeared! 😂

At 10:52 UTC, I got a good capture of the QRSS signals on the waterfall and these are shown above.

As noted already, I believe the signal from DJ5CW was via Sporadic-E and as can be seen, it's a nice clean display.

I think the signals from G0PKT and G0MBA near London are via F2 layer backscatter and there is a certain amount of fuzz on these signals. I see these two signals every day and they are almost ever present as long as there is some sort of decent F2 propagation on the 10m band.

G0MBA and G0PKT are about 650kms from my location and are usually a bit too close for Sporadic-E. DJ5CW at just under 1500kms is just about perfect for Sporadic-E when it appears on the band.

Equipment... For this reception report, I was using a simple CB half-wave vertical about 4m above ground level. DJ5CW was using an Elecraft K2 transceiver which is keyed by an Arduino microcontroller. The power output was 1-watt into a 13m long vertical antenna on a fiberglass mast looking out of a skylight window of his 4th floor flat in central Munich

LCWO... As you might guess from the callsign, Fabian is a big fan of CW / morse code. He is the owner of the Learn CW Online website... https://lcwo.net/

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 25-callsigns & 11 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10th 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
17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ
18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10
19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ
20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B
21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B
22) 3rd Jun 2024: M0GBZ
23) 3rd Jun 2024: G0FTD
24) 17th Oct 2024: AA7US
25) 19th Oct 2024: DJ5CW - DXCC #11

Friday, October 18, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - AA7US in Arizona - 17th Oct

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 17th of October, I heard AA7US in Arizona during an F2 layer opening during the afternoon.

The QRSS signal can be seen at the top of the graphic above. I also heard AE0V who I had heard earlier this year.

QRSS is a mode where a morse code signal is sent very slowly over the space of several minutes allowing very weak signals to be displayed on a waterfall display.

G0MBA and G0PKT were probably via F2 layer backscatter to the west.

The path from my location on the south coast of Ireland to AA7US in Arizona is just over 8000kms which was probably 2-3 F2 layer hops.

John, AA7US was using 1.5-watts from a QRPGuys AFP-FSK Digital Transceiver III kit into a horizontal Hamstick dipole mounted about 5 metres above ground on a mast on the back of an RV.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 24-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

Thursday, May 16, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - IZ1KXQ beacon in Italy - 14th May

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 14th of May, I got a screengrab of the QRSS signal 'SP' which was sent by the IZKXQ/B beacon in the north of Italy.

Usually, nearly all of the QRSS signals on the 10m band are on 28.1246 MHz and the audio of the signals is about 400-500Hz below the WSPR signals. In this case, the IZ1KXQ beacon was on 28.3215 MHz.

In the image above, the fuzzy part of the signal is when it was sending the callsign of the beacon in normal morse code. The QRSS 'SP' part is sent after this.

The beacon runs 0.1-watts or 100-milliwatts into an inverted V-dipole antenna.

The map above shows the path and the distance was about 1600kms. The signal was almost certainly via Sporadic-E and it's pretty much the ideal distance for that mode of propagation.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 21-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

Friday, May 10, 2024

Solar Noise on the 28 MHz band - 10th May 2024

10th May 2024: I had the radio turned on in the background this morning and I noticed a large burst of noise from the sun. I had the SpectrumLab software running since yesterday and I took this screen grab.

Just to explain the image above...

1) I was listening on 28.1246 MHz USB which is the 10m WSPR & QRSS frequency.

2) Around 06:42 UTC, a meteor burnt up about 100kms above the west of England or Wales leaving an ionised trail behind. This lasted long enough that I was able to hear some of the QRSS signals from stations to the east of London, about 600kms to the east of me. The signals lasted for about a minute.

3) At about 06:43:30, the noise from a solar flare erupting on the sun reached the Earth and I heard the burst of solar noise as a loud hissing sound on 28 MHz. You can see this as the brighter colour in the image. It then faded slowly with some minor peaks over the next few minutes.

I later checked the NOAA website in the US and sure enough, there was a peak in the GOES X-Ray flux at about the same time. Link - https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/goes-x-ray-flux

It looks as if it was a X3.9 burst from the sunspot group AR 3664.

Maximum 10 May 2024 06:54:00 GMT X3.9 Integrated flux: 4.4e-1 J m-2

I often hear solar noise on the 28 MHz band but this one was a bit stronger than usual.

