TEP contact on 144 MHz between 3A2LU and V51E - 1990-1991

At the end of 2020, I had some posts up on the blog about some remarkable 144 MHz contacts between Argentina and the Caribbean via Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP). Many of the contacts were in the region of 5000 kms.

The post sparked some discussion and someone mentioned a TEP contact on 144 MHz between 3A2LU in Monaco and V51E in Namibia which had taken place in the early 90's.

The path is shown above and is in the region of 7162 kms, a really impressive distance for 144 MHz.

This contact was made in pre-internet days but from what I can tell from doing a search, 3A2LU in Monaco was running 150 watts into a 15-element Yagi. Amazingly, V51E in Namibia was using an antenna for the 160m band!

The contact which was via CW would have taken place close to the peak of solar cycle 22 so conditions must have been really good.

If anyone has any additional information about this contact then please let me know.

For examples of other long distance contacts on 144 MHz, visit my 144 MHz page.

Update on the new 144 MHz beacon on St Helena Island (ZD7)

A few days ago, I had a post about the new proposed 2m beacon for St Helena Island. Dee, ZR1DEE has very kindly sent on some additional information.

Garry, ZD7GWM is the beacon keeper and recently took delivery of  a Motorola GM340 FM radio, power supply, cables and a Diamond X700H antenna.

As of the 4th of February, the antenna still needs to be installed and then the beacon will be turned on.

More info from Dee.....  

Gary will select the beacon frequency from a list of 4 pre programmed frequencies (Channel 1: 144.475 Channel 2: 144.325 Channel 3: 144.375 Channel 4: 144.385 ) to suit .
 
Now we wait for the Diamond antenna to be erected and BEACON SWITCHED ON

* * *

Update 16th Feb 2021: Photos of the new antenna at the bottom of this post.

* * *
 
The keyer circuit is a 8 pin PIC12F675 chip fed to the input of the Motorola  GM340 FM radio

Additional information about the beacon...
Call sign of the beacon  ZD7GWM
QRG – 144.475 frequency
Grid locator IH74DB
QTH LONGWOOD ISLAND OF ST HELENA
Antenna type DIAMOND X700H
Height above sea level  545M
Height above ground  10M
Antenna direction OMNI-DIRECTIONAL
Horizontal or Vertical  VERTICAL
Power output  20 W
Keying – mode CW
Machine Generated Mode if applicable
GPS coordinated  S 15⁰ 56’ 54.68  W005⁰ 41’ 02.34 (-15.9485  -005.6840 )
Beacon status activated soon
Beacon Keeper GARRY MERCURY ZD7GWM

Analysis... Let's have a look at where St Helena is and who is likely to hear this beacon.

Columbian radio station on 93.1 MHz heard 4580kms away in Chile by TEP - Nov 2020

Over the last month or so, I've had several posts up on the blog about recent Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings on 144 MHz between Brazil / Argentina and the Caribbean. Most of these contacts have been in the range of 4500 to 6000kms. See my 144 MHz page.

Today, I came across a post on a forum about a commercial FM radio station on Band 2 (88-108 MHz) in Columbia being heard in Chile, a distance of some 4580 kms.

Radio Rumba is a radio station in the city of Caucasia in Columbia in South America. It's FM transmitter is on 93.1 MHz and it has as far as I can tell an output power of 5 kW.

On the evening of the 20th of November 2020, Mauricio Toro in the town of Villa Alemana near Santiago, Chile heard Radio Rumba on 93.1 MHz, a distance of some 4580 kms.

Considering that both the radio station and Mauricio were both equidistant from the Geomagnetic Equator, were at right angles to it and the local time was 21:30, the most likely mode of propagation was Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP).

Mauricio was using a SONY XDR-S10HDIP receiver with a 7-element horizontally polarised Log Yagi.

Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP)

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz. As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 kms, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

Links...
1) YouTube channel of Mauricio Toro.

Recent 5000km+ TEP contacts made on 144 MHz by LU1DL in Buenos Aires

Recently on the blog, I had several posts about some remarkable Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) contacts made on 144 MHz between stations in the Caribbean and South America. Most of these were in the region of 5000 to 6000 kms. See my 144 MHz page for a list of posts. 

