Opening on the 40 MHz band between California and Europe - 9th & 10th March 2023

Over the last few weeks and months, there have been a lot of excellent openings on the 40 MHz (8m) band (reports HERE). While the really long distance paths are impressive, some of the shorter East-West paths in the same hemisphere can be equally difficult.

While there have been many 40 MHz openings from the eastern half of the USA to Europe, openings to the west coast have been largely absent. There were hints though that things were getting close. 

Paul, MI3LDO in the north-west of Ireland reported hearing CHP (California Highway Patrol) stations at 39 MHz in late February 2023. In early March, Robbie EI2IP in the south-west of Ireland reported hearing SNOTEL traffic on 40.670 MHz which is usually associated with the west coast of the United States.

On the 9th and 10th of March 2023, the elusive California to Europe opening on the 40 MHz band finally happened.

Thursday 9th March 2023: Tom, K6EU near San Francisco in California reports hearing Robbie, EI2IP and Paul, G9PUV on FT8 on 40.680 MHz.

174700 -15  0.2  495 ~  CQ EI2IP IO52      EU
174730 -15  0.2  495 ~  CQ EI2IP IO52      EU
181630 -18 -0.0 1464 ~  CQ G9PUV JO00      EU
181700 -21 -0.0 1464 ~  CQ G9PUV JO00      EU
181715 -19  0.3  502 ~  CQ EI2IP IO52      EU
181730 -18 -0.0 1464 ~  CQ G9PUV JO00      EU
181745 -15  0.1  503 ~  CQ SSB EI2IP IO52  EU
181800 -17 -0.0 1464 ~  CQ G9PUV JO00      EU
181930 -19 -0.0 1464 ~  CQ G9PUV JO00  

Chris, N3IZN near Los Angeles and who is the holder of the experimental licence WM2XCC also reported decoding EI2IP and G9PUV on 40.680 MHz.

No reports were shown on the PSK Reporter website.

Friday 10th March 2023: Conditions were very good again on the 8m band and both G9PUV and EI2IP were reported on the west coast of the USA. This time, there were reports on the PSK Reporter website.

G9PUV... The reports over 8000kms for G9PUV in the SE of England are shown below while the map is shown above.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC) SNR
ZS6OB G9PUV 8m FT8 8964 km 12:17:59 1
G9PUV WM2XCC/JTDX 8m FT8 8822 km 19:02:43 -19
G9PUV ZS6WN 8m FT8 8799 km 11:28:59 -8
ZS6WN G9PUV 8m FT8 8799 km 11:24:29 -7
G9PUV K6EU 8m FT8 8704 km 19:02:12 -17

While the path to South Africa is longer in some cases, it is also easier as it's north-south. The thing to note here is how far north towards the Arctic region the signal has to travel. The maximum distance to the US was to WM2XCC near Los Angeles, a distance of about 8820kms.

EI2IP... As Robbie was about 600kms further west than G9PUV, the path to California is slightly shorter and doesn't have to travel so far to the north.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC) SNR
EI2IP VK4TVL 8m FT8 15766 km 09:28:15 -13
EI2IP ZS6AYE 8m FT8 9480 km 10:43:44 -13
ZS6OB EI2IP 8m FT8 9406 km 11:29:26 -4
ZS6WN EI2IP 8m FT8 9254 km 11:06:56 -15
EI2IP ZS6WN 8m FT8 9254 km 11:04:14 -9
EI2IP HC2FG 8m FT8 8942 km 18:28:30 -24
EI2IP HC1BI 8m FT8 8681 km 15:21:11 -12
EI2IP WM2XCC/JTDX 8m FT8 8244 km 18:48:13 -17
EI2IP WM2XCC 8m FT8 8244 km 18:35:44 -17
EI2IP K6EU 8m FT8 8152 km 18:46:12 -11

As you can see from the reports above, EI2IP was heard again in the north-east of Australia. I've covered previous openings from Europe to Australia in previous posts.

Where next??? The next obvious question is if there is a path from the UK and Ireland to the NW of the USA? Up in Washington state or near Vancouver in Canada?

For stations in California, is there a path further east into Europe? The OZ7IGY beacon Denmark? S5 and 9A stations in Slovenia and Croatia?

