Faroe Islands 10m beacon heard for the first time in 2020

Friday 1st May 2020. The Sporadic-E season seems to be full swing at the moment with openings every day on 28 MHz.

The map for FT8 looked pretty identical as the 30th of April with most of Europe covered and a small opening to the Caribbean and South America.

A total of 16 beacons were heard and are listed below.

The unusual ones were....

OY6BEC/B in the Faroe Islands. This is the first logging of this beacon this year for me which seems late. Last year in 2019, I heard it on the 10th. 24th & 26th of April.

PI7ETE/B in the Netherlands is always a nice one to hear. First off, it's about 1,000kms away and it's a sign of short skip and a high MUF. Second, it only runs 300 milliwatts to a small vertical in an attic of a house! When I hear that beacon then I know conditions on 28 MHz must be good.

EI7GL 28271.0 OZ7IGY/B 20:25 01 May IO51TUJO55WM Denmark
EI7GL 28298.0 SK7GH/B 20:24 01 May IO51TUJO77BF Sweden
EI7GL 28277.3 DM0AAB/B 20:22 01 May IO51TUJO54GH Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28227.2 IW3FZQ/B 18:20 01 May IO51TUJN55VF Italy
EI7GL 28241.6 F5ZUU/B 15:08 01 May IO51TUJN24IL France
EI7GL 28235.0 OY6BEC/B 15:06 01 May IO51TUIP62MB Faroe Islands
EI7GL 28255.8 C30P/B 10:00 01 May IO51TUJN02SM Andorra
EI7GL 28301.8 PI7ETE/B 09:33 01 May IO51TUJO22QD Netherlands
EI7GL 28194.0 IW4EIR/B 09:30 01 May IO51TUJN54AS Italy
EI7GL 28245.2 DB0TEN/B 09:06 01 May IO51TUJO42UV Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28241.6 F5ZUU/B 08:31 01 May IO51TUJN24IL France
EI7GL 28251.4 ED4YAK/B 08:30 01 May IO51TUIN80FK Spain
EI7GL 28322.6 F1VJT/B 08:27 01 May IO51TUJN33CI France
EI7GL 28279.0 DB0UM/B 08:26 01 May IO51TUJO73CE Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28257.8 DK0TEN/B 08:25 01 May IO51TUJN47NT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28205.0 DL0IGI/B 08:23 01 May IO51TUJN57MT Fed. Rep. of Germany

Spanish IARU 95 Award - April 2020

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) marks its 95th anniversary in 2020 and the national society for Spain (URE) have a special award scheme to celebrate the event.

Contacts can be made using any mode or band from 160 meters to 6 meters with the 10 different AMxWARD special stations. The special station callsigns are: AM95WARD - AM1WARD - AM2WARD - AM3WARD - AM4WARD AM5WARD - AM6WARD - AM7WARD - AM8WARD - AM9WARD

The award scheme runs from the 15th April 2020 at 0000z to 30th April 2020 (2359z). There are diplomas in PDF format awarded as follows (For European stations)...

SILVER DIPLOMA - Work 5 AM*WARD stations

GOLD DIPLOMA - Work 7 AM*WARD stations on at least 3 different bands (i.e. work 7 stations on 3 bands)

PLATINUM DIPLOMA - Work 10 AM*WARD stations on at least 3 different bands (i.e. work all 10 stations on 3 bands. This was later reduced to 9 as it was felt 10 was too hard.)

The award website is... https://iaru95.ure.es/

The Spanish National Society (URE) run award schemes like this every year or so and their award websites are excellent. As award schemes go, they really set the Gold standard.

Update 2nd May 2020... The award activation came to an end on the 30th of April and I managed 75 contacts on CW.

I worked 9 of the 10 stations on the 8 bands from 10m to 80m and I worked all 10 stations on 3 bands for the Platinum award (shown below).

The problem one of course was AM9WARD in Ceuta and Melilla on the north coast of Africa. They were always in demand with big pile ups and with the activity spread out over SSB and FT8 as well, they were always going to be a problem.