Gabriel, LU1DL in Buenos Aires has kindly sent on some information about his 144 MHz TEP contacts during the months of November & December 2020 and it's interesting to see what can be worked from someone on the southern end of the TEP path.

You'll notice that all of the TEP contacts that LU1DL made were at right angles to the Geomagnetic Equator.

Here is the log from Gabriel...

What's interesting is that while stations in Argentina were able to work the Dominican Republic (HI8), Curacao (PJ2) and Aruba (P4) on 144 MHz, stations in the south of Brazil were working the likes of Martinique (FM) and Guadeloupe (FG) in the western Caribbean. The paths were parallel to the paths from Argentina as they were also perpendicular to the Geomagnetic Equator.

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz. As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 kms, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

Equipment... For these 5000-6000km contacts on 144 MHz, LU1DL was running 180 watts into a single 10-element Yagi with a 5m boom.

This is the antenna system for P41E in Aruba...

HI8DL in the Dominican Republic...

Video... Have a listen to this TEP contact on 144 MHz and note the distortion on the audio...

Links...
1) A list of long distance contacts made on 2-metres can be seen on my 144 MHz page.

6000km TEP path on 144 MHz opens up between Buenos Aires and the Dominican Republic - Nov 2020

Hot on the heels of the last post about the 5400km TEP opening on 144 MHz between Argentina and the island of Aruba, we have details of some more contacts that reached in excess of 6000kms!

In a message, David HI8DL reports... Last night (Nov 29th 2020), Edgar, HI8PLE and I (HI8DL - FK58AL), contacted LU2EPO on 144.300 MHz at 23:57 UTC. 

The mode was SSB and the distance was 6102kms. 

On Nov 26th at 00:57 UTC, I (HI8DL) made a QSO with LW2DAF on 144.174 MHz. The mode on that occasion was FT8 and the distance was 6011kms. 

Otra excelente noche de TEP en 144MHz, record de distancia personal 6020Km, trabajado con @HI8DL, en FT8, gracias David!!! pic.twitter.com/AUkvjFptjf

— Diego Alejandro Feil (@LW2DAF) November 26, 2020

73's  David, HI8DL

In the map above, the geomagnetic equator is shown in Purple. Both the HI8 and the LU stations are at right angles to it which is important at 144 MHz.

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz. As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 kms, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

Normally on 144 MHz, both the northern and southern stations are equidistant from the geomagnetic equator. The stations in the Dominican Republic seem to be slightly further away on this occasion so it's possible that there was a slight tropo extension of a few hundred kms across the Caribbean.

A 6000km contact on 144 MHz is really incredible. To put that into perspective, that is twice the distance across the North Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland!

Link...

1) I have details of some other long distance 144 MHz contacts on this page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/144-mhz.html

5400km TEP opening on 144 MHz between Argentina and the island of Aruba - Nov 2020

In two recent posts, I covered some recent 144 MHz TEP openings from Guadeloupe to Brazil during October 2020 and from  Curacao to Argentina in early November. 

P41E on the island of Aruba has been also been busy during the month of November 2020 and has worked several stations in Argentina via TEP.

One of the longest contacts was with LU2EPO with a claimed distance of an impressive 5449 kms.

In the graphic above, the geomagnetic equator is shown in Purple. Both P41E and the LU stations are equidistant from it and are also at right angles to it, both factors which are important at 144 MHz.

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz. As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 kms, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

Here are a selection of videos showing the contacts made during the month of November 2020...

Contact with LU4FW on SSB...

pic.twitter.com/xIF1uxhcPF

— P41E (@Etiennechat1) November 26, 2020

Contact with LU3FCI and great to see the vintage Yaesu FT-480R in action! ...

And of course we did some FM again. pic.twitter.com/eDlcLfiLR4

— P41E (@Etiennechat1) November 26, 2020

Contact with LU3FCI...

pic.twitter.com/RYdG1YNIBr

— P41E (@Etiennechat1) November 26, 2020

P41E was using 100 watts into a 13-element Cushcraft Yagi.

* * *

Addendum: Thanks to Etienne, P41E for sending on the following information.

