15,000km+ opening on 50 MHz between SE Australia and Europe - 14th July 2021

Wednesday 14th July 2021: Openings on the 50 MHz between Europe and Australia near the bottom of the solar cycle are supposed to be 'special'... i.e. a rare occurrence... something that doesn't happen very often.

And yet the 14th of July saw yet another opening. I'm in two minds at this stage if I should be even recording these events are they seem so common? I need these openings to stop soon so I can take a break! 😂😂

The map above shows the extent of the opening from VK2XN in New South Wales in the SE of Australia. You'll notice that opening on the 14th seems to be mainly to the south-east of Europe. The longest path on FT8 was to IS0AWZ in Sardinia at 16,334kms.

I found the map for VK2OO near Sydney to be of interest...

Notice how the 50 MHz went up as far as Finland. Also notice how VK2OO also had what seemed to be a big opening to Japan at about 04:00 UTC (~8000kms) and this was followed later by the opening to Europe around 07:00 UTC. It has all the appearance of TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation).

As far as I can tell, the opening from Europe seemed to be largely confined to VK2 and VK3 stations in New South Wales and Victoria in the SE of Australia.

These are the spots from the DX Cluster... 

VK2WJ 50313.0 UR0MC 07:36 14 Jul FT8 QF56ss -> KN99ea Ukraine

VK3OER 50313.0 LY2IJ 07:20 14 Jul 071830 -10 0.2 2342 ~ CQ DX L Lithuania

LY2IJ 50313.0 VK3OER 07:17 14 Jul TU QSO! Australia

DO5OT 50313.0 VK3DUT 07:13 14 Jul JO62WL<ES>QF32VF ft8 TNX new o Australia

LY2IJ 50313.0 VK3ZYC 07:04 14 Jul TU QSO! QF31<>KO25 Australia

IK6DTB 50313.0 VK2XN 06:35 14 Jul TNX 73 Australia

SV2JAO 50313.0 VK2XN 06:12 14 Jul kn10<es>qf59 Australia

VK3ZAZ 50313.0 S57RR 05:49 14 Jul FT8, CQ vk Slovenia

VK3OT-@ 50313.5 S57RR 05:46 14 Jul into vk3 Slovenia

VK3OER 50313.0 4O6AH 05:31 14 Jul 052700 -14 0.2 922 ~ CQ DX 4 Montenegro

VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 406AH 05:31 14 Jul -17 rx only Montenegro

VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 I6WJB 05:30 14 Jul -18 rx only Italy

SV1DH 50313.0 VK3BD 05:30 14 Jul CQ -16db and gone Australia

FT8 paths for Australian stations on 50 MHz to Europe are shown below...

3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the USA and the Caribbean - 13th July 2021

In this post, we'll look at what looks like an unusual 3000km+ opening in North America between the USA and the Caribbean on the 13th of July 2021.

There seems to have been two very active Sporadic-E regions that were both capable of supporting propagation at 144 MHz. The map above shows the paths on FT8 from WP4KJJ in Puerto Rico to the USA. Most of the stations in Florida, in the SE of the USA and up the east coast are all likely to be one hop Sporadic-E. That cluster of stations out around the 3000km mark are probably double hop Sporadic-E.

The longest path that I found on the PSK Reporter website was between WP4KJJ in Puerto Rico and K2DRH in the NE of Illinois, a distance just over 3470kms.

The double hop part of the opening seems to have been mostly confined to Puerto Rico (KP4) and the Dominican Republic (HI8). The map above from HI8DL shows the same single hop and double hop Sporadic-E pattern.

K2DRH seems to have been the furthest away from the Caribbean stations and this is the FT8 map for him...

As you can see, it shows some single hop Sporadic-E to Florida as well as double hop to the Caribbean.

I also found another 3000km+ opening between K2TXB in New Jersey and PJ4NX in Bonaire at 15:02 UTC.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)

K2TXB PJ4NX 2m FT8 3172 km 15:02:30

NV4B also reports that he made a FT8 contact with J79WTA in Dominica, a distance of just over 3370kms.

J79WTA

NV4B 2m FT8 3381 km 15:51:30

WB4OMG 2m FT8 2548 km 17:05:29

On the DX Cluster, N0JK in the east of Kansas reported hearing WP4KJJ at -18dB although the report didn't appear on the PSK Reporter website. The distance was just under 3650kms.

N0JK 144174.0 WP4KJJ 17:05 13 Jul EM28IX<>FK68XF copied -18 rpt

While there were some SSB contacts made, most if not all of the double hop ones were via FT8.

Propagation Mode: It does seem that in this instance, it really was a case of a double hop Sporadic-E opening. The tropo forecast shows some enhancement over the ocean but I suspect it was mostly double hop. 

Whether it reflected off the Atlantic ocean at the mid point or was chordal hop (Sp-E cloud to cloud) is open to debate.

There did seem to be another smaller double hop opening around 22:00 UTC but the data I have presented here is after the first one.