I missed the first 3 days of the award activation but I doubt if I would have worked much more from the start.

Awards below...

First contact made on 40 MHz between Ireland and Lithuania - 29th April 2020

On Wednesday the 29th of April 2020, EI4GNB in Ireland managed to complete a digital  FT8 contact with LY2YR on 40.220 MHz on the new 8-metre band. Not only was this an EI-LY first but it was also the very first contact made between any two countries on the band.

EI4GNB was located in IO63WE while LY3YR was in KO24OS. The distance was approximately 2,039 kms and the mode of propagation was Sporadic-E.

Tim - EI4GNB was using a YAESU FT 857D with about 30 watts through a low pass filter for 8-metres. The antenna was a 2-element Quad about 8 metres above ground level.

Gintas - LY2YR was using a YAESU FT2000 and a Hexbeam for 50 MHz.

EI4GNB reports that there was quite an amount of fading on the signals and they were just able to complete the contact on FT8.

Another screen shot below...

The map below shows the contact appearing on the DXMAPS website...

It should be noted that while Lithuania does not have an official allocation at 40 MHz, the licensing authorities in the country kindly gave LY2YR special permission to carry out experiments on 40.220 MHz and 40.680 MHz.

This is a model that could perhaps be copied by other interested radio amateurs in other countries. It may be a lot easier to get special permission to use spot frequencies for a limited period of time rather than a general allocation.

It is hoped that there will be activity from Slovenia very soon and hopefully this will generate more interest in this VHF band.

Links...
1) For more information on the new 8-metre band, see the 40 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Another opening to the North & South America on 28 MHz - Thurs 30th April 2020

Thursday 30th April 2020. This was another day where there was another big opening on 28 MHz to Europe and beyond.

A total of 734 stations in 56 countries were heard on FT8 on the band.

As the map above shows, there was a reasonable opening to South America and the Caribbean. I heard 23 stations from Brazil alone which might the highest number so far this year.

Two stations from the USA were also heard which follows on from the single US reception report the previous day. These multi-hop trans-Atlantic openings will become more common as we move further into May and June.

Beacons..... The number of beacons I log during the day on 28 MHz is usually a sign of how good conditions were...

EI7GL C30P/B 28255.8 IO51TUJN02SM 1952z 30 Apr
EI7GL ED4YAK/B 28251.4 IO51TUIN80FK 1950z 30 Apr
EI7GL LA5TEN/B 28237.4 IO51TUJO59JP 1453z 30 Apr
EI7GL OE3XAC/B 28188 IO51TUJN78SB 1452z 30 Apr
EI7GL SB7W/B 28211.2 IO51TUJO66IA 1421z 30 Apr
EI7GL DB0TEN/B 28245.2 IO51TUJO42UV 1418z 30 Apr
EI7GL DB0UM/B 28279 IO51TUJO73CE 1236z 30 Apr
EI7GL OZ7IGY/B 28271 IO51TUJO55WM 1234z 30 Apr
EI7GL DM0AAB/B 28277.3 IO51TUJO54GH 1210z 30 Apr
EI7GL SK7GH/B 28298 IO51TU<>JO77BF 1209z 30 Apr
EI7GL SK0CT/B 28292.2 IO51TUJO89XK 1208z 30 Apr
EI7GL DK0TEN/B 28257.8 IO51TUJN47NT 1055z 30 Apr
EI7GL DL0IGI/B 28205 IO51TUJN57MT 1053z 30 Apr
EI7GL IW3FZQ/B 28227.2 IO51TUJN55VF 1024z 30 Apr
EI7GL IW4EIR/B 28194 IO51TUJN54AS 1014z 30 Apr

Other than SB7W/B in Sweden, most of the rest are the usual beacons.

These are the stations on FT8 that were over 2,500 kms...