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - IW0HK beacon in Italy - 8th May

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 8th of May, I got a screengrab of the QRSS signal 'HK' which was sent by the IW0HK/B beacon near Rome in Italy.

Usually, nearly all of the QRSS signals on the 10m band are on 28.1246 MHz and the audio of the signals is about 400-500Hz below the WSPR signals. In this case, the IW0HK beacon was on 28.322 MHz.

In the image above, the fuzzy part of the signal is when it was sending the callsign and locator of the beacon in normal morse code. The QRSS 'HK' part is sent after this.

The beacon runs 1-watt into a vertical five-eight wave antenna.

The map above shows the path and the distance was about 1800kms. The signal was almost certainly via Sporadic-E and it's pretty much the ideal distance for that mode of propagation.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 20-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Tracking the KJ7VBX-11 Pico-Balloon over Ireland & the UK - 8th May 2024

As we are now at the peak of the solar cycle, some radio amateurs are using WSPR on the 28 MHz band for their Pico-Balloons as they travel around the world.

Back in April of 2024, I had a post about reception of the KD9NGV pico-balloon as it made its way off the west coast of Ireland to the North Sea. See post HERE

I often see these pico-balloon on my receive list for 28 MHz WSPR but they're nearly all somewhere far away and the propagation mode is via the ionosphere. What I find interesting about the rare really close passes is that there is no propagation mode as such, the balloon is essentially line of sight to my location.

KJ7VBX-11... On the 8th of May 2024, I noticed that I was hearing the KJ7VBX-11 pico-balloon early in the morning just as it had woken up with the sun shining on it's solar panels. I was able to hear it pretty much all day from 07:40 UTC until 18:20 UTC.

During this time, it travelled from a spot off the west coast of Ireland, over the northern counties of Donegal, Derry and Antrim in Ireland, over the south-west of Scotland and then over Cumbria in England before falling silent for the night.

On the 9th of May, it woke up over the English Channel and then headed over the Netherlands.

The balloon is at an altitude of about 13,500 metres or 44,000 feet. The WSPR transmitter is supposed to be 20-milliwatts. As far as I know, it was launched on the 2nd of May 2024 but there seems to be very little information about it.

Format... Early on the morning of the 8th, I was the only person reporting it and it was the only signal I was hearing so I was able to do some tests without any confusion from other signals.

The WSPR transmitter on the balloon seems to have two formats. The first one is shown above. The transmitter turns on as a plain carrier for 30-seconds and then sends one WSPR transmission. I presume this carrier is to warm up the transmitter which is at or below 0 deg C and the 30 second carrier stops any drifting of the following WSPR signal.

The second format is shown below...

This time, there is a second WSPR transmission after the first one.

This is a sample of the decodes that I got in the space of about an hour...

0640 6 -1.6 28.126061 -2 KJ7VBX IO33 13 361
0642 6 -1.6 28.126060 0 0O2MCY GC73 53 13482
0650 7 -1.6 28.126060 0 KJ7VBX IO33 13 361
0700 8 -1.7 28.126060 0 KJ7VBX IO33 13 361
0702 8 -1.7 28.126061 0 0S2ZAQ FR20 10 3937
0710 9 -1.6 28.126060 0 KJ7VBX IO33 13 361
0712 8 -1.6 28.126061 0 0U2MNO GJ72 10 6437
0720 9 -1.7 28.126060 0 KJ7VBX IO33 13 361
0722 9 -1.7 28.126059 0 0X2LYI II99 60 5842
0740 7 -0.3 28.126057 0 KJ7VBX IO43 13 255
0750 9 -0.4 28.126057 0 KJ7VBX IO44 13 343
0752 9 -0.4 28.126057 0 012OMZ JP66 43 2019

The short format results in just a KJ7VBX decode.

The longer format results in an additional decode which are shown above in red.

At first sight, they look wrong. The callsign, locator and power levels seem to be nonsense. However note that the callsign field starts with a zero. This is a special data WSPR signal and contains the information about the location, altitude, temperature and battery voltage. It's just the WSJT-X receive software shows it in a format that doesn't seem to make any sense.

