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.

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.

New 40 MHz beacon in Washington State - Feb 2022

Halden Field, NR7V is one of the few US radio amateurs who managed to get a special experimental permit to operate on the 40 MHz band and was allocated the callsign WM2XCW back in the second half of 2021.

He has now announced that he has an experimental CW beacon is on the air on the 40 MHz band.

He writes..."The purposes of this beacon are:
1.  To enable detection of propagation openings on this band that would not be detected by reception of WSPR transmissions.
2.  To enable analytical measurements of such detected propagation, including
 a.  signal strength and its variations
 b.  wavelength shift and broadening during propagation"

This beacon transmits on 40.6630 MHz which is about 400 Hz below the 200Hz of spectrum used at present for WSPR transmissions.

This will allow people to listen both for the new beacon and to WSPR transmissions at the same time. The same method is used for QRSS transmissions on the HF bands and is very effective.

The beacon will transmit once every 10 minutes, following its WSPR transmissions.  It sends identifying information in 18 wpm Morse code and then a carrier for 30 seconds.  The beacon location is at Point Roberts in the far north-west of Washington State and the locator square is CN88. 

The beacon uses a QRP-Labs U3S with a 10W Linear PA and the antenna is a dipole about 9m above ground level. It is orientated to favour transmission to the NW and SE.

The map above shows the location of the beacon in the NW of the United States. The lobes of the antenna are also shown going NW & SE.

Most of the reception reports are likely to come from the western half of the USA and in the region of 1000-2100 kms and the propagation mode will be Sporadic-E. At the peak of the Sp-E season in late May and all of June, there will be double hop Sp-E openings to the eastern part of the USA in the range of 2600-3500kms.

It will be very difficult to hear the beacon in Europe as it's a northerly path and it's in the null of the dipole.

There is the possibility of some very interesting openings to Japan with multi-hop Sp-E or via Sp-E & TEP to South America. The biggest challenge here is getting someone interested enough to try and listen.

As we head towards the peak of the solar cycle, some F2 openings are likely on the 40 MHz band and it will be interesting to see if the beacon is heard on the east coast of the United States.

Any reception reports should be sent to NR7V or on the DX-Maps website.

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

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.