Croatia becomes the latest country to grant access to the new 40 MHz band - Dec 2020

We now have welcome news that Croatia has joined the small number of countries that has allowed operation on the new 40 MHz (8-metre) band.

In a message by email, Dragan, 9A6W writes...

In April I have applied for an experimental license to transmit on 40 MHz hoping to be QRV for the E-sporadic season. To make a long story short, national telecom authorities have just issued me an experimental license for 8 m band, 40,66-40,70 MHz. I am QRV with FT-897 (100 W) and a dipole antenna at the moment. 

The license is valid for a year and then it could be renewed. There are rumors that some other stations will follow my example.

I received EI1KNH and OZ7IGY beacons this summer (2020) on many occasions. I am monitoring 6m these days for any openings (TEP or Es) and would like to be in touch for a possible QSO. I will use 40,680 for FT8. 

* * *

Croatia is now the fifth country in which it is possible to operate legally on 40 MHz. Ireland, Slovenia & South Africa already have allocations on the band while Lithuania is willing to allocate spot frequencies for experimental purposes.

The frequency allocation that 9A6W has obtained is from 40.660 MHz to 40.700 MHz. This 40 kHz wide slice of spectrum is referred to the Industrial, Scientific & Medical (ISM) band.

There are a number of ISM bands but this is the one nearest to 40 MHz. In many countries, much of the low band VHF spectrum is allocated to military or other services. Licensing authorities may be unwilling to grant radio amateurs an allocation that hasn't been agreed internationally. 

The ISM band at 40 MHz is an exception and it might be a good way for other countries to proceed i.e. individual licenses in the ISM band.

Range... As the map shows above, 9A6W is at an ideal distance for Sporadic-E openings to Ireland and Lithuania. As the most southerly 8-metre station in Europe, there is a possibility of some TEP openings to South Africa or perhaps via F2 near the peak of sunspot cycle 25.

The distance to Slovenia is about 200 kms which might be spanned by tropo or even meteor scatter during the major showers.

Links...

1) For more information of 40 MHz, visit my 40 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

2) 9A6W on QRZ.COM

Update 3rd Dec 2020... 9A6W reports that 9A2WB heard his JT65 transmission over a distance of 114 kms.

Slovenian distance record on 40 MHz extended to 104 kms - 17th Aug 2020

In a recent post, I reported on the first Slovenia to Slovenia 40 MHz contact between S50B and S59F on the 9th of August 2020. The distance over an obstructed path was in the region of 20 kms.

On the 17th of August 2020, Borut S50B managed to complete a contact with Michael S5/M0MPM to extend the inter-S5 distance to 104 kms.

Michael S5/M0MPM writes.... "Borut S50B and myself (S5/M0MPM) just smashed the intra-Slovenian distance record on 8m, 40.680Mhz this morning 17/08/2020 at about 7:45 UTC. 

Mode was FT8, it took almost 9 minutes to complete. We tried Phone and CW first with no luck. I’m here in JN75px and Borut is in JN65xu, 104kms. 73s were received on both ends. 

No line of sight, it was some type of tropo or possibly aircraft scatter as I did not see even a trace of his signal for several minutes in between the decodes I’m using a FT857d which happily transmits on this freq , antenna is a half size G5RV, with tuner. 

I contacted Borut after reading the articles about 8m on your blog. Got confirmation that it is legal for class A CEPT license holders to transmit on this band (secondary user) The Irish beacon EI1KNH on 40.013 MHz was strong from midday for several hours Michael S5/M0MPM"

In a report from Borut, he reports that the ZSR (S5 amateur radio union) confirmed to him that as Michael had the correct CEPT papers, he could use the band like any other S5 station.

After confirming this, they arranged a sked on 40.680 MHz at 9:30am local time (7:30 UTC). They initially tried SSB and CW but without success. They later succeeded by making a digital FT8 contact.

S50B was running 100 watts from an ICOM IC-7100 into a dedicated SIRIO vertical for 8-metres. 

