Friday 23rd July 2021: Larry Horlick, VO1FOG in Newfoundland reports that he heard FM radio stations from the Azores on frequencies ranging from 87 to 93 MHz. The opening lasted one hour.
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UTC QRG ITU Station, location Details, remarks Distance km Received by/in kW ERP Pol
22:30 UTC 90.50 MHZ AZR RTP Antena 1, Serra de Santa Bárbara (tce) Live Stream, 2309kms 35 h
21:51 UTC 92.70 MHz AZR RTP Antena 1, Pico Bartolomeu (smg) Presumed, reference to Ponta Degada, 2524kms 0.5 m
21:14 UTC 87.70 MHz AZR RTP Antena 3, Pico da Barrosa (RDP) (smg) Live stream, 2501kms 40 v
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It's interesting to see that Larry also heard the Azores two days earlier on the 21st of July.
Propagation Mode: It's almost certainly single hop Sporadic-E with a possible small tropo extension near the Azores.
In a message, Larry VO1FOG notes that during this reception of Band 2 signals up around 88 MHz, the 6-metre band at 50 MHz appeared closed. It's very likely that there was a good single hop Sporadic-E opening from Newfoundland to the East but there is nothing out there in the mid-Atlantic.
As Larry notes, it's wrong to assume that just because there is nothing on 50 MHz, the higher bands will be closed.
Analysis: Even though reports of FM radio stations from the Azores being heard in Newfoundland were only documented for the first time in 2021, it's likely that this 2300-2500km path is open every year. What is different this year is that there is someone activity logging these stations from the Newfoundland end.
While single hop Sporadic-E openings on Band 2 are nothing special, I would suggest that the ones between the Azores and Newfoundland are. Not in terms that they actually happen but in terms of what times they happen.
The more Newfoundland to Azores reception reports that are logged then we might be able to see a pattern of what is the most likely time of day that these openings happen.
If the maximum usable frequency gets up to 88-108 MHz on a regular basis then there may be times that it goes up as far as 144 MHz. Add in a tropo duct at the eastern end and a trans-Atlantic path from Newfoundland to Spain or Portugal might be possible.
