Day 2 of Trans-Atlantic opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Is and the Caribbean - 20th Aug 2021

Following on from the trans-Atlantic opening on 144 MHz on the 19th, the tropo duct between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean remained open on the 20th of August 2021.

César, EA8CXN in Tenerife seems to have had the best path to the Caribbean with seven different stations in Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe listed on the PSK Reporter website.

These are the reports for the EA8 stations...

EA8CXN

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM EA8CXN 2m FT8 5237 km 01:59:59
EA8CXN NP4BM 2m FT8 5237 km 23:03:44
KP4EIT EA8CXN 2m FT8 5189 km 00:40:59
EA8CXN KP4EIT 2m FT8 5189 km 19:19:45
EA8CXN WP3DN 2m FT8 5158 km 23:14:14
WP3DN EA8CXN 2m FT8 5158 km 22:37:59
EA8CXN WP4G 2m FT8 5153 km 22:27:41
WP4G EA8CXN 2m FT8 5153 km 11:51:29
EA8CXN FG4ST 2m FT8 4813 km 12:37:14
EA8CXN FG4SU 2m FT8 4811 km 23:03:44
FG4SU EA8CXN 2m FT8 4811 km 22:54:29
EA8CXN FG5GH 2m FT8 4809 km 14:39:11
FG5GH EA8CXN 2m FT8 4809 km 11:31:29

EA8DEC
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
EA8DEC NP4BM 2m FT8 5237 km 22:11:44
NP4BM EA8DEC 2m FT8 5237 km 13:19:56
EA8DEC FG4ST 2m FT8 4813 km 12:39:44
EA8DEC FG5GH 2m FT8 4809 km 13:06:41

EA8RH
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM EA8RH 2m FT8 5204 km 21:14:59
EA8RH NP4BM 2m FT8 5204 km 21:12:44
EA8RH WP3DN 2m FT8 5125 km 14:18:42
WP3DN EA8RH 2m FT8 5125 km 14:15:59
EA8RH WP4G 2m FT8 5120 km 14:18:41

EA8TL
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM EA8TL 2m FT8 5196 km 14:52:26
EA8TL NP4BM 2m FT8 5196 km 14:31:14

EA8RCP
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM 2m FT8 5107 km 14:49:26

EA8TX
Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM 2m FT8 5221 km 18:51:44
KP4EIT 2m FT8 5173 km 18:51:45
WP3DN 2m FT8 5141 km 18:53:42
WP4G 2m FT8 5136 km 18:51:41

DX-Cluster: As the spots below show, there was some SSB activity as well...

 Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country

EA8CSB 144250.0 KP4EIT 23:53 20 Aug swl rx 3/1 x-7000 signal very Puerto Rico

EA8BPX 144250.0 KP4EIT 23:36 20 Aug hrd in il18 again Puerto Rico

EA8CXN 144174.0 FG4SU 23:11 20 Aug FK96 TR IL18 Cqing Guadeloupe (FT8)