Can stations in continental Europe hear the experimental stations on the US west coast?

Links... For more information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page.

Even more Trans-Pacific openings on the 40 MHz band - 6th to 9th Feb 2023

In previous posts, I reported on some impressive 40 MHz openings across the Pacific Ocean. On the 28th of December 2022, there was a 12,000km+ opening on the 40 MHz band from California to Australia. On the 25th of January 2023, there was a 10,470km opening on the 40 MHz band from California to New Zealand.

The common element in both posts was that the station in California was WM2XCC, the experimental 40 MHz station which is operated by Chris, N3IZN. Now we have reports of two other experimental stations being heard across the Pacific.

WM2XEJ: The first report is of Bob, ZL1RS in New Zealand receiving the WSPR signal from WM2XEJ in Georgia in the USA. This is interesting not only because of the 13,129km distance but WM2XEJ is a lot further east than the previous reception reports of WM2XCC in California.

These are the WSPR reports...

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2023-02-08 23:34 WM2XEJ EM83ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.68156 100 -18 0 13129
2023-02-08 23:40 WM2XEJ EM83ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681561 100 -1 0 13129
2023-02-08 23:46 WM2XEJ EM83ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681558 100 1 -1 13129
2023-02-08 23:54 WM2XEJ EM83ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.68156 100 -1 0 13129
2023-02-09 00:08 WM2XEJ EM83ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681558 100 -9 0 13129
2023-02-09 00:14 WM2XEJ EM83ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681558 100 -17 0 13129

As you can see, the signal comes out of the noise and peaks at +1dB which is strong enough for say a good CW contact. After that, it fades away again. The opening possibly coincided with a sunset in Georgia. or a sunrise in New Zealand?

The other stations shown on the map above are from the last week and show plenty of F2 propagation on the 40 MHz (8m) band.

WM2XCW: The WM2XCW experimental 40 MHz station is located in the far north of Washington state and has now been received in New Zealand. This is significant because WM2XCW is the most northerly of the US experimental stations on the 40 MHz band.

ZL1RS... Again, most of the reports are from Bob, ZL1RS on the 6th and 8th of February 2023...

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2023-02-06 21:48 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681533 10 3 0 11246
2023-02-06 21:58 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681533 10 -4 0 11246
2023-02-06 22:48 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681532 10 -7 0 11246
2023-02-06 22:38 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681534 10 -7 0 11246
2023-02-08 22:48 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681535 10 -10 0 11246
2023-02-08 22:58 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681535 10 -12 0 11246
2023-02-08 22:38 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681534 10 -12 0 11246
2023-02-08 22:18 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681532 10 -12 -1 11246

Note that while WM2XEJ in Georgia is listed as 100-watts, WM2XCW in Washington state is using a much lower 10-watts. The strong signal peaked at +3dB suggesting a weak SSB contact may have been possible.

ZL1RQ... There are several reports from Alan, ZL1RQ for WM2XCW but they are listed as being on 28 MHz. As WM2XCW only transmits on 40 MHz, it seems likely that ZL1RQ is listening on 40 MHz but his older version of WSJT-X software isn't configured for 40 MHz reports.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km version
2023-02-07 21:18 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RQ RF64 28.12616 10 -26 0 11318 2.5.2
2023-02-07 21:08 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RQ RF64 28.12616 10 -23 0 11318 2.5.2
2023-02-06 22:48 WM2XCW CN88lx ZL1RQ RF64 28.126157 10 -16 1 11318 2.5.2

There is also one report from ZLBEACON with the same frequency, short locater square and software version as ZL1RQ so I presume these were from Alan as well.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km version
2023-02-08 21:08 WM2XCW CN88lx ZLBEACON RF64 28.12616 10 -28 0 11318 2.5.2

WM2XCC: Unsurprisingly, most of the trans-Pacific 8m reception reports are for WM2XCC in California. Note that WM2XCC is using different power levels at different times.

