WM2XCS/B 40 MHz beacon heard 4000kms away on the west coast of the USA - 7th to 11 Feb 2023

George, N2CG in New Jersey has one of the seven special experimental permits for the 40 MHz band -  call WM2XCS. He has a 30-watt beacon on 40.685 MHz which beams towards Europe. The following report is about recent reception of his beacon on the 8m band.

George writes... "This week I received two WM2XCS/B 40.685 MHz CW Beacon reception reports from over 2k miles away from CA and WA as follows:

Report 1 from K6YK: I've been checking 8 meters now & then to see if I hear anything.  Yesterday and the day before I heard you! Feb. 7 and 8  your beacon was in for hours! And fairly strong at times on 40.685.
2-7-23 from 1915 to at least 2200 UTC, I checked several times and there it was! 
2-8-23 I checked around 1700 UTC and it was there already, and I didn't document how long it was in.
I was listening on an IC7600, IC756proII, FT-100D, 3 element tri-band beam.  I don't have any proper antenna for 8 meters.
I'm unable to make the auto tuners in these radios to tune on 40 MHz because they won't transmit there. So it's possible the signal might have been much stronger than what I was getting.
John Lee K6YK

Report 2 from N7MWV: I was listening to the 8m band today (I decoded WM2XEJ in EM83 on FT8 at 18:24 UTC)
and found your beacon later today; Friday 2/10. I’m no longer hearing the beacon, but it was up to
a S3 to S4 at 20:49 UTC. My QTH is Rochester WA and I’m in grid square CN86lt. QRZ says we’re
2,432 miles away. My antenna is a 7 element 6m M2 at about 61ft AGL. My receiver is my ICOM 756 Pro III transceiver with the 1st RX preamp on.
John Price N7MWV"

George continues..."Like the two reception reports I received about two weeks ago from AZ and AB that I reported to you, this weeks CA and WA stations reception reports both over 2K miles away were receiving the 30 Watt beacon on the backside of the beacon's antenna (which I keep beaming towards Europe).  I believe the current SFI of over 200 and SSN at 190 is having a positive effect in the beacon being heard in the western part of US and Canada."

Addendum: In addition to the two reports above, I also found an additional report from K7RWT on the DX Cluster from the 11th of February 2023. 

K7RWT 40684 WM2XCS/B 17:53 11 Feb 23 FN30-CN85 539 United States

K7RWT is just to the south of N7MWV and the distance is again around the 4000km mark.

In conclusion: With the solar flux now up around the 200 mark, we are now seeing east-west trans-continental openings at 40 MHz across North America. The distance of about 4000kms is perfect for one F2 layer hop. 

The fact that the 8m opening is east-west as opposed to north-south just goes to show how good conditions are at the moment. Any serious 6m operators on the west coast of the USA should be looking for this 8m beacon in New Jersey as it may suggest that a trans-continental opening at 50 MHz is possible.

Link: For more information on the 8m band, look at my 40 MHz page.

Guest Post: WM2XCS/B 40 MHz beacon heard over 3000kms away in Arizona and Alberta ...by George, N2CG

Thanks to George, N2CG / WM2XCS for the following report on recent reception of his beacon on the 40 MHz band.

WM2XCS/B 40.685 MHz CW Beacon Heard over 2000 miles away in Arizona and Alberta!

I'm happy to report the following 40 MHz band reports concerning WM2XCS/B 40.685 MHz CW Beacon.

I recently received two reception reports (one from SE Arizona near the Mexico border and on from VE6 land near Edmonton, Alberta for my WM2XCS/B 40.685 MHz 8m experimental band CW beacon as follows:

"Here’s a report on your 40MHz beacon.  WM2XCS/B  1/21/2023  1745 UTC 40685.0 KHz  CW  RST 579  I’m using an IC7610 and 7 element LPDA (18-32 MHz) at 55’.  Nothing like a solar flux over 200 to get the MUF high!  73,  Chuck - AA6G  Hereford, AZ"

"Copied your beacon on 40.685 for quite a while around 2045z Jan 23rd, 2023.  Nice signal here in DO33gs on my 7 el 6 meter yagi.  All the best.  Grant VE6TA" 

Keep in mind that the beacon's output power is 30 Watts into a 4 element 7 dBd gain yagi at 30 feet above ground beaming ~45° from my QTH towards Europe.  So both of these stations were receiving the beacon somewhat on the backside of the beacon's antenna.  I guess the recent SFI around 200 played a helping hand with WM2XCS/B being heard over 2000 miles (3200kms) away off the back of the antenna!

73, George  WM2XCS  N2CG

New 40 MHz beacon WM2XCS now operational from New Jersey

George, N2CG has one of the seven experimental 40 MHz permits in the USA and was given the callsign WM2XCS. He has just announced that he now has an operational 40 MHz beacon from his location in New Jersey.

George writes..." I am happy to announce that on January 26, 2022 at 1900 UTC WM2XCS beacon began operating on 40.685 MHz CW mode at 10 Watts output into a SIRIO 8m 5/8 wave vertical
antenna.  

The WM2XCS CW beacon on 40.685 MHz sends the following message at 12 WPM: "VVV DE WM2XCS BCN WM2XCS BCN FN20WV NNJ 5 seconds dash AR" that takes about 50 seconds to send.  This message is followed by a 60 seconds delay and then the sequence repeats.  My transmitter frequency tolerance is +/- 0.5 ppm.

For now, I operate the beacon about 10-11 hours a day beginning around 8 AM EST (1300 UTC) to 7 PM EST (0000 UTC).  Signal reports and/or spotting reception reports of my 8m beacon will be most welcomed.

I encourage all when hearing my beacon to spot your report on the DXMAPS website ( www.dxmaps.com ) that indicates 40 MHz band reports.

73, George  WM2XCS/N2CG"

Analysis... This beacon should be widely heard once the Sporadic-E season begins in the second half of April. The map above shows the typical range for Sporadic-E signals on the 40 MHz band while most of the openings should be around the 1200-1800km mark.

This in effect means that stations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee, Georgia and the north of Florida are the most likely to hear it during the Summer months.

There will be openings in the range of 2000-2300kms but these will be weaker.

During the months of May, June & July, there should be more multi-hop Sporadic-E openings. This should allow openings from New Jersey to California and from New Jersey to Europe.

The fact the beacon is CW only and doesn't have a digital component like FT8, PI4 or WSPR means the conditions will really need to be good.

What will be really interesting to see if the rising solar flux levels result in an opening via the F2 layer? Will the MUF reach the 40 MHz band?

Certainly, F2 layer propagation from New Jersey to California and Europe on 40 MHz at the peak of the upcoming sunspot cycle will be possible.

It would also be very interesting to see if anyone in South America is able to hear this beacon.

Listening for the WM2XCS beacon... For the 40 MHz band to open, the 28 MHz band below it will almost certainly be open as well.

I have compiled a short list of 28 MHz beacons which are in the general area of WM2XCS...

K3CX/B 28.2025 FN20CI 
WN2A/AK2F 28.2085 FN20OU 
K3FX/B 28.2160 FN20XE
N3TVV/B 28.2320 FN20DU
N2MH/B 28.2325 FN20UT
WA3MCK/B 28.2400 FN21BF
KG2GL/B 28.2460 FN20WT
KA3JOE/B 28.2495 FN20MD
KB2RSK/B 28.2685 FN22QW
WA3NFV/B 28.2700 FN20IH

If you can hear any of those beacons on 28 MHz then that would be a good time to look for the WM2XCS beacon on 40.685 MHz.

Link...
1) For more information on the 8m band, check out my 40 MHz page.