4000km+ opening on Band 2 from Indonesia to SE Australia - 7th Jan 2021

 

Very long distance openings on the VHF bands are always of interest and one such instance happened back on the 7th of January 2021 when Leigh, VK2KRR in New South Wales in Australia managed to log and record several FM Band 2 radio stations from Indonesia.

Normally with Sporadic-E propagation, the maximum distance is around 2300 kms. In this case, VK2KRR heard FM radio stations on the 88 to 108 MHz band from Indonesia, a distance of about 4000 to 5000 kms!

While a number of Indonesian stations were recorded, it looks as if it was difficult to get a positive ID on the exact location for each one. There was however a positive ID of RADIO FBI on the island of Bali on 91.8 MHz and at a distance of  4380 kms.

It's likely that the propagation mode was double hop or chordal hop Sporadic-E. While this is pretty common on lower frequencies like 50 MHz, it is much rarer at the Band 2 frequencies of 88 to 108 MHz.

A full list of videos from the opening on the 7th of January can be viewed HERE.

88 MHz Trans-Atlantic signals heard in Ireland - Sun 8th July 2018

This really is a remarkable catch. Paul Logan in Lisnaskea, Fermanagh, Northern Ireland managed to hear a Canadian radio station across the Atlantic at 88 MHz! While 28 MHz and 50 MHz signals are pretty common across the pond, it is extremely rare that signals of such a high frequency get across.

Using a 5 element beam and a SDR receiver, Paul managed to catch CBC radio 1 on 88.5 MHz from Newfoundland, Canada at 22:35 local time (21:35 UTC) on Sunday the 8th of July 2018.

With a distance of some 3200 kms, it is very likely that it was double hop Sporadic-E which is remarkable. It's not that common for the propagation to reach 88 MHz for one hop but to have it at 88 MHz at two spots at the right distance apart is really rare.

The video of the reception is shown below...



Paul has heard trans-Atlantic Band 2 signals in the past but it really is a rare phenomenon. This is only the fourth time Paul has heard a Canadian radio station on Band 2 (88-108 MHz) since 2003. He is the only person to have heard Band 2 signals from the USA.

The only other person to have heard a Band 2 trans-atlantic signal from North America was David Hamilton in Scotland who heard Newfoundland in 2003. Incredibly, a small number have managed to hear Band 2 stations from the Caribbean which is a more southerly path albeit further away.

Paul's website is http://band2dx.webs.com/