VK4OTZ: There is one single report from VK4OTZ on the east coast of Australia on the 7th of February 2023.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km 
2023-02-07 23:38 WM2XCC DM13ji VK4OTZ QG62jo 40.681528 50 -24 1 11637 

ZL1RQ: There are several reports of WM2XCC from ZL1RQ but again, the frequency shown is 28 MHz rather than the correct 40 MHz one.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km version
2023-02-08 00:00 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126111 50 -25 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 23:56 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126111 50 -23 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 23:46 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126111 50 -11 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 23:42 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126112 50 -16 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 23:38 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126113 50 -12 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 22:56 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126113 2 -28 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 22:38 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126113 2 -21 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 22:18 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126113 2 -23 0 10550 2.5.2
2023-02-07 21:56 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RQ RF64 28.126113 2 -20 0 10550 2.5.2

ZL1RS: Bob has by far the most reception reports and these are shown below.

10,470km opening on the 40 MHz band from California to New Zealand - 25th Jan 2023

It's always nice to see 8m reception reports from different parts of the globe and this time we have a reception report of the 40 MHz WSPR signal of WM2XCC in California by ZL1RS in New Zealand.

WM2XCC is one of the experimental licences for the 40 MHz band and is operated by Chris, N3IZN. The 2-watt WSPR signal of WM2XCC on 40.680 MHz was decoded four times by Bob, ZL1RS in New Zealand during a three and a half hour period on the 25th and 26th of January 2023.

The four reports are below, note that the times are in UTC.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km

2023-01-26 01:18 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681486 2 -29 0 10471
2023-01-26 01:00 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681486 2 -16 0 10471
2023-01-25 22:20 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681488 2 -23 0 10471
2023-01-25 21:58 WM2XCC DM13ji ZL1RS RF64vs 40.681488 2 -16 0 10471

The signals range from -16dB to -29dB which means that they were probably inaudible to the ear and were buried in the noise. The signals were still present though which means the trans-Pacific path existed.

The distance was around 10,470kms and the most likely mode of propagation was via the F2 layer in the ionosphere. At midnight UTC, the sun would have been somewhere over the centre of the Pacific and roughly half way between California and New Zealand.

Back on the 28th of December 2022, there was a similar opening from California to Australia. Link HERE

ZL1RS... For the reception report, Bob ZL1RS reports using an ICOM IC-7610 with a 3-element Yagi for the 40 MHz band at 8-metres above ground level. The antenna is fixed pointing at North America and the 4 WSPR decodes were from the second day after it was put up.

Bob notes that New Zealand regulations permit anyone to freely transmit on 40.680 MHz with 1-watt ERP as long as they don't cause interference to any paid licence system.

Side Note... When I was writing this latest trans-Pacific 8m report, I had completely forgotten about the reception report of WM2XCC in Australia at the end of December. I wrote that blog post and I had forgotten about it after a month! It just shows to me the value of generating a blog post about an unusual 8m opening and then linking to it from the 40 MHz page on the blog.

WSPR reports disappear after 5-weeks and FT8 reports disappear off the PSK Reporter website after 24 hours. How many unusual openings on the various VHF & UHF bands go unreported and unnoticed?

Addendum: Bob, ZL1RS reports... "Another opening 26/27 Jan utc:

Timestamp Call MHz SNR Drift Grid Pwr Reporter RGrid km az Mode
 2023-01-27 00:46 WM2XCC 40.681486 -23 0 DM13ji 50 ZL1RS RF64vs 10471 230 W-2 
 2023-01-26 23:14 WM2XCC 40.681487 -25 0 DM13ji 2 ZL1RS RF64vs 10471 230 W-2 
 2023-01-26 22:18 WM2XCC 40.681489 -15 0 DM13ji 2 ZL1RS RF64vs 10471 230 W-2 
 2023-01-26 21:44 WM2XCC 40.681488 -19 0 DM13ji 2 ZL1RS RF64vs 10471 230 W-2 
 2023-01-26 21:26 WM2XCC 40.681488 -16 0 DM13ji 2 ZL1RS RF64vs 10471 230 W-2 
 2023-01-26 21:04 WM2XCC 40.681488 -9 0 DM13ji 2 ZL1RS RF64vs 10471 230 W-2 

There would have been more except that reception here was obliterated by severe rain static for about an hour.  During that time there were 3 other partial WSPR traces (which did not decode due to the rain static), but from the timing and frequency offset, we believe it was WM2XCW (aka NR7V)."

