Day 9: TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe - 8th Apr 2024

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 8th of April 2024. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

As can be seen from the list, this was quite a good opening and the one big change was the path to SV1DH near Athens in Greece. The horizontal spread of stations at the northern end of the circuit was in the region of 800kms.

At 144 MHz, the signals need to cross the Geomagnetic Equator at nearly 90 degrees for TEP and it gets a lot more difficult the further the station gets from 90 degrees. That's why it is interesting to see SV1DH listed.

The optimal TEP path from Athens is probably down to Zimbabwe but there are no stations active there on 144 MHz.

These are the spots from the DX Cluster...
IZ8FFA 144192.0 V51WW 19:09 08 Apr TNX Namibia
IT9XDJ 144192.0 V51WW 18:54 08 Apr Q65B -12 dB 1225 Hz  Namibia

Alex, SV1NZX reports... "V51JH heard SV1 and a smattering of other stations; ZD7GWM was cqing on 144.300 but sadly no copy from EA stations. SV1DH worked V51WW quite easily."

Felice, IZ8FFA reports working V51WW with 100W to a 12-element home made LFA Yagi on a 7m book.

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for more examples of long distance contacts.

Day 8: TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe - 7th Apr 2024

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 7th of April 2024. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

Interest is growing is these long distance TEP paths and more people are getting involved. In a previous post, I had details of how A65BR in the United Arab Emirates managed to hear FR4OO on Reunion Island via TEP on the 7th of April.

These are the spots from the DX Cluster...
IK7EOT 144190 V51WW 19:09 07 Apr 24 Q65B -18 Namibia
SV2DCD 144190 V51WW 18:27 07 Apr 24 CQ Q65B -15db TEP Namibia
SV8PEX 144190 V51WW 18:23 07 Apr 24 -09 q65b hrd in JM99 Namibia

Also on the 7th of April, the PSK Reporter website shows that IK7EZN in Italy reported reception of V51NH, the second station in Namibia. IZ7EZN is the only station reporting this so I'd be always wary of just one station reporting as someone may have made a mistake reporting the incorrect band.

It is also reported that ZD7GWM on St Helena is trying the TEP north to Spain (EA) & Portugal (CT). Stations in South Africa (ZS) are also beaming north.

SV1NZX in Greece reports... "Lots of TEP action tonight - V51WW seen/worked in at least 7 PSK-enabled stations, more saw him, reported via group chat, A65BR heard FR4OO, ZD7GWM was CQing dir EA. Overall 2xV5, a few from ZS (various areas) and ZD7 vs over 80 EU and AS stations

V Important.  AF stations are CQing 1st and EU 2nd. We implore that 144.190 is kept free of tropo QSOs and attempts for EU->EU on 1st period. Tomorrow, 9K2GS and A65BR will be testing with FR at 1630z, V5/ZS-EU from 1800z and ZD7GWM will be cqing .300U/301cw from 1930z dir EA"

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for more examples of long distance contacts.

Day 6: TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe - 5th Apr 2024

 

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 5th of April 2024 and again to the same geographical area. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

There was an earlier report in the day at 12:32 UTC from Albania but this was almost certainly an error with someone reporting the 6m decodes as 2m.

DX-Cluster spots...
IT9GSF 144190.0 V51WW 20:13 05 Apr LONG TEP 18:26 till 19:35 Namibia
IK7EOT 144190.0 V51WW 18:50 05 Apr Q65B Namibia
IZ8EDJ 144290.0 V51WW 18:48 05 Apr JN70-TEP-JH81 Namibia
9H1TX 144191.2 V51WW 18:46 05 Apr JM75FU<TEP>JH81OC Q65 tnx agai Namibia

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for more examples of long distance contacts.

