Opening on 50 MHz from Australia & New Zealand to Europe - Sat 19th June 2021

Saturday 19th June 2021: Yet another day of openings on the 50 MHz band between Australia and Europe and there doesn't seem to be a clear answer as to why this is happening. We have just moved past the bottom of the sunspot cycle and yet we are seeing almost daily 15,000km+ openings on a VHF band.

I'll outline what I have found on the 19th of June so that there is a record of it.

* * *

The 19th was different from previous days in that some VK3 stations in the SE corner of Australia managed to get in on the action.

This is the maps for VK3OT...

FT8 paths for VK3OT...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
IW5DHN VK3OT 6m FT8 15925 km 05:55:14
IK0FTA VK3OT 6m FT8 15737 km 05:48:44
S57RR VK3OT 6m FT8 15708 km 04:56:14
VK3OT S57RR 6m FT8 15708 km 04:54:29
I6WJB VK3OT 6m FT8 15612 km 05:18:14
VK3OT IZ8VYU 6m FT8 15568 km 05:33:29
S59A VK3OT 6m FT8 15552 km 05:00:44
VK3OT OG3G 6m FT8 15199 km 04:25:29
VK3OT SV1DH 6m FT8 14675 km 05:17:30

* * * 

This is the FT8 map for VK3DUT...

The paths for VK3DUT seem to be somewhat earlier than for VK3OT for whatever reason.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
S59A VK3DUT 6m FT8 15993 km 04:30:11
SP4K VK3DUT 6m FT8 15675 km 04:31:14
HG2DX VK3DUT 6m FT8 15670 km 04:32:11
YL2GD VK3DUT 6m FT8 15256 km 04:24:56
UR3EO VK3DUT 6m FT8 14617 km 04:34:11

* * * 

Paths for VK3BD, VK2WTF & VK5PJ

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
S59A VK3BD 6m FT8 15828 km 04:30:14
HG2DX VK3BD 6m FT8 15505 km 04:33:14

VK2WTF
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
S59A 6m FT8 15158 km 04:30:14

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
VK5PJ OH2BU 6m FT8 14623 km 04:08:31
UX1UA VK5PJ 6m FT8 14164 km 03:56:41
UT5UGR VK5PJ 6m FT8 14135 km 03:56:44

* * *

VK4MA on the east coast of Australia had the advantage of being further north and had an opening to Europe as well...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
I6WJB VK4MA 6m FT8 15804 km 05:36:14
IZ7NLJ VK4MA 6m FT8 15617 km 05:03:14
IZ7DPB VK4MA 6m FT8 15553 km 05:01:14
VK4MA E72U 6m FT8 15386 km 04:53:59
E72U VK4MA 6m FT8 15386 km 04:42:44
Z37CXY VK4MA 6m FT8 15205 km 04:43:44
VK4MA UT4XU 6m FT8 14558 km 04:37:59
VK4MA UT2XQ 6m FT8 14524 km 04:49:29
UT7UJ VK4MA 6m FT8 14439 km 05:16:14
UX1UA VK4MA 6m FT8 14436 km 05:14:44
VK4MA UX1UA 6m FT8 14436 km 04:49:27
UY5ZZ VK4MA 6m FT8 14429 km 04:41:44
UX4UA VK4MA 6m FT8 14426 km 04:57:44
UT5UGR VK4MA 6m FT8 14415 km 05:10:14
VK4MA US5CCO 6m FT8 14328 km 04:50:11
US5CCO VK4MA 6m FT8 14328 km 04:43:14
UR3EO VK4MA 6m FT8 14115 km 04:42:14
UT7QF VK4MA 6m FT8 14112 km 05:01:44
UT9EZ VK4MA 6m FT8 14109 km 05:02:44
UR5LAK VK4MA 6m FT8 13972 km 04:41:14
UR0MC VK4MA 6m FT8 13870 km 04:21:44

* * *

The best distance for VK4HJ was slightly longer at 15,871 kms....

VK4HJ
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
I6WJB 6m FT8 15871 km 04:31:14
E72U 6m FT8 15457 km 05:04:14
UX1UA 6m FT8 14515 km 04:42:44
UY5ZZ 6m FT8 14508 km 04:43:14
UT5UGR 6m FT8 14494 km 04:29:14
US5CCO 6m FT8 14405 km 04:43:14
UR3EO 6m FT8 14190 km 05:02:14
UR7EU 6m FT8 14190 km 04:44:44
UT7QF 6m FT8 14186 km 04:14:44
UT9EZ 6m FT8 14184 km 04:39:44
R6KA 6m FT8 14127 km 04:50:14
UR5LAK 6m FT8 14049 km 04:41:14
UR0MC 6m FT8 13946 km 04:47:14

* * *

VK4WTN also was heard in Europe...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
VK4WTN Z37CXY 6m FT8 15201 km 04:41:56
VK4WTN UX1UA 6m FT8 14431 km 04:41:57

* * *

To finish off the Australia tour, just one European station was heard by VK6KXW on the west coast...