S5/M0MPM was using a Yaesu FT857D running 100w into a half-size G5RV with antenna tuner. He reports that he is 480m ASL and the antenna is about 8m high as inverted-V,

Looking at the path between Borut and Michael, there are a lot of mountains in the way and a normal tropo contact looks unlikely. Michael suggests that aircraft scatter may have been responsible which is a real possibility.

Considering that we are still close to the peak of the Perseids, then meteor scatter may be a possibility although 104 kms does seem a bit close for that mode?

Either way, it was another interesting contact on the new 8-metre band and it's welcome news to have another station active.

Reception of the EI1KNH beacon on 40 MHz via meteor scatter

 

The Irish 8-metre EI1KNH beacon on 40.013 MHz is located just to the south of Dublin and became operational in May of 2020.

Due to the nearby Dublin and Wicklow mountains, it is badly screened from the south west and even though I have a good take off in that direction, I am unable to hear it directly.

However, I tried listening for it during the Perseid meteor shower and even though I'm a bit close for meteor scatter, I thought 206 kms was far enough for it to work.

As you can see from the graphic above, I got several successful PI4 decodes on the 12th of August 2020.

The EI1KNH signal alternates between the digital PI4 mode, an identification in morse code and a carrier. The PI4 part of the transmission lasts about 24 seconds so a reasonable meteor burst is required to decode the signal. The 40 MHz band is excellent for meteor scatter so there are plenty of bursts available during major meteor showers.

The chart above shows the meteor bursts decoded on the 13th of August. Note that the signals were quite weak as they are in the range of -20dB to -26dB, below what can be heard by ear. This is probably the average signal for the duration of the 24 second PI4 transmission because I could certainly hear PI4 signals by ear at times.

Antenna... It's worth pointing out that I was only using a vertical antenna for 28 MHz for these tests. If I had a resonant antenna or a small directional beam then the results should have been even better.

If I can hear meteor burst from 206 kms away then anyone in the UK should certainly be able to hear it.

For EI1KNH, tune to 40.0122 MHz and listen on USB. For the OZ7IGY beacon in Denmark, try 40.0702 MHz USB.

New 8m & 5m bands added to the popular PSK Reporter website...

The PSK Reporter website is used by nearly everyone on digital modes to see what is being heard by stations active on the HF and VHF bands.

Thanks to the efforts of Tim EI4GNB, the new 40 MHz (8-metres) and 60 MHz (5-metres) bands have been added to this hugely popular platform.

Tim writes...."After some emailing with Philip Gladstone, the coder behind the 'reverse beacon' system known as PSK REPORTER, it now officially supports 5m and 8m reporting and mapping, based on reports from [digital mode software] operating within the bandplan guidelines published on the IRTS website drafted by Dave Court."

Approx 40.0 to 40.7 MHz & 58.0 to 60.1 MHz

"This will mean anyone operating FT8/FT4/Digimode etc., or logging PI4 beacons, using supporting software with the 'psk reporter' option enabled, will now be correctly placed on the PSK Reporter map.

We nominated 2 new colours for this - 8m is to be Purple, and 5m is a Silver-Grey."

It's safe to say that the majority of radio amateurs in the world are still are not aware of the 8-metre and 5-metre bands. Even though this is just a small step, it will hopefully raise the profile of these two new VHF bands. 

Update: Example below of a FT8 contact between S50B and S59F on the 12th of August.

First Slovenia to Slovenia contact on 40 MHz - 9th Aug 2020

On the 9th of August 2020 at 10:14 UTC, Borut S50B and Ivo S59F managed to complete a contact on 40.680 MHz for the first contact on the new 8-metre band between two Slovenian stations.

Even though the distance between each of the stations was only about 20 kms, this was over a very poor path with a lot of high ground in the way. Signal reports of 5/3 and 5/5 were exchanged on SSB.

For this first S5 to S5 contact on 40 MHz, S59F was using an ICOM IC-7300 with 100 watts into a dual band 50 MHz / 70 MHz Yagi. It's probably safe to assume that this antenna had no gain on 40 MHz so would be no better than a dipole for the band.

