Opening to Sierra Leone & St Helena on 28 MHz - Fri 17th April 2020

Friday 17th April 2020. Another pretty quiet day on 28 MHz and typical for April.

There was a modest Sporadic-E opening to Portugal and the west of Spain when the FT8 signals were actually well above the noise level. The footprint however seemed pretty narrow and I was unable to hear any beacons or cw/ssb signals on the band.

It opened to Brazil again with ZD7JC from St Helena and 9L1YXJ from Sierra Leone making an appearance as well.

These are the FT8 signals over 2,000kms in order of distance....

Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
PP5JR 10m FT8 9663 km 18:37:29
PY2OAL 10m FT8 9249 km 17:06:44
PY2RPM 10m FT8 9229 km 15:02:29
PU2LAV 10m FT8 9175 km 17:21:59
PU2XMY 10m FT8 9156 km 18:46:44
PY2EBD 10m FT8 9084 km 15:56:29
ZD7JC 10m FT8 7542 km 18:48:14
PY7VI 10m FT8 7121 km 20:26:45
9L1YXJ 10m FT8 4847 km 16:53:59
EA8AUW 10m FT8 2705 km 18:02:14

Opening to South America on 28 MHz - Thurs 16th Apr 2020

Thursday 16th April 2020. Conditions were slightly better than yesterday on 28 MHz with an opening to Brazil, Paraguay, Falkland Islands and St. Helena in the South Atlantic.

There was also a minor Sporadic-E opening to Spain and Portugal.

These were the stations over 2000 kms that were heard via FT8 on 28 MHz...

EA8CZK 10m FT8 2681 km 20:34:14
EA8DIB 10m FT8 2685 km 20:42:44
EA8DX 10m FT8 2685 km 20:32:29
EA8OM 10m FT8 2695 km 20:34:44
EB8AC 10m FT8 2704 km 15:59:44
EA8DGZ 10m FT8 2705 km 21:09:44
EA8UE 10m FT8 2726 km 20:35:59
EA8AJC 10m FT8 2729 km 15:52:44
EA8EE 10m FT8 2733 km 20:52:59
ZD7JC 10m FT8 7542 km 18:52:44
PU1JSV 10m FT8 8972 km 14:55:59
PY1VOY 10m FT8 8978 km 15:21:14
PY2EBD 10m FT8 9084 km 14:39:14
PU2XMY 10m FT8 9156 km 15:43:14
PU2LAV 10m FT8 9175 km 14:55:14
PY2RPM 10m FT8 9229 km 14:43:59
PY5WW 10m FT8 9477 km 15:51:44
PP5JR 10m FT8 9663 km 15:20:44
ZP5DVD 10m FT8 9819 km 14:45:44
VP8LP 10m FT8 12411 km 14:54:14

Hint of an opening to Africa on an otherwise quiet day on 28 MHz - Wed 15th April 2020

Wednesday 15th April 2020. This was one of those days where it seemed to be extremely quiet on 28 MHz. As usual, I had left the radio on the FT8 frequency of 28.074 MHz all day monitoring.

When I checked at the end of the day, I had heard a few European stations possibly via meteor scatter or possibly via aircraft reflections for the closer ones.

However when I checked the WSJT-X programme, I had two decodes as well from Africa, 9J2BS in Zambia and ZS1DX in Cape Twon, South Africa.

152600 -20 -2.3 1920 ~  KC3LEE 9J2BS -07
154230 -17 -0.4 2436 ~  IT9IHB ZS1DX RR73

I had decoded just one 15-second transmission from each station and as can be seen from the signal levels... -20dB and -17dB, the signals were buried well into the noise and well below a level I could hear by ear.

Propagation... When I checked who else had heard ZS1DX, I got the map shown top right above. Notice the footprint in the UK. It is a long narrow corridor and it seems to have been around the same time as when I heard ZS1DX, i.e. 15:30 UTC.

As for what happened? I suspect there was either a F2 or TEP opening to from Cape Town to the southern part of Europe. There was probably a weak Sporadic-E cloud somewhere over the western part of France where the MUF got up as high as 28 MHz for a while to allow the ZS1DX signal to extend from southern Europe up into the UK.