In conclusion... The balloon is currently heading over Europe so it's going to be line of sight to a lot of stations. Just listen on WSPR on 28 MHz and see if you can hear it.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

TEP signals on the 28 MHz band - 7th May 2024

On the 8th of May 2024, I noticed a distorted QRSS signal on the 28 MHz band. The signal was from FR1GZ on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, a distance of about 10,200 kms from my location.

The image above shows the distorted signal with the carrier spread out over about 6 Hz. Underneath it, I have an image captured a few weeks ago which shows what the normal signal should look like it via F2 layer propagation.

I usually hear Reunion Island on 10m in the morning or afternoon. It was unusual to hear it at 17:50 UTC in the evening time. Evening TEP signals usually peak around 8pm local time. If it was about 18:00 UTC my time and you move further east and add 2-3 hours then the time over some place like Ethiopia is about right.

Considering the timing of the signal and the distortion, I suspect I was hearing the FR1GZ signal via TEP - Trans-Equatorial Propagation.

Normally, evening TEP signals at say 144 MHz cross the Geomagnetic Equator at right angles. However as you go lower in frequency, the requirement for a right angle lessens. By the time we get to 28 MHz, the angles can be close to 45 degrees as shown above.

I suspect that it wasn't 100% TEP either. There was likely some Sporadic-E over Europe for the TEP signal to complete the journey from the Mediterranean area to my location on the south coast of Ireland.

For me, there are two takeaway messages from this...

1) I think the whole TEP zone has a huge impact on signals on 28 MHz and the lower HF bands. TEP is main contributor to propagation on the HF bands and people don't realise it is TEP.

2) The TEP distortion can result in digital signals not being decoded. I think many people fall into the trap of thinking if there are no FT8 signals being decoded then the band in that direction must be closed. It could well be that distorted CW or SSB signals will get through.

That's the beauty of QRSS signals. You can actually 'see' the signal and it gives more clues as to what is happening to the signals on the band.

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - IK1WVQ in NW Italy - 30th April

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 30th of April, I got a screengrab of the 'Flying M' from Mauro, IK1WVQ in the NW of Italy.

I received this signal during the afternoon on the QRSS frequency of 28.1246 MHz USB. This is the same as the WSPR frequency and the only difference is that the audio frequency of the QRSS signals is about 400-500 Hz lower than the WSPR ones.

The signal is a little unusual in that it uses steps to generate the letter 'M rather than the usual morse identification. I think that Mauro was using 1-watt into a dipole antenna.

The map above shows the path and the distance was about 1500kms. The signal was almost certainly via Sporadic-E and it's pretty much the ideal distance for that mode of propagation.

Now that the Sporadic-E season has started, I should be able to receive more signals in the 500-1500km distance from my location. These are normally too close for the F2 layer propagation that has been there since the start of the year.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 19-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Tracking a WSPR balloon on 28 MHz off the west coast of Ireland - Apr 2024

On the 28th of November 2023, Perri Moore KD9NGV launched a Pico-Balloon from Illinois in the United States with a solar powered payload that transmits a WSPR beacon on 28.1246 MHz.

Most of the Pico-Balloons launched from the USA tend to take a path closer to about 30 degrees north of the equator and cross areas like the north of Africa and south Asia. In contrast, the KD9NGV balloon seems to have covered a much wider area and has been reported at more northerly latitudes as shown on the map above.

By the 16th of December 2023, it had gone around the world once! By the 19th of February, it had gone around the world three times. By mid April 2024, it has gone around the globe multiple times and the red dots on the map show where it was when I received some of the WSPR signals over the last few weeks.

What caught my interest was that back on the 7th of April 2024, the KD9NGV Pico-Balloon was off the west coast of Ireland. Most of the reception reports of the WSPR transmitter are via F2-layer propagation during the daytime. When it was off the west coast of Ireland, it was at about 40,000ft (12.2kms) altitude and line of sight to my location.

As can be seen from the map above and the reports below, my first reception report on the 7th of April was at 14:10 UTC when it was about 400kms to the west. A few others reported it via F2 layer propagation but I was the main one reporting it as it tracked its way up off the west coast of Ireland.

After 17:50 UTC, I lost it but it then came into the range of GM0HBF in the Western Isles of Scotland.

It then went silent as darkness fell. Once daylight broke again on the 8th of April, it was over the North Sea and GM4WJA started to report it.