S50B was also running 100 watts from an ICOM IC-7100 but into a dedicated SIRIO vertical for 8-metres.

Even though the Slovenian licencing authorities allocated a slice of spectrum at 8-metres back in 1998, it's only in 2020 that S5 stations have started up on the band. This is largely in response to the new 8-metre allocations in Ireland and Lithuania.

S50B had already worked EI4GNB and LY2YR for S5 firsts at 40 MHz so the contact with S59F was his third first for the band.

As can be seen below, the 8-metre allocation in Slovenia is from 40.660 to 40.700 MHz, the exact same as the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band.

FT8 Experiment on 40 MHz - 1st to 15th August 2020

Between the 1st and 15th of August 2020, LY2YR & S50B will be experimenting with FT8 on the new 8-metre band.

Gintas, LY2YR in Lithuania will be transmitting on 40.220 MHz.

Borut, S50B in Slovenia will be transmitting on 40.680 MHz.

Both stations will be using the clone programme WSJT-Z in auto-replay mode. Both stations would welcome any reception reports.

S50B and LY2YR will be available for tests with EI stations from 10:00 to 21:00 UTC.

Info from LY2YR.... "Announcement. From 08.01 to 08.15 will work two FT8 Robots (auto-replay mode WSJT-Z),  LY2YR at 40.220 MHz and  the second S50B at 40.680 MHz. For EI / S5 tests during daytime from ~10 to 21 local time, no qsl. Only to CQ calls will be answered, multiple answers will also available. CQ mode by request via the messenger."

Reception video of S50B in Slovenia on 40 MHz - 22nd June 2020

Up to now, I've seen videos online of some of the beacons on the 40 MHz being heard. This is I believe the first reception video of someone actually talking on the new 8-metre band.

To put everything into context, I have generated a map as seen above.

Borut, S50B in Slovenia heard the Irish beacon near Dublin on 40.013 MHz and then went on to work Lloyd, EI7HBB in the west of Ireland on 40.680 MHz. This distance is about 1800kms.

Paul, G7PUV in the south-east of England was monitoring the band with an SDR receiver which had the ability to record everything on the band.

As the map shows, G7PUV is about 1200kms from S50B which is a typical distance for Sporadic-E on 40 MHz with a good opening. EI7HBB on the other hand is just 600kms away and well inside the skip zone of Sp-E. It might be possible for G7PUV to hear EI7HBB via Sporadic-E but it would need an intense opening.

As a result, the video from G7PUV just has the voice of S50B and EI7HBB is missing. It also has a sample of the many noises to he heard in the ISM band on 40 MHz.

First contact between Ireland & Slovenia made on the 40 MHz band - 15th June 2020

As of June 2020, just three countries in Europe have access to the 40 MHz band...Ireland (EI), Lithuania (LY) and Slovenia (S5).

At the end of April 2020, EI4GNB in Ireland made the first 40 MHz contact with LY2YR in Lithuania. On the 13th of June 2020, LY2YR made the first 40 MHz contact with S50B in Slovenia.

Just two days later on the 15th of June 2020, the third 40 MHz first occurred when Tim, EI4GNB in Ireland made contact with Borut, S50B in Slovenia.

The initial contact was made on the FT8 digital mode followed by FT4 and JT65.

Screenshot from EI4GNB showing the contacts made on FT8, FT4 & JT65

EI4GNB and S50B then went on to complete a voice contact on SSB with 5/5 reports each way.

The mode of propagation for the contact was via Sporadic-E and the distance was just under 1660 kms.

The contact was made on 40.680 MHz in the middle of the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band. Both Tim and Borut noted a lot of interference from digital noises on the ISM band (40.660-40.700 MHz) so it looks like the 8-metre allocation in Slovenia is prone to interference.

For the contact, EI4GNB was running 50 watts from an ICOM IC-7100 to a 2-element Quad for 8-metres. S50B was also running 50 watts from an ICOM IC-7100 but to a Sirio vertical for 40 MHz.

