Guest Post: 40 MHz band on 7th & 8th May 2021 ...by F1EIT

Thanks to José, F1EIT for the following information which forms the basis of this post.

Friday May 7th was surely a great day for the S55ZMS beacon with the first 40 MHz spots but also

for 8m Sporadic-E activity that increased on the 8th .

Joan EA3ERE put the first spots (PI4) for EI1KNH on the 23rd of April but I heard nothing on CW.

On the 7th of May, Michel, F6HTJ heard the EI1KNH beacon on CW but I still heard nothing!

Finally today the 8th of May, both Michel and myself heard the EI1KNH beacon on CW and we also were able to hear the S55ZMS beacon in Slovenia at the same time.

I have a lot of QRM in the 40 MHz ISM band (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) and sometimes also on the beacon frequency.

I am still using my 50MHz Hentenna with an ICOM 575A. I am also working on a 40MHz wire halo based on the G3XBM (10m) design and am also looking at building a YU7EF 4-element Yagi.

José, F1EIT

Info from DXMaps website...

Date & time Spotter QRG Mode DX km Prop. Comments SFI A K E.MUF

2021-05-08 14:43:17 F1EIT (JN03SJ) 40.670 CW S55ZMS (JN86CR) 1207 JN03SJ<ES>JN86CR CW 519 growing

2021-05-08 16:27:52 EI7GL (IO51TU) 40.670 CW S55ZMS/B (JN86CR) 1860 IO51TU<ES>JN86CR 

2021-05-08 16:13:15 G7PUV (JO00AT) 40.670 CW S55ZMS/B (JN86CR) 1265 JO00AU<ES>JN86CR Beacon 579

2021-05-08 14:41:02 F6HTJ (JN12KQ) 40.670 CW S55ZMS/B (JN86CR) 1143 JN86cr<ES>JN12kq 8m beacon

2021-05-07 18:10:43 F5JRX (JN26AC) 40.670 CW S55ZMS (JN86CR)934 JN26AC<>JN86CR 529 on BIGWHEEL 

2021-05-07 17:34:48 F4CXO (JN26PP) 40.670 CW S55ZMS (JN86CR) 831 JN26PP<ES>JN86CR HRD 559 

2021-05-07 14:15:01 F1EIT (JN03SJ) 40.670 CW S55ZMS (JN86CR) 1207 JN03SJ<ES>JN86CR BCN CW+PI4 

2021-05-07 14:46:10 F6HTJ (JN12KQ) 40.670 CW S55ZMS/B (JN86CR) 1143 JN86cr<ES>JN12kq 8m beacon 

Date & time Spotter QRG Mode DX km Prop. Comments SFI A K E.MUF

2021-05-08 14:32:37 F1EIT (JN03SJ) 40.013 EI1KNH (IO63VE) 1228 JN03SJ<ES>IO63VE CW529rising 

2021-05-08 14:59:02 OE3FVU (JN78VE) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1638 59 - 51 with heavy QSB 

2021-05-08 14:51:27 S57RW (JN65UM) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1666 559 in jn65um 

2021-05-08 14:31:54 F6HTJ (JN12KQ) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1346 IO63ve<ES>JN12kq 8m beacon 

2021-05-08 14:12:36 F4CXO (JN26PP) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1095 JN26PP<ES>IO63VE HRD 539 QSB 

2021-05-08 13:55:44 IW4BET (JN54QL) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1602 579 io63ve<es>jn54ql 

2021-05-08 11:11:52 S50B (JN65XU) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1659 

2021-05-07 15:42:38 IZ0CBD (JN61FP) 40.013 EI1KNH (IO63VE) 1891 JN61FP<>IO63VE 558 very clear 

2021-05-07 18:23:22 IK0OKY (JN61ES) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1876 JN61ES<ES>IO63VE 559 hrd 

2021-05-07 15:45:20 9A3TN (JN85UH) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1931 JN85UH<AUE>IO63 

2021-05-07 15:12:43 F6HTJ (JN12KQ) 40.013 CW EI1KNH/B (IO63VE) 1346 IO63ve<ES>JN12kq 8m beacon 

2021-04-23 13:42:28 EA3ERE (JN11CX) 40.012 PI4 EI1KNH (IO63VE) 1394 JN11<ES>IO63 PI4 -9 dB 1396 km 

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

S55ZMS 40 MHz beacon heard in France - 7th May 2021

Jeff, F0FYF in the south-east of France reports hearing the new S55ZMS 8-metre beacon in Slovenia on 40.670 MHz on Friday the 7th of May 2021.