Opening on the 40 MHz band between California and Alaska - Jan 2023

Chris, N3IZN is located in the south of California and is the owner of the experimental callsign WM2XCC. He has been conducting tests on the 40 MHz band for over a year using the WSPR beacon mode.

Between the 20th and 25th of January 2023, his WSPR signal was heard by a number of US stations as shown on the map above and in the chart below which is listed by distance.

 Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2023-01-22 17:18 WM2XCC DM13ji WW1L FN54om 40.681497 2 -22 1 4300
2023-01-24 17:36 WM2XCC DM13ji VA2CY FN46lw 40.681426 2 -16 3 4135
2023-01-25 19:38 WM2XCC DM13ji KC0IYT FN42kj 40.681554 2 -21 0 4115
2023-01-21 18:20 WM2XCC DM13ji VE2UG FN35gs 40.681498 2 -3 0 3939
2023-01-23 21:36 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681506 2 18 0 3863
2023-01-20 19:06 WM2XCC DM13ji KB2MEN FN20ok 40.681484 2 -21 0 3815
2023-01-20 19:48 WM2XCC DM13ji VE3EUR FN25dn 40.681529 2 -6 0 3763
2023-01-22 16:36 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.681511 2 -22 0 3640
2023-01-22 17:52 WM2XCC DM13ji WM2XEJ EM83ji 40.68149 50 8 0 3144
2023-01-22 17:12 WM2XCC DM13ji AC4TO EM70xl 40.681497 50 -15 0 3134
2023-01-22 17:50 WM2XCC DM13ji N4WLO EM50uo 40.681488 50 22 0 2736
2023-01-22 20:04 WM2XCC DM13ji VE7UTS CN89li 40.681491 50 -26 0 1843

The reception report of particular interest is from KL7HBK in Alaska. Even though there are four other reports which were further away, Alaska is of interest because it's so far to the north. This is especially true as it seems likely that the mode of propagation was F2 layer propagation.

These are all the WSPR spots from Alaska on the 23rd and the 25th of January. The signal reports range from +18dB which is very strong to -18dB which is buried in the noise and inaudible to the ear.

2023-01-25 20:42 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681507 2 -7
2023-01-25 20:22 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681507 2 15
2023-01-25 19:58 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681507 2 10
2023-01-25 19:38 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681508 2 -18

2023-01-23 21:54 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681507 2 21
2023-01-23 21:36 WM2XCC DM13ji KL7HBK BO49et 40.681506 2 18

Alaska has a reputation of being a bit of wasteland when it comes to VHF propagation so it's interesting to see 40 MHz signals propagate so far north. The solar flux at the time of the reports was around the 190 mark.

Link... For more reports and information on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page HERE

12,000km+ opening on the 40 MHz band from California to Australia - 28th Dec 2022

Following on from the report of a 12,000km+ opening from South Africa to the United States, here is another report of remarkable opening on the 40 MHz band from California to Australia.

On the 28th of December 2022, Hilary VK2AZ in Sydney, Australia managed to get two decodes of the WSPR signal from Chris, WM2XCC in California on the 40 MHz (8m) band. The distance was 12,156 kms.

2022-12-28 01:36   WM2XCC   40.681491   -22   0   DM13ji   50   VK2AZ   QF56if   12156   242   2 
2022-12-28 01:28   WM2XCC   40.681492   -22   0   DM13ji   50   VK2AZ   QF56if   12156   242   2

Screenshot from VK2AZ

WM2XCC is the experimental callsign allocated by the FCC to Chris, N3IZN. For his experimental 8m WSPR transmissions, he was using 50-watts to a half-wave vertical.

VK2AZ in Sydney was using a horizontal half-wave dipole in a very noisy suburban location.

Analysis... At 01:30 UTC, the sun would have been over the centre of the Pacific Ocean so it's probably no great surprise that it happened at this time as the level of ionization would have been at maximum. With the solar flux now reaching 150-160, F2 trans-equatorial (north-south) paths up as high as 50 MHz are being reported recently.

In the last few weeks, there have been paths on the 50 MHz band from Australia & New Zealand to the western half of the United States. As 40 MHz is a lower band, it was likely that the path was open as well recently but this is the first time that an 8m signal across the Pacific has been reported.