These are the FT8 reports that I saw over 2500kms for the opening around 17:00 UTC...

Opening on 50 MHz between Europe and SE Australia - 13th July 2021

13th July 2021: There was yet another opening on the 50 MHz band between Australia and Europe. In contrast to other openings, this one was a bit unusual in that it seemed to be largely confined to the state of Victoria in the SE of Australia.

These are the spots from the DX cluster which seems to suggest that once again, all of the activity was on FT8...

VK3OT-@ 50313.0 UY1HY 05:48 13 Jul heard in to vk3 Ukraine
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 UR9QQ 05:45 13 Jul in to QF12 32 Ukraine
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 DK8NE 05:45 13 Jul In to Qf12 22 32 Fed. Rep. of Germany
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 SV1DH 05:44 13 Jul into VK3 QF122232 Greece
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 UR0MC 05:43 13 Jul Into Qf12 Qf22 Ukraine

50 MHz paths from DK8NE were confined to the state of Victoria

It's interesting to note that the opening seemed to have a one-hour window lasting roughly from  05:15 to 06:15 UTC. Local sunset in Victoria was at 07:12 UTC.

The longest path that I could find was from VK3DUT in Victoria to F4HMQ near Paris in France, a distance of almost 17,000kms.

These are the FT8 reports from the PSK Reporter website...

3000km+ opening from the Canary Islands to Germany - 8th July 2021

On the 8th of July 2021, there was another example of a 3000km+ path on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands and Germany. As can be seen from the map above and the DX Cluster spots below, both DK5AI and DL8DAU in German managed to complete a digital FT8 contact with EA8JK.

DL8DAU-@ 144174.0 EA8JK 15:00 08 Jul JO40<ES>IL18 -20/+6 tnx! Canary Islands
DK5AI 144174.0 EA8JK 14:59 08 Jul JO51GO<ES>IL18 Thanks 73! Canary Islands

The distances were 3674kms for DK5AI and 3287kms for DL8DAU.

Update: Frank, PA4EME in JO20WX also reports reception of EA8JK as well.

Propagation Mode: It would seem to be another example of a combined Sporadic-E and tropo ducting path. The tropo prediction map below from F5LEN shows the presence of a maritime duct between the Canary Islands and the south-west coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

It's likely that this tropo duct accounted for 1000-1300kms of the total path. The rest was due to a short Sporadic-E opening from Germany which coupled into the NE end of the duct.

There is also the possibility that it was double hop Sporadic-E but the probability of this is a lot lower than a combined tropo/Sp-E path.

More examples of 3000km+ openings can be seen on my 144 MHz page.

18,000km opening on 50 MHz between New Zealand and Europe - 11th July 2021

Sunday 11th July 2021: It looks as if there was another extensive opening on the 50 MHz band between Australia and Europe with ZL1RS in the north of New Zealand managing to get in on the action as well.

These were the FT8 paths open to ZL1RS and as can be seen, the longest one was 18,126kms to IK8GYS in the south of Italy.

Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
IK8GYS ZL1RS 6m FT8 18126 km 06:09:44
I6WJB ZL1RS 6m FT8 18077 km 06:20:14
SV2DCD ZL1RS 6m FT8 17542 km 04:36:14
HA2NP ZL1RS 6m FT8 17497 km 04:23:14
SV2JAO ZL1RS 6m FT8 17457 km 06:10:14
SV1DH ZL1RS 6m FT8 17309 km 05:34:14
SV9CVY ZL1RS 6m FT8 17199 km 05:13:14
R6KA ZL1RS 6m FT8 16326 km 06:46:45
UB7K ZL1RS 6m FT8 16281 km 06:13:44

The main opening was from Australia to Europe...

One of the longest paths from Australia was from VK2EFM near Sydney to EA6VQ on the Balearic Islands, a distance of about 17,100kms.

The DX Cluster spots for the day are shown below and they suggest that all of the activity was via the FT8 digital mode.

Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
VK2WJ 50313.0 IT9PQJ 06:41 11 Jul CDM IT9* CDM I* IOTA EU-025 Sicily
IW0FFK 50313.0 VK2WJ 06:39 11 Jul JN61FS<ES>QF56 tu 880 Hz Australia
4O6AH 50313.0 VK4MA 06:38 11 Jul tnx for FT8 QSO new one Australia
HA8CE 50313.0 VK4HJ 06:31 11 Jul Tnx !! Australia
IW0FFK 50313.0 VK2EFM 06:30 11 Jul JN61FS<ES>QF56 tu nw cq Australia
SV9CVY 50313.0 VK4HJ 06:21 11 Jul 591 ~ CQ EU VK4HJ QG63 Australia
IK1EGC-@ 50313.6 VK4HJ 05:43 11 Jul FT8 JN35<>QG63 Australia
VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 R6KA 04:49 11 Jul tu B +3 European Russia
UR0MC 50313.0 VK1KW 04:42 11 Jul Tnx New Grid Australia
VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 SV1DH 04:41 11 Jul Best +6 Greece
VK3OER 50313.0 R6KA 04:40 11 Jul 043900 -9 0.4 522 ~ CQ R6KA European Russia
VK3OT-@ 50315.0 UR5LAK 04:26 11 Jul KN89<FT8>QF12 QSO 73 again Ukraine
VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 UR0MC 04:15 11 Jul wkg S50R Ukraine
VK3DUT-@ 50313.0 UR0LAK 04:14 11 Jul FT8, into VK3 Ukraine
ZL1RS 50313.0 4L/DL7ZM 03:34 11 Jul RX only calling ZL Georgia
Z32ZM 50313.0 ZL3RC 03:57 11 Jul -14 dB 600Hz - and gone New Zealand