Opening to Denmark on 40 MHz - Thurs 30th April 2020

There was another opening on the 40 MHz band to Denmark on the 30th of April with the OZ7IGY beacon on 40.071 MHz been heard for about 70 minutes. The beacon was also spotted by EI3GYB.

This was the 4th opening so far this month and the Sporadic-E season has just started.

During the months of May to July, there will be many more openings so I'll probably just keep a note of the number of opening I hear per month rather than reporting each one individually.

PI4 Decodes (lowest -22dB)...

Big opening on 28 MHz - Wed 29th Apr 2020

Wednesday 29th April 2020. As the map shows above, there was an extensive Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz with 689 stations from 46 countries being heard on the band.

The unusual one was the short opening to North America. More later.

First off, here is the map for Europe...

Opening to Denmark on 40 MHz - Wed 29th April 2020

Wednesday 29th April 2020. There was another opening on the 40 MHz band to Denmark and this was probably the best opening so far for 2020.

There was Sporadic-E on 28 MHz during the late morning to central Europe. In the early afternoon, the propagation moved north and the OZ7IGY beacon on 28.271 MHz appeared.

Not long after that, the OZ7IGY beacon on 40.071 MHz came up out of the noise. The PI4 decodes are shown below...

Opening to the Caribbean on 28 MHz - Tues 28th April 2020

Tuesday 28th April 2020. The map above shows the FT8 heard on 28 MHz, not bad for the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

The main Sporadic-E opening was to the south to Spain and Portugal with a weaker opening towards Italy and the south-east.

The main point of interest for me was the opening to the Caribbean and the northern part of South America. North-South paths to the likes of South Africa and Brazil are very common but it's the East-West paths that are more unusual.

In total, I heard 191 stations in 27 countries which actually sounds low considering how long the band was open for.

These are the stations over 3,000kms...

Opening on 28 MHz - Mon 27th Apr 2020

Monday 27th April 2020. A pretty modest day on 28 MHz with a hint of more to come.

The main Sporadic-E opening was to the south to Spain and Portugal.

There was a weak Sp-E opening to Germany but I was unable to hear any of the German beacons. This suggests that the band in that direction was just about open on 28 MHz and the Sp-E footprint was probably small and patchy.

In line with the conditions, just two beacons were heard...

EI7GL 28292.2 SK0CT/B 13:18 27 Apr IO51TUJO89XK Sweden 
EI7GL 28251.4 ED4YAK/B 11:30 27 Apr IO51TUIN80FK Spain

The most notable signal of the day for me was actually hearing MW0ZZK in the NW of Wales. I could actually hear his FT8 signal by ear even though he is some 280 kms away. This signal was direct and not via Sporadic-E, backscatter or the like.

That kind of distance might be common enough on say 144 MHz with tropo and beams but it's unusual enough on 28 MHz.

I also noticed that MW0ZZK had heard Indonesia and the Caribbean on 28 MHz during the day so there was some decent DX buried in the noise.

Opening on 28 MHz - Sun 26th April 2020

Sunday 26th April 2020. Another good day for Sporadic-E on the 28 MHz band although not as intense as the previous day. The map shows what I heard on FT8 when I wasn't using the radio elsewhere.

Beacons... I heard 13 beacons on 28 MHz during the day which is a sign of good conditions.

EI7GL 28245.2 DB0TEN/B 15:33 26 Apr IO51TU JO42UV Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28257.8 DK0TEN/B 13:22 26 Apr IO51TU JN47NT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28222.0 F5SN/B 13:13 26 Apr IO51TU JN27RB France
EI7GL 28205.0 DL0IGI/B 13:09 26 Apr IO51TU JN57MT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28173.1 IZ1EPM/B 13:06 26 Apr IO51TU JN35WD Italy
EI7GL 28255.8 C30P 12:33 26 Apr IO51TU JN02SM Andorra
EI7GL 28271.0 OZ7IGY/B 12:29 26 Apr IO51TU JO55WM Denmark
EI7GL 28251.4 ED4YAK/B 12:28 26 Apr IO51TU IN80FK Spain
EI7GL 28241.6 F5ZUU/B 12:27 26 Apr IO51TU JN24IL France
EI7GL 28322.6 F1VJT/B 11:55 26 Apr IO51TU JN33CI France
EI7GL 28298.0 SK7GH/B 11:54 26 Apr IO51TU JO77BF Sweden
EI7GL 28292.2 SK0CT/B 11:34 26 Apr IO51TU JO89XK Sweden
EI7GL 28227.2 IW3FZQ/B 11:34 26 Apr IO51TU JN55VF Italy