KP4EIT-@ 144250.0 EA8BPX 22:20 20 Aug 5/7 now good prpagation ssb Canary Islands

EA8CTK 144250.0 NP3XF 22:04 20 Aug 51 il18ni tr fk58 Puerto Rico

NP3XF 144250.0 EA8CXN 21:58 20 Aug 5/7 fk68 Canary Islands

NP3XF 144250.0 EA8BPX 21:41 20 Aug 5/6 Canary Islands

NP3XF 144300.0 EA8BPX 21:41 20 Aug 5/6 Canary Islands

EA8BPX 144250.0 NP3XF 21:40 20 Aug 53 fk68 il18 Puerto Rico 

EA8BPX 144250.0 NP4BM 21:29 20 Aug 53 second qso Puerto Rico

EA8CTK 144250.0 NP4BM 21:27 20 Aug il18 tr fk68 53 Puerto Rico

EA8CTK 144250.0 KP4EIT 21:11 20 Aug 5/2 il18ni Puerto Rico

KP4EIT-@ 144250.0 EA8BPX 21:10 20 Aug calling Caribbean Canary Islands

EA8CTK 144300.0 KP4EIT 21:09 20 Aug 5/2 il18ni Puerto Rico

KP4EIT-@ 144250.0 EA8CTK 21:05 20 Aug 5/3 tnx ssb Canary Islands

KP4EIT-@ 144250.0 EA8BPX 21:01 20 Aug 5/5 tnx Canary Islands

EA8CXN 144250.0 KP4EIT 19:25 20 Aug FK68 TR IL19 59++ Big SSB Sign Puerto Rico

EA8TX 144260.0 KP4EIT 19:23 20 Aug Il18 tr FK68 ssb Puerto Rico 

KP4EIT-@ 144260.0 EA8TX 19:22 20 Aug 5/5 tnx Canary Islands

EA8TX 144174.0 NP4BM 19:19 20 Aug Hrd 4 pse 144.260 Puerto Rico (FT8)

KP4EIT-@ 144250.0 EA8CXN 19:15 20 Aug 5/910db tnx Cesar Canary Islands

NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8TX 19:11 20 Aug +8 ur best Canary Islands (FT8)

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 18:59 20 Aug -01 tnx Cesar Canary Islands (FT8)

EA8CXN 144174.0 KP4EIT 18:57 20 Aug FK68 TR IL18 Puerto Rico (FT8)

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8TX 18:52 20 Aug -10 tnx Canary Islands (FT8)

FG4ST 144174.0 EA8CXN 12:31 20 Aug FT8 TROPO Canary Islands (FT8)

EA8CXN 144350.0 FG4ST 12:23 20 Aug FK96 TR IL18 SSB Guadeloupe

EA8CXN 144174.0 WP4G 11:53 20 Aug FK68 TR IL18 Puerto Rico (FT8)

EA8CXN 144174.0 FG5GH 11:48 20 Aug FK96 TR IL18 Guadeloupe (FT8)

EA8CXN 144174.0 WP3DN 11:19 20 Aug FK68 TR IL18 Puerto Rico (FT8)

EA8CXN 144174.0 NP4BM 11:04 20 Aug FK68 TR IL18 Puerto Rico (FT8)

Video clips: This first one is an SSB contact between EA8CXN on Tenerife and KP4EIT in Puerto Rico...

Worked @KP4EIT on SSB, amazing signals. FK68 TR IL18.
Thanks "Papo" for nice QSO pic.twitter.com/Pblz1pLiGh

— César Regalado León (@EA8CXN) August 20, 2021

This second video clip is of Franck, FG4ST on Guadeloupe working EA8CXN...

Nice VHF tropo SSB opening this morning between Guadeloupe and Canary Island with César @EA8CXN. Hope to hear you tonight in 70 cm! #hamradio #hamr #dx #VHF pic.twitter.com/1aN3zpodBX

— FG4ST Franck (@fg4st) August 20, 2021

It's pretty amazing to when you consider that you are listening to a trans-Atlantic signal on 144 MHz.

Distances: Like the previous day, the distances were in the region of 4800 to 5200kms.

It's interesting to see the distances plotted out on a map and how parts of North & South America are closer to the Canary Islands than the Caribbean.

Propagation Mode: The map below from Pascal, F5LEN shows the predicted tropo conditions...

It looks as if there is a large tropo duct across the Atlantic. It may well be that a layer of dust from the Sahara may be playing a role in this opening as well as it travels west.

Links...

1) Trans-Atlantic 144 MHz opening on the 19th of August 2021

2) See my 144 MHz page for other trans-Atlantic reports

* * *

Update: Day 3 - 21st of Aug 2021

This day was similar to previous days except the number of stations was lower.