As with a lot of Sporadic-E openings, the Sporadic-E cloud was small so the footprint in the UK was small.... or at least narrow and elongated as I'd expect.

As to how I heard ZS1DX, it was possible just one lucky meteor burst over the Bay of Biscay to the south. This allowed me to hear for 15 seconds what the stations in Spain were hearing to the south. It's also possible that there was some weak Sporadic-E that got intense enough for a very short period to allow propagation of 28 MHz signals.

As for 9J2BS, there was no similar opening to the UK or northern Europe for him according to the PSK Reporter website.

Reception reports for the Danish 40 MHz beacon OZ7IGY - 2017, 2018 & 2019

The Danish OZ7IGY beacon on 40.071 MHz is at the time of writing (April 2020) the only operational beacon on the amateur 8-metre band.

While there have been some gaps in its operation over the last three years, this blog post is a record of who posted reception reports on the DX Cluster.

2017... The OZ7IGY beacon on 40 MHz was only spotted by these stations in Denmark... OZ2M, OZ5XN, OZ8ZS, OZ2PBS, OZ1QX, OZ1BNN & OZ1DJJ

2018... In 2018, some stations outside of Denmark posted reception reports on the DX Cluster...

Call < > Locator
EI3GYB < > IO53OT
EI7GL < > IO51TU
F5DQK < > JN18GR
F6HTJ < > JN12KQ
OZ1BNN < > JO55PM
OZ5XN < > JO65GQ

2019... In 2019, there was an increase in the number of reception reports...

Call < > Locator

EI3GYB < > IO53OT

EI7GL < > IO51TU
EI7HBB < > IO53SQ
EI8DJ < > IO51UT
EI9KP < > IO54MB
F6ACU < > JN38FC
IK7LMX < > JN80XP
LY2YR < > KO24OS
OE3EMC < > JN78JO
OH5IY < > KP31JK
OZ1BNN < > JO55PM
OZ1DJJ < > JO55HP
OZ1MFP < > JO55SK
OZ1QX < > JO65FQ
OZ5XN < > JO65GQ
OZ7AMG < > JO55KR

As the map shows, there was a marked increase in the number of reports from Ireland which is obviously due to the fact that there is now an allocation there for the new 40 MHz band.

Propagation... All of the reception reports outside of Denmark for 2018 and 2019 are in the range of 800 kms to 1800 kms. This is pretty typical of a Sporadic-E opening on the band.

It should be possible for anyone in Europe in that range to hear this beacon during Sporadic-E openings in May, June and July.

Dx Cluster... If you do hear the beacon then make sure to report it on dx-clusters like DXSummit or DXMaps as some of the other clusters ignore spots for 40 MHz as they assume they're a mistake.

More information about the OZ7IGY beacon can be found here... http://www.oz7igy.dk/

For more information on the 40 MHz band, go to this page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Irish 60 MHz beacon EI1KNH/B heard in West Wales - March 2020

Back in early 2018, the 60 MHz (5-metre) band was allocated to radio amateurs in Ireland (EI) on a secondary non-interference basis. A new 5-metre beacon with the call EI1KNH became operational on the 16th of December 2019. See previous post.

It is on 60.013 MHz and runs 25 watts into a vertical folded dipole. This is currently the only 5-metre beacon operational in the world.

The new 5-metre beacon is co-sited with some of the existing Irish beacons - EI0SIX on 50 MHz, EI4RF on 70 MHz. The elevated site has a locator of IO63VE and is located about 20 kms to the south of Dublin.

On Sunday the 29th of March 2020, Steve GW0GEI in West Wales reported reception of the EI1KNH beacon on the DX Cluster, a distance of about 175 kms.

While there isn't anything particularly remarkable about this reception, it does seem to be longest reception report to date on the cluster.

It's also an excuse for me to remind people about this beacon on 60 MHz as we head into the Sporadic-E season. A lot of people will have SDR receivers that cover that portion of the spectrum and might well be able to hear it.

More info about the EI1KNH beacon in this previous post.

If you do hear the beacon then make sure to report it on dx-clusters like DXSummit or DXMaps as some of the other clusters ignore spots for 60 MHz as they assume they're a mistake.

