Friday 11th June 2021: There was an interesting opening on 28 MHz on the morning of the 11th of June between Europe and Alaska. This is pretty unusual at this point of the sunspot cycle and especially during the Summer months.
The map above shows the signal paths to KL2R in Alaska. As the signals between Europe and Alaska pass near the Geomagnetic North Pole, they are often distorted with an auroral tone to the signals. It's suprising to see FT8 digital signals get through.
I guess there's always a chance that the station is a pirate but it does seem to be hearing both Europe and Japan on 28 MHz and there is nothing from the USA.
I heard the German Icebreaker station DP0POL several times on WSPR today on 28 MHz and that ship is currently just west of Svalbard. The distance is about 3000kms so there is something going on to the north on 28 MHz.
I have included a list of the stations heard by KL2R in Alaska below. You can check the times and see if the path opens again. It would be really interesting to see more reports of Alaskan stations on 28 MHz.