Report from Borut, S50B... At about 17:00 UTC, I worked many stations on 50 MHz from the USA. At 17:30, the opening to North America died out but I began to hear many stations on 6m from England (G), Wales (GW) and Ireland (EI). 

I immediately went to the 8-metre band and heard the Irish beacon EI1KNH on 40.013 MHz. I sent SMS messages to EI4GNB and EI7HBB but got no response.

About 15 minutes later, Tim EI4GNB called me on FT8 on 40.680 MHz. After that, we went on to complete contacts on FT4, JT65 and SSB.

I also tried to make contact with Lloyd, EI7HBB in the west of Ireland for almost an hour but had no success.

Screenshot from S50B of the contact

Lloyd, EI7HBB also kindly sent on a reception report from his location in the west of Ireland showing reception of EI4GNB by tropo and S50B by Sporadic-E.

As can be seen from the screen grab, both stations at -17dB and -10dB were quiet weak.

In 2019, we saw reports of crossband contacts being made between Ireland and other European countries. In 2020, we saw the welcome appearance of two more countries who could transmit on the 8-metre band. Hopefully these results will encourage other radio amateurs around Europe to try and get permission from their respective regulatory authorities for the band.

Links...
1) For more information on the new 8-metre band, see the 40 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

First contact between Lithuania and Slovenia made on the new 40 MHz band - 13th June 2020

At the end of April 2020, LY2YR in Lithuania made a contact with EI4GNB in Ireland for the first LY-EI QSO on the new 40 MHz amateur band.

Gintas, LY2YR achieved another first for the 8-metre band when he worked Borut, S50B in Slovenia on the 13th of June 2020 using the FT8, FT4 and CW modes. The frequency used was 40.680 MHz which is in the middle of the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band.

Even though the ISM band of 40.660 MHz to 40.700 MHz has been allocated for beacons in Slovenia since 1998, it was only this year that the licencing authority there clarified that radio amateurs could make contacts as well.

The contact between LY2YR and S50B was approximately 1270 kms and the propagation mode was Sporadic-E. Even though the distance is pretty normal for Sporadic-E, there were some difficulties due to some 1000-metre high mountains just a few kms from S50B's location. Both stations had to wait until the Sporadic-E was strong enough to overcome the path loss.

LY2YR also completed an FT8 contact with S50TG, the 17-year old son of S50B.

For the first Lithuania to Slovenia 8-metre contact, LY2YR was using a YAESU FT-200 and a Hexbeam for 28 MHz/50 MHz.

S50B was using an ICOM IC-7100 with about 100 watts into a SIRIO vertical for 8-metres.

S50B is now looking to make the first 40 MHz contact with Ireland.

Links...
1) For more information on the new 8-metre band, see the 40 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Report on 40 MHz activity for Mon 18th May 2020

There was an extensive Sporadic-E opening across Europe on Monday the 18th of May 2020 with strong signals being reported on all the VHF bands from 28 MHz to 70 MHz. This is a report on some of the activity on the new 40 MHz band.

1) 40 MHz Crossband contacts - Tim EI4GNB reports working crossband from 40 MHz to 28 MHz with DJ3AK (JO52GJ) at 11:22 UTC and OE3FVU (JN78VE) at 11:28 UTC. All contacts were on FT8.

The distances were roughly 1200 kms and 1700 kms respectively. Tim was also busy making more crossband contacts from the 60 MHz band, I'll put that in a separate report.

***

2) Irish 40 MHz EI1KNH Beacon - At least three stations reported reception of the Irish EI1KNH beacon on 40.013 MHz.

a) Gintas LY2YR (KO24OS) managed to get four successful decodes of the beacon using the PI4 software.