Opening to Indonesia & Falkland Islands on 28 MHz - Tues 14th April 2020

Tuesday 14th April 2020. Despite what the map above would suggest, it was only a modest day on 28 MHz with most of the signals heard being pretty weak. Despite this, YB0BOB from Indonesia and
VP8LP from the Falkland Islands did make it through.

A total of 236 stations from 31 countries were heard on FT8 and the majority were of course from Europe...

The one notable feature on the map is the cluster of stations in Russia and Ukraine. This indicates the likely presence of double hop Sporadic-E which is the first major multi-hop opening of the new season.

Beacons... Despite all of the FT8 stations, just four beacons were heard which ties in with the modest conditions...

EI7GL 28205.0 DL0IGI/B 17:47 14 Apr IO51TUJN57MT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28251.4 ED4YAK/B 15:33 14 Apr IO51TUIN80FK Spain
EI7GL 28245.2 DB0TEN/B 13:05 14 Apr IO51TUJO42UV Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28279.0 DB0UM/B 13:02 14 Apr IO51TUJO73CE Fed. Rep. of Germany

As we heard into the second half of April, we should start seeing more openings on 28 MHz and above.

FT8 stations heard that were over 2,000kms...

Opening to Thailand on 28 MHz - Mon 13th Apr 2020

Monday 13th April 2020. The big suprise on 28 MHz was the reception of HS5YLK in Thailand in SE Asia at the distance of 9,460 kms. This coincided with a reasonable Sporadic-E opening in Europe which was further to the north than usual.

This is a map showing the stations in Europe that heard HS5YLK...

Its interesting to see a small footprint across the south of the UK and Ireland and yet, there were no reports from the Netherlands and just one in Germany. There are large numbers of active stations there on FT8 but it looks as if they were in the skip zone for this particular hop.

In Europe, there were reasonable signals to the north of Italy, the north of Germany, Denmark and the south of Sweden.

Beacons... There were the beacons heard...
EI7GL 28298.0 SK7GH/B 14:57 13 Apr IO51TUJO77BF Sweden
EI7GL 28292.2 SK0CT/B 14:56 13 Apr IO51TUJO89XK Sweden
EI7GL 28271.0 OZ7IGY/B 14:53 13 Apr IO51TUJO55WM Denmark
EI7GL 28245.2 DB0TEN/B 13:40 13 Apr IO51TUJO42UV Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28278.1 DB0UM/B 13:37 13 Apr IO51TUJO73CE Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28276.7 DM0AAB/B 13:36 13 Apr IO51TUJO54GH Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28173.1 IZ1EPM/B 12:52 13 Apr IO51TUJN35WD Italy
EI7GL 28188.0 OE3XAC/B 12:49 13 Apr IO51TUJN78SB Austria
EI7GL 28321.7 I3GNQ/B 12:11 13 Apr IO51TUJN55VJ Italy
EI7GL 28227.2 IW3FZQ/B 12:04 13 Apr IO51TU<>JN55VF Italy

This was the first time I heard the Danish and Swedish beacons this year. There was no sign of the beacons from the south of Germany this time.

These are the FT8 station heard in excess of 2000kms...

Big opening on 28 MHz - Sunday 12th April 2020

Sunday 12th April 2020. This was the first proper opening of the Summer Sporadic-E season with an extensive opening to Europe and beyond on 28 MHz. A total of 524 stations were heard on FT8 in 35 countries.

As can be seen from the map above, the strong Sporadic-E conditions in Europe coupled into F2 and possibly TEP propagation further south. It just goes to show the potential of the band when there is some Sporadic-E about.

There are some interesting points to note from the map.
a) I heard 3 stations from Lebanon and none from Israel which suggests a small footprint.
b) Nothing from Norway, Sweden, Finland or the Baltic states as the opening was primarily to the south of Europe.

This is the European map in more detail...

The main Sporadic-E opening from Ireland was to the north of Italy as can be seen from the concentration of FT8 stations heard.

As can be seen, there was a lack of propagation to the northern half of Europe.

Beacons... As the FT8 signals got strong, I started listening around for some beacons...