FT8 spots

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

EA8CXN NP4BM 2m FT8 5237 km 18:02:14

NP4BM EA8CXN 2m FT8 5237 km 15:31:59

KP4EIT EA8CXN 2m FT8 5189 km 21:39:59

EA8CXN KP4EIT 2m FT8 5189 km 21:39:15

EA8CXN FG4ST 2m FT8 4813 km 21:39:14

EA8CXN FG5GH 2m FT8 4809 km 21:39:11

KP4EIT EA8DEC 2m FT8 5189 km 12:46:56

DX-Cluster spots

 Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country

EA8CXN 144174.0 FG4ST 21:51 21 Aug FK96 TR IL18 Guadeloupe

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 21:41 21 Aug NOW VERY STRONG INTO FK68 Canary Islands

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:54 21 Aug -9 TNX cESAR Canary Islands

EA8DEC 144174.0 KP4EIT 13:07 21 Aug FK 68 CQ Puerto Rico

KP4EIT-@ 144260.0 EA8TX 12:55 21 Aug 5/3 tnx Canary Islands 

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8DEC 12:53 21 Aug -23 tnx Canary Islands

EA8TX 144174.0 KP4EIT 12:53 21 Aug Hrd 0db pse 144.260 Puerto Rico

5000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean - 19th Aug 2021

On the 19th of August 2021, there was an impressive opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean, a distance well in excess of 5000kms. It's interesting to note that there was a similar opening from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean on the 29th of August 2020.

It looks as if the mode of propagation is tropospheric ducting over the North Atlantic as shown by the forecast below from F5LEN - 19th Aug 2021 @12:00 UTC.

FT8 & SSB: The opening on the 19th seems to have been mostly via the FT8 digital mode but a few SSB contacts were made.

These are the paths and reports that I could find for three stations in the Canary Islands...

EA8CXN
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
EA8CXN NP4BM 2m FT8 5237 km 18:22:14
NP4BM EA8CXN 2m FT8 5237 km 15:50:29
EA8CXN KP4EIT 2m FT8 5189 km 10:50:15
EA8CXN WP3DN 2m FT8 5158 km 12:19:12
WP3DN EA8CXN 2m FT8 5158 km 12:17:29
EA8CXN WP4G 2m FT8 5153 km 10:04:41
EA8CXN FG4ST 2m FT8 4813 km 17:20:14
EA8CXN FG5GH 2m FT8 4809 km 18:22:41  

EA8RH
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM EA8RH 2m FT8 5204 km 14:24:29
EA8RH NP4BM 2m FT8 5204 km 12:49:14

EA8DEC
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
EA8DEC NP4BM 2m FT8 5237 km 11:23:14
NP4BM EA8DEC 2m FT8 5237 km 11:22:56

DX-Cluster: As you can see from the spots below, there were at least two SSB contacts

EA8CXN 144174.0 NP4BM 15:33 19 Aug Fk68 IL18 Puerto Rico
EA8BPX 144250.0 NP4BM 11:16 19 Aug 55 fk68 il18 Puerto Rico
NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8DEC 10:57 19 Aug tnks ft8 qso Canary Islands
EA8CXN 144174.0 WP3DN 10:07 19 Aug FK68 TR il18 Puerto Rico
EA8CXN 144250.0 NP4BM 09:50 19 Aug fk68 tr IL18 THANKS SSB Puerto Rico 
EA8CXN 144174.0 NP4BM 09:45 19 Aug FK68 IL18 Puerto Rico

Path between FG & CT: It also seems as if there was a path open on 144 MHz between Guadeloupe and Portugal.

This is the first time a signal from mainland Europe has been heard in the Caribbean on 144 MHz. Note that EB1DJ did hear KP4EIT in Puerto Rico in August of 2020 so this more northerly path has been open before. See LINK

This is the FT8 screen from FG4ST showing two FT8 decodes from CT1ETL/1 at -20dB. No QSO was completed.

It looks as if this tropo duct might open up again so it would be worthwhile for stations in Spain and Portugal to beam towards the Caribbean.

More reports on previous 144 MHz openings across the Atlantic can be found on my 144 MHz page HERE

Another 3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the Canary & Madeira Islands to Italy - 11th June 2021

Friday 11th June 2021: Another day and another list of 3000km plus contacts on the 144 MHz band.

First, we'll look at the reports and then the propagation mode at the end of the post.

* * *

This is the FT8 map for EA8AIN and it shows the 3000km+ path to the south of Italy.

These are the paths over 3000kms...