VK6KXW
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

IW5DHN 6m FT8 13630 km 05:45:44

* * *

New Zealand: The longest path of the day was 18,144 kms from ZL3RC in New Zealand to S59A in Slovenia.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
S59A ZL3RC 6m FT8 18144 km 04:41:44

The map above also highlights one of the problems with FT8 and the PSK Reporter website. It might seem at first glance as if there is a multi-hop path from Slovenia to Australia with stations like T6AA and 9M2TO spaced at roughly 4500 km intervals.

The 'problem' with the PSK Reporter site is that it only shows the last reception report for an individual station, you can't see the earlier reports. This is especially true if you do searches covering several hours like I did. Paths to stations on a map can be at completely different times and you need to be careful not to make assumptions based on just an initial view.

I have included a long list of the FT8 reports for S59A at the end of the post if anyone wants to examine them.

* * *

DX-Cluster: The spots on the DX Cluster suggest that all of the activity was on FT8...

Spotter  Freq.  DX  Time  Info  Country
S57RR 50313.0 VK3OT 04:58 19 Jun -16 into JN65>QF12 Tnx steve! Australia
UX1UA-@ 50313.0 VK4MA 04:53 19 Jun TNX Australia

Spotter  Freq.  DX  Time  Info  Country

VK6KXW-@ 50315.2 IW5DHN 06:36 19 Jun FT8 13622km OF87<>JN53 -18dB JTDX Italy
VK3OT-@ 50315.0 SV1DH 05:17 19 Jun km27<ft8>qf12 1ST vk3 sv1 Greece
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 S59A 05:02 19 Jun CQ JN76<>QF12 FT8 Slovenia
VK3OT-@ 50314.0 S57RR 05:01 19 Jun Tnx QSO FT8 Slovenia
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 E72U 05:00 19 Jun calling u Bosnia-Herzegovina
ZL3RC 50313.0 S59A 04:44 19 Jun -16 calling CQ Slovenia
VK3OT-@ 50314.0 OG3G 04:32 19 Jun KP00 callin you Finland
ZL3RC 50313.0 UR0MC 04:28 19 Jun -12 rx only Ukraine
VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 YL2GD 04:26 19 Jun -17 rx only Latvia
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 UT5UGR 04:24 19 Jun KO50 FT8 calling u Ukraine
VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 S59A 04:23 19 Jun -15 rx only Slovenia

FT8 reports for S59A which shows the times of the openings to Japan and Australia / New Zealand. All single hop stations of under 2,300 kms have been omitted...

Trans-Atlantic opening on 28 MHz (QRSS signals from VE1VDM & N8NJ) - 19th June 2021

19th June 2021: After getting an email from Vernon VE1VDM, I fired up the Spectrum Lab programme and managed to grab TWO trans-Atlantic QRSS signals on 28 MHz...

(QRSS are morse code signals sent very slowly over a period of several minutes. This is an analogue method of reading signals that are buried in the noise)

It was probably the strongest capture I've got to date of VE1VDM and the first time I've managed to capture N8NJ. His power was 2-watts.

N8NJ is also the longest distance QRSS signal on 28 MHz I've captured as well. His power was 1-watt.

These are the WSPR reports around that time so you can compare what the QRSS signal looks like against the WSPR signal report.

2021-06-19 13:20 VE1VDM FN85ij EI7GL IO51tu 28.126151 2 -15 0 4001
2021-06-19 13:20 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.126069 1 -20 0 5574
2021-06-19 13:30 VE1VDM FN85ij EI7GL IO51tu 28.126151 2 -13 0 4001
2021-06-19 13:30 N8NJ EN81go EI7GL IO51tu 28.12607 1 -24 0 5574
2021-06-19 13:40 VE1VDM FN85ij EI7GL IO51tu 28.126151 2 -15 0 4001

VE1VDM at -13 to -15dB was at a level which would be barely detectable by ear. It's too weak for CW sent at normal speed.

N8NJ at -20 to -24dB was buried well into the noise.

In truth, there's nothing that remarkable about hearing Canada or the USA on 28 MHz during the peak of the Summer Sporadic-E season but it was still nice to get a screen capture of two low power stations from the other side of the Atlantic.

3000km+ opening on 144 MHz from the Madeira Islands to Europe - 17th June 2021

Thursday 17th June 2021: As I spend more time looking at Sporadic-E openings on 144 MHz, it's becoming clearer that distances in excess of 3000kms are actually a lot more common than we might have expected.

On the 17th of June, there was what I believe to be a double hop Sporadic-E opening from the Madeira Islands to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Ukraine.

These are the FT8 paths on 144 MHz for CT3HF...

Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

UT5ST 2m FT8 3893 km 14:34:26

HA6NQ 2m FT8 3521 km 13:27:59

S51ZO 2m FT8 3221 km 13:19:59

9A6NA 2m FT8 3214 km 13:14:29

S55OO 2m FT8 3078 km 13:14:56

S52LM 2m FT8 3003 km 13:20:56

S59F 2m FT8 3003 km 13:20:57

IV3/HB9CAT 2m FT8 2997 km 13:21:00

IV3BLQ 2m FT8 2973 km 13:21:29

IV3GTH 2m FT8 2966 km 13:18:56

I3VWK 2m FT8 2856 km 13:27:59

IK3MLF 2m FT8 2852 km 13:14:56

IK4CBO 2m FT8 2711 km 13:21:26

If we look at the map for UT5ST in the Ukraine, this is what it looks like.