EI7GL 28251.4 ED4YAK/B 17:23 12 Apr IO51TUIN80FK Spain
EI7GL 28241.6 F5ZUU/B 15:56 12 Apr IO51TUJN24IL France
EI7GL 28322.6 F1VJT/B 15:51 12 Apr IO51TUJN33CI France
EI7GL 28321.7 I3GNQ/B 14:52 12 Apr IO51TUJN55VJ Italy
EI7GL 28188.0 OE3XAC/B 14:06 12 Apr IO51TUJN78SB Austria
EI7GL 28257.8 DK0TEN/B 13:31 12 Apr IO51TUJN47NT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28227.2 IW3FZQ/B 13:30 12 Apr IO51TUJN55VF Italy
EI7GL 28205.0 DL0IGI/B 13:27 12 Apr IO51TUJN57MT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28194.0 IW4EIR/B 13:26 12 Apr IO51TUJN54AS Italy
EI7GL 28173.1 IZ1EPM/B 13:24 12 Apr IO51TUJN35WD Italy
EI7GL 28218.0 IQ5MS/B 12:45 12 Apr IO51TUJN54AB Italy
EI7GL 28321.4 IZ1KXQ/B 12:37 12 Apr IO51TUJN54AC Italy

I heard 6 beacons from the north of Italy including I3GNQ/B on 28.3217 MHz which also gives out a slow morse QRSS signal. It only uses 0.2 watts into a vertical which is a sure sign of just how good the conditions were.

As we move into the second half of April, the Sporadic-E openings on 28 MHz and above should become more frequent and intensive.

Stations heard in order of distance....

Historic first Trans-Atlantic contact made on 432 MHz - Tues 7th April 2020

On Tuesday the 7th of April 2020, a remarkable contact was made with the FT8 digital mode on 432 MHz between D4VHF on the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa and FG8OJ in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.

This was the first 70cms trans-Atlantic contact without using satellites or the moon. The most likely mode of propagation was marine ducting with the signal being trapped close to the ocean.

* * * * *

Update: Saturday 11th April 2020 - D4VHF in Cape Verde and WP3ND in Puerto Rico complete a contact with FT8 on 432 MHz. This extends the trans-Atlantic distance to approx 4,367 kms. Full info further down this post.

* * * * *

(Make sure to scroll down for updates)

SEARG IRTS news moves to 8pm from the 14th of April 2020

The news from the Irish Radio Transmitters Society is broadcast every Tuesday evening on the Southern Ireland Repeater Network on 2m and 70cms.

As of the 14th of April 2020, they will be moving the time from 9:30pm to the earlier time of 8pm.

Opening to St Helena on 28 MHz - Sat 11th Apr 2020

Saturday 11th April 2020. There was perhaps a sign of things to come with a weak Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz to the Iberian Peninsula.

The morning seemed pretty quiet with just a few signals heard.

In the afternoon, ZD7JC on St Helena Island was heard at about the same time as EA7HPI in the south of Spain.

It's likely that there was a Sporadic-E opening from Ireland to Spain around this time and then the path was either F2 or TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) down to St Helena in the South Atlantic.

I saw a report of a TEP opening on 50 MHz between the USA and Argentina on the 11th so TEP is certainly a possibility.

In the evening time, there was a weak Sporadic-E opening to Spain and Portugal which lasted until 22:00 UTC.

The full list of stations heard on FT8 are shown below.

Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
CT1ADT 10m FT8 1546 km 21:59:14
EA3GXK 10m FT8 1623 km 21:39:00
CT1CLO 10m FT8 1470 km 21:24:59
CT7ADH 10m FT8 1399 km 21:21:59
CT1IUA 10m FT8 1649 km 21:19:59
CT1AGS 10m FT8 1369 km 21:14:44
CT1BWU 10m FT8 1406 km 21:13:59
CT1HMN 10m FT8 1478 km 21:05:44
CT7AQS 10m FT8 1340 km 20:56:45
F5NTD 10m FT8 1160 km 20:49:14
EA8DFQ 10m FT8 2705 km 20:41:29
EA8AJC 10m FT8 2729 km 20:37:59
EA7KHU 10m FT8 1617 km 20:02:59
IZ8WGU 10m FT8 2389 km 19:56:59
EC5W 10m FT8 1626 km 18:54:59
EA5AD 10m FT8 1650 km 18:35:14
EA3GJO 10m FT8 1053 km 18:31:44
EA4AAI 10m FT8 1324 km 18:03:44
EA4AD 10m FT8 1321 km 18:01:14
EA4GWT 10m FT8 1330 km 17:50:29
EA3IGW 10m FT8 1352 km 17:33:44
G4DBW 10m FT8 657 km 17:20:14
EA5HEN 10m FT8 1616 km 17:09:14
EA5KN 10m FT8 1529 km 17:07:14
EA6AAB 10m FT8 1607 km 17:03:29
EA5DIC 10m FT8 1577 km 16:52:14
G0IUE 10m FT8 427 km 16:51:14
ZD7JC 10m FT8 7542 km 15:21:14
EA7HPI 10m FT8 1728 km 15:18:53
M0BJL 10m FT8 484 km 12:52:14
MW0ZZK 10m FT8 283 km 12:03:00
DJ5JD 10m FT8 1069 km 11:14:59
M0ADH 10m FT8 551 km 10:37:50
M0SSK 10m FT8 608 km 09:59:29
M0AHN 10m FT8 452 km 09:26:29
PD3LPA 10m FT8 862 km 09:00:59
F4CIB 10m FT8 1177 km 08:18:16
DO1RJB 10m FT8 1010 km 07:46:59
G7BXU 10m FT8 512 km 07:43:30

Trans-Atlantic Opening on 144 MHz from Cape Verde Islands to the Caribbean - Apr 2020

The trans-Atlantic path from Cape Verde Islands to the Caribbean on the 144 MHz band opened on Sunday the 5th of April 2020 and closed on Sunday the 12th of April 2020.

Ongoing reports below...

Details about the trans-Atlantic 432 MHz contacts are in a separate post.

* * * * *

Sunday 5th April 2020:

Breaking news! The FT8 signal from the D41VHF station in the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa has just been reported in Martinique in the Caribbean on 144 MHz!

Screen showing FM4SA receiving the FT8 signal of D4VHF

The distance is approximately 3,864 kms.

Scroll down for updates...

Minor opening to Spain & Portugal on 28 MHz - Fri 10th April 2020

Friday 10th April 2020. Another pretty quiet day with just a minor Sporadic-E opening to Spain and Portugal.

These are the stations heard on FT8 on 28 MHz...

Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
DO1RJB 10m FT8 1010 km 12:21:44
DL4CQ 10m FT8 1028 km 13:32:38
CT1ADT 10m FT8 1546 km 14:06:16
EA1IEA 10m FT8 1131 km 14:07:59
CS7ARF 10m FT8 1456 km 14:26:44
CT7AQS 10m FT8 1340 km 15:00:14
EA5HEN 10m FT8 1616 km 15:08:14
EA4WD 10m FT8 1447 km 15:57:29
MW0ZZK 10m FT8 283 km 16:03:14
CT1EVE 10m FT8 1640 km 16:29:29
EA7KJF 10m FT8 1704 km 16:29:59
EA7HTE 10m FT8 1699 km 16:33:30

Short opening to Brazil on 28 MHz - Thurs 9th Apr 2020

Thursday 9th April 2020. Another pretty quiet day with just a handful of stations heard on FT8 on 28 MHz.

Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
PY2BL 10m FT8 9120 km 15:52:44
EB4ADC 10m FT8 1330 km 16:04:14
EA4D 10m FT8 1318 km 16:02:14
DL4CQ 10m FT8 1028 km 12:22:59
PD1BHZ 10m FT8 961 km 10:31:01
G7BXU 10m FT8 512 km 13:30:46
G8DX 10m FT8 429 km 15:59:59
GW7KNF 10m FT8 305 km 20:52:29

Just one lone signal from Brazil in South America.

As we head towards the middle of April, I'd expect to see some decent Sporadic-E openings on the band soon.

144 MHz Trans-Atlantic record extended to almost 4,760kms!

The incredible tropo conditions between Cape Verde Islands and the Caribbean continue to amaze with trans-Atlantic contacts on 144 MHz and 432 MHz being made.

On Wednesday the 8th of April 2020, D4VHF in the Cape Verde Islands managed to work PJ2BR on Curacao on 144 MHz using the FT8 digital mode.