3000km+ opening on 144Mhz from the Canary Islands to Italy - 7th June 2021

7th June 2021: There was another example of a 3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands and Italy.

Here are a few spots from the DX-Cluster with the distances in brackets...

EA8AVI 144185 I3MEK 13:05 07 Jun 21 IL28FC<>JN55SJ 55 Italy (3063kms)

EA8AIN 144175.5 IZ5EME 12:34 07 Jun 21 FT8 JN52ns< > IL18cq 73 Italy (3024kms)

IV3/HB9CAT 144174 EA8CXN 13:04 07 Jun 21 JN65UQ<ES>IL81SK TNX Canary Islands (3264kms)

IU4FNO 144174 EA8CXN 13:00 07 Jun 21 Jn54in<ES>il18sk FT8 Canary Islands (2997kms)

IZ5EME 144174 EA8AR 12:32 07 Jun 21 jn52-il18 ES Canary Islands (2947kms)

IK8BIZ 144174 EA8EY 11:52 07 Jun 21 HRD -19 FT8 Canary Islands (3214kms)

There may have been more paths open but I only have the spots on the cluster to go off. Unfortunately the data on the PSK Reporter website disappears after 24 hours.

Propagation Mode: The tropo prediction map below from F5LEN shows the suggested conditions at the time...

It seems likely that it was a combined Sporadic-E / Tropo ducting path. There was a Sporadic-E opening at the time between Italy and Spain so that confirms the north-eastern 1500-2000kms of the path. The south-western part of the path was probably via a marine tropo duct to the Canary Islands.

There were reports of 2700km tropo openings from the Canary Islands up to the south coast of Ireland & England on that morning and the previous morning so those conditions were very good.

There is always the possibility that the path from the Canary Islands to Italy was via double hop / chordal hop Sporadic-E but the probably of that is much lower than a combined Sp-E / tropo path.

D4 Cape Verde: Unfortunately the D4VHF station on 144 MHz is off air at present. If they had been on the air then there would be a possibility of paths well in excess of 4000kms.

More examples of 3000km plus paths on 2-metres can be found on my 144 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/144-mhz.html

Addendum:

1) Thanks to Zvonko, 9A2AE for the following information. At 12:55UTC, there was a 3567 km path open from 9A2AE in Croatia to EA8AIN in the Canary Islands (IL18CQ).

2) Thanks to Davor, 9A5BWW for the following info. At 12:49 UTC, there was a 3468 km path open from 9A5BWW to EA8CSB (IL18TL).

3) Thanks to César, EA8CXN for the following info. He writes..."It was a mix between tropo and ES. Due to mountains on my direct path, I beam my antennas to the opposite direction, bouncing my signal off the 'El Teide volcano".

Log extract from the 7th with the TR+ES opening...
07/06/21 IV3GTH FT8 +13 -12 2m Italy EA8CXN (~3255kms)
07/06/21 S52LM FT8 +13 -12 2m Slovenia EA8CXN (~3255kms)
07/06/21 IV3/HB9CAT FT8 +07 -05 2m Italy EA8CXN (3264kms)
07/06/21 IU4FNO FT8 -14 -17 2m Italy EA8CXN (~2997kms)
07/06/21 S59F FT8 -11 -21 2m Slovenia EA8CXN (3273kms)

Website... https://ea8cxn.es/

3980km path opens up between Sweden & the Canary Islands on 144 MHz - 19th May 2021

During the Sporadic-E opening on 144 MHz on the 19th of May, many stations in western Europe made contacts in the region of 1200 to 2300kms... a pretty standard distance for one hop Sporadic-E.

One path that stood out however was that between SM6VTZ in Sweden and EA8CXN in the Canary Islands.

Although a full contact wasn't completed on this occasion, it was still a remarkable distance at approximately 3980 kms. This is the screen from SM6VTZ showing the attempted FT8 contact...

As you can see, the signal was quite weak at -18dB which is at a level below what is audible to the human ear.

Analysis: How did this happen? During the Sporadic-E opening, Chris SM6VTZ managed to work several stations in the north-west of Spain at a distance of about 2300kms. This is close to the maximum distance for one-hop Sporadic-E.