Notice how there are stations in the south of France and the NW of Spain at roughly the midway point.

EA6VQ UT5ST 2m FT8 2001 km 14:47:56
CT3HF UT5ST 2m FT8 3893 km 14:34:26
F1HQM UT5ST 2m FT8 1609 km 14:31:59
F4VTP UT5ST 2m FT8 1776 km 14:24:26
EB2FJN UT5ST 2m FT8 2191 km 14:24:26
F5DYD/P UT5ST 2m FT8 1933 km 14:15:26
EB3JT UT5ST 2m FT8 1983 km 14:04:11
UT5ST IS0YFG 2m FT8 1644 km 13:54:44

This to me suggests that for there were two Sporadic-E hops involved rather than one hop (2300kms) with a tropo extension.

Just to note that the opening from UT5ST to the NW of France was at the later time of about 18:18 UTC.

These are the spots from the DX-Cluster which suggests that all of the activity for these long paths was on the FT8 digital mode...

F6GNR 144174.0 CT3HF 16:43 17 Jun IN97FD<ES>IM12OP -20 FT8 Tnx Madeira Islands 

G4FUF 144174.0 CT3HF 16:38 17 Jun JO01GN<ES>IM12OP Madeira Islands 

EA2Z 144174.0 CT3HF 16:33 17 Jun 73. FT8 ES Vert antenna Madeira Islands

HA9AL-@ 144174.0 CT3HF 14:21 17 Jun BIGGEST DX FOR ME RX 3442KM Madeira Islands

S57A-@ 144174.0 CT3HF 13:30 17 Jun tu your best+4 Madeira Islands

S51ZO 144174.0 CT3HF 13:27 17 Jun Jn86/ES/IM12 -08db tnx Madeira Islands

 Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country

CT3HF 144174.0 F5DYD/P 14:52 17 Jun IM12OP<ES>JN03 France

CT3HF 144174.0 F5PSR 14:43 17 Jun IM12OP<ES>JN13 France

CT3HF 144174.0 UW8SM 13:32 17 Jun IM12OP<ES>KN28 HRD -13 into IM Ukraine

CT3HF 144174.0 S57A 13:28 17 Jun IM12OP<ES>JN65 +13 Slovenia

CT3HF 144174.0 S51ZO 13:24 17 Jun IM12OP<ES>JN86DR FT8 +05 Slovenia

CT3HF 144174.0 S55OO 13:22 17 Jun IM12OP<ES>JN76 Slovenia

Note the second Ukrainian station UW8SM who was at 3,875 kms.

Tropo: This was the tropo prediction map at the time....

It looks as if the usual path from Portugal to the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands is a bit weaker than usual. This ties in with no CT stations in Portugal hearing CT3HF. It supports the theory that it was two hops.

Canary Islands - EA8: It looks as if stations on the Canary Islands were a bit too far south for nearly all of the opening that occurred around 13:30-14:40 UTC. They had their own opening to France, England and Belgium around 16:30 UTC.

In the above image, the image on the left shows the paths from one of the EA8 stations. The image on the right shows the paths from G4ZFJ in England with a Sporadic-E footprint around Lisbon in Portugal.

Considering that the EA8 stations didn't seem to be hearing the CT/EA stations on tropo, I think this was another opening on 144 MHz with two Sporadic-E hops.

As the FT8 reports below show, some paths were just short of 3000 kms. 

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
ON4KHG EA8CSB 2m FT8 2993 km 16:41:56
G0MBL EA8CSB 2m FT8 2938 km 16:39:42
G4ZFJ EA8CSB 2m FT8 2937 km 16:30:57
F6EAS EA8CSB 2m FT8 2629 km 16:25:41
F6GNR EA8CSB 2m FT8 2444 km 16:29:27
EA8CSB F4EZJ 2m FT8 2387 km 16:30:12
F4EZJ EA8CSB 2m FT8 2387 km 16:25:56

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
F6EAS EA8AO 2m FT8 2698 km 13:09:26
F6GNR EA8AO 2m FT8 2516 km 16:35:56

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
F4EZJ EA8AR 2m FT8 2403 km 16:26:27

In Conclusion: It does seem as if the opening from the Canary Islands (EA8) was a bit more patchy that the one from the Madeira Islands (CT3) but the distances were still up around 3000kms and above. 

Before the introduction of FT8 in 2017, I think the general consensus was that there were a handful of 3000km+ Sporadic-E openings on 144 MHz every Sporadic-E season. 

Now that I am keeping a record of them for the Summer of 2021, it seems as if 3000km openings at 144 MHz are a lot more common than we thought.