The opening seems to have been from 04:00 to 07:00 UTC which is 2pm to 5pm in Sydney. When the band does open, it seems to be pretty consistent around this window which suggests that it is not due to some random alignment of Sporadic-E clouds.

These are the paths on FT8 for the various Australian stations to Europe that I could find.

FM radio station on the Azores (87.7 MHz) heard across the Atlantic in Ontario, Canada - 8th July 2021

Thurs 8th July 2021: I reported recently on how a FM radio station on 88.0 MHz in Iceland had been heard near Cape Cod on the NE coast of the USA, a distance of some 3900kms. I can now report that a FM radio station on the Azores was heard in Ontario, Canada on the same day.

At 10:39 UTC on the 8th of July, William Hepburn near Grimsby in Ontario, Canada managed to hear RTP Antena 3 on Ponta Delgada in the Azores on a frequency of 87.7 MHz.

The distance was approximately 4,520 kms which is very close to the limit for double hop Sporadic-E.

William writes... "It took some investigation, podcasts, and a mix-up with Azores vs. Portugal time zones, but I managed to confirm reception of 87.7 RTP-3 Ponta Delgada, Azores (Pico de Barrosa xmtr) here in Grimsby, ON at 6:38-6:40 p.m. EDT July 8th. Top-of-the-band skip to Newfoundland was in at the time."

You can find a recording of what was heard on William's blog post HERE

For this extraordinary catch, William was using an ICOM R-8600 with a CHANNEL MASTER CM-3671 antenna.

Analysis: This is yet another example that Sporadic-E regions with a high maximum usable frequency (MUF) up as far as Band 2 (88-108 MHz) can occur over the North Atlantic. It may be possible that at times, one of the two regions may have a MUF up as high as 144 MHz.

It's interesting to look at the 4500 km circle and seeing how it reaches the Caribbean. 

Is there anyone in the Caribbean listening for FM radio stations on the Azores and the Canary Islands?

Is there anyone on the Azores or the Canary Islands listening for FM radio stations in the Caribbean?

If a FM radio station on Band 2 (88-108 MHz) can be heard then perhaps a contact on 144 MHz might be possible?

Links...
1) My Band 2 page with examples of long distance reception reports.

Mystery US callsign spotted on WSPR on 80m to 10m in Europe

The callsign K9YO with the locator square JO22SA has been reported on WSPR on 80m to 10m since the 28th of June 2021. 

The transmitter doesn't seem to be operational all of the time and the WSPR signal has been reported by 47 stations since the 28th of June. The map above shows those who have heard this signal on 28 MHz (10M) which suggests that the transmitter was only on air for a short period.

Does anyone have any info as to why is there a US callsign in the Netherlands???

Update: The LU7AA.ORG website suggests that it might have been a balloon.

FM radio station in Iceland on 88 MHz is heard in the USA (3900kms) - 8th July 2021

Thurs 8th July 2021: Over the last few weeks, there have been some remarkable openings on the FM band in the North Atlantic. Links to post HERE

On the 8th of July, there was yet another opening in the North Atlantic when a FM radio station on 88 MHz in Iceland was heard by four individuals in the USA. Three in the state of Massachusetts and one in New Jersey.

21:53 UTC 88.00 MHz RÚV Rás 1, Stykkishólmsbær/Stykkishólmur-símstöð (3,945 kms) 18kW (Bryce Foster (K4NBF), Mashpee, MA, USA)

22:06 UTC  88.00 MHz RÚV Rás 1, Stykkishólmsbær/Stykkishólmur-símstöð (3,921 kms) 18 kW (Jeff Lehmann, Rockland, MA, USA)

The individuals concerned were... Bryce Foster, K4NBF (MA), Jeff ?? (MA), Keith McGinnis (MA) and Nick Langan (NJ).

As can be seen above, the distance was just over 3,900 kms. The likely propagation mode was double hop Sporadic-E (1950 kms x 2). 

However, that part of the Mesosphere where Noctilucent Clouds are found has been shown to reflect radio signals and that can't be ruled out.