10:36 EB1B IN73DM FT8 

10:41 EA1NL IN52PJ FT8
10;44 EA8CXN IL18SK FT8 lost in QSB, 3978km
11:07 EB1DJ IN52MO SSB
11:56 EA1M IN53TI SSB

12:05 EB1A IN53TF SSB

It's very likely that the Sporadic-E signal then coupled into a tropo duct for the rest of the journey to the Canary Islands.

As the prediction mapt from F5LEN above shows, there was some good tropo from EA8CXN on the island of Tenerife to the north-west coast of Spain, a distance of about 1400 kms.

A similar combined Sporadic-E / Tropo ducting path was seen back in August of 2020 when there was an opening from the Canary Islands to Denmark, a distance of 3710kms. See previous post.

Just one observation / question. This area of ducting often occurs off the west coast of Africa and Portugal. If a combined Sporadic-E & Tropo signal can get from Sweden to the Canary Islands (3980kms), then why can't a combined Sporadic-E & Tropo signal get across the North Atlantic from Newfoundland to the north-west of Spain (~3500kms)???

Some more examples of long distance 144 MHz signals can be found on my 144 MHz page.

EA8CXN completes 1296 MHz contact by bouncing a signal off a cruise ship - Apr 2021

I recently read an interesting post on the website of César, EA8CXN about a 'Ship Scatter' contact on 1296 MHz (23cms)!

The map above shows the scenario. EA8CXN and EA8CSB are on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands and they cannot complete a contact directly on 1296 MHz due to local mountains.

They did however manage to complete a contact by bouncing the 23cm microwave signals off a passing cruise ship which is about 60kms away! Amazing.

After initially completing a contact on FT8, they managed to complete a QSO on SSB.

EA8CXN was running 100 watts in a 1-metre dish with horizontal polarization. EA8CSB was using just 2.5 watts into a vertical Diamond X-7000.

Check out the post on EA8CXN's website for more info and to see the SSB contacts.

Trans-Atlantic opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands & the Caribbean - 27th Aug 2020

It looks as if there is a remarkable tropo opening in progress at the moment with EA8CXN on the Canary Islands making contact with several stations in the Caribbean on FT8 & SSB on 144 MHz!

These are some of the stations listed on the PSK Reporter website for the 27th of August 2020...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

NP4BM EA8CXN 2m FT8 5236 km 19:26:26

EA8CXN KP4EIT 2m FT8 5189 km 18:00:44

WP3DN EA8CXN 2m FT8 5158 km 20:18:59

WP4G EA8CXN 2m FT8 5153 km 20:25:11

J69DS EA8CXN 2m FT8 4850 km 22:04:14

FM5CS EA8CXN 2m FT8 4836 km 17:49:26

FG8OJ EA8CXN 2m FT8 4775 km 19:25:26

Note that EA8DEC was also heard across the Atlantic...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

EA8DEC NP4BM 2m FT8 5236 km 23:30:14

Updates further down the post...

Note the distance! Several are in excess of 5000 kms which would be a new distance record for a 144 MHz contact across the Atlantic.

Back on the 8th of April 2020, D4VHF on Cape Verde worked PJ2BR on Curacao and the distance on that occasion was about 4759 kms. It looks as if the new contact by EA8CXN to NP4BM in Puerto Rico has extended that record by roughly 500 kms.

This is the tropo map from F5LEN which shows a marine duct across the Atlantic...

Note that this opening in still in progress and there does seem to be a remote possibility of an opening from the west coast of Spain & Portugal to the Caribbean!

Here are some of the screenshots of the FT8 contacts with EA8CXN...

EA8CXN and FG8OJ...

EA8CXN and WP3DN...

* * * * *

Update - 28th of August - 13:17 UTC: The trans-Atlantic path is still open on the 28th...

This is heard/sent log for EA8CXN on the PSK reporter website...

Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

NP4BM 2m FT8 5236 km 12:45:26

KP4EIT 2m FT8 5189 km 12:42:26

WP4JCF 2m FT8 5170 km 21:46:26

WP3DN 2m FT8 5158 km 10:53:29

WP4G 2m FT8 5153 km 11:15:26

FG5GH 2m FT8 4809 km 12:09:44

FG8OJ 2m FT8 4775 km 12:47:26

Reports for EA8DEC...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

KP4EIT EA8DEC 2m FT8 5189 km 12:32:59

FG8OJ EA8DEC 2m FT8 4775 km 12:06:14

Reports for EA8TX...

Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

NP4BM 2m FT8 5219 km 12:54:44

KP4EIT 2m FT8 5173 km 12:57:44

WP3DN 2m FT8 5141 km 09:46:41

WP4G 2m FT8 5136 km 09:48:44

DX-Cluster spots for the 27th of August...

EA8DEC 144174.0 KP4EIT 23:56 27 Aug IL18SK TR FK68 FT8 Puerto Rico

EA8DEC 144174.0 NP4BM 23:39 27 Aug IL18SK - FK68 FT8 Puerto Rico

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8DEC 23:52 27 Aug -13 TNX Canary Islands

NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:07 27 Aug still strong Canary Islands

KP4EIT-@ 144280.0 EA8CXN 18:11 27 Aug swl 4/4 fk68 Canary Islands

NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 17:32 27 Aug calling cq Canary Islands

NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 17:10 27 Aug tnx ft8 qso tropo Canary Islands

EB1DJ 144174.0 KP4EIT 23:57 27 Aug  TR  FT8 -22 dB 1092 Hz Puerto Rico

Update - 28th August 2020 - 15:21 UTC: Alex, EB1DJ in the north-west of Spain reports that he got one single decode of the FT8 signal from KP4EIT in Puerto Rico.

EB1DJ 144174.0 KP4EIT 23:57 27 Aug TR FT8 -22dB

As you can see from the report above, the signal was pretty weak at -22dB so it was buried in the noise. It does however show the potential of the path and if the conditions are right, it may happen again.

To put this in context, the distance from NW Spain to Puerto Rico is just over 6000 kms!

Update - 28th August 2020 - 17:10 UTC: Video of the SSB contact on 144 MHz between EA8CXN on Tenerife on the Canary Islands and FM5CS in Martinque. Just remember, this is just a 4800 kms contact on 144 MHz across the Atlantic! ...

In this second video, EA8CXN completes another SSB contact with FG8OJ in Guadeloupe...

DX-Cluster spots for the 28th of August...

Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:34 28 Aug -14 thanks Cesar Canary Islands

WP4JCF 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:06 28 Aug rx -20 in kp4... Canary Islands

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8DEC 12:38 28 Aug -20 GRACIAS Canary Islands

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8TX 09:07 28 Aug SWL -12 INTO FK68 Canary Islands

KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8TX 00:01 28 Aug -12 TNX Canary Islands

EA8CXN 144175.0 KP4EIT 19:33 28 Aug FK68 TR IL18 -12DB. Thanks QSO Puerto Rico

EA8TX 144174.0 KP4EIT 12:24 28 Aug hrd -2db Pse 144.260ssb Puerto Rico

EA8DEC 144174.0 FG8OJ 12:10 28 Aug IL18SK TR FK96 FT8 CQ Guadeloupe

EA8DEC 144174.0 KP4EIT 09:35 28 Aug IL18SK TR FK68 FT8 CQ Puerto Rico

EA8DEC 144174.0 WP4G 00:52 28 Aug IL18SK TR FK68 FT8 Puerto Rico

Update - 30th Aug 2020 - 09:00 UTC: EA8CXN has now put details of the opening in a post on his blog... see HERE

Summary....

EA8CXN works 7 stations in the Caribbean on FT8 and 2 on SSB.

EA8DEC works 3 on FT8.

This is the sequence of events on 144 MHz....

27th Aug 2020 - 17:08 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with NP4BM in Puerto Rico. Signal reports of -9dB and -13dB are exchanged. The distance was about 5243 kms which is a new record for a trans-Atlantic contact on 144 MHz. 