16,000km+ opening on 50 MHz from Australia & New Zealand to Europe - 17th June 2021

Thursday 17th June 2021: Another day, another opening on 50 MHz between Australia and Europe. This one however was different as several stations from the Adelaide area (VK5) in the south of Australia were involved.

It also seems as if a small number of stations in New Zealand and the Australian states of Victoria & Western Australia managed to work Europe as well. Info further down post.

All the areas of Australia are not the same in terms of propagation, Stations on the north coast have a pipeline into Japan & China via TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) whereas stations in the south of the continent are a bit too far south.

That's why openings on 50 MHz between the south of Australia and Europe are always of interest. It raises the very real question of just how exactly does a signal at 50 MHz travel so far near the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

The maps and station list below are derived from FT8 reports on the PSK Reporter website and it may well not include everyone. I couldn't find any information on SSB or CW contacts being made but that doesn't mean they weren't.

15,000km Opening on 50 MHz between Western Australia and Europe - 16th June 2021

Wednesday 16th June 2021: There was another opening on the 50 MHz band between Australia and Europe on the 16th. This one was slightly different in that it went from the west coast of Australia to the UK & Ireland.

The distances to Western Europe are in the region of 14,000 to 15,000 kms. If we subscribe to the idea that it was via multi-hop Sporadic-E all the way then at least 7 hops are required. I suspect though that the large TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) zone centred either side of the geomagnetic equator may have been a factor.

It would be interested to hear if anyone experienced skewed paths.

I have included a list of stations heard on FT8 below.

3000km+ opening on 144 MHz from Spain to the Ukraine & Russia - 16th June 2021

Wednesday 16th June 2021: There were extensive Sporadic-E openings on 144 MHz on the 16th with many parts of Europe working other regions. The FT8 map above shows what looks like a double hop Sporadic-E opening from the south of Russia to the east coast of Spain, a distance well over 3000 kms.

The map below for EA5WU in the east of Spain shows the extent of the openings and again, it shows the double hop Sporadic-E to Russia and the Ukraine.

You'll notice that the Russian and Spanish stations were both hearing plenty of stations at the mid-point suggesting that it was double hop Sporadic-E in this instance.

Just for the record, I have put some of the logs from the PSK Report website below and there are some DX-Cluster spots at the end of the post.

Reception of the World Music Radio station on the 11m Short Wave Band - June 2021

16th June 2021: I noticed a post on my Facebook feed yesterday about a Danish station transmitting on 25800 kHz on the 11m broadcast band. I really don't have much interest in short wave stations but this one caught my attention as it is reasonably close to the 28 MHz band.

The post from the 14th of June 2021 read... "WMR (World Music Radio) is now on the air on 25800 kHz - locally audible in Aarhus, Denmark -  and sometimes by eskip og F2 propagation."

Today, I noticed I was hearing OZ7IT in Denmark on WSPR on 28 MHz via Sporadic-E propagation with a good 0dB signal. I then checked for the OZ7IGY beacon on 28.271 MHz and sure enough, it was there.

When I checked 25.800 MHz, the World Music Radio station was there on AM with a signal strength of about S '5' to '8' with a lot of fading. The distance was in the region of 1300 kms to my location.

In response to a question, they said that they were running 100-watts into a vertical antenna on top of a tall tower. Photo at the end of this post.

100w sounds like a lot but in terms of short wave broadcasting, it's very low power.

Sporadic-E propagation: If anyone wants to have a listen during the Summer Sporadic-E season (May to July), I have put together a map showing the likely range.

The signal is likely to be heard in the range of 500 kms to 2000 kms. Anything under 500 kms is in the skip zone. anything over 2000 kms is likely to be too weak.

The best spot is roughly between the two, say 900 to 1600 kms.

In conclusion: Putting a short wave transmitter on 25800 kHz near the bottom of the sunspot cycle seems like a strange choice. It will probably be a few years before there will be consistent F2 propagation at that frequency and even then, 100-watts on AM will only go so far.

The 11-metre broadcast band is an unusual band with very few stations on it and many of the typical small portable radios don't cover it.

I checked my own TecSun PL-380 and it tops out around 22 MHz.

Yet for all that, it's interesting to see if it can be heard. I'm thinking already if that nice 100-watt carrier could be used for meteor scatter tests! 😂

If you hear Danish stations on 28 MHz then have a listen and you should be able to hear it.

Links...

1) World Music Radio website

2) Their Facebook page

Newfoundland 144 MHz monitoring station VO1FN hears US station at 1760kms - 13th June 2021

Normally, a reception report of a station at 1700km on the 144 MHz band isn't all that special as we're in the middle of the Summer Sporadic-E season but I found this one of interest.

13th June 2021: The VO1FN station at St.John's, Newfoundland was set up to monitor the 144 MHz for Trans-Atlantic signals. On the 13th of June, it heard a FT8 signal from K1TEO in Connecticut in the USA.

The distance was just over 1760 kms which is pretty typical for Sporadic-E or meteor scatter at 144 MHz.

This is the tropo prediction map for the day from Pascal, F5LEN...