At the time of the screen grab, LA3FY/2 in Norway was hearing it and it continued then over Scandinavia. It has since crossed over Russia and at the time of writing is up over the far north of Canada.

KD9NGV Payload... The actual payload pre-launch is shown below.

The 28 MHz WSPR signal is generated by a Si5351 clock generator and the power output is just 9 milliwatts... 0.009 watts!

The antenna is a vertical half-wave dipole made of #36 enamelled wire. The top half is from the balloon to the U4B tracker (QRP Labs) and the lower half hangs below the tracker. Three Powerfilm MPT 3.6-75 in a vertical triangle provide the power. The complete payload weighs 12 grams.

The balloon is described as a "silver SAG Balloon with Helium.".

In conclusion... I have noticed these WSPR pico-balloons many times on the 28 MHz band before but they are nearly always flying over some exotic location. It was just unusual to have one pass so close and be line of sight.

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Long path opening on 28 MHz from Ireland to Australia - March 2024

Conditions on the 28 MHz band over the last few weeks have been excellent and using the WSPR beacon mode, I have heard 20 stations in Australia on the 10m band.

I usually hear these signals via short path during the morning time or early afternoon but when I checked, I noticed that I had heard two Australian stations via long path as well.

local y-m-d txCall txGrid rxCall rxGrid MHz W SNR drift kms
2024-03-21 08:44 VK4TDI QG62lm EI7GL IO51tu 28.126131 5 -24 0 16889
2024-03-21 08:38 VK4TDI QG62lm EI7GL IO51tu 28.126132 5 -23 0 16889
2024-03-20 20:38 VK4TDI QG62lm EI7GL IO51tu 28.126128 5 -21 0 23111
2024-03-20 08:58 VK4TDI QG62lm EI7GL IO51tu 28.126132 5 -24 0 16889
2024-03-19 13:38 VK4TDI QG62lm EI7GL IO51tu 28.126124 5 -21 0 16889

2024-03-21 08:36 VK2KYB QF56lf EI7GL IO51tu 28.126117 5 -25 0 17410
2024-03-21 08:10 VK2KYB QF56lf EI7GL IO51tu 28.126116 5 -27 0 17410
2024-03-20 20:56 VK2KYB QF56lf EI7GL IO51tu 28.126115 5 -24 0 22590
2024-03-17 07:10 VK2KYB QF56lf EI7GL IO51tu 28.126117 5 -27 0 17410
2024-02-25 08:12 VK2KYB QF56lf EI7GL IO51tu 28.126072 5 -26 0 17410

The WSPR decodes for VK2KYB in Sydney and VK4TDI are shown above. All of the short path decodes are in black while the long path decodes are in red.

The chart below shows the predicted propagation from my location on 28 MHz to the SE coast of Australia and it seems reasonably accurate. You can see the stronger short path in the morning with a modest long path in the evening.

The long path to Australia is a difficult one for me as there is a local hill here which means that the signals have to be over 3-degrees above the horizon to reach me.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Lesotho in the log on 28 MHz CW - 27th March 2024

I managed to work the 7P8EI in Lesotho today on 28 MHz CW, my first DX contact in about 12-months!

I have no idea if it's a new country or not on 28 MHz but to be honest, I don't really care. I'm not too bothered about chasing DX but there's just something nice about working Lesotho on CW on 28 MHz.

The path is shown below. I worked them at about 14:00 UTC so the propagation prediction shows that the contact was possible. In reality, the signal to me was just above the noise... weak but workable.

I was using 100-watts to a vertical half-wave antenna.

Reception reports for the Arctic VY0ERC 28 MHz beacon - March 2024

VY0ERC is an amateur radio station located at a weather station on Ellesmere Island at 80 degrees north in the Canadian Arctic. They operate a WSPR beacon on several HF band including one on 10m on 26.1246 MHz.

I noticed that this was one of the unusual stations that I had heard on the WSPR mode on 28 MHz recently so I checked to see what stations reported hearing this Arctic beacon on 10m over the last 5-weeks. The results are shown above.

Some observations...

1) Over the 5-week period, just 101 stations reported hearing VY0ERC on 28 MHz. In the same time period, I heard 1224 stations here on the south coast of Ireland. G0PKT near London runs a similar power (0.2w) but was reported by 1224 stations.