The unusual one was F5SN/B in the east of France which runs just 3 watts into a dipole. That was a new beacon for me and it looks from the Dx Cluster as if it may have been off for a few years.

WSPR on 28 MHz - Sat 25th April 2020

Saturday 25th April 2020. There was a pretty good Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz with very strong signals from around Europe.

Rather than just logging hundreds of signals on FT8, I had a listen to the WSPR frequency instead.

I listened at two different stages during the day and the WSPR results were quite different.

When the band was wide open to Spain and Portugal with very strong signals on FT8, I heard just two signals on WSPR i.e. there is a lack of WSPR activity across the south of Europe.

By contrast, when there was a strong opening to the Netherlands and Germany, I heard plenty of signals.

What I find really interesting about WSPR are the stations running less than one watt output power...

Timestamp Call MHz SNR Drift Grid Pwr Reporter RGrid km az # Spots
 2020-04-25 17:38 EA5CYA 28.126058 -19 -1 IM99 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 1488 340 2 
 2020-04-25 17:38 G6NHU 28.126070 -17 0 JO01ou 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 658 274 2 
 2020-04-25 17:36 CT1EBQ 28.126063 -22 0 IM58gr 0.1 EI7GL IO51tu 1462 3 3 
 2020-04-25 17:24 F5REF 28.126018 +6 -1 JN07 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 828 309 3 
 2020-04-25 17:20 DL6DAV 28.126130 -22 0 JO41ic 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 1183 281 3 
 2020-04-25 17:16 ON4LUK 28.126187 -21 0 JO11 0.05 EI7GL IO51tu 782 277 2 
 2020-04-25 17:12 ON7WP 28.126153 -12 0 JO21ic 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 909 280 2 
 2020-04-25 17:10 PA2LVD 28.125995 -18 0 JO21 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 919 278 4 
 2020-04-25 13:06 OZ2JBR 28.126079 -13 0 JO65di 5 EI7GL IO51tu 1412 263 1 
 2020-04-25 13:04 DC8FG 28.126085 -11 -4 JO44xq 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 1255 263 1 
  2020-04-25 12:40 DC7JZB/B 28.126042 -15 -1 JO62qk 0.5 EI7GL IO51tu 1480 276 4 
 2020-04-25 12:40 PD0KT 28.126005 -6 0 JO33le 0.01 EI7GL IO51tu 1046 268 2 
 2020-04-25 12:40 PA0GAB 28.126110 -21 1 JO33ge 0.05 EI7GL IO51tu 1018 268 1 
 2020-04-25 12:32 PA0JED 28.126101 -8 0 JO31aw 0.1 EI7GL IO51tu 988 275 5 
  2020-04-25 12:30 PA9MD 28.126076 -26 3 JO21px 0.1 EI7GL IO51tu 936 275 1 
 2020-04-25 12:30 PA0HEJ 28.126094 -15 0 JO31ix 0.1 EI7GL IO51tu 1033 275 5 

It's amazing to hear signals from stations running 10 milliwatts and 50 milliwatts.

Beacons... The really good conditions also allowed a number of beacons to be logged...