It shows some enhancement on the 1760 km path but probably not enough to explain the propagation mode.

Propagation Mode: Frank, VO1HP outlined in the update at the end of this post how the signal was heard off the back of the beam. As there was just one decode, I don't think it was tropo. If it was meteor scatter then it required a burst that was at least 15 seconds long. The other option was a very short Sporadic-E opening. 

My interest in this reception report is how it compares to the distance from Newfoundland to the Azores Islands.

The beam heading from VO1FN to K1TEO is 254 degrees which is 16 degrees south of West. I calculated what the equivalent point is at 16 degrees south of East and it is shown above.

As you can see, the distance to the Azores is just a few hundred kms.

It's my opinion that proof of a 144 MHz path between Newfoundland and the Azores would be a valuable first step in the eventual goal of a Trans-Atlantic 144 MHz contact on 2-metres. I think this is most likely to happen between the north-west of Spain / Portugal and either Newfoundland or Nova Scotia in Canada.

Update 15th June: From Frank, VO1HP... "The antennas were pointing at Ireland. I regularly monitor 144.174 even though EI2DKH is opearting on 144.488Mhz Q65 every time there is an opening on 6M.  The actual decode took place on Jun 13 2021 not Jun 14.  Jun 14 was the date displayed by WSJT-X on Monday when I logged on to the PC using Anydesk.  The time stamp of the recording is 20210613_101845"

Update 16th June: VO1HO informs me that K1TEO was using 1 kilowatt to a 4 x 9-element Yagi array at 25 metres above ground level.

18,970km Opening on 50 MHz between the Canary Islands and the east of Australia - 13th June 2021

13th June 2021: Over Back on the 2nd of June, there was a 16,200km opening on the 50 MHz band between the Canary Islands and the north of Australia. On the 13th of June, the opening was to the east coast of Australia, a distance of just under 19,000kms.

These are the FT8 report for VK4HJ from the PSK Reporter website...

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
EA8DBM VK4HJ 6m FT8 18971 km 06:31:14
VK4HJ EA8DBM 6m FT8 18971 km 06:25:59
9H1TX VK4HJ 6m FT8 15950 km 05:56:44
Z37CXY VK4HJ 6m FT8 15268 km 06:09:14
SV2JAO VK4HJ 6m FT8 15235 km 05:14:14
SV9CVY VK4HJ 6m FT8 15006 km 07:01:44
VK4HJ SV9CVY 6m FT8 15006 km 06:26:59

What's amazing about this is that the circumference of the Earth is about 40,000kms and this is almost half the circumference.

If this happened at the peak of the solar cycle then it might be understandable but we are just after the sunspot minimum. 

If it was multi-hop Sporadic-E then we have to believe that there were at least nine Sporadic-E clouds all lined up neatly in a row which I don't believe is feasible. I suspect that the TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) region centred around the Geomagnetic Equator was partially involved.

Here are some of the DX spots from the cluster.

VK4MA 50313 EA8DBM 06:31 13 Jun 21 strong -4 Canary Islands
SV9CVY 50313 VK4HJ 06:43 13 Jun 21 still -12 cqing Australia
SV9CVY 50313 VK4HJ 06:28 13 Jun 21 539 ~ CQ DX VK4HJ QG63 Australia
EA8DBM-@ 50313.5 VK4HJ 06:28 13 Jun 21 FT8 -18dB Australia
9H1TX 50313.5 VK4HJ 06:10 13 Jun 21 JM75FU<ES>QG63 Australia 

SV9CVY 50313 VK4HJ 06:09 13 Jun 21 -2 working EU Australia
SV9CVY 50313 VK4HJ 05:58 13 Jun 21 ur best +1 amazing 73 tnx Australia

New Zealand: This is the first time this Summer that I've seen a signal from New Zealand reach Europe on 50 MHz...

This time, the distance was 17,170kms. Again, there is a path open to Japan, there's a path open to Europe.

PSK Reporter spots.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
ZL1SG SV9CVY 6m FT8 17173 km 06:29:59
SV9CVY ZL1SG 6m FT8 17173 km 06:28:41

DX-Cluster spots
SV9CVY 50313 ZL1SG 06:30 13 Jun 21 2210 ~ CQ ZL1SG RF64 New Zealand
SV9CVY 50313 ZL1RQ 06:25 13 Jun 21 tnx 73 ur best -13 New Zealand
ZL1SG-@ 50313 SV9CVY 06:30 13 Jun 21 -18 TKS QSO Crete

As can be seen from the cluster spots, the FT8 signals at -13dB and -18dB were buried in the noise and a CW/SSB contact would not have been possible.

Another 3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the Canary & Madeira Islands to Italy - 11th June 2021

Friday 11th June 2021: Another day and another list of 3000km plus contacts on the 144 MHz band.

First, we'll look at the reports and then the propagation mode at the end of the post.

* * *

This is the FT8 map for EA8AIN and it shows the 3000km+ path to the south of Italy.

These are the paths over 3000kms...