This is a photo of the antennas used for 144 MHz and 50 MHz

P41E is using an old an old Yaesu FT-767GX and a Tokyo HL160V running about 100 watts.

Etienne has very kindly sent on a log extract of what he has worked on 144 MHz from the 17th to the 28th of November 2020.

There are a total of 33 contacts in total. Looking through them, some are repeat contacts on different days or on a second mode. The log contains 17 separate stations from Argentina and most of these would have been in the 4500km plus range.

You will note that the majority of the contacts are on SSB with a few on FM and FT8.

Note also the times of the contacts which are around 00:00 to 02:00 UTC. This is around 21:00 to 23:00 for stations in Argentina and 20:00 to 22:00 for P41E in Aruba. This ties in well with Trans-Equatorial Propagation which is thought to peak at about 20:00 local time.

Solar Data... Just for reference purposes, I have included the solar data for the range of dates concerned...

#              Radio  SESC 
#              Flux  Sunspot
#  Date     10.7cm Number
2020 11 17   79     11
2020 11 18   77     11
2020 11 19   77     11
2020 11 20   82     11 
2020 11 21   85     23 
2020 11 22   88     35 
2020 11 23   96     38
2020 11 24  100     37
2020 11 25  104     40 
2020 11 26  106     43
2020 11 27  106     60
2020 11 28  110     67

Links...

a) I have a number of posts about long distance 144 MHz contacts on the blog and I 

keep a list of them here... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/144-mhz.html

5300km TEP opening on 144 MHz between Argentina and the Caribbean - Nov 2020

 In a recent post, I reported on a Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) contact between Guadeloupe and the south of Brazil on 144 MHz which happened in October of 2020. The distance for that contact was in the region of 4455 kms.

At the start of November 2020, there was an even more remarkable 5312 km contact between PJ2BR in Curacao and LW2DAF in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In the graphic above, the geomagnetic equator is shown in Pink. Both PJ2BR and LW2DAF are equidistant from it and are also at right angles to it, both factors which are important at 144 MHz.

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz. As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 kms, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

What's even more remarkable about this contact is that it took place on SSB! See the video below...

QSO de anoche en 144 MHz vía TEP con @PJ2BR, 5300 Km. GF05<>FK52. pic.twitter.com/e8EXOPCLDz

— Diego Alejandro Feil (@LW2DAF) November 3, 2020

If you listen carefully, you can hear a warble on the audio as the SSB signal becomes distorted on the 5300 km path.

PJ2BR worked a number of other stations in Argentina on 144 MHz SSB as well including LU2EPO at 5367 kms. Other stations worked were LU7DW, LU5BE, LU1DL and LU4DIR.

The opening was on the 3rd of November 2020 at around 00:00 UTC which was at 20:00 local time on the 2nd of November for PJ2BR in Curacao.

To put the 5300km distance in perspective, it is the same as the distance between London in the UK and the city of Boston in the USA.

TEP openings on 144 MHz between Brazil and the Caribbean - Oct 2020

 

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz.

As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 kms, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

TEP propagation normally peaks around the equinox and there have been some interesting contacts made recently between the south of Brazil and stations in the Caribbean.

One such example was a recent contact on 144 MHz between FG8OJ in Guadeloupe and PY2PAL in Brazil. On the map above, the position of the actual equator is shown in Blue while the Geomagnetic Equator is shown in Red.

You can hear the SSB contact on 144.299 MHz below...

Amazing TEP on 2m. Qso with PY2PAL 4455 km pic.twitter.com/GmrD7VkEVC

— ＦＧ８ＯＪ🏝️🛰️🌑 (@FG8OJ) October 11, 2020

Note the curious warble on the signal. The distance was 4455 kms which is pretty impressive for 2-metres.

Greece to South Africa via TEP on 70 MHz...

I came across this today....the first ever contact between Greece and South Africa on 70 MHz!

As far as I can tell, it happened on the 28th of March 2011 when SV2DCD in KN00LI worked ZS6WAB in KG46RC via Trans-Equatorial Propagation. The distance was just over 7,200 kms as they worked on 70.200 MHz SSB.

SV2DCD was running 70w into a 9 el yagi at 10m agl.

It just goes to show the possibilities of this band.