EI7GL 28207.1 ON0RY/B 16:49 25 Apr IO51TUJO20CK Belgium
EI7GL 28255.8 C30P 16:04 25 Apr IO51TUJN02SM Andorra
EI7GL 28205.0 DL0IGI/B 16:01 25 Apr IO51TUJN57MT Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28298.0 SK7GH/B 14:00 25 Apr IO51TUJO77BF Sweden
EI7GL 28271.0 OZ7IGY/B 13:11 25 Apr IO51TUJO55WM Denmark
EI7GL 28279.0 DB0UM/B 12:51 25 Apr IO51TUJO73CE Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28277.3 DM0AAB/B 12:49 25 Apr IO51TUJO54GH Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28245.2 DB0TEN/B 12:48 25 Apr IO51TUJO42UV Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28188.0 OE3XAC/B 11:57 25 Apr IO51TUJN78SB Austria
EI7GL 28251.4 ED4YAK/B 10:59 25 Apr IO51TUIN80FK Spain
EI7GL 28218.0 IQ5MS/B 09:47 25 Apr IO51TUJN54AB Italy 
EI7GL 28173.1 IZ1EPM/B 09:44 25 Apr IO51TUJN35WD Italy
EI7GL 28226.0 ED1YCA/B 09:39 25 Apr IO51TUIN73AL Spain

The unusual ones were ON0RY/B and ED1YCA/B which are about 1,000kms from here and require short skip to be heard on Sporadic-E.

FT8... When I wasn't using the radio, I left it on the FT8 frequency on 28 MHz. As can be seen from the map, the opening around Europe was quite intensive.

Reception of the OZ7IGY beacon on 40 MHz - Sat 25th April 2020

There was a pretty intensive opening on 28 MHz on Saturday 25th of April 2020 with the MUF going up as high as 50 MHz.

After hearing the OZ7IGY beacon on 28.271 MHz, I had a listen for the beacon on 40.071 MHz and it eventually came out of the noise.

These were the decodes with the PI4 programme...

40M 13:30 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-22 dB Q=64 T=-0.06 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:31 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-1 dB Q=100 T=-0.06 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:32 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-12 dB Q=98 T=-0.06 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:34 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-21 dB Q=38 T=-0.08 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:38 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-11 dB Q=100 T=-0.08 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:39 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-15 dB Q=78 T=-0.08 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:40 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=0 dB Q=100 T=-0.06 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 13:41 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=6 dB Q=100 T=-0.06 s F=9 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 14:16 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-16 dB Q=82 T=-0.16 s F=3 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB
40M 14:17 UTC OZ7IGY PI4: S/N=-20 dB Q=62 T=-0.15 s F=9 Hz Carrier: F= Hz C/N= dB

The strongest signal had a signal to noise (S/N) ratio of +6dB, the weakest -22dB.

Updated version of PI4 reception software... After a successful decode of the PI4 signal, there is the option to right click on it and spot it on the DX Cluster.

OZ7IGY Beacon website... These spots also appear on the OZ7IGY website. When I tried this a few days ago with an older version of PI4 (Ver 0.9.7.0), the spots didn't on the site. With the newer version (Ver 0.9.8.0), they do.

This is screen shot of the site showing the 28 MHz and 40 MHz spots from the 25th...

It worth noting that the various DX Clusters seem to handle the PI4 and 40 MHz spots differently.

DXWATCH DX Cluster... On the DXWATCH site, the PI4 spots sent from within the programme don't appear. The site also seems to filter out 40 MHz as it assumes it's a mistake as it isn't one of the usual bands. The spot above for 28 MHz from me was sent via the DXMaps website.

DXSUMMIT DX Cluster... On the DXSummit site, the PI4 spots appear successfully.

These are the spots on the DXSUMMIT site for OZ7IGY on the 25th of April 2020...

The spots from me shown as just 'EI7GL' are from DXMaps where I am a registered user.

The spots with 'EI7GL-@' were sent from within the PI4 programme.

Also note that EI3GYB also heard the beacon an hour later later at a location further north.