4000km opening on 144 MHz between the Azore Islands and Greece - 10th June 2021

10th June 2021: When the events on a day have to be broken up into three posts then you know something special must have happened! 😄

This is part 3 of 3.

* * *

This post looks at the 144 MHz opening from CU3EQ on the Azore Islands in the North Atlantic.

There were at least eight paths on FT8 on 144 MHz that exceeded 3000kms and one was over 4000kms!

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
SV8PEX CU3EQ 2m FT8 4008 km 16:56:57
CU3EQ IK7XWJ 2m FT8 3879 km 16:57:42
CU3EQ IZ8GGE 2m FT8 3706 km 16:14:11
CU3EQ IK2MKS 2m FT8 3117 km 16:59:44
CU3EQ IW2EQR 2m FT8 3059 km 16:37:41
IK2JUG CU3EQ 2m FT8 3052 km 17:03:27
IK2OLD CU3EQ 2m FT8 3042 km 16:57:59
IK1MTZ CU3EQ 2m FT8 2950 km 17:01:59

As outlined in a previous post, it looks as if there was an intense Sporadic-E region over the Sardinia / Corsica area and this 2000km or so hop was responsible for the eastern half of the path. As for the western half from Portugal to the Azores? This was probably a tropo duct although a second Sporadic-E hop can't be ruled. out.

4000kms from the Azores: It's very easy to just look and say, just another 4000km path on 2-metres. To put this perspective, let's have a look at 4000kms west from the Azores...

Q. Is a 144 MHz signal can get from Greece to the Azores, then why can't one get from North America to the Azores?

Q. Is anyone in North America trying? Is anyone in North America listening? Has anyone in North America even tried to make a sked?

Other Possibilities??? This 4000km opening raises some other possibilities....

Q. Is a 144 MHz opening between the Azores and the Caribbean possible???

Q. On the 10th of June, 144 MHz signals from Lebanon and Israel reached the west coast of Portugal. Is a 5,400km opening between the Azores and Lebanon / Israel possible?

For more examples of 3000km+ openings, check out my 144 MHz page.

Opening on 28 MHz from Alaska to Europe - 11th June 2021

Friday 11th June 2021: There was an interesting opening on 28 MHz on the morning of the 11th of June between Europe and Alaska. This is pretty unusual at this point of the sunspot cycle and especially during the Summer months.

The map above shows the signal paths to KL2R in Alaska. As the signals between Europe and Alaska pass near the Geomagnetic North Pole, they are often distorted with an auroral tone to the signals. It's suprising to see FT8 digital signals get through.

I guess there's always a chance that the station is a pirate but it does seem to be hearing both Europe and Japan on 28 MHz and there is nothing from the USA.

I heard the German Icebreaker station DP0POL several times on WSPR today on 28 MHz and that ship is currently just west of Svalbard. The distance is about 3000kms so there is something going on to the north on 28 MHz.

I have included a list of the stations heard by KL2R in Alaska below. You can check the times and see if the path opens again. It would be really interesting to see more reports of Alaskan stations on 28 MHz.

3000km+ opening on 144 MHz from Israel & Lebanon to Europe - 10th June 2021

Thursday 10th June 2021: In this second of three posts, we will look at some of the extraordinary paths on 144 MHz that were in excess of 3000kms in length. In the previous post, I looked at the paths from the Canary and Madeira Islands to Europe, this time we'll look at the paths from Israel & Lebanon to western Europe.

This is another long post so scroll down. At the end, I'll have a look at some of the evidence for what type of propagation was responsible.

***

OD5KU in Lebanon had two paths on 144 MHz to Portugal which were over 4000kms in length.

This map are the FT8 paths that were open on 144 MHz and I'll note a few things.

1) Notice how there is no path from Lebanon to Greece. This suggests that the eastern half of the path was via a single Sporadic-E hop.

2) There are plenty of stations clustered around the south of Italy and Sicily showing where the first hop landed.

3) The western limit of the path was not on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula but at the far western side on the coast of Portugal. This suggests another Sporadic-E at the western half of the 4000km path.

4) Back on the 28th of June 1979, CT1WW in Portugal worked OD5MR in Lebanon on SSB on 144 MHz for what was claimed to be a double hop Sporadic-E contact. That was an IARU Region 1 record for many years. It looks as if the conditions on the 10th of June 2021 were similar.

To have a complete record, here are some of the long FT8 paths from OD5KU...

3000km+ opening on 144 MHz from the Canary & Maderia Islands into Europe - 10th June 2021

Thursday 10th June 2021: This was a pretty remarkable day in Europe for long distance 3000km plus openings on the 144 MHz band. There is a LOT of information so I will split it up into three posts. 

This post is the first one of three.

This is a long report so scroll down to see the individual stations from the Canary Islands and the Madeira Islands. I'll put a propagation analysis at the bottom but it seems that depending on where the European stations were located, it was a mixture of tropo only, Sporadic-E & tropo and probably double-hop Sporadic-E / chordal hop Sp-E.

* * *

I'll start with EA8JK as he had the most impressive map from the PSK Reporter website.

