As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 16th of February, I managed to get screen captures of IK2JET in the north of Italy and N8NJ in Ohio in the US.
1) IK2JET... At 16:17 UTC, I managed to get a successful screen capture of the QRSS signal from Alberto, IK2JET.
As can be seen from the image above, the signal wasn't too strong but it was a positive ID all the same and a new DXCC for 2024.
You can note how the QRSS signal has a slight 'fuzz' to it and is slightly distorted. It's similar to the backscatter signals from G0PKT & G0MBA which are going across the centre of the screen.
2) N8NJ... At 16:24 UTC, I got another screen capture and this time, I got a nice QRSS signal from Larry, N8NJ in Ohio.
The signal from N8NJ can be seen above at the top of the screen and it looks cleaner with less 'fuzz' than some of the other signals.
These are the WSPR decodes that I got from N8NJ during that hour and it suggests that the QRSS signal might have been in the region of -10dB.
2024-02-16 17:00 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -13 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:50 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126082 1 -5 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:40 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -13 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:30 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126083 1 -10 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:20 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -10 1 5574
2024-02-16 16:10 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -7 0 5574
2024-02-16 16:00 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126084 1 -12 0 5574
Propagation Modes???.... What were the propagation modes responsible for these signals? I generated this propagation map below with VOACAP and the stations are marked in black.
N8NJ at 5570kms seems to be about right for two F2 layer hops and that one is easily explained.
The signal from IK2JET at 1550kms is more difficult. If it was a few more hundred kms away, I'd be more certain of one F2 hop but it seems a bit close.
It could be Sporadic-E but we're in the middle of February and not the Summer Sp-E season. I did note plenty of other of WSPR signals on the day from the white skip zone around my location.
The signal as noted had some 'fuzz' to it which is unlike a nice clean one hop signal and that might suggest a back scatter or multi-path quality about it.
Sometimes, you just look at the evidence and it's hard to come to any firm conclusion.
In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 12-callsigns & 7 DXCC.
2) 10 Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