One hop Sporadic-E reception on Band 2 over southern latitudes for example in Europe or the USA is really nothing special. When we start getting up into the Arctic regions, it's less obvious what the cause is for long distance VHF signals and that's why these reports are of interest.

FM radio stations from Spain & Portugal heard in Canada again - 7th July 2021

Back on the 21st of June 2021, there was a remarkable opening across the North Atlantic when a FM radio station in Spain was heard by Larry Horlick, VO1FOG in Canada for the first time. Post HERE

On the 7th of July 2021, there was another trans-Atlantic opening when Larry Horlick heard five FM radio stations in Spain & Portugal on frequencies ranging from 88 to 93 MHz.

UTC MHz Station, location (Distance km) kW ERP 

13:18 87.90 RTP Antena 1, Serra da Lousã/Trevim, Portugal, (3,657 kms) 34 kW

13:52 89.90 Los 40 Classic, Segovia, Spain, (3,916 kms) 2 kW

13:53 90.00 Cadena 100, Salamanca, Spain, (3,799 kms) 6 kW

14:08 93.10 RNE Radio Clásica, Valladolid/Cerro de San Cristóbal, Spain, (3,838 kms) 30 kW

14:15 88.20 Los 40, León/Las Lomas (CAL-LE), Spain, (3,728 kms)  4 kW

Larry reports that the opening started at 12:54 UTC and lasted until about 14:27 UTC (~90 mins). Some of the Spanish stations were really strong and nothing was heard above 93.1 MHz.

During the opening, Larry tried three different antenna types on receive.... a half-wave dipole (retuned from lo Band TV to  FM BC), a new 10 el K6STI Yagi, and  a discone. 

The Yagi was superior all the time even though it had to be pointed to a beam heading of 45 degrees to prevent overload and intermod from the local FM radio stations in St.Johns. (Spain is 084 deg)

Even being outside the 3 dB beam width, Larry reports that signals were MUCH stronger on the Yagi than on the dipole. The discone antenna was useless.

Credits: I must thank Paul Logan in Ireland and Jorge Garzon in Spain for confirming that these recordings. Both are very experienced FMDXers and it's great to have their expertise to call on to make sure there was no mistake.

Propagation Mode: It looks likely that it's a case of double hop Sporadic-E again with perhaps two 1900km hops.

The weather map for the day shows an interesting kink in the Jet Stream in the middle of the North Atlantic and these features have been associated with Sproadic-E regions overhead.

Questions...

Considering that this is the second time a Spanish FM radio station has been heard in Newfoundland in 3 weeks, it raises some questions...

I really wonder if this opening is exceptional or does this trans-Atlantic path on the 88-108 MHz band open a lot of the time? Do FM radio stations in Spain & Portugal cross the Atlantic on a regular basis?

And if FM radio stations from Spain are reaching Newfoundland then FM radio stations in Canada must be reaching Spain. Is anyone listening? Who will be the first person on the Iberian Peninsula to hear a FM radio station from North America?

Links...

1) Larry's log on FM list for the 7th of July 2021

18,000km opening on 50 MHz between Europe and Australia - 7th July 2021

Wed 7th July 2021: There was yet another opening on the 50 MHz band between Australia and Europe on the 7th of July except this one seemed a bit more extensive. Looking at the PSK Reporter website, I found at least 15 Australian stations active for the opening.

These are the spots from the DX Cluster and they seem to indicate that as per usual, all of the activity was on the FT8 digital mode.

Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country

VK3OT-@ 50315.0 G3NSM 06:30 07 Jul decoded on ft8n England
VK3OT-@ 50314.0 UR0MC 06:13 07 Jul CQ VK FT8 Ukraine
VK3OT-@ 50313.0 UT7QF 06:11 07 Jul TNX QSO 73 Ukraine

SP6NVN 50313.0 VK5PJ 07:17 07 Jul -23 db hrd Australia
S57RR-@ 50323.5 VK3ZL 06:47 07 Jul FT8 -19dB JN65um<>QF22 TU! Australia
OH7KM 50313.0 VK2OO 05:57 07 Jul cq -20 Australia 

DG1VL 50313.0 VK4HJ 05:22 07 Jul FT8 -13dB 469Hz Australia
S57RR-@ 50315.3 VK2EFM 05:20 07 Jul FT8 -14dB JN65um<>QF56 CQ Australia

The longest path I could find was 18,009kms between VK2EFM near Sydney and EA1YV in the NW of Spain. That is only 2000kms short of the maximum distance without going to the long path (20,000kms+).

Q. Are there more 50 MHz openings to Australia from Europe??? ...There does seem to be an extraordinary number of openings from Australia to Europe at the moment on the 50 MHz band. This is after all a VHF band, it's not HF.

Is this year exceptional? 

Are there a lot more openings than usual?

Were these 50MHz openings happening in 2020 and I just didn't notice them?

I reported on one opening in July of 2019 and that seemed to me at the time to be very unusual. I think if I had noticed all of these openings in 2020, I would have written about it. If it was say from the SE of Australia to the Ukraine then I may not have said anything but any opening on 50 MHz from Australia to Western Europe is always special.