27th Aug - 17:15 UTC: EA8CXN complete a FT8 contact with FG8OJ in Guadeloupe (~4780 kms). Reports of +25dB and -2dB are exchanged.

27th Aug - 17:20 UTC: EA8CXN and FG8OJ complete a contact on SSB.

27th Aug - 17:51 UTC: EA8 CXN completes a contact on FT8 with FM5CS in Martinique (~4842 kms). Reports of -11dB and -18dB are exchanged.

27th Aug - 17:55 UTC: EA8CXN and FM5CS complete a contact on SSB.

27th Aug - 18:20 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with WP3DN (5165 kms). Reports of -12dB and -17dB are exchanged.

27th Aug - 19:24 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with J69DS on St.Lucia (-4856 kms). Reports of -5dB and -6dB are exchanged.

27th Aug - 23:44 UTC: EA8DEC completes a contact on FT8 with NP4BM on Puerto Rico. Reports of -11dB and -14dB are exchanged.

28th Aug - 00:08 UTC: EA8DEC completes a contact on FT8 with KP4EIT (5193 kms). Reports of -13dB and -13dB are exchanged.

28th Aug - 00:46 UTC: EA8DEC completes a contact on FT8 with WP4G (5156 kms). Reports of -14dB and -15dB are exchanged.

28th Aug - 19:33 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with KP4EIT (5196 kms). Reports of -14dB and -19dB are exchanged.

28th Aug - 21:49 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with WP4JCF (5176 kms). Reports of -12dB and -9dB are exchanged.

Working conditions for EA8CXN...

Antenna: 6el BigSignal Quad

FT8 transceiver: Yaesu FT-991

SSB transceiver: Icom IC-970H

Amplifier: 500W Telecom 2m HK

Update 2nd Sept 2020: Thanks to Fernando, EA8TX for supplying the following info.

EA8TX was the third station in the Canary Islands to make contacts on 144 MHz to the Caribbean. Located on the island of Tenerife, Fernando managed to complete two FT8 contacts with KP4EIT and WP4G on Puerto Rico. 

Fernando also reports that KP4EIT peaked at -1dB on FT8 but soon faded down to -12dB to -20dB where the signal remained for a long time. Fernando speculates that a SSB contact might have been possible but it would have required trying just at the peak of the strongest signal where as the signals were well into the noise for most of the time.

Fernando also decoded NP4BM but was unable to hear the more southerly stations in Guadeloupe and Mantinue due to high ground in the way.

That pretty much closes off the post for this opening as I think that gives a good idea of what happened and who worked who. If anyone has any additional information then please let me know.

Links...

1) Blog post from César, EA8CXN

2) Second post from EA8CXN

3) Tropo prediction maps from Pascal, F5LEN

144 MHz contact between Denmark & the Canary Islands exceeds 3000kms

Long distance contacts on 144 MHz that are in the region of 3000kms are always of interest as that is the distance across the North Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland. In this series of blog posts, I will look back at some of the 3000km plus contacts on 144 MHz during the Summer of 2020 that I haven't reported on yet.

Back on the 12th of July 2020, there was a remarkable contact made on FT8 on 144 MHz between EA8CXN in the Canary Islands and OV3T in Denmark at about 19:55 UTC.

OV3T in Denmark was using 400 watts into a 10-element Yagi for the contact. I'm not sure what EA8CXN was using.

EA8CXN gave OV3T a report of +8dB while OV3T gave EA8CXN a report of -10dB. This probably meant that CW or FT8 were the only viable modes for making a contact.

Mode of Propagation... The distance was in the region of 3710 kms which is well in excess of the usual 2300km limit for one hop Sporadic-E. So what is the likely explanation?

First off, we can look at the Hepburn prediction map for tropo for the day...

If you examine the right hand side of the map, it shows an enhanced maritime duct from the Canary Islands (EA8) to Spain and Portugal. This tropo path was confirmed earlier on the 12th when EB1DJ spotted EA8CXN on the DX  Cluster.