40M 11:45 UTC EI1KNH PI4: S/N=-19 dB Q=46 T=0,40 s F=50 Hz Carrier: F=851,6 Hz C/N=-17 dB
40M 11:46 UTC EI1KNH PI4: S/N=-19 dB Q=60 T=0,35 s F=50 Hz Carrier: F=851,6 Hz C/N=-23 dB
40M 11:50 UTC EI1KNH PI4: S/N=-20 dB Q=36 T=0,37 s F=55 Hz Carrier: F=852,4 Hz C/N=-19 dB
40M 11:52 UTC EI1KNH PI4: S/N=-19 dB Q=20 T=0,40 s F=55 Hz Carrier: F=852,5 Hz C/N=-31 dB

The signal was quite weak at -19dB to -20dB which is understandable considering the distance is over 2,000kms.

b) Andreas DJ5AR in Germany got six successful PI4 decodes  with the signal going from =1dB to -12 dB.

c) Tom SP5MXU in Poland also reports reception of the beacon with an ICOM IC7300 and a 5 element beam for 50 MHz...

This short video clip shows reception of the EI1KNH beacon in Poland...



* * * *

3) Danish 40 MHz OZ7IGY Beacon - There were two reports of the beacon on the DX Cluster.

a) Michael EI3GYB reported reception of the OZ7IGY beacon on 40.071 MHz at 12:19 UTC.

b) And finally EI7GL! I managed to hear the Danish beacon in two separate openings. The first one I caught was roughly from 13:03 UTC to 13:54 UTC with the second shorter opening from 17:42 to 17:51 UTC.

There may have been more openings of course but this is what I heard.

Links...
1) For more information on the 40 MHz band, visit this page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Reception reports for the EI1KNH 40 MHz Beacon - May 2020

Sunday 17th May 2020. Interesting to see a report on the PSKReporter website showing EA3ERE near Barcelona reporting reception of the EI1KNH/B beacon on 40.013 MHz.

F4FRQ in JN37KQ also reported it on the DX Cluster.

* * * 

Opening to Denmark on 40 MHz - May 2020

17th May 2020 - This was my first reception report of the OZ7IGY beacon in Denmark on 40 MHz for May 2020. I first noticed the OZ7IGY beacon on 28 MHz and tuned to 40.071 MHz and heard nothing.

I left the room and about 30 seconds later, I could hear the unmistakable PI4 tones of the beacon as it just popped up out of the noise. 

 As the chart shows, the opening for me on 40 MHz lasted about 20 minutes.

It seems as if the Sporadic-E footprint was pretty localised as another EI station about 150 kms to the north of me couldn't hear the beacon at all.

Update: Later I noticed that my spot for the DX Cluster ended up on the PSKReporter website as well...

I'm not sure how that happened but it was interesting to see that the PSKReporter site reported it as a 40 MHz PI4 report even though there doesn't seem to be any provision to select 40 MHz as a band on the site.

New home wanted for the GB3RAL suite of HF & VHF beacons

The RSGB have announced that the GB3RAL suite of HF and VHF beacons at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England have been turned off due to developments on the site. 

They are now looking for a new home for the beacons somewhere in the UK. It is also hoped that the beacons will be upgraded so that they are all locked with a more modern GPS technology.

Interested parties or groups should contact the Propagation Studies Committee of the RSGB.

The GB3RAL beacon was originally intended to operate on six bands (60m, 10m, 8m, 6m, 5m and 4m) but most have been out of action for some time.

60m - The 60-metre beacon on  5.290 MHz was last spotted on the DX Cluster in December of 2016.

10m - The 10-metre beacon on 28.215 MHz was last spotted as recently as February of 2020 and it was last spotted consistently in July of 2019.

8m - The 8-metre beacon on 40.050 MHz was last spotted in June of 2014. Despite the beacon being listed on current beacon lists, it hasn't been on the air for the last six years.

6m - The 6-metre beacon on 50.050 MHz was last spotted in June 2018.

5m - There was supposed to have been a 5-metre beacon on 60.050 MHz but the DX Cluster has no record of it ever being spotted.

4m - The 4-metre beacon on 70.050 MHz was last spotted in July 2016.

The two beacons of particular interest to me are the ones for 40 MHz and 60 MHz. There are only two beacons in the world currently on air on the 40 MHz band which these are in Ireland and Denmark. On 60 MHz, there is just one beacon in Ireland. It would be great to see these 8m and 5m beacons up and running properly from the UK.