F0FYF wrote... "recycling is good .. an old 4-element antenna for Swiss TV, somewhat retouched for 40 Mhz with its reception amplifier and the beacon #S55ZMS is received intermittently #hamradio#radioamateur" (via Google translate) (Radio = Yaesu FT-897)

The beacon transmits in CW and PI4 and some of the decodes by Jeff are shown below...

The distance was in the region of 775kms which suggests that the propagation mode was short hop Sporadic-E.

In terms of short hop Sporadic-E, the 40 MHz band is worse than 28 MHz but better than 50 MHz. Under exceptional conditions, anything down to 500kms might be expected at 40 MHz.

Since this new 40 MHz beacon moved to its final location at the end of April 2021, it has been now been heard in Ireland, Portugal and France.

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

S55ZMS 8m beacon heard in Ireland - 2nd May 2021

A few days ago, I had a post up about the new S55ZMS 8-metre beacon in Slovenia on 40.670 MHz and how it was on-air now from its new location on the 30th of April 2021. Post HERE

Just two days later on the 2nd of May, Tim EI4GNB near Dublin reports hearing it.

The signal was down at -9dB and buried in the noise but it still made it through. The distance was around 1745 kms which is pretty normal for one-hop Sporadic-E.

S51FB in Slovenia also reports hearing it on the 1st of May but that would have been via tropo.

S51FB 40670 S55ZMS 08:31 01 May 21 beacon Slovenia

If you hear this or any of the other 40 MHz beacons then be sure to spot it via the DXMaps website.

For a list of beacons on the 8-metre band then check out my 40 MHz page.

New 8m beacon from Slovenia on 40.670 MHz

Update - 30th Apr 2021: The S55ZMS beacon has now been moved to its final destination and is on air with a full 7 watts to a Halo antenna.

Frequency: 40.670 MHz 

Call: S55ZMS 

Locator:JN86CR 

QTH: Dolina 

Height ASL: 320m 

Antenna: Halo 

Polarization: Horizontal

Pwr: 7.00 W 

Modes: PI4 + CW 

Beacon Ops: S53M & S51FB

Status: Active

Beacon website: https://slovhf.net/svetilniki/

Updated: 30.04.2021

Antenna is about 3m above metal roof, abt 7m above ground.

Update - 16th Feb 2021: The S55ZMS beacon is currently under test. The power output is 4-watts into a multi-band dipole. The plan is to eventually increase this to 10 watts and to move the beacon to the S53M contest location which is situated on top of a hill. A proper 40-MHz dipole is planned for the site but its exact location on the site and its orientation hasn't been finalised.

* * *

More good news for the new 8-metre amateur radio band! A new beacon in Slovenia is now operational on 40.670 MHz.

The callsign of the beacon is S55ZMS and it has an output power of 7 watts into a dipole. The transmissions are in both CW and on PI4, a digital mode designed for beacons.

The beacon is located near Bakovci in the far eastern part of Slovenia near the border with Hungary and its locator is JN86BO.

The licensing authorities first gave permission for 8m beacons in Slovenia back in June of 1998 but not  much happened at the time. This new beacon in the 40 MHz ISM band (Industrial, Scientific & Medical) is now the third operational 8m beacon in Europe joining OZ7IGY in Denmark and EI1KNH in Ireland.

The map above shows the location of the 8m beacon in Slovenia and the distances from it. It's very likely that it will be heard around Europe during the Summer months by Sporadic-E propagation. The range is likely to be in the region of 800 to 2100 kms.

The fact that the new beacon from Slovenia is also further south than the beacons in Ireland and Denmark is also significant. As we move further into solar cycle 25 and the flux rises, there will be times when 40 MHz signals will be heard much further away in places like North & South America, Africa and Asia.

It's also highly likely that the 40 MHz signal from Slovenia will be heard in South Africa through a combination of Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) and Sporadic-E (Sp-E).

For more information on the 40 MHz band, visit this page on the blog... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html