Notice : IRTS 80m Evening Counties Contest - Tues 13th Nov 2018

The next IRTS contest is the 40m Counties which will be held on Tuesday the 13th of November 2018 at 20:00 UTC (8pm Irish Time).

The contest will last for an hour and SSB and CW can be used. For more info, go to the IRTS website.

Current state of Solar Cycle 24... Oct 2018

The chart below shows how at the end of 2018, we are very much in the Sunspot minimum of the 11 year cycle.

There is some talk about the next solar cycle starting but the chart above suggests that we may have some way to go yet before things pick up. As you can see from the end of the last cycle, the sunspot numbers remain at very low levels for 2-3 years before they increase again.

It may well be another two years before conditions really improve. 2020? 2021?

FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz - 4th & 5th Nov 2018

There were plenty of FT8 signals on 28 MHz over the last two days with a mixture of Sporadic_E from Europe and some longer distance F2 signals as well.

On Sunday the 4th of November, there were some signals from Europe, Africa and South America. There weren't many from South America which suggests to me that the band was just about open.

The signals that caught my eye were the ones from Ukraine and Russia. Double hop Sporadic-E or one hop F2? I suspect F2 but how can you tell?

On Monday the 5th of November, there were some nice signals from the Indian Ocean but a complete absence of South America.

Australia heard on 28 MHz... 3rd Nov 2018

After a quiet week of just European FT8 signals on 10 metres, I had convinced myself that the band was going to be poor until next Spring. Then in pops VK8AW from Australia this morning...

This is what I heard on FT8 from VK8AW...

092100  -5  0.1  507 ~  OZ1LXJ VK8AW PH57
092130  -7  0.0  507 ~  OZ1LXJ VK8AW R+17
092200  -8  0.1  507 ~  OZ1LXJ VK8AW 73
092430  -9  0.0  507 ~  YC2WXV VK8AW +06

What's interesting here is that I heard the signals just after sunset in VK8AW's location which was at 09:17 UTC.

I was hearing weak signals from Denmark at about the same time which suggests that there was perhaps some Sporadic-E at my end of the path.

That's the thing about 28 MHz, it never fails to suprise.

40 MHz featured in the Spectrum Monitor magazine

Some of the material from my blog will be featured in the VHF column of the November 2018 issue of the Spectrum Monitor magazine. Joe N6CL used some of my FT8 reception reports on 2 metres during the recent lift and it helps show what is possible on the VHF bands.

Joe also used some of the information that I have about the 40 MHz band which should let a whole new audience know about the band.

It's probably safe to say that the vast majority of radio amateurs and listeners in North America have no idea that there is a new amateur band at 40 MHz in Ireland. Hopefully, it might encourage a few people to pay more attention to the band.

Link...
1) The Spectrum Monitor

Limerick 2m Repeater off the air

It looks as if the Limerick repeater EI2TAG on 145.725 MHz is currently off the air. The repeater which is situated on the summit of Tountinna ceased transmissions on Monday evening 29th October 2018.

It will remain off air until further notice.

In the meantime, the IRTS news will be read out on Monday evenings on the 70 cms repeater EI7WHR, located on Woodcock Hill IO52PR. The repeater output frequency is 433.125 MHz.

Experiments on 40 MHz begin in the West of Ireland

There was an interesting item in the IRTS news dated 28th Oct 2018 about some activity on the new 40 MHz / 8 metre band in the West of Ireland.

8 Meter Band Operation
Phil EI9KP (ON4TA) is back in Ireland for the next few weeks. Following tests with Dominic EI9JS, he is now fully QRV on the 40 MHz 8 meter band with a converted FT 857 in CW, SSB and FM. He has constructed some dipoles and a delta loop for the band and is keen for some more contacts either two way or cross band. Pictures and more info can be found on the MREN website at ei7mre.org

A number of Irish radio amateurs in the Mayo-Sligo region have been conducting experiments with various radios and antennas for the band and a two way SSB contact between Phil EI9KP and Dominic EI9JS took place on 40.250 MHz on the 19th of October 2018. The distance was roughly 20 kms.

Along with Brendan EI6IZ, they have found that the following radios can be modified to cover 40 MHz...

ICOM  IC-706, IC-7200, IC-7300

Yaesu FT-817, FT-857

Please note that the 40 MHz band is quiet a distance from 29 MHz or 50 MHz so the performance may not be optimal.