Crossband activity on 40 MHz - Mon 11th May 2020

There was an extensive Sporadic-E opening on Monday the 11th of May 2020 with strong signals across Europe on the 28 MHz and 50 MHz bands.

The new 40 MHz band was also open and the image above is a screenshot I took of the DXMaps 40 MHz page on the day.

Lloyd, EI7HBB ...Lloyd managed to work OE1HHB in Austria on SSB for a 40 MHz to 50 MHz crossband contact at 18:18 UTC. Lloyd comments that he received a signal report of 5/3 on 40 MHz with the Austrian station being 5/5 on 50 MHz. He also notes that that he received a 5/8 for their simplex contact on 50 MHz and speculates that the difference is due to resonant and non-resonant antennas for the respective bands.

Lloyd also worked the club station DL0AA in Germany for another 8m/6m SSB crossband contact at 18:35 UTC. For the simplex contact on 50 MHz, there was an exchange of 5/9 both ways. On 40 MHz, the German station gave Lloyd a reception report of 5/3.

Lloyd also reports nearly working a French station crossband but lost him in QSB.

DX-Cluster spots...

EI7HBB 40680.0 DL0AA 18:36 11 May cross band 50130 Fed. Rep. of Germany (Corrected from initial DL9AAA spot)

EI7HBB 40680.0 OE1HHB 18:18 11 May cross band 50152 Austria

Tim, EI4GNB ...Tim managed to complete an FT8 crossband contact with OE3EMC in Austria.

FT8 contact between EI4GNB on 40 MHz and OE3EMC on 28 MHz

FT8 contact between EI4GNB on 40 MHz and OE3EMC on 28 MHz

EI4GNB calling CQ crossband on 40 MHz

DX-Cluster spots...

OE3EMC 40220.0 EI4GNB 19:15 11 May JN78JO<ES>IO63 tnx Crossband 8 Ireland

OE3EMC 40220.0 EI4GNB 19:01 11 May JN78JO<ES>IO63 i call you 5031 Ireland

EA3ERE 40220.0 EI4GNB 19:00 11 May FT8 -23 dB cq XBAND 8m/6m Ireland

EA3ERE 40220.0 EI4GNB 18:49 11 May FT8 -23 dB 1786 Hz cq Ireland

OE3EMC 40220.0 EI4GNB 18:47 11 May JN78JO<ES>IO63 Ireland

9A5CW 40220.0 EI4GNB 18:37 11 May FT8 -5 dB 1532 Hz Ireland

Links...

1) Lots of info and links on my 40 MHz page

2) DXMaps website ... Look for the dedicated 40 MHz propagation map

New Irish 40 MHz beacon now operational - May 2020

Back in early 2018, the 40 MHz (8-metre) band was allocated to radio amateurs in Ireland (EI) on a secondary non-interference basis. Now we have news that the very first beacon on 40 MHz in Ireland is operational!

The new beacon is operational since the 9th of May 2020 and has the call EI1KNH. It is on 40.013 MHz and runs 20 watts into a vertical half-wave antenna.

The new 8-metre beacon is co-sited with some of the existing Irish beacons - EI0SIX on 50 MHz, EI1KNH on 60 MHz and EI4RF on 70 MHz. The elevated site has a locator of IO63VE and is located about 20 kms to the south of Dublin.

The photo above shows the vertical folded dipole for the 60 MHz beacon and the vertical half-wave for the 40 MHz beacon. This is a converted CB antenna which was reduced in length to a half-wave for the 8-metre band.

The 40 MHz beacon transmits on the digital PI4 mode and CW. Details below...

PI4 + CW + Carrier 00111 (1st, 2nd & 3rd Minute of every 5 minutes) Synchronised Beacon Project (SBP)

The RF for the beacon is generated by an RFZero module running about 20 milliwatts (+13dBm).