* * * 

FT8 reports on 50 MHz between Australia and Europe from the PSK Reporter website from the 7th of July 2021 are shown below...

50 MHz opening between Alaska and Europe - 5th July 2021

On the 5th of July 2021, there was a remarkable three hour opening between Alaska and Europe on the 50 MHz band. In this post, I'll present all the information that I was able to find on it.

The map above from the PSK Reporter website shows the paths open from KL7HBK in Alaska on the 50 MHz band. I have listed the stations at the end of this post. 

I was unable to find any other reports of any other station in Alaska hearing or being heard in Europe during this opening. KL2R who is a few hundred kms to the north however did report seeing signals over the pole but these digital signals had too much flutter to decode.

It should be noted that while the opening was in the middle of the day for the European stations, it was the middle of the night for stations in Alaska which would explain the lack of activity.

This is a map of the European stations which shows their distribution...

These are the spots from the DX Cluster...

G3ZSS 50323.0 KL7HBK 14:55 05 Jul Heard clg CQ Alaska
G8BCG-@ 50325.6 KL7HBK 14:41 05 Jul FT8 Alaska
S57RR-@ 50314.5 KL7HBK 14:28 05 Jul FT8 -05dB JN65um<>BO49 TU! Alaska
F5LNU 50323.0 KL7HBK 14:20 05 Jul JN04JV<>BO49 ft8 -14 big surpr Alaska
IK5YJY 50313.0 KL7HBK 12:43 05 Jul TNX !!!! #242 Alaska

Analysis: To be honest, when I first read about this opening on 50 MHz, I thought it couldn't be true. The perceived wisdom is that an opening on a VHF band like 50 MHz between Alaska and Europe is highly unlikely.

The fact that KL2R was also hearing signals across the pole and that the opening was in the middle of the Alaskan night convinced me otherwise (The opening started at 4:07am local time in Alaska).

I did a check on the DX-Cluster and I noticed that some stations in the north of Scandinavia and Russia were reporting auroral conditions on 144 MHz just after this 50 MHz opening from Alaska to Europe. This may have been a significant factor.

It's unlikely that one single propagation mode was responsible for this opening. It's likely that the first hop near Europe may have been the usual type of Sporadic-E.

Further north, Auroral-E propagation may have preceded the arrival of the small aurora.

We are right in the middle of the season for Noctilucent Clouds and scientists have recorded radar echoes from that part of the atmosphere. It's possible that this region was also a factor in this opening.

When we consider the many openings on 50 MHz between say the UK and Japan during the Summer months with signals traveling over the far north of Russia then maybe an opening from Alaska to Europe shouldn't be that suprising.

Problems and Opportunities: First off the problem. FT8 is a digital mode and it's not ideally suited for making contacts across the Polar regions where there can be a lot of distortion on signals. Some of the reported signals during the opening on the 5th of July were in the region of -6dB which should be strong enough for a weak CW contact. It's unwise to depend 100% on FT8.

The opportunity really is for stations in Alaska to get active during the night and explore this VHF path to Europe. It's also a reminder for more stations in Europe to beam north and to check for conditions.

Is an opening on 50 MHz to Alaska possible in the middle of the night in Europe?

Can beacons be heard rather than just FT8? 

If you beam north, are there distorted FT8 signals on the waterfall?

Is the period before a predicted aurora the best time for this type of trans-Polar propagation?

There is probably a lot more going on propagation wise over the Polar regions than we realise and it's an area that should be explored for possible paths.

FT8 spots from the PSK Reporter website...

144 MHz WSPR beacon in Hawaii heard by several stations in California (~4000kms)

Back in April of 2021, I had a post up about how Chris, N3IZN in the south of California was hearing the KH6HME WSPR beacon on Hawaii on 144 MHz. At that time, he seemed to be the only person listening for it.

It's good to see that 144 MHz WSPR activity is now on the increase in California and between the 28th of June and the 4th of July 2021, a total of eight stations heard the beacon in Hawaii.

This is the list of stations...

UTC (y-m-d)         TX                 txGrid RX         rxGrid MHz W SNR
2021-06-28 00:04 KH6HME/B BK29go KK6TG CM88qk 144.276997 20 -28
2021-06-28 02:12 KH6HME/B BK29go N3IZN/2 DM13ji 144.277008 20 -19
2021-06-28 15:22 KH6HME/B BK29go N6WS CM95 144.277033 20 -21
2021-06-28 16:54 KH6HME/B BK29go W6IT DM13bp 144.276998 20 -29
2021-06-28 17:10 KH6HME/B BK29go N6CA DM03ut 144.277005 20 -21
2021-06-30 20:00 KH6HME/B BK29go K7KX CM95nj 144.277045 20 -32
2021-07-01 04:20 KH6HME/B BK29go N3IZN DM13ji 144.276999 20 -28
2021-07-01 21:16 KH6HME/B BK29go K6TW DM03 144.277 20 -32

There were a total of 1590 reception reports during that period for the beacon which is pretty amazing considering the distance is in the region of 4000kms.