More information about the OZ7IGY beacon and the PI4 can be found here... http://www.oz7igy.dk/

Conditions on 28 MHz - 23rd & 24th April 2020

Wednesday 23rd April 2020. There have been many big Sporadic-E openings on the 23rd of April in years past but alas, not this year. A handful of FT8 signals from around Europe were heard, a really quiet day.

Thursday 24th April 2020.  Conditions were marginally better with a hint of some DX.

Besides a small Sporadic-E opening to the south of Spain, there was a short opening to Brazil.

During the day, I also got single decodes on T8 from YC8DE in Indonesia and ZD7JC in St.Helena Island in the South Atlantic.

104430 -18  0.1  870 ~  4Z5VI YC9DE R-16
190930 -20  0.2  803 ~  EA8CPN ZD7JC -21

Quiet day on 28 MHz - Wed 22rd April 2020

Wednesday 22nd April 2020. A quiet day on 28 MHz and yet, a signal from South Africa managed to make it through on FT8.

ZS1XG 10m FT8 9900 km 15:35:44

There was a very weak Sporadic-E opening to the south-east of Spain but the FT8 signals were just about audible.

Good Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz to Northern Europe - Tues 21st Apr 2020

Tuesday 21st April 2020. There was a nice strong opening on 28 MHz to the northern part of Europe with the MUF extending up as far as 50 MHz.

The opening started from here to Norway and Sweden and then moved south into Denmark, the northern part of Germany and the Netherlands.

The map of the left shows some of the FT8 stations heard during the day but it's incomplete as I only spent part of the day on FT8.

These are the beacons heard on 28 MHz...

EI7GL 28254 PI7BXM/B 14:16 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO31WF Netherlands 
EI7GL 28245.2 DB0TEN/B 13:32 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO42UV Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28277.3 DM0AAB/B 13:31 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO54GH Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28279.0 DB0UM/B 13:29 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO73CE Fed. Rep. of Germany
EI7GL 28301.8 PI7ETE/B 13:27 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO22QD Netherlands
EI7GL 28271 OZ7IGY/B 12:01 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO55WM Denmark 
EI7GL 28298 SK7GH/B 11:32 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO77BF Sweden
EI7GL 28292.2 SK0CT/B 11:31 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO89XK Sweden
EI7GL 28237.4 LA5TEN/B 11:30 21 Apr 20 IO51TUJO59JP Norway

As can be seen, only the beacons from the north of Germany were heard. The unusual ones were PI7ETE/B and PI7BXM/B from the Netherlands as it requires the skip distance to be shorter for me to hear them (~1000kms).

PI7ETE/B runs just 300 milliwatts into an indoor antenna. PI7BXM/B was a new one for me as I've never heard it before.

WSPR... I spent a bit of time on WSPR as well while the band was open. It's always interesting to hear those stations using less than 1 watt/

Timestamp Call MHz SNR Drift Grid Pwr Reporter RGrid km az # Spots
 2020-04-21 14:24 ON7KB 28.126014 -20 -1 JO21ei 5 EI7GL IO51tu 881 279 1 
 2020-04-21 13:58 OZ1IDG 28.126027 -14 -2 JO65bg 5 EI7GL IO51tu 1400 263 1 
 2020-04-21 13:48 UR5KSH 28.126057 -22 0 KO30co 0.2 EI7GL IO51tu 2389 287 1 
 2020-04-21 13:46 PA3EGH 28.126045 -13 -2 JO21qx 5 EI7GL IO51tu 942 275 2 
 2020-04-21 13:42 SM7WVZ 28.126047 -26 0 JO65 0.1 EI7GL IO51tu 1456 263 1 
 2020-04-21 13:40 PA0PPW 28.126057 -17 -2 JO21dw 1 EI7GL IO51tu 868 274 3 
 2020-04-21 13:40 DC7JZB/B 28.126021 -15 -3 JO62qk 0.5 EI7GL IO51tu 1480 276 3 
 2020-04-21 13:40 PA0HEJ 28.126074 -19 0 JO31ix 0.1 EI7GL IO51tu 1033 275 1 
 2020-04-21 13:38 OZ7IT 28.126062 -3 0 JO65df 5 EI7GL IO51tu 1410 263 5 
 2020-04-21 13:38 DC7JZB 28.126097 -4 0 JO62qj 5 EI7GL IO51tu 1480 276 3 
 2020-04-21 13:36 SQ9RIL 28.126055 -14 0 JO90lk 5 EI7GL IO51tu 1902 285 4 