There are an amazing eight paths that were in excess of 4000kms! This is well beyond the normal 2300km or so one-hop Sporadic-E limit.

Here are the FT8 paths for EA8JK and just look at how many stations that were in excess of 3000kms.

Video on the limitations of the VOACAP HF Propagation Software ...by KC0DN

What is VOACAP?: VOACAP (Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program) is a popular and free professional high-frequency (HF) propagation prediction software tool originally developed for the Voice of America (VOA).

Video Introduction: As part of the 2021 virtual Four Days in May (FDIM) event, Tim Snodgrass KC0DN made a presentation about the accuracy and limitations of the VOACAP programme. KC0DN along with Charley, KC0CD and Mike, AC0HB set up an extensive listening station to monitor the signals from the time standard stations WWV, WWVH and CHU.

The experiment which ran from November 2020 to February 2021 monitored all three time standard stations on a wide range of frequencies from 2.5 MHz to 25 MHz and compared the reception results against what was predicted by VOACAP.

The receive station was set up in Cedar Falls, Iowa while the time standard stations are in Fort Collins, Colorado / Ottawa, Canada & Kauai, Hawaii.

WWV Ft. Collins Colorado: Transmitting 10KW on 5, 10, 15MHz; 2.5KW on 2.5, 20 & 25MHz
WWVH Kekaha, Kauai (Hawaii): Transmitting 5KW on 2.5MHz & 10KW on 5, 10, 15MHz
CHU Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: 3 kW on 3.33MHz, 5KW on 14.67 MHz, & 7.85 MHz

The presentation is aimed at a US audience as it uses it uses outdated MILES for distances which mean very little for an international audience.

I have prepared a map shown below which shows the distances in kms which makes things clearer as you watch the video.

The presentation which is 45 minutes long can be seen below…

Presentation notes in PDF format can be found HERE

Findings: My own summary of the findings...

1) Like any propagation software tool, VOACAP suggests what the conditions might be like and what paths might be possible. It shouldn't be taken as fact.

2) VOACAP predictions can be too pessimistic.

3) Openings on the higher HF bands (14 MHz and above) happen more often than VOACAP predicts.

4) Lower frequencies like say 80m & 60m are underrated. They can be used 24 hours a day with modern digital techniques.

5) The 30m band is often open at night when VOACAP says it should be closed.

6) The 5 MHz band (60m) was nearly always open 24 hours a day over a 1600km path.

7) By using two bands e.g. 3.5 OR 5 MHz AND the 10 MHz band, a reliable link can be maintained over a 1600km path.

8) KC0DN advocates the use of two bands for the use of 'Store & Forward' digital traffic.

9) Circular polarization on HF can result in a significant advantage.

In Conclusion: This video by KC0DN is the summary of a significant amount of work and should be of interest to anyone with an interest in propagation on the HF bands. It's a bit unfortunate that it uses the title "Breaking Free of the Solar Cycle" on YouTube as that really doesn't describe to the casual observer what the video is about. 

It should be remembered that the results are for someone in the United States and at a particular latitude. The results may not apply so readily to say someone at a more northerly latitude. 

However, there is still plenty of material in the video of interest and it's worth watching.

Links...
1) VOACAP online tool

3000km+ opening on 144Mhz from the Canary Islands to Italy - 7th June 2021

7th June 2021: There was another example of a 3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands and Italy.

Here are a few spots from the DX-Cluster with the distances in brackets...

EA8AVI 144185 I3MEK 13:05 07 Jun 21 IL28FC<>JN55SJ 55 Italy (3063kms)

EA8AIN 144175.5 IZ5EME 12:34 07 Jun 21 FT8 JN52ns< > IL18cq 73 Italy (3024kms)

IV3/HB9CAT 144174 EA8CXN 13:04 07 Jun 21 JN65UQ<ES>IL81SK TNX Canary Islands (3264kms)

IU4FNO 144174 EA8CXN 13:00 07 Jun 21 Jn54in<ES>il18sk FT8 Canary Islands (2997kms)

IZ5EME 144174 EA8AR 12:32 07 Jun 21 jn52-il18 ES Canary Islands (2947kms)

IK8BIZ 144174 EA8EY 11:52 07 Jun 21 HRD -19 FT8 Canary Islands (3214kms)

There may have been more paths open but I only have the spots on the cluster to go off. Unfortunately the data on the PSK Reporter website disappears after 24 hours.

Propagation Mode: The tropo prediction map below from F5LEN shows the suggested conditions at the time...

It seems likely that it was a combined Sporadic-E / Tropo ducting path. There was a Sporadic-E opening at the time between Italy and Spain so that confirms the north-eastern 1500-2000kms of the path. The south-western part of the path was probably via a marine tropo duct to the Canary Islands.

There were reports of 2700km tropo openings from the Canary Islands up to the south coast of Ireland & England on that morning and the previous morning so those conditions were very good.

There is always the possibility that the path from the Canary Islands to Italy was via double hop / chordal hop Sporadic-E but the probably of that is much lower than a combined Sp-E / tropo path.