2) The closest reporting station to VY0ERC was TF3HZ in Iceland at 2583kms. My location is 4134kms. The best DX was EA8BFK in the Canary Islands at 6545kms.

3) From what I could tell, VY0ERC was reported somewhere on nearly every day during the 5-week period.

4) These are my decodes of VY0ERC and I would have been listening nearly every day for the 5-weeks on 10m.

local y-m-d txCall txGrid rxCall rxGrid MHz W SNR drift kms
2024-03-11 15:38 VY0ERC ER60tb EI7GL IO51tu 28.126173 0.2 -18 0 4134
2024-03-11 15:18 VY0ERC ER60tb EI7GL IO51tu 28.126109 0.2 -13 -1 4134
2024-03-11 14:58 VY0ERC ER60tb EI7GL IO51tu 28.126160 0.2 -17 -1 4134
2024-03-11 14:38 VY0ERC ER60tb EI7GL IO51tu 28.126168 0.2 -24 0 4134
2024-03-11 13:58 VY0ERC ER60tb EI7GL IO51tu 28.126088 0.2 -18 0 4134

All of my decodes were on the 11th of March and were between 13:58 and 15:38 UTC. The signal strength ranged from -13dB to -24dB so it was really buried in the noise.

In conclusion... I included this report of VY0ERC because it's a good example of how different propagation is just 10 degrees from the North Pole. While we're all enjoying worldwide propagation on 28 MHz at more southerly latitudes, it's a very different story in the Arctic region.

The two primary reasons for the lack of signals are a) the maximum usable frequency (MUF) drops are you head towards the polar regions and b) VY0ERC is in the auroral zone and this can severely distort digital signals like FT8 & WSPR.

The lack of signals coming from VY0ERC might also suggest that some of those long distance paths we see on 10m going over the polar regions are in fact not direct at all and might be skewed further south?

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Opening from Hawaii to Europe on 28 MHz - March 2024

Over the last few weeks, I have been listening on the WSPR frequency of 28.1246 MHz and feeding the decoded WSPR signals to the WSPRnet website. As we're near the peak of the sunspot cycle, I was hearing stations all over the world on the 10m band. I know when I see east-west paths open to the west coast of the USA and to Japan then conditions must be good.

One unusual signal though was the club station KH6EJ in Hawaii. The power output is just 0.2 watts into a MFJ 1982-LP antenna and it transmits on 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m & 10m. The 28MHz transmissions are at 18, 38 & 58 minutes past the hour.

The received signals were in the range of -23dB to -29dB which means they were buried in the noise. These are the four decodes...

local y-m-d txCall txGrid rxCall rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2024-03-20 18:58 KH6EJ BK29 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126175 0.2 -23 0 11449
2024-03-20 18:38 KH6EJ BK29 EI7GL IO51tu 28.12617 0.2 -29 -1 11449
2024-03-14 18:38 KH6EJ BK29 EI7GL IO51tu 28.12614 0.2 -25 0 11449
2024-03-11 18:58 KH6EJ BK29 EI7GL IO51tu 28.126062 0.2 -23 0 11449

Why is it unusual?

1) I was the only station in Europe to decode the KH6EJ 10m WSPR signal over a 4-week period. Obviously my location in the north-west of Europe helps but I'm only using a simple vertical half-wave antenna for receive. Why didn't other stations in Europe decode the signal?

2) The short time window. I got just four decodes over the space of three days and they are all in the 18:38 to 18:58 UTC time window. This is close to the sunset times for my location.

3) The northerly path. The auroral zone in the Arctic can and does distort signals. If the signals are on SSB or CW then they can sound a bit rough but for digital signals like WSPR or FT8, it can often mean that the signals are not decoded at all.

In conclusion... I've worked Hawaii on 28 MHz a long time ago but if I was looking for it now as a new country on 10m then I'd be checking the band at sunset in March.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Mystery opening on 28 MHz in the middle of the night - 21st Mar 2024

Robbie, EI2IP reports that there was an unusual opening on the 28 MHz band on the 21st of March 2024. At the moment, the 28 MHz band closes here in Ireland at about 21:00 UTC which is about two hours after sunset.