In terms of propagation and potential paths, the 40 MHz band will never be as good as the 28 MHz band but it should always be better than 50 MHz. The reason it isn't obvious is just a lack of activity and reports.

Link...
1) For more info on the 8m band, visit my 40 MHz page. 

Trans-Continental opening on the 40 MHz band in the USA - 14th Apr 2022

On the 14th of April 2022, there was an interesting Transcontinental opening on the 40 MHz band in the USA.

There are currently seven US radio amateurs using experimental callsigns and licenses for the 40 MHz band. Three of these... WM2XCC in California, WM2XCW in Washington State and WM2XAN in Michigan are using the WSPR digital mode and their signals were heard by W4WLO in Alabama and N2OTO in Florida.

The WSPR reports for each of the three stations are shown below...

 Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2022-04-14 21:52 WM2XAN EN74oh WLO/O5 EM50vo 40.6636 100 -26 -4 1553

2022-04-14 22:14 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -9 0 3640
2022-04-14 22:02 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663492 2 -14 0 3640
2022-04-14 21:52 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -20 0 3640
2022-04-14 21:44 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -16 1 3640
2022-04-14 21:34 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -24 0 3640

2022-04-14 21:34 WM2XCC DM13ji W4WLO/S32 EM50vo 40.663489 2 -11 0 2743
2022-04-14 21:24 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663495 2 -24 0 3640
2022-04-14 21:24 WM2XCC DM13ji W4WLO/S11 EM50vo 40.663449 2 -8 0 2743
2022-04-14 21:16 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -23 1 3640
2022-04-14 21:16 WM2XCC DM13ji W4WLO/S11 EM50vo 40.663449 2 -3 0 2743
2022-04-14 21:08 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -11 0 3640
2022-04-14 20:58 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663492 2 -8 0 3640
2022-04-14 20:48 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663492 2 -9 0 3640
2022-04-14 20:38 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663491 2 -9 0 3640
2022-04-14 20:28 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663492 2 -12 0 3640
2022-04-14 20:20 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663493 2 -7 0 3640
2022-04-14 20:12 WM2XCC DM13ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663494 2 -1 0 3640

2022-04-14 21:16 WM2XCW CN88lx WLO/O5 EM50vo 40.663601 10 -20 0 3561
2022-04-14 21:16 WM2XCW CN88lx W4WLO/S32 EM50vo 40.663538 10 -27 0 3561
2022-04-14 21:06 WM2XCW CN88lx W4WLO/S32 EM50vo 40.66354 10 -17 0 3561

Some observations...

1) WM2XAN to WLO/05 (W4WLO) at 1553kms is normal enough. Some weak Sporadic-E could account for this reception report.

2) WM2XCC in California to W4WLO in Alabama and N2OTO in Florida is 2743kms and 3640kms respectively. These were the most numerous reports and are well beyond the normal 2300km limit or so for single hop Sporadic-E. In that respect, it's a very unusual opening.

3) WM2XCC in Washington state to W4LO in Alabama is 3561kms and is again an unusually long distance path.

Analysis... What caused the opening and what was the propagation mode? 

First of all, let's look at the times. The opening was at roughly 21:00 UTC which was roughly 3pm local time in the centre of the United States.

Theory 1: Double hop / Chordal hop Sporadic-E - It's possible that Sporadic-E with more than 1 hop was involved which extended the range beyond the normal 2300kms or so. Even though the Summer Sporadic-E season has started, it's still only the 14th of April. It's possible it was double hop but I think it's unlikely.

Theory 2: F2 layer propagation - The solar flux on the day was at 103 but note how the opening happened just before a major aurora.

It is often observed that there is an improvement in the upper HF bands like 28 MHz as an aurora is commencing or about to start.

At the moment, East-West paths across the USA have a maximum usable frequency (MUF) in the low VHF spectrum just above 30 MHz. I suspect the onset of the aurora caused to MUF to jump upwards and propagation via the F2 layer at 40 MHz was possible.

While we can never be 100% certain what the reason was, I think the fact the 40 MHz opening happened at the start of an aurora is significant.

