15,700km opening on the 40 MHz band between Ireland and Australia - 12th Feb 2023

12th February 2023: With the solar flux just above the 200 mark, some interesting paths are beginning to appear on the 40 MHz (8m) band. On the 12th of February 2023, Lloyd, VK4TVL in the north-east of Australia received the FT8 signals on 40.680 MHz from Tim, EI4GNB and Robbie, EI2IP in Ireland.

 Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC) SNR
EI2IP 8m FT8 15766 km 11:11:44 -16
EI4GNB 8m FT8 15587 km 11:00:14 -17

The signal reports of -16dB and -17dB suggest that the signals were very weak indeed and just below what is really audible to your ear. It is however stronger than what would be required for a successful FT8 contact.

Lloyd reports using an off-centre fed dipole for the 80m band up about 6-metres. No doubt with a dedicated antenna for the band, the signals would have been even stronger.

Analysis... This opening happened just after sunset in NE Australia and that no doubt was a factor in the opening. The primary mode of propagation was likely F2 with possibly some help from TEP to the north of Australia.

The distances of 15,587 kms and 15,766 kms are the longest paths that have been reported on the 40 MHz band so far for amateur radio or experimental stations. Could it go further?

The next obvious step is for someone down around Sydney & Melbourne to receive the 40 MHz DX signals. Even though it's about an additional 1000kms or so, the path is a little more southerly so the chances of success are high.

New Zealand to Europe on 40 MHz??? The problem here is that the short path and long path start getting close to the polar regions. This is especially true for stations in the UK or Ireland.

The path above shows the path from the centre of England to the north tip of New Zealand. i.e. location of ZL1RS. The path from Ireland is even worse. From the UK, the SE of England looks like the best spot i.e. G9PUV.

Perhaps a 40 MHz path from New Zealand to the OZ7IGY beacon in Denmark or the stations in Slovenia or Croatia might be more likely? The short path and long path routes certainly don't get as close to the poles.

Link: For more information on the 8m band, visit my 40 MHz page.

Contact between Ireland & Croatia on 40 MHz - 7th May 2021

Tim, EI4GNB reports making a FT8 contact on 40.680 MHz with 9A5CW in Croatia during the big Sporadic-E opening on the 7th of May 2021.

The screen composite below shows the FT8 contact from Tim's station.

While this wasn't the first 40 MHz contact between Ireland and Croatia, I think it may have been the first time 9A5CW has worked Ireland on this new amateur radio band.

This is the screen from 9A5CW...

It's good to see activity on the increase on 40 MHz from Croatia.

For more information on the 40 MHz amateur radio band, go to https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

First contact between Ireland and Croatia on 40 MHz - 12th Jan 2021

During an extensive Sporadic-E opening on the 12th of January 2021, Tim EI4GNB near Dublin, Ireland completed a successful FT8 contact with Dragan 9A6W in Croatia, the first EI-9A contact on the new 8-metre band.

The FT8 contact was completed on 40.680 MHz which is in the middle of the 40 MHz ISM band (Industrial, Scientific, Medical).

As the screenshots above from 9A6W, the signals were quite weak.

The screenshot below shows how EI4GNB was not only hearing 9A6W in Croatia on 40 MHz but also S59F and S50B.

This is a map of the contacts for EI4GNB from PSK Reporter...

The contact between EI4GNB and 9A6W was in the region of 1,974 kms which is a standard distance for single hop Sporadic-E.

40 MHz activity... It was also great to see that a number of stations were listening on the 40 MHz band today. These are the stations that heard S59F on 40.680 MHz on the 12th of January 2021...

Stations hearing S59F on 40 MHz - 12th Jan 2021

Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
S50B 8m FT8 27 km 18:26:59
SR4DON 8m FT8 994 km 16:13:15
SQ4INP 8m FT8 997 km 16:12:59
EA3ERE 8m FT8 1015 km 13:29:29
G7PUV 8m FT8 1139 km 18:37:30
G4EFE 8m FT8 1236 km 17:00:56
EI4GNB 8m FT8 1628 km 18:29:29
EI7BMB 8m FT8 1648 km 13:16:29
EI9JA 8m FT8 1860 km 15:16:29

Links...

1) For more information on the 40 MHz (8m) band, visit my 40 MHz page on the site.