More information can be found on the Mayo Radio Experimenters website... http://ei7mre.org/

They also have a number of photos here... https://photos.app.goo.gl/PcyZygBrXSD2o6W8A

Poor conditions on 28 MHz... Thurs 1st Nov 2018

Over the last week to 10 days, there has been a dramatic drop in the conditions on 28 MHz. The FT8 signals that I heard on Thurs 1st Nov 2018 are shown in the map. Most of the European signals are probably weak Sporadic-E.

And today wasn't exceptional, it's been very poor every day for the last week. I thought it might have been due to the CQWW contest last weekend but no, conditions are awful.

Contrast that to say the 15th of October 2018 when South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean was heard.

On more than one occasion, I checked my antenna to make sure it was working ok and it was.

It's almost as if it has gone from Is this really the sunspot minimum? to This really is the sunspot minimum!

The solar flux is currently at 68 which is more or less rock bottom.

Will it pick up again or will it stay flat as we move away from the equinox?

Results of the IRTS 40m Counties Contest for Oct 2018

The results of the IRTS 40m Counties Contest for October 2018 are now available here... www.irts.ie/results

In total 42 station logs with 1,393 QSOs were submitted while 24 EI/GI counties and 16 DXCC entities were logged.

As can be seen from the chart above, there was a slight increase in entries this year due to those using CW.

Another big opening on 144 MHz - Tues 23rd & Wed 24th of Oct 2018

After hearing someone mention that there were French stations on 2 metres, I had a listen to the FT8 frequency of 144.174 MHz for 24 hours from 20:00 UTC 23rd to 20:00 UTC 24th Oct 2018.

This is a chart of the signals heard...

If this was a chart of signals heard with say a medium size Yagi beam then I'd say it looked pretty good. However, these signals were heard with a Slim Jim half-wave vertical in the attic of my house!

The game changer here is the FT8 digital mode. When I was pretty active on 2m SSB before, I never heard a signal from Denmark (OZ) with the 9 element beam that I had. Now with FT8, I've heard Denmark for the first time. Amazing.

OZ1BEF in Denmark was 1240 kms away which is pretty good for tropo.

Another interesting signal was that of F8DBF in Britanny. At a distance of 475 kms, it was just a reminder that the North-West tip of France isn't that far from my location in Cork and is about the same distance as Southampton on the south coast of England.

Great to see so much activity on 144 MHz!

Italy gains access to the 60 metre band

It looks as if Italian radio amateurs have just been allocated a slice of spectrum on the 60 metre band.

They will be allowed to use  5.3515 MHz to 5.3665 MHz on a secondary basis with a maximum
equivalent isotropic power of 15 W (e.i.r.p.).

This follows the pattern set by many other European countries that have obtained similar allocations.

From Google Translate....
The Minister of Economic Development approved, with Decree of October 5, 2018, published in the General Series GU n. 244 of 19.10.2018, Supp. Ord. n. 49, the National Frequency Distribution Plan between 0 and 3,000 GHZ. The aforementioned Decree will enter into force, in the absence of an express indication of a different sign, 15 days after publication. Therefore, the new frequencies assigned to radio amateurs can be used, within the limits established by the Decree de quo, after the term vacatio legis.

The frequency band 5351.5-5366.5 kHz is also attributed to the amateur radio service with the status of secondary service. The stations of the amateur radio service using the 5351,5- frequency band
5366.5 kHz must not exceed the maximum equivalent isotropic power of 15 W (e.i.r.p.)
(WRC-15).

Links...
1) http://www.mise.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/NOTE-pnrf.pdf
2) http://www.ari.it/
3) http://www.iw5edi.com/ham-radio/2907/habemus-lx-metris-italy-gains-60-meters

FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz - Mon 22nd Oct 2018

After the good conditions on the VHF bands over the weekend, I was back on 28 MHz again on Monday the 22nd of October. These are the FT8 signals that were heard...

The solar flux was about 70 which is almost rock bottom.

Some notes...
1) S79LD in the Seychelles in the Indain Ocean was heard.

2) There was a distinct lack of South American stations heard. At the start of October, they were there in numbers every evening. It seems a bit more hit and miss at the moment. Conditions or time of year?

3) Two stations from the USA were heard... W2MGF and N1NK. What is unusual about these is that they are an East-West path which is much more difficult on 28 MHz than North-South.

4) The signals heard on the 19th of October are shown below. There wasn't really too much of interest there to warrant a post about it.

Big opening on 144 MHz... Sat 20th Oct 2018

Back in early September, I tried listening to FT8 signals on 144 MHz on what a pretty flat band and the results were mediocre at best. My conclusion was that I was too far west to hear FT8 signals on 144 MHz with a very basic antenna when the band was flat.