Opening to Denmark on 40 MHz - Tues 21st April 2020

There was a good Sporadic-E opening on Tuesday the 21st of April 2020 with three stations reporting reception of the  OZ7IGY beacon in Denmark on 40.071 MHz.

The screenshot above is from the DXMaps website which has a special page for 40 MHz reports.

Considering the low level of activity on the 40 MHz band, this page is normally blank so it was unusual today to see three traces on it!

These are some of the 40 MHz spots from the DX-Cluster...

EI7GL-@ 40071.0 OZ7IGY 13:12 21 Apr PI4 -6 dB Q=98 (es) Denmark
G7CNF 40071.0 OZ7IGY/B 12:39 21 Apr 559 Denmark
EI7GL-@ 40070.0 OZ7IGY 12:20 21 Apr PI4 -4 dB Q=100 (es) Denmark
EI7GL 40070.0 OZ7IGY/B 12:19 21 Apr IO51TUJO55WM Denmark
EI7GL-@ 40070.0 OZ7IGY 12:15 21 Apr PI4 -3 dB Q=100 Denmark
EI7HBB 40071.0 OZ7IGY 11:43 21 Apr Denmark
EI7HBB 40071.0 OZ7IGY/B 11:36 21 Apr 539 Denmark

Lloyd, EI7HBB was the first to spot the OZ7IGY beacon on 40 MHz at 11:36 UTC.

I came across the 28 MHZ version of the beacon at 12:01 UTC during a scan of the band. As the 10-metre signal was strong, I then had a listen on 40 MHz and sure enough, the 8-metre beacon was audible. I spotted it on the cluster at 12:15 UTC.

The distance from the beacon is about 1350 kms for Lloyd and 1390 kms for me.

At 12:39 UTC, G7CNF spotted the  beacon from the south-west of England.

The PI4 in the cluster spot refers to the PI4 software which decodes the OZ7IGY signal which alternates between giving out its ID in morse and in PI4.

The amazing thing about the PI4 software is that it can hear the signal buried in the noise. At one stage, it decoded a -18dB signal and I could hear nothing.

More information about this beacon and the PI4 software can be found on the OZ7IGY website.

This is a screen shot of the PI4 software...

More 40 MHz & 60 MHz news from the IRTS

The Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) had some news updates (19th April 2020) about the new 40 MHz and 60 MHz bands recently.

EI1KNH is QRV on 60.013 running CW/PI4 for it's first e-season, which might be a good indicator that 4m is opening if anyone spots it ex-EI, and if any EIs spot it, it's a clear sign 4m and maybe 2m are available. It's located at the same site as EI4RF and EI0SIX, running 35w to a folded dipole at 1000ft ASL.

Meanwhile on 8m, the proposed EI1KNH beacon on 40.013 is on hold thanks to the lockdown, but will be deployed rapidly when the movement ban is Lifted. It will run CW/PI4 with 40w to a vertical monopole.

EI0SIX, which is /qrp at the moment, pending a PA and antenna upgrade - also ready to deploy as soon as the lockdown lifts. For anyone that has a MARS-Modded (non-SDR based) radio with 6m, they should be able to run on 40 MHz/8m, in RX mode at least, and the frequency to watch is 40.220 - this is the spot frequency LY2YR (Gintas) is allowed run on this season. He has a MARS modded FT2000 & a hexbeam ready to go.