EB1DJ 144174 EA8CXN 10:30 13 Jul 20  TR  FT8 +4 dB 863 Hz Canary Islands

While OV3T was working EA8CXN at 19:55 UTC, another Danish station OZ1CCM worked EA1YV at about the same time which suggests a short Sporadic-E opening from Denmark to NW Spain & N Portugal.

While we can never be 100% sure of what exactly happened, this is the likely scenario....

There was an marine duct from the Canary Islands to the west coast of Spain and Portugal for most of the day. This maritime duct probably didn't get more than 100kms inland and probably didn't cross over the mountains on the Iberian peninsula.

At about 19:50 UTC, there was a short Sporadic-E opening from Denmark to NW Spain & N Portugal. The Sporadic-E signals from Denmark got coupled into the marine duct and on to the Canary Islands.

The tropo part of the path probably accounted for 1500kms of the total while the remaining 2200kms was Sporadic-E.

In conclusion... This contact yet again shows the value of the FT8 digital mode in exposing propagation paths that we didn't know were possible. 

It also shows the paradox of FT8... i.e. The problem with FT8 is that it is overcrowded because there are too many on the one frequency but it's because there are so many on the same frequency that there is a better chance of catching unusual openings.

The opening from Denmark to the Canary Islands also raises the possibility of a further extension further south to the Cape Verde Islands. The maritime duct off the west coast of Africa often extends from Cape Verde to Spain and Portugal and if that coincided with a similar Sporadic-E opening again then perhaps contacts in the region of 5,200kms might be possible.

Links...

1) OV3T blog post

2) EA8CXN blog post

3) VUSHF post in Danish

New 2700km+ IARU Region-1 tropo record on 23cms between Ireland and the Canary Islands - 17th July 2020

On the 17th of July 2020, there was an opening between the Canary Islands and the UK & Ireland on the VHF & UHF bands. A remarkable contact was made on 1296 MHz between EA8CXN and EI2FG which turned out to be a new IARU Region-1 tropo record for the 23cms microwave band.

In a report on his website, Cesar EA8CXN reports that there was a good tropo opening on July 17, 2020,  between Ireland-England and the Canary Islands.

In the evening, EA8CXN completed contacts with G7RAU, G4LOH and EI20C (op. Mark, EI3KD) on 432 MHz. EI20C mentions that John, EI2FG is also active on 1296 MHz so tests begin.

G7RAU is the first to complete a successful contact on SSB on 1296.200 MHz using just 5 watts into a 56 element Yagi. G4LOH also completed a contact.

After a period of deep QSB, a successful SSB contact was completed with EI2FG on 23 cms with 5/1 and 5/4 reports exchanged. The distance was an amazing 2714 kms.

Not only was this the first ever contact between Ireland and Canary Islands on 1296 MHz but it was also a new IARU Region-1 tropo record for 23 cms.

The map above shows the limit of the new record. The old record of 2661 kms was set on the 14th of July 2017 between EA8AVI and M0VRL.

The map also suggests that there is plenty of scope for the record to be broken with sea paths further north to the west of Wales and up the Irish Sea.

Equipment... For the record SSB contact on 23 cms, EA8CXN was using 150 watts into a small parabolic dish which was 50 cms in diameter. The feed point for the dish was a 3-element horizontally polarized PCB Yagi.

EI2FG was using his EME station of 200 watts into a 3-metre parabolic dish. The feed point was Right-Hand Circular Polarization on transmit and Left-Hand CP on receive.

Propagation... The mode of propagation was via a maritime duct over the ocean.

This duct exists for long periods of the year between the Canary Islands and the western coast of Spain & Portugal and then gets extended sometimes further north to the UK and Ireland.

In conclusion.... To put this this record 2714 km contact on 1296 MHz, a microwave band into perspective, it's worth remembering that the distance across the North Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland is around 3000kms. 

It's also likely that the record distance could be exceeded further north to Wales or up the Irish Sea as outlined earlier. The biggest obstacle at the moment is probably the lack of stations on 23 cms.

If the D4VHF station on Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa ever became operational on 1296 MHz, the record could well be extended to about 4000 kms.

Links...

1) EA8CXN post in Spanish