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

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

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

Inter-EI activity begins on 40 MHz...

In April of 2018, Irish (EI) radio amateurs gained access to much of the low VHF spectrum including 40 MHz. Some short distance contacts were established in November of 2018.

Over the winter months, several EI stations have been busy getting ready for the new 8-metre band and this has now resulted in more inter-EI 40 MHz activity.

Thanks to Phil EI9KP in Co Sligo who has sent on the info on all the activity.

Both Phil EI9KP and Tim EI4GNB run manned beacons on the band. Over the weekend of Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th of May 2019 , they both managed to hear each others beacons at a distance of about 208 kms.

This is all the more impressive as the Dublin mountains block a lot of the signals from the west of Ireland getting into Bray where EI4GNB is located.

Here is a report from Phil EI9KP....

In EI there are two manned beacons running i.e. On air when supervised in the shack.  Info below by coincidence Tim and I are using the Yaesu FT-857D in ‘beacon mode’ for this purpose. An interesting set-up which allows us to switch to SSB for in band and cross band QSO.

EI9KP in Aclare, Co. Sligo (locator IO54MB): FT-857D, chosen freq.: 40.300MHz, mode CW, power 5W, antenna: Delta Loop horizontally polarised.  Site agl: 200m.

EI4GNB in Bray, Co. Wicklow (locator IO63WE): FT-857D, chosen freq.: 40.250MHz, mode CW, power 5W, antenna: 2 element quad horizontally polarised.

Saturday 25 May 2019:  Listening on 8m band I heard fragments of CW on 40.300MHz, some searching on the web pointed me to EI4GNB and I asked him to turn the antenna north west and  confirmed report 515 via KST Chat.  I activated my beacon on the same frequency and he confirmed report 555 after a few trials due to local QRM.

Propagation type?  Was it purely ground wave (diffracted) or tropo or something else?  We are not sure, the distance is a good 205km.  Tim reports experiencing similar propagation on 6m receiving EI3KD from time to time.  I’ll be watching his beacon signal over the next month or so.

The next day, Phil managed to make a two way SSB contact with Andrew EI3FEB in Co Galway, a distance of about 65 kms.

Again, I'll let Phil outline the contact...

Sunday 26 May 2019:  I had a sked with Andrew EI3FEB in Headford, Co. Galway (locator IO53KL).  On a test previous week on 40.250MHz we could not make contact, not even hearing a blip, it appeared our antennas were not correctly aligned for ground wave.  

Both Andrew and I are using a Delta Loop in Horizontal Polarisation;  the delta loop has a noticeable null on the tips, this time we were aligned broadside.  Success:  a 2-way SSB QSO with 5/1 reports both ways.  Distance is 65km, diffracted signal (one hill in the path).

If you are in the UK, have listen for the beacons if there is tropo about. Likewise, these signals should be easily heard on the continent when there is Sporadic-E.

Both EI9KP and EI4GNB can be contacted through their respective QRZ pages. Also look for them on the ON4KST chat page.

More information about the new 40 MHz band can be found here... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Photo of Phil's Delta Loop...

40 MHz activity starts near Dublin

In the December edition of the IRTS newsletter Echo Ireland, Dave EI3IO wrote a short article about some developments on the new 40 MHz / 8 metre band.

On the 21 October 2018, Dave EI3IO and Tim EI4GNB made contact on the FM calling channel of 42.500 MHz. As Dave is in South Dublin and Tim is in Bray Co.Wicklow, the distance was only a few kms.

Both stations were using the Dragon SY-5430 which is pictured above. This FM transceiver is used as a CB in countries like the Ukraine and also in Italy where they have a CB allocation at 43 MHz.

Dave also reports that during discussions with ICOM Europe, they warned against modifying transceivers like the 7300 to operate at 40 MHz or 60 MHz. They state that any such modifications could void the warranty. Dave recommends the use of transverters instead.

Both EI3IO and EI4GNB have transverters that operate between 40.0 and 42.0 MHz. If anyone would like to conduct experiments with either station, they can be contacted via QRZ.COM

As outlined in a previous post in Nov 2018, there is already some activity on 40 MHz from the West of Ireland.

For more information on 40 MHz, have a look at this page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html