The strongest signal was +4db which was probably strong enough for a SSB QSO. The weakest signal -34dB which is about 20dB below what can be heard with the human ear.

This was the tropo forecast at 21:00 UTC on the 1st of July which seemed to be a good time for conditions...

There seems to be a 500km or so gap around Hawaii but there seems to have been a good tropo duct predicted for the eastern part of the path to California.

It's likely that the vast majority of the 1590 reception reports were via a tropo duct close to the ocean but considering it's the Summer time, a percentage could have been via Sporadic-E with a tropo extension.

These are the stations in California that heard the KH6HME beacon over a 700km or so front...

Snapshot of WSPR activity levels on various bands - Fri 2nd July 2021

2nd July 2021: For the last few weeks, I have been monitoring the WSPR frequency on 28.1246 MHz and uploading the reports to the WSPRnet website. I noticed on the 2nd of July that I was ranked 3rd in the world for 10m reception reports on that day.

This certainly isn't due to anything special on my part as I'm just using a simple CB type half-wave vertical. The 3rd place is likely due to my location in the north-west of Europe which means I was probably hearing a lot of European stations on that day and I might have a slight advantage towards North America.

WSPR activity: Looking at the data above, it gives a snapshot into the activity levels for WSPR on the various bands on what was a busy day for Sporadic-E propagation. 

The LF band down around 136 kHz has so little activity that it can be ignored. Perhaps it has more activity in Winter. Likewise for the MF band around 473 kHz.

The 70 MHz (4m) band has so few users that it is probably a waste of time using WSPR.

WSPR activity on 144 MHz (2m) is mostly confined to the SE of Australia and California. The level of activity in Europe is very low.

There is very little activity on the 432 MHz (70cms) and 1296 MHz (23cms) band.

I calculated the average number of stations heard by the five top receiving stations (>10 stns heard) on each band and this is what the chart looks like...

1.8 MHz (160m) / 3.5 MHz (80m) / 5.5 MHz (60m) ...Perhaps there is a lack of activity due to the amount of daylight during the Summer months but only 80m seems to have enough users for it to be meaningful.

7.0 MHz (40m) / 10.1 MHz (30m) / 14.0 MHz (20m) ...These are the only three bands where the level of activity is really high. I'd suggest that these are the bands that have enough users to make antenna tests and comparisons meaningful.

18.1 MHz (17m) / 21 MHz (15m) ...There is probably just enough activity on these bands to make them useful for propagation tests but the level of activity is well below the likes of 20m.

24.9 MHz (12m) ...The level of activity is very low and is probably of little value.

28 MHz (10m) ...From my experience, the level of activity outside of the summer Sporadic-E season is so low that it's pointless. Now during the Summer months however, there is a modest amount of activity but many of the propagation paths go unreported due to a lack of stations in suitable locations. In this respect, FT8 is much better at getting an idea of what the band conditions are like.

50 MHz (6m) ...Most of this activity is in Europe but the number of users is so low as to make it pointless.

In Conclusion: It might be interesting to take a snapshot again in the middle of Winter but for now, the WSPR mode is of limited use on some bands. Even though I monitor the 10m WSPR frequency every day, I can't really say it has any real advantages over say FT8 other than the fact the WSPR reception reports get stored for a longer period as opposed to 24 hours for FT8.

If you are interested in buying one of those small standalone WSPR transmitters for doing antenna tests then I'd suggest you choose one for either 40m, 30m or 20m.

Links...

1) WSPR Rocks website by Phil, VK7JJ

Opening on 50 MHz between Western Canada and Europe - 2nd July 2021

2nd July 2021: It was interesting to see that there was an opening on 50 MHz between Europe and the west coast of Canada on the 2nd. While openings on 50 MHz from Europe to say the eastern half of the USA and Canada are nothing special, the paths to the west coast have to go a lot further north and closer to the magnetic north pole.

The map above shows the paths from VE7SL near Vancouver on the west coast of Canada. Notice how the paths to Poland go way up over the north of Canada and Greenland and are in the region of 8000kms.

Was it multi-hop Sporadic-E (4 x 2000kms) or are the noctilucent clouds partly responsible???

Are there any openings from Europe to Alaska on 50 MHz?

These are the European stations that were heard by VE7SL...

105.9 MHz signal crosses the North Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland - 1st July 2021

1st July 2021: This was one of those remarkable days for VHF signals going across the North Atlantic. In an earlier post, I reported how someone in Cape Cod, MA in the USA managed to hear a FM radio station from the Azores Islands on 87.7 MHz. Later in the day, there was a remarkable opening on Band 2 from Newfoundland to Ireland.