Robbie reports working FM4LV in Martinique in the Caribbean on the 28 MHz (10m) band at around 00:49 UTC on the 21st of March which is about six hours after sunset. This is very unusual and raises the question what was the propagation mode?

The general expectation is that all F2 layer propagation should have disappeared six hours after sunset.

FM4LV was on FT8 and there were loads of stations to the west of him reporting his signal. None of these are of interest as they're just the usual F2. These are the stations to the east that heard FM4LV after 00:00 UTC...

Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
EA7DZ 10m FT8 6100 km 00:55:14 (Spain)
CN/TANGER 10m FT8 5938 km 00:50:00 (Morocco)
EI2IP 10m FT8 6217 km 00:49:11 (Ireland)
EA8RH 10m FT8 4791 km 00:39:42 (Canary Islands)
EA8AXB 10m FT8 4920 km 00:23:14
EB7FBJ 10m FT8 6091 km 00:15:11

The paths to the far south of Spain, Morocco & the Canary Islands are well to the south and are much more likely to have propagation at 28 MHz, even well after dark. The question is how was there a path to EI2IP in Ireland at 52 deg north?

That brings us to the good old dependable Sporadic-E.

Q. How did the F2 layer propagation reach that far north? Answer - An extra hop provided by Sporadic-E.

Q. How is any unusual path possible? Answer - Sporadic-E.

Q. "The propagation chapter in my ARRL handbook doesn't explain how I made a contact?" Answer - Sporadic-E.

Q. Why did my coffee go cold? Answer - Sporadic-E.

OK, I lied about the last one but the point being is that we seem to perhaps use Sporadic-E as an explanation a bit too often. In this case, the opening was at about 1am in the morning in March, not a time noted for Sporadic-E as the Sporadic-E season doesn't start properly until mid-April and it's usually during the daylight hours.

The map above shows the parts of the earth in sunlight and shadow around the time of the opening.

For EI2IP, it's in the middle of the night and six hours after sunset. For FM4PV, it was about two and a half hours after sunset.

When I took a screen grab of this image, I couldn't help notice that the moon was almost directly above Martinique which got me thinking. If the moon is visible to both stations then signals must be reflected off the surface of the moon even at 28 MHz?

In this case, I think the combined antenna gain was probably too low for moon bounce and the answer is probably that the signals came off a layer in the ionosphere. As for the exact propagation mechanism?

When I looked at an online propagation map, it suggested that the path was impossible at that time of day so it's a bit of a mystery.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - FR1GZ on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean - 5th March

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 5th of March, I got a screengrab of FR1GZ/B on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

Yvon, FR1GZ has been making adjustments to the speed and spacing over the last few days above the QRSS band and just below the WSPR segment. On the 5th, he moved his transmitter down about 280 Hz to where the other QRSS signals on 28.1246 MHz are.

The full sequence can be seen above from Yvon and he is sending his beacon callsign FR1GZ/B as well as his locator / grid square LG79RC. As you can see, Yvon is using ON/OFF keying as opposed to Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) for his transmitter.

The signal in more detail can be seen below...

I took this screengrab at about 11:15 UTC and conditions at the time were quite poor. At the moment, we're near the peak of the sunspot cycle and I usually decode my first WSPR spots on 28 MHz at about 06:30 UTC which is about 35 minutes before my sunrise.

On the 5th of March, I didn't get me first decode until 09:38 UTC which is about two and a half hours after sunrise. The recent solar flares and aurora seem to be having an impact on conditions for the last two days at least.

The 28 MHz from my location on the south coast of Ireland to Reunion Island is about 10,170kms. The propagation mode is multiple F2 layer hops and the signal from FR1GZ/B should be pretty consistent in Europe considering the roughly north-south path.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 18-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - WA1EDJ in the state of Georgia - 2nd March

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 2nd of March, I got a screengrab of WA1EDJ in the state of Georgia in the south-east of the United States.

The distance was in the region of 6170kms and was probably two F2 layer hops.

Even though the south-eastern part of the USA is one of the easier paths for me, it took quite a while to get this screengrab. It was often be very weak or I'd miss parts in fading but I got a complete call eventually.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 17-callsigns & 9 DXCC.

Addendum: Bob, WA1EDJ reports using 100-milliwatts from a QRPLabs Arduino shield transmitter into a Ringo Ranger antenna just 3-metres above ground level.

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."

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