At EI4GNB a MARS modded FT857d and a 2 element Quad are setup. Last year Gintas worked EI4GNB on 5m for a first, and what may be a 5m distance record, this year it's about 8m, which should be easy enough. Any EIs looking for a new band, or to set a distance record might want to get set for this. One word of caution, especially with 5m (60 MHz) - just because Your radio can be tricked into TX out of band does not follow that it will be clean or any use, this is especially true of the current crop of hybrid & SDR-cored radios.

Comparing an Icom IC7100 and an Icom 7300 for OOB use is night & day - the 7100 has acceptable emissions on 5m and 8m, but the 7300 has been found to be strongly not suitable. A general rule of thumb is, if it's in warranty, or just out of warranty, don't try to use it, get a transverter instead.

A beacon on 40.675 MHz is being run in grid KG46rc. The beacon uses an Icom Ic706 radio, 30 watts to a 5 element YU7EF Yagi on EU. So, with some luck, EI,

ZS [South Africa] and LY [Lithuania] can be worked on 8m this year.

Opening on 28 MHz - Mon 20th Apr 2020

Monday 20th April 2020. There was more weak Sporadic-E around Europe today on 28 MHz with 52 stations heard in 13 countries.

The most interesting signals for me were from the Canary Islands. As the list shows below, I heard eight EA8 stations on FT8.

I also managed to work AM8WARD on CW who had a genuine 599 signal.

That level of signal suggests to me that it was coming back off the F2 layer in the ionosphere and was not multi-hop Sporadic-E.

It just goes to show that the F2 MUF can reach as high as 28 MHz at 52 deg North even at the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

It was also my first contact on 28 MHz since July 2019!

Stations heard on FT8 over 2,500kms...
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
LU9DCE 10m FT8 10778 km 15:07:59
LW2DAF 10m FT8 10776 km 15:08:29
LU1VFU 10m FT8 10705 km 15:12:44
ZS1F 10m FT8 9891 km 14:32:44
ZS1A 10m FT8 9887 km 15:19:59
EA8BEV 10m FT8 2803 km 16:57:59
EA8DSB 10m FT8 2737 km 16:58:29
EA8AUW 10m FT8 2705 km 16:58:44
EB8AC 10m FT8 2704 km 16:59:44
EA8DIG 10m FT8 2693 km 16:45:44
EA8DIB 10m FT8 2685 km 17:07:29
EA8AR 10m FT8 2681 km 17:01:59
EA8CZK 10m FT8 2681 km 17:04:47
YO9HP 10m FT8 2628 km 15:11:44

Short opening to Italy on 28 MHz - Sun 19th Apr 2020

Sunday 19th April 2020. It was another quiet day on the 28 MHz band with just a short Sporadic-E opening to Italy.

One late signal from the Canary Islands was heard around 21:00 UTC.

EA8AJC 10m FT8 2729 km 21:04:45

The map shows the signals heard on FT8.

I'd expect some sort of decent Sporadic-E opening in the next few days on 28 MHz and possibly 50 MHz.

Weak opening on 28 MHz - Sat 18th April 2020

Saturday 18th April 2020. The 28 MHz band was almost identical to yesterday except just weaker.

Again, there was a Sporadic-E opening to Spain and Portugal but the FT8 signals were pretty weak.

Just one station from Brazil made it through.

There was a modest opening to EA8 (Canary Islands) around 21:00 UTC which was about 1h 20m after sunset.

What's unusual about the Canary Islands is that it is about 2,700 kms from here, well in excess of a single hop Sporadic-E. This suggest some sort of multi-hop Sp-E path.

I also noted that one of the EA8 stations was working Australia...

205115 -19  0.0  652 ~  VK4CZ EA8AXT RR73

Stations heard over 2,500 kms...
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
PP5JR 10m FT8 9663 km 15:24:44
EA8AUW 10m FT8 2705 km 20:47:29
EA8EK 10m FT8 2696 km 20:54:29
EA8DIB 10m FT8 2685 km 21:03:44
EA8CYU 10m FT8 2679 km 20:57:14