Paul Logan in Lisnaskea in Co.Fermanagh in the north of Ireland managed to catch an extensive opening to St.John's, Newfoundland and logged no fewer than eight FM radio stations going from 88.5 MHz to 105.9 MHz. The distance was just over 3200kms.

The most significant of these loggings was that of CBAF-FM on 105.9 MHz as this is now the highest trans-Atlantic signal that has ever been recorded.

Here are the stations that Paul Logan heard...

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88.50 MHz / 20:45 UTC / CBN-1-FM / PI logged: B202 PS logged: CBC_____ RADIO_1_ / 3.6 kW
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbbj6-0T-pI
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94.70 MHz / 20:45 UTC / CHOZ-FM PI logged: C557 PS logged: __OZFM__ 3203km / 100 kW
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS2ybV3T6cg
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96.70 MHz / 20:45 UTC / VOAR-FM / local interference / 100 kW
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97.50 MHz / 20:43 UTC / VOCM-FM / PI logged: 79E0 / 100 kW
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJX3AtONQ0k
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99.10 MHz / 20:43 UTC / CKIX-FM / 100 kW
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101.10 MHz / 20:45 UTC / CKSJ-FM / difficult against local / 20 kW
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101.90 MHz / 20:44 UTC / CBAX-FM-2 / PI logged: B205 PS logged: ICI_____ Musique_ / 90 kW
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7hvMWLKY50
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105.90 MHz / 20:44 CAN / CBAF-FM-17 / 46 kW
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgz263usLQU

For the reception, Paul was using a ELAD FDM S2 SDR receiver with a Band 2 9-element Yagi 8m above ground level.

Propagation Mode: First off, let's have a look at the tropo forecast...

The prediction certainly suggests that tropo ducting probably didn't play much of a role in this trans-Atlantic opening. Considering the distance was around 3200kms, it looks likely that it was probably double-hop Sporadic-E.

However, there are plenty of reports of Noctilucent Clouds at present and this region at about 80-90 kms above the Earth can reflect radio signals. Is the opening strictly Sporadic-E (1600kms X 2) or is the top of mesosphere region where the Noctilucent Clouds are involved as well?

In Conclusion: To put this opening in perspective, this was only the 8th trans-Atlantic Band 2 opening for Paul Logan in a period of about 20 years and the highest yet in terms of frequency. I can't help wondering how high did the trans-Atlantic maximum usable frequency go? 

Did it extend into the air band around 120 MHz? 

Is there any chance it might have reached 144 MHz?

Azores FM radio station on 87.7 MHz heard in the USA - 1st July 2021

There was another remarkable opening on Band 2 across the North Atlantic on the 1st of July when Bryce Foster, K4NBF near Cape Cod in Massachusetts in the USA heard RTP Antena 3 on the Azores Islands on 87.7 MHz.

The distance was in the region of 3,830kms and it is I believe the very first reception report of a Band 2 signal from the Azores in the USA.

From what I understand, the reception happened at 14:15 UTC and it lasted for about 35-minutes.

The FM radio transmitter had a power of 30 kW and was located at the Pico da Barrosa site which is about 900m above sea level on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.

Propagation Mode: The map below shows the predicted tropo conditions on the North Atlantic path...

It would seem that the most likely propagation mode was double-hop Sporadic-E with perhaps TWO x 1900km hops. 

Around the same time as this trans-Atlantic opening, Larry Horlick, VO1FOG in Newfoundland heard a Band 2 FM radio station in Bermuda. This would suggest that there was an active Sporadic-E region in the western part of the N Atlantic capable of supporting propagation on Band 2.

The tropo map above shows a bit of tropo to the west of the Azores but I don't think it's enough to account for the additional 1500kms that is required to be added on to one Sp-E hop of 2300kms.

In Conclusion: Back on the 21st of June 2021, there was a remarkable trans-Atlantic opening on the 88-108 MHz band between Europe and Canada. See links to posts on this page.

Now just over a week later, we have another opening across the North Atlantic and the first reception report from the USA of the Azores.

I suspect this more southern path opens on Band 2 a lot more than we suspect and it will hopefully encourage more people the NE of the USA to listen for trans-Atlantic signals.

Opening on 28 MHz between Alaska and Europe - 30th June 2021

Wednesday 30th June 2021: This was an unusual day in that there was an opening between Alaska and Europe on the 28 MHz band. The map above shows the 24 hour plots for KL7J for the FT8 digital mode. 

Usually signals passing over the Arctic region have a distinctive distortion so it's interesting to see the digital FT8 signals getting through.

I wonder if there are similar openings but nobody notices because the FT8 signals get too distorted?

Here are the DX-Cluster spots...

Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country

SV2AEL 28074.0 KL7J 17:23 30 Jun tu 73! Alaska
PG7M 28074.0 KL7J 16:53 30 Jun What a surprise !!, tnx Alaska
KL7TC 28074.0 5B4AMM 09:10 30 Jun Cyprus
DO2HQS-@ 28074.0 KL7XO 07:20 30 Jun -08 73s Alaska

Some of the logs from the PSK Reporter website...