In conclusion... Over the next few weeks, the Sporadic-E season will really begin to get going and I suspect there will be plenty of double hop Sp-E openings in May and June.

As the sunspot numbers improve, F2 layer openings like this will be become a lot more common and I think 40 MHz WSPR reports will be of particular value to those operating on the 50 MHz band waiting for an trans-continental opening in the United States.

WSPR activity on the 40 MHz band in North America - January 2022

In 2021, seven US stations and one Canadian station were given experimental licenses for the 40 MHz band. Several are now active and using the WSPR beacon mode on the band.

This post covers the reception reports for each station in North America for January 2022.

Canadian experimental station CBG209: To allow the callsign to be recognised by WSPR, the callsign was reversed and 902BGC was used.

The openings for the month of January are shown above and I have listed the openings below with the reports under 200kms filtered out. I also removed multiple reports for the same station for the same opening. The power is listed as 10 watts.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz                         W SNR drift km
2022-01-15 17:32 902BGC CN89 WM2XCC DM13ji 40.663524 10 -22 0 1856

2022-01-12 05:14 902BGC CN89 W3PM EM64or 40.663509 10 -27 0 3365
2022-01-12 04:54 902BGC CN89 WB6HYD CM87xi 40.663524 10 -27 0 1351
2022-01-12 04:54 902BGC CN89 W7IV CM95qn 40.663525 10 -23 0 1560
2022-01-12 00:14 902BGC CN89 WM2XCC DM13ji 40.663522 10 -29 1 1856

2022-01-04 15:40 902BGC CN89 WM2XCC DM13ji 40.663522 10 -13 0 1856

2022-01-03 18:00 902BGC CN89 WM2XCC DM13ji 40.663521 10 -26 1 1856
2022-01-03 17:50 902BGC CN89 WB6HYD CM87xi 40.663524 10 -20 0 1351
2022-01-03 17:40 902BGC CN89 WB6HYD CM87xi 40.663524 10 -21 0 1351

2022-01-02 09:18 902BGC CN89 WM2XCC DM13ji 40.663523 10 -17 0 1856

Even though it's mid-Winter, there seemed to have been five distinct openings. Most of the signals can be accounted for by mid-Winter Sporadic-E or possibly Auroral-E propagation but the one that really sticks out is the 3365km opening to W3PM in Alabama. 

The maximum distance for one hop Sporadic-E is about 2200kms. As it occurred near the end of an opening, it was probably due to double hop / chordal hop Sporadic-E.

WM2XCW in Washington State: Just local reports for this station during the month.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2022-02-01 22:16 WM2XCW CN88 VE7NZ CN89 40.663552 10 12 0 111
2022-01-13 17:50 WM2XCW CN88 VE7SKY CN89 40.663467 10 10 0 111
2022-01-13 01:30 WM2XCW CN88 VE7RPX CN89lh 40.663531 10 -19 0 93
2022-01-12 21:00 WM2XCW CN88 VE7DH CN89nf 40.663544 10 -4 0 84
2022-01-12 20:50 WM2XCW CN88 KC7GVU CN88kb 40.663531 10 -29 0 47
2022-01-12 20:44 WM2XCW CN88 CGB209 CN89li 40.663529 10 -16 0 97

WM2XAN in Michigan: This one is listed as 100 watts.

There seem to have been four openings during the month and all the distances are typical of single hop Sporadic-E.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km mode km/W spotQ version
2022-01-17 16:30 WM2XAN EN74oh W4WLO/S11 EM50vo 40.663449 100 -26 -4 1553

2022-01-16 01:54 WM2XAN EN74oh W4WLO/S11 EM50vo 40.663445 100 -24 -4 1553
2022-01-15 23:44 WM2XAN EN74oh AE5LY/2 EL29hb 40.663491 100 -27 -4 1937

2022-01-12 04:02 WM2XAN EN74oh W3PM EM64or 40.663469 20 -10 -4 1079

2022-01-11 16:24 WM2XAN EN74oh WM2XEJ EM83ji 40.663485 100 -7 -3 1226
2022-01-11 06:20 WM2XAN EN74oh WM2XEJ EM83ji 40.663487 100 -22 -4 1226
2022-01-11 02:56 WM2XAN EN74 VE1PYE FN84et 40.66347 100 -18 0 1690
2022-01-10 22:14 WM2XAN EN74 N2OTO EL96wi 40.663894 0.5 -18 -4 2063

WM2XEJ in Georgia: Another listed as 100 watts although it was listed as 10 watts at times.