Day 5: TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe - 4th Apr 2024

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 4th of April 2024 but to the same geographical area. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

Alex, SV1NZX reports... "V51WW is currently the only station being heard from Africa but working IK7UXY, SV2DCD, SV8PEX, IT9GSF, IK7EZW and 9H1PA, amongst others. Same geography and area but slightly stronger signals tonight, initially

Interestingly, also, ZS4TX was tx-ing North too, although nothing was received and FR5DN was beaming to A6/TA/9K where stations are located. No luck as of yet but conditions are not ideal, to be fair."

From SV2DVD

Spots from the DX-Cluster...

IT9GSF 144190.0 V51WW 20:56 04 Apr JM67-TEP-JH81 6314Km @18:38 Namibia
IK7EOT 144190.0 V51WW 19:01 04 Apr Q65B -21 Namibia
SV8PEX 144190.0 V51WW 18:42 04 Apr Q65B first -13 nice via TEP Namibia
IK7EZN 144190.0 V51WW 18:39 04 Apr TEP 6550 KM Namibia
IV3KKW 144190.0 V51WW 18:38 04 Apr Q65 wkg Med Namibia

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for more examples of long distance contacts.

Day 4: TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe - 3rd Apr 2024

Day 4: This was the 4th day in a row that there was a Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe. It's very likely that this path was open for most of March as well but there was no-one testing the path.

The paths from the PSK Reporter website are shown above and this time, the signals reached further north in Italy.

Here are some spots from the DX Cluster...

SV2DCD 144190.0 V51WW 18:35 03 Apr -15db Q65B via TEP tnx Namibia
SV8PEX 144190.0 V51WW 18:33 03 Apr JH81 Q65B only RX tonight, wea Namibia

It's interesting to note how the maximum spread of the TEP footprint at the northern end is about 750kms. The TEP signal needs to cross the Geomagnetic Equator close to 90 degrees and the question is how far from 90 degrees can the path be before there is no propagation at 144 MHz?

Alex, SV1NZX notes that he has heard no signals from V51WW with a 9-element yagi at his location near Athens (KM17) which suggests he is too far to the east. He writes... "SV2DCD was using a 4 x 17 array to hear / work EME-level signals from V51WW. On the other hand, SV8PEX and IZ8/IT9/9H have had the lion's share of signal strength, hence the SSB QSO's."

I know the TEP posts can be a bit repetitive but I think it's important to keep a record of the information and maps. This is the most important VHF news in Europe at the moment.

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for more examples of long distance contacts.

Day 3: SSB contacts made on 144 MHz during TEP opening from Namibia to Europe - 2nd Apr 2024

The most significant VHF amateur radio news at the moment in Europe is without doubt the TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) openings on 144 MHz to Namibia. See 1st April.

Tuesday the 2nd of April 2024 was Day 3 of the recent opening and the reports on the PSK reporter site are shown above. The paths are similar to the previous two days except the path to SV2DCD is a new one.

The screen grab below is from SV2DCD which shows reception of V51WW. As far as I know, a two way contact was not completed.

What made this day special though was that some contacts were made on SSB! Tom, SV8PEX posted this on the DX Cluster... SV8PEX 144150 V51WW 18:33 02 Apr 24 JH81 SSB 52 52 many thanks!!!

Alex, SV1NZX reports that V51WW made four SSB contacts on 144.150 MHz with IK7UXW, IK7JNM, IK7LMX and SV8PEX.

Video... A video clip from V51WW can be found on this link ... https://twitter.com/i/status/1775255255539945703

Note the distortion on the voice. I presume that was the SSB contact with Tom, SV8PEX.

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for more examples of long distance contacts.

Another 6000km+ TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Europe - 1st April 2024

As outlined in this previous post, there was a TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) opening on the 144 MHz band between Namibia and Greece on the 31st of March 2024. As news spread that SV8PEX had been heard over 6500kms away in Namibia, more stations were active on the evening of the 1st of April.

This time, there were paths from Namibia to Greece, Italy and Malta and SV8PEX, 9H1TA and 9H1PA managed to complete contacts.