The distance was approximately 4,759 kms which is roughly 300 kms further than the previous trans-Atlantic record of 4,460 kms between D41CV and NP4BM on Puerto Rico in June of 2019.

The new 2m trans-Atlantic record distance was just 10 kms or so short of the IARU Region-1 144 MHz tropo record of 4,769 kms.

The map below shows the limit of the current IARU Region-1 record...

Update: Friday 10th April 2020 - It looks like conditions on the trans-Atlantic path improved to the point where a SSB contact was possible. While you watch the video below, remember that the distance is over 4,700kms. The distance across the North Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland is 3,000kms.

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FD4VHF%2Fvideos%2F233328531361878%2F&show_text=1&width=261" width="261" height="716" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

Quiet day on 28 MHz - Wed 8th Apr 2020

Wednesday 8th April 2020. This was a quiet day on 28 MHz with just four stations heard on FT for the whole day.

095215 -14 -0.1  959 ~  CQ PA9CC JO32
102430 -15 -0.2 2009 ~  CQ DJ5JD JO33
121145 -20 -0.3 1165 ~  CQ EA5AD IM87
153530 -12 -0.2  622 ~  CQ PD2WL JO22

The Geomagnetic Kp index was at 2-3 for most of the day which isn't good for Sporadic-E. Some of the signals heard may well have been from meteor scatter as only there was only one decode from each of the stations.

Opening to Algeria and Saudi Arabia on 28 MHz - Tues 7th Apr 2020

Tuesday 7th April 2020. This was one of those days where there was hardly a murmur out of the radio on the FT8 frequency on 28 MHz yet there were still a good number of stations recorded.

Most of the 59 stations heard were probably via Sporadic-E although it's heard to be sure about HZ1SK in Saudi Arabia as that could have been multi-hop Sp-E or F2.

As we move further into April, we should start seeing more Sporadic-E openings.

List of stations heard in order of distance...

Small opening on 28 MHz - Mon 6th Apr 2020

Monday 6th April 2020. Another quiet day on 28 MHz with just a few FT8 signals via Sporadic-E from Europe.

Quiet day on 28 MHz - Sun 5th Apr 2020

Sun 5th Apr 2020. Another reasonably quiet day on 28 MHz with 18 stations heard on FT8.

Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
IS0FWY 10m FT8 1930 km 13:45:14
RA2FL 10m FT8 1920 km 10:22:44
EA7HHJ 10m FT8 1729 km 14:13:14
DG5HR 10m FT8 1301 km 10:14:14
OZ1ADL 10m FT8 1284 km 13:43:29
F5RRS 10m FT8 1251 km 10:09:59
F5CUN 10m FT8 1109 km 14:25:59
DH2DAM 10m FT8 1082 km 13:10:14
DM1FL 10m FT8 1076 km 09:22:14
EA3GJO 10m FT8 1053 km 08:45:29
DL4CQ 10m FT8 1028 km 13:01:29
PD3EDA 10m FT8 1027 km 14:34:59
PD2WL 10m FT8 913 km 13:00:14
PD1EVP 10m FT8 873 km 13:01:44
G0MBL 10m FT8 675 km 10:26:59
G3PXT 10m FT8 664 km 08:44:29
M0ZJQ 10m FT8 624 km 16:31:58
GW1JFV 10m FT8 229 km 14:07:29

When is the next sunspot cycle likely to start???

As we bounce along the bottom of the sunspot cycle in the Spring of 2020, the big question now is when will cycle 24 end and when will cycle 25 begin? We won't know for sure until we have gone past the minimum and we look back but the chart above provides some clues.

The chart compares the duration of solar cycles 21 to 24 and as you can see, 24 has already gone beyond cycles 21 and 22 as of the start of April 2020.

The end of sunspot cycles 21 to 24 are shown in more detail below...

As of the start of April 2020, cycle 24 has gone about 10 months further than cycle 22 and 4 months further than cycle 21. On the other hand, it is still about 7 months shorter than cycle 23.

Back in December of 2019, a NOAA/NASA Solar Cycle prediction panel said that a solar minimum would occur in April of 2020 +/- 6 months.

Considering that the 'April 2020 minus 6 months' has now passed, we are now into the 'April 2020 plus 6 months' timeline. Surely we are very close to the minimum now if not at it?