There seems to have been seven openings during January. Most of them are Sporadic-E but it's interesting to see several in that 300-800km region which is usually inside the Sp-E skip zone.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km mode km/W spotQ version
2022-01-23 21:30 WM2XEJ EM83ji W4WLO/S11 EM50vo 40.663487 100 -19 0 562

2022-01-20 18:34 WM2XEJ EM83ji WM2XAN EN74oh 40.663527 100 -18 0 1226

2022-01-19 15:10 WM2XEJ EM83ji WM2XAN EN74oh 40.663524 100 -28 0 1226

2022-01-16 00:26 WM2XEJ EM83ji WM2XAN EN74oh 40.663525 100 -19 -1 1226
2022-01-15 23:52 WM2XEJ EM83ji AE5LY/2 EL29hb 40.663522 100 -18 0 1251
2022-01-15 22:56 WM2XEJ EM83ji W4WLO/S11 EM50vo 40.663477 100 -17 0 562

2022-01-15 16:32 WM2XEJ EM83ji W3PM EM64or 40.663503 100 -23 0 364

2022-01-12 17:28 WM2XEJ EM83ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663522 100 -22 0 833
2022-01-12 14:52 WM2XEJ EM83ji NI4Y EM73 40.663509 100 -28 0 171

2022-01-11 21:02 WM2XEJ EM83ji VE2UG FN35gs 40.66345 10 -25 0 1611
2022-01-11 18:20 WM2XEJ EM83ji N2OTO EL96wi 40.663456 10 -22 0 833
2022-01-11 16:08 WM2XEJ EM83ji WM2XAN EN74oh 40.663464 10 -22 -2 1226
2022-01-11 15:04 WM2XEJ EM83ji KC5LT EM86 40.663454 100 -21 1 348

2022-01-11 06:22 WM2XEJ EM83ji WM2XAN EN74oh 40.663466 10 -6 -2 1226
2022-01-11 06:04 WM2XEJ EM83 N2OTO EL96wi 40.663453 10 4 0 841

WM2XCC in California: Listed as just 2 watts this time.

It seems there were three distinct openings and all were to the cluster of receivers near Vancouver. Again, all typical Sporadic-E distances.

Local   (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2022-01-11 23:16 WM2XCC DM13ji VE7DH CN89nf 40.663503 2 -25 0 1826
2022-01-11 22:38 WM2XCC DM13ji CGB209 CN89li 40.663489 2 -6 0 1843
2022-01-11 21:46 WM2XCC DM13ji VE7DH CN89nf 40.663503 2 -24 0 1826
2022-01-11 20:16 WM2XCC DM13ji VE7UTS CN89li 40.66349 2 0 0 1843

2022-01-04 15:30 WM2XCC DM13ji VA7MM/A CN89og 40.663537 2 -23 0 1829

2022-01-02 09:38 WM2XCC DM13ji VA7MM/A CN89og 40.663535 2 -22 0 1829

In conclusion: To the best of my knowledge, there is no WSPR activity in Europe at present and the guys in North America are certainly leading the way. 

Despite the fact it was January and mid-Winter, there is plenty of evidence of openings on the 40 MHz band. Once we get to May, these openings in the region of 800-2000 kms should start to become a lot more common. 

Looking through the full reports for January, most of the signals were buried in the noise and it shows the advantage of using a weak signal mode like WSPR as opposed to just plain CW. If all of these experimental stations had just CW beacons then I certainly wouldn't be writing this post as little or nothing would have been reported.

Some thoughts...

1) It would be nice if more people set up receivers for the band and listened for WSPR signals.

2) We'll have to wait and see if the remaining three experimental US calls have any interest in getting up and running on WSPR.

3) It would be great to see some WSPR activity in Europe as well. Anyone interested??

Links...

1) As always, there is plenty of information about the new 8m band on my 40 MHz page.