Alex, SV1NZX reports the following... "Tonight ends an exciting night for 2m #TEP QSOs - V51WW worked 9H1PA, 9H1TX and SV8PEX as well as receiving 4-5 other Italian stations in JN70, JN80. SFI measured at 125, K/A index at 5-8 and 1, all QSOs in Q65b, 30/60s."

This is a screen grab from SV8PEX in Greece...

This screen grab below is from V51WW and shows some of the exchanges with IK7UXW and IZ8EDJ  in Italy.

The screen grab below is from David, 9H1TX in Malta...

9H1TX writes... "Just finished my first TEP 2M qso with V51WW. I am totally closed to south but i elevated the system at 8 deg and was lucky to get his signal."

Analysis... As the map shows above, both stations are about equidistant from the Geomagnetic Equator and are crossing it at right angles, an important consideration for TEP signals at 144 MHz.

V51WW in Namibia is using 100w into a horizontal 9-element yagi 12m above ground level which is a pretty modest station. It shows that this TEP path to Europe is probably there a lot more often than people realise but the problem is that there weren't any stations in Africa to attempt a contact.

It would be interesting to see how far east and west in the Mediterranean the signal from V51WW can reach? How far from the 90 degree right angle at the Geomagnetic Equator can the 144 MHz signal go before it becomes impossible? EA6? IS0? 5B4? TA? SV5? SV9?

The Mediterranean is also an excellent location for tropo ducting. How far will that carry the signal north?

Are there any other stations at the southern end of the TEP zone? ZD7 (St Helena) to Spain seems an obvious one. Other paths?

It would be good to see more TEP reports from Europe to Africa on 70 MHz, 88-108 MHz and 144 MHz.

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for plenty of reports of other TEP contacts.

6530km TEP opening on 144 MHz from Namibia to Greece - 31st March 2024

 

Over the last few years, there have been many reports of contacts on 144 MHz from South America to the Caribbean region via Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP). There have been no reports of similar openings on 144 MHz from Europe to Africa in the same time period.

On the 31st of March 2024, it looks as if finally there was a TEP opening when V51WW in Namibia managed to receive SV8PEX in Greece, a distance of about 6532kms.

This is the report from the PSK Reporter website...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
SV8PEX V51WW 2m Q65 6524 km 19:08:02

Tom, SV8PEX reports... "Unfortunately I was too late sig went down, one way. I was using 500W and V51WW I guess 100. Me -15db the best". Tom also notes that they tried FT8 and no decodes were possible.

Alex, SV1NZX writes... "First confirmed TEP reception of a signal between EU and AF tonight by V51WW from SV8PEX on 2m band after almost 40 years since the last signals between AF and EU intersected. Mode Q65a/30s "

V51WW is using 100w into a horizontal 9-element yagi 12m above ground level. SV8PEX is using 500w into a 11-element yagi 10m above ground level.

Analysis... As the map shows above, both stations are about equidistant from the Geomagnetic Equator and are crossing it at right angles, an important consideration for TEP signals at 144 MHz.

As SV1NZX mentions, there used to TEP contacts on 144 MHz from Europe to Africa back in the 1970's when there was activity from Zimbabwe. The key thing is the location. Zimbabwe and the north of Namibia are far enough north for signals to reach the TEP zone. There are plenty of stations in South Africa (ZS) active on 144 MHz but they are much further south.

In this particular case on the 31st of March, it was a reception report but it shows that a TEP path was open at 144 MHz. Hopefully more stations in southern Europe will now beam south and see if the path is open to Namibia and the southern part of Africa. 

It would be good to see more TEP reports from Europe to Africa on 70 MHz, 88-108 MHz and 144 MHz.

Links...

1) See my 144 MHz page for plenty of reports of other TEP contacts.

By the way, this is not an April Fools Joke! I know I posted it on the 1st of April so some might be wondering.