On Saturday the 20th of October, there was a big lift on 2 metres with French repeaters coming in on 145.350 MHz and 145.775 MHz. I had a listen on the FT8 frequency for about 18 hours and this is what I heard from about 18:00 UTC on Saturday to about noon on Sunday...

It was pretty amazing what could be heard using just a simple Slim Jim vertical half-wave in the attic of my house. If I heard that many signals with a basic indoor vertical, just imagine the number of stations I might have heard if I had been using a small horizontal beam outdoors.

The three furthest signals heard were...
DK5DV 1139kms, DK5WO 1008 kms & F5EZJ 984 kms.

The mode of propagation was probably tropospheric ducting which allowed the VHF signals travel well over the horizon. Unlike the openings to Canary Island and Cape Verde, this was probably an elevated duct by a layer much higher in the atmosphere.

I have worked plenty of stations in Europe like this before on 2m SSB but it's always interesting to hear. It seems as if FT8 might be giving 2 metres a new lease of life?

The K3LR Super Station

There was a presentation given recently at the RSGB convention about the K3LR super station. It gives some idea of the what is required to be a top contest station...

FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz... Thurs 18th Oct 2018

The main difference today was the lack of Sporadic-E signals from Europe in contrast to most of the last week...

This would suggest that the signals from the Canary Islands and South America were all via F2 propagation. Nothing spectacular but the band was open all the same. The solar flux is 70.

Video about the International Amateur Radio Union

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is an organization that represents the amateur radio community. It consists of over 160 national amateur radio societies around the world. This video which is from the recent RSGB convention gives an idea of the work the IARU does and the challenges facing amateur radio in the future.



Roughly £1.30 / €1.50 of the membership fee of each national society goes towards the work of the IARU. Obviously the more members a national society has then the better.

FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz... Wed 17th Oct 2018

Conditions were down a bit today but still plenty of FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz...

Some of the most interesting signals were from stations that were closest...

a) I seem to hear G0OYQ on the east coast of England every day (580 kms). Perhaps he is using a lot of power but he is one of the most consistent signals. Meteor scatter or aircraft scatter? It seems hard to believe there is short Sporadic-E every day.

b) I heard Don GW0PLP on the west coast of Wales for the first time on FT8 on 28 MHz. At a distance of 260kms, it was probably via tropo as I have worked Don in the past on SSB.

On this occasion, Don's signal was -14dB on FT8 and I could actually hear it. It was interesting to see what a steady -14dB signal on a quiet band sounded like. Iif it had been on SSB, it was almost certainly too weak to work. It would probably be a very difficult cw contact. On FT8, -14dB was no problem and I was hearing other signals down at -18dB and -20dB.

Irish Radio Telescope images Milky Way Galaxy at 44.92 MHz

A new radio telescope in Ireland was established at Birr Castle in Co.Offaly in 2016. One of the antenna arrays works at low VHF frequencies and they produced this image of the Milky Way galaxy as seen at 44.92 MHz.

The above image was taken in July 2017.

And finally for now, a movie of the Milky Way observed by the low band antennas above Birr. pic.twitter.com/GCn1fBTcGI

— I_LOFAR (@I_LOFAR) July 28, 2017

It's a reminder that this part of the spectrum around 40 MHz is used by the radio telescope and obviously any signals in the spectrum from 30 to 80 MHz in this general area may be of concern.

Any radio amateur living in the area shown in red below should be aware of the radio telescope in Birr and be careful of any transmissions.

FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz... Tues 16th Oct 2018

Lots of FT8 signals heard again on 28 MHz but down a bit on previous days...

A lot of the usual signals although 9Z4Y in Trinidad was a new one heard. D41CV in the Cape Verde Islands also made an appearance. Solar flux in the low 70's.

FT8 signals heard on 28 MHz... Mon 15th Oct 2018

No shortage of signals on 28 MHz today even though the solar flux is down at 72.

Again, lots of Sporadic-E signals from Europe with plenty of distant DX via F2 as well.

Some of the more usual signals were....
a) 3B8CW in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
b) TR8CA in Gabon who is always a regular on 10 metres.
c) ZD7GWM in St.Helena.
d) VP8NO in the Falkland Islands.
e) Two Argentinian stations in Tierra del Fuego.
f) W2OR in Florida. This was possibly the most unusual. North-South signals are to be expected so hearing South America and Africa on 28 MHz is good but normal. It's the East-West signals that are harder and usually require better conditions. Looking at PSK reporter, I was the only person in Europe to hear him on FT8 on 28 MHz today. That's is almost certainly due to my westerly location.