The output of the RFZero is then fed into a Chinese 'mini PA' unit. This boosts the power from 2 milliwatts to 500 milliwatts.

Chinese 'mini PA'

Inside the 'mini PA'

The 0.5 watt signal from the mini-PA is then fed into the main power amplifier...

The main amp is a MRF101AN which is fed from a 42 volt switch mode power supply. While the 101 NXP chip is meant to run at 50v by design, they are running it at 42v as the available PSU offers that at  50 amps.  Tim comments that running it at 42v should extend its life and ensure that it can run almost undamaged into any load should the antenna break or the filter fail etc.

Close up of the PA module

This is then fed into a homebrew band pass filter for 40 MHz...

40 MHz Band Pass Filter under test

The 20 watt output then goes to a vertical half wave about 5 metres above ground level.

Expected Range???..... What range might be expected from a beacon on 40 MHz? Considering it a weak signal mode, a tropo range of somewhere in the range of 200 kms might be expected. Perhaps up to 300 kms during times of high pressure.

It's important to note however that the Dublin and Wicklow mountains which are just to the west will attenuate the signals in that direction. Even though the beacon site is roughly 300 metres above sea level, the mountains to the west are at least 300 meres higher.

The path across to the west coast of Wales and the UK is much better. A good guide would be the other beacons on 50 MHz and 70 MHz. If you can hear those then there is a reasonable chance of hearing the 40 MHz beacon.

Sporadic-E Range... It's certain that the 40 MHz beacon will be heard in Europe during the Sporadic-E season from late April to mid-August. The beacon has a very good view to the east with no obstructions on the horizon so it should be very strong in Europe.

The map below shows the approximate limit of one hop Sporadic-E. It's likely that stations in the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Italy and the south of Spain should be able to hear it on a regular basis.

When conditions are really good, stations in France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway should be able to hear it.

Shorter skip than that might be a problem though. If it's is exceptional then the skip might shorten to say the east coast of the UK.

North America???.... There is a possibility that the beacon could be heard in North America via multi-hop Sporadic-E. It just needs someone over there to make the effort. The beacon however has some 600m high mountains just to the west which may well cut off any signals in that direction.

Reports... Reception reports should be sent to Tim EI4GNB. Look up EI1KNH on https://www.qrz.com/

Thanks to the hard work of Tim EI4GNB and Tony EI7BMB, there is now a second beacon on 40 MHz operational in Europe.

Thanks to Tim EI4GNB for all of the information and photos about the beacon.

Links...

1) EI1KNH 40 MHz beacon page on QRZ.COM

2) My 40 MHz page with lots of info and links

First contact made on 40 MHz between Ireland and Lithuania - 29th April 2020

On Wednesday the 29th of April 2020, EI4GNB in Ireland managed to complete a digital  FT8 contact with LY2YR on 40.220 MHz on the new 8-metre band. Not only was this an EI-LY first but it was also the very first contact made between any two countries on the band.

EI4GNB was located in IO63WE while LY3YR was in KO24OS. The distance was approximately 2,039 kms and the mode of propagation was Sporadic-E.

Tim - EI4GNB was using a YAESU FT 857D with about 30 watts through a low pass filter for 8-metres. The antenna was a 2-element Quad about 8 metres above ground level.

Gintas - LY2YR was using a YAESU FT2000 and a Hexbeam for 50 MHz.

EI4GNB reports that there was quite an amount of fading on the signals and they were just able to complete the contact on FT8.

Another screen shot below...

The map below shows the contact appearing on the DXMAPS website...

It should be noted that while Lithuania does not have an official allocation at 40 MHz, the licensing authorities in the country kindly gave LY2YR special permission to carry out experiments on 40.220 MHz and 40.680 MHz.

This is a model that could perhaps be copied by other interested radio amateurs in other countries. It may be a lot easier to get special permission to use spot frequencies for a limited period of time rather than a general allocation.

It is hoped that there will be activity from Slovenia very soon and hopefully this will generate more interest in this VHF band.

Links...
1) For more information on the new 8-metre band, see the 40 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html