On the 16th of June 2019, the Atlantic was spanned for the first time on 144 MHz when D41CV on Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa managed to work FG8OJ in Guadeloupe using the FT8 digital mode.
Amazingly, that particular opening lasted for the best part of five days.
After a respite of about a week, the trans-Atlantic path has opened up again on 144 MHz.
See updates below...
D41CV was also heard in Venezuela on 144 MHz FT8...
SSB contact between FG8OJ and D4Z...
Update Mon 1st July 2019 : Map of stations in the Caribbean that heard or were heard by D41CV in the last 24 hours. Taken at 08:00 UTC.
Update Sun 30th June 2019 : Map of stations in the Caribbean that heard or were heard by D41CV in the last 24 hours. Taken at 09:00 UTC.
Update Tues 2nd July 2019 @ 08:00 UTC : There have been no trans-Atlantic FT8 spots on 144 MHz in the last 24 hours. The last spot on the DX Cluster was at 12:15 UTC on the 30th of June. The last FT8 spot on PSK Reporter seems to have been at 20:56 UTC on the 30th of June. This second trans-Atlantic opening seems to have lasted around 36 hours.
A historic contact was made on Sunday the 16th June 2019 when the Atlantic was spanned for the first time on 144 MHz.
D41CV on Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa managed to work FG8OJ in Guadeloupe on 144.174 MHz using the FT8 digital mode. The distance was an incredible 3,867 kms.
To put that into context, the distance from the west coast of Ireland to Newfoundland is 3,000 kms.
See Updates Below
The map below shows the tropo prediction from F5LEN and it shows a path right across the Atlantic.
The mode of propagation was most likely marine ducting with the signal traveling in a layer near the ocean surface.
This is a screenshot from FG8OJ of the historic contact made on FT8...
D41CV was using 500 watts into stacked dipoles while FG8OJ was running 100 watts into a 14 element Yagi with a 3.7m boom.
This is the FT8 signal from D41CV as heard by FG8OJ in Guadeloupe...
D41CV later worked FG4ST who was slightly further away at 3,911 kms. This contact was even more amazing as this station in Guadeloupe was running just 50 watts into a simple vertical on FT8.
FT8 Screenshots from FG8OJ
Now that this historic contact has been made, more 144 MHz contacts across this part of the Atlantic are sure to follow.
Update : Sunday 23rd June 09:20 UTC... The 144 MHz trans-Atlantic opening seems to have come to an end although there is a hint it may open again for a day or two? The two metre opening lasted for the best part of five days, starting on Sunday the 16th of June 2019 and finally closing some time on the early hours of Friday the 22nd of June.
These are the trans-Atlantic spots on the DX cluster from the last few days...
Update : Saturday 22nd June 13:30 UTC... The number of spots have greatly reduced.
This is the log from the PSK Reporter website of the stations hearing and being heard by D41CV on FT8 on 144 MHz in the last 24 hours... one on the afternoon of the 21st and two in the early hours of the 22nd.
Update : Friday 21st June 08:30 UTC... It looks as if there has been a large cloud of dust from the Sahara blowing across the Atlantic for the last week. Is there a link?
This is the log from the PSK Reporter website of the stations hearing and being heard by D41CV on FT8 on 144 MHz in the last 12 hours...
Update : Thurs 20th June 23:20 UTC... Incredibly the path on 144 MHz from Cape Verde Islands to the Caribbean is still open. D41CV completed an FT8 contact with J69DS in St. Lucia during the day.
This is a screenshot from the PSK Reporter website of the stations hearing and being heard by D41CV on FT8 on 144 MHz in the last 12 hours...
This is a log of the stations in the last 12 hours...
Update : Thurs 20th June 2019 14:20 UTC... D41CV has now worked 9Y4D in Trinadad on 144 MHz with FT8...
9Y4D was running 100 watts and a 7 element.
The screenshot below from the PSKReporter website shows part of the send/receive map for D41CV on 144 MHz (12 hour window as of 10:00 UTC 20th June 2019). It clearly shows that the trans-Atlantic is still open after several days with 9Y4D in Trinidad being one of the latest contacts.
CW QSO.... The Cape Verde team now have a Yagi up and running and are using the call D4Z on CW. FG8OG managed to work them on CW for a trans-Atlantic first on that mode on 144 MHz...
QSO réalisé en CW avec @D4C_team, du coup premier qso transatlantique avec un cerveau, une oreille mais avec un transceiver SDR donc avec plein d'informatique quand même histoire de faire râler les puristes 😄🤪😁 pic.twitter.com/5bCZl70oyj
Update : Wed 19th June 2019 20:45 UTC... This map shows the stations that have seen or heard D41CV on 144 MHz FT8 in the last 24 hours...
The orange dots on the list indicate those that have heard D41CV. It looks as if this trans-Atlantic path has been there for the best part of 48 hours.
D41CV completes on FT8 with KP4EIT at 4.392 kms and NP4BM at 4,460 kms.
Update : Tues 18th June... D41CV has now worked WP4G in Puerto Rico on FT8. WP4G was using 4 x 12 el array. This is a distance of 4,358 kms!
D41CV working WP4G on FT8 on 2 metres
D41CV has also completed with FG4ST in Guadeloupe. Signal -20. 3,911 kms.
D41CV has completed with FM5AN in Martinique. Distance 3872 kms. FM5AN was using 50w into a 9 el DK7ZB yagi.
Brendan Trophies... Now that the Atlantic has been crossed on two metres, a question was asked if it qualifies for the Brendan Trophies from the IRTS.
As can be seen from the rules, they are for contacts from Europe.
"The Brendan Trophies and Brendan Shields will be presented to each of the operators of the two amateur radio stations which first establish two-way communication in the relevant category between the continents of Europe and America (North or South) within the Two Metre Amateur Band. "