D4 Cape Verde: Unfortunately the D4VHF station on 144 MHz is off air at present. If they had been on the air then there would be a possibility of paths well in excess of 4000kms.

More examples of 3000km plus paths on 2-metres can be found on my 144 MHz page... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/144-mhz.html

Addendum:

1) Thanks to Zvonko, 9A2AE for the following information. At 12:55UTC, there was a 3567 km path open from 9A2AE in Croatia to EA8AIN in the Canary Islands (IL18CQ).

2) Thanks to Davor, 9A5BWW for the following info. At 12:49 UTC, there was a 3468 km path open from 9A5BWW to EA8CSB (IL18TL).

3) Thanks to César, EA8CXN for the following info. He writes..."It was a mix between tropo and ES. Due to mountains on my direct path, I beam my antennas to the opposite direction, bouncing my signal off the 'El Teide volcano".

Log extract from the 7th with the TR+ES opening...
07/06/21 IV3GTH FT8 +13 -12 2m Italy EA8CXN (~3255kms)
07/06/21 S52LM FT8 +13 -12 2m Slovenia EA8CXN (~3255kms)
07/06/21 IV3/HB9CAT FT8 +07 -05 2m Italy EA8CXN (3264kms)
07/06/21 IU4FNO FT8 -14 -17 2m Italy EA8CXN (~2997kms)
07/06/21 S59F FT8 -11 -21 2m Slovenia EA8CXN (3273kms)

Website... https://ea8cxn.es/

Noise from Lightning Strikes detected on the 40 MHz band

On the 3rd of June, I was on the 40 MHz band listening for the new EI1CAH beacon in the west of Ireland when I noticed some very distinctive static crashes. When I checked the rainfall radar map, sure enough there were plenty of lightning strikes just over 100kms from my location.

I was surprised just how strong they were considering they were so far away.

It's worth getting to know that these sound like as they give you plenty of time to unplug your antennas before the lightning reaches your location.

Example of a 8300km contact on 50 MHz between Newfoundland & Kuwait - 5th June 2021

 

5th June 2021: Just as European stations are currently experiencing multi-hop openings on 50 MHz to Japan & China, stations in North America are experiencing similar openings to the Middle East.

Chris, VO1CH in Newfoundland sent on an interesting example of this with his 50 MHz FT8 contact to 9K2OW in Kuwait, a distance of approximately 8376kms.

Chris reports other contacts with OD5ET in Lebanon and 4Z1UF in Israel at around the same time... i.e. 13:00 UTC.

As the screen shot below shows, the contact with 9K2OW was down around -20dB which is well below what is audible to the human ear. It's a nice example of how the digital FT8 mode opens up paths which would be impossible on SSB or CW.

3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the United Arab Emirates and Europe - 5th June 2021

Almost but not quite:  On the 5th of June 2021, Stamen LZ1KU in Bulgaria and Oleg A65BR in the United Arab Emirates almost managed to complete a FT8 contact on 144 MHz over a distance of 3,280kms.

While both stations managed to get some successful decodes, they were unable to complete a contact on this occasion.

The composite screen above from LZ1KU shows a decoded FT8 signal from A65BR at -20dB. An earlier decode at 14:48 UTC was at -16dB. The exchange shows A65BR giving a signal of -13dB for LZ1KU.

2021-06-05 14:48:58Z   LZ1KU Stamen FT8 144445 -16 dB 0.3 s Freq 1369 Hz > CQ A65BR LL75

In the examples above, the FT8 signal would have been below what is really audible to the human ear so a contact on CW would have been very unlikely.

A65BR also spotted LZ1KU on the DX-Cluster...

 Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
A65BR 144174 LZ1KU 14:37 05 Jun 21 LL75SL<ES>KN32AH CQ HRD Bulgaria

LZ1KU was reported to be using 'full power' to 4 x 12-element Yagi array while A65BR was using 50-watts to a 7-element.

Amazingly, IZ7AUH in the south of Italy also managed to get a decode from A65BR over a distance of almost 3,900kms.

Propagation Mode: Both paths were well in excess of the 2300kms or so we might expect from one hop Sporadic-E so how can we explain it?

The tropo prediction map from Pascal, F5LEN shows some excellent conditions in the Arabian Gulf so it is probably no great suprise that the 3000km+ paths were in that direction.

One scenario is that there was a tropo duct over the Arabian Sea and this then coupled into a single hop Sporadic-E opening to Bulgaria. For the Italian station, it would require another few hundred kms of tropo at the western end of the circuit to complete the path.

Another scenario was that it was Chordal Hop Sporadic-E with the 144 MHz signal bouncing off two Sp-E clouds that were in just the right location. There was an extensive Sporadic-E opening from Israel into Europe so the MUF was high in the region.

And just to add another variable into the mix, the International Space Station was around at the same time (or at least I think it was based on an observer in Ankara).

It's hard to know for sure what the exact propagation mode was. It's a bit like a science experiment and we have just two data points. It's easy to make assumptions but we just don't know. 

For me, the main thing is that it is yet another example of a 3000km+ path on the 144 MHz band.