Extensive opening on 50 MHz from the UAE - 27th June 2021

On the 27th of June 2021, A65BR in the UAE posted on Twitter that he was hearing both Japan and the USA at the same time on the 50 MHz band.

This is an extract from the PSK Reporter website which shows it was open to Japan the USA.

A65BR JH8XTZ 6m FT8 7776 km 12:53:14
A65BR JA8XTG 6m FT8 7785 km 12:58:14
K4RX A65BR 6m FT8 12491 km 13:00:56

As can be seen from the map above and the PSK Reporter site, it's nearly 8000kms to Japan and over 12,000kms to the USA.

If we were to subscribe to the multi-hop Sporadic-E model of propagation then we would believe that there was 4 hops to Japan and 6 hops to the USA at the same time on the 50 MHz band. What are the chances of that?

I wonder if the amateur radio community are too quick to assume everything is 'Sporadic-E' during the Summer months?

3500km+ opening on 144 MHz between England and Israel - 25th June 2021

Friday 25th June 2021: There was an extensive Sporadic-E opening on 144 MHz across Europe that lasted several hours. Stations in the south of England were able to work the south of Italy, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. Most of there were in the region of about 2000kms which is pretty normal for one-hop Sporadic-E.

For a brief window of about 10-15 minutes around 16:40 UTC, the path on 144 MHz from England opened up to Israel.

The map above shows three stations in Israel that were heard by G4LOH on FT8.

4X/OM2IB was around 3840kms, 4X1GA was around 3845kms and 4X1BG was around 3820kms.

This is the map for G4FUF near London who heard two stations in Israel.

The distance to 4Z5CP was around 3750kms and around 3520kms for 4X4MH.

From what I understand, both of the English stations were unable to complete the FT8 contacts.

It once again highlights the FT8 paradox.

Because everyone is on the one frequency, FT8 is great for being able to hear unusual signals.
Because everyone is on the one frequency, FT8 is terrible for making contacts because there is too  much interference.

These are the spots from the DX-Cluster which are all for FT8.

G4FUF 144174.0 4Z5CP 16:49 25 Jun JO01GN<ES>KM72MT lost EU QRM Israel
G4FUF 144174.0 4X4MH 16:44 25 Jun JO01GN<ES>KM72KD TX 2nd Israel

G4LOH 144174.0 4X/OM2IB 16:42 25 Jun IO70JC<ES>KM72JC Hrd -5 Israel
G4LOH 144174.0 4X1BG 16:34 25 Jun IO70JC<ES>KM72KM Hrd 3 pds Israel

Propagation Mode: It seems likely that the 144 MHz opening from England to Israel was via double hop Sporadic-E. Whether it was via a reflection at the midway point or went from Sp-E cloud to Sp-E cloud (chordal hop) is open for debate.

This is the tropo prediction map from Pascal, F5LEN which shows some enhancement over the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Again, whether a tropo duct was involved in the eastern part of the 3500km+ path is open for debate.

In Conclusion: Israel has been worked from England before on 144 MHz so this opening is nothing new. It is however a reasonably rare occurrence. Any path that on 144 MHz that is well in excess of 3500kms is always worth reporting.

Link...

1) See my 144 MHz page of plenty of examples of 3000km plus openings on 144 MHz.

Second Spanish station identified on 95.8 MHz in Trans-Atlantic opening on the 21st of June 2021

As outlined in a previous post, Larry Horlick VO1FOG in Newfoundland heard a trans-Atlantic Spanish radio station on 88.8 MHz on the 21st of June 2021. Thanks to recordings that Larry has sent on to me, another Spanish radio station has now been identified.

This one was RNE Radio 3 on 95.8 MHz from the 100 kW transmitter at Navacerrada near Madrid.

The distance to Newfoundland is in the region of 3940 kms and it was very likely to have been due to double hop Sporadic-E as outlined in the previous post.

As well as the distance being 200 kms or so longer, it's interesting to note that the maximum usable frequency (MUF) for this double hop trans-Atlantic path was 7 MHz higher and well into the Band 2 broadcast band.

This is a recording of the signal on 95.8 MHz as it was heard in Newfoundland...

John, EI7GL · 2021 - Jun - 21 12 03 43 95point8

This matches the podcast for the RNE Radio 3 programme on the day. Link HERE

Credit: Thanks to FM DXer Paul Logan in the north of Ireland who helped identify this station and who also heard a FM radio station in Quebec during the same opening.

Sporadic-E footprint: It's interesting to see how the path from Madrid to Newfoundland is almost exactly in line with the other reception of the RNE R5 station on 88.8 MHz near Zamora. 

Sporadic-E openings on the 88-108 MHz band are often like this with the stations heard stretched out in a straight line.

In Conclusion: I have covered the likely propagation mode in the earlier post which is HERE. As well as the distance and frequency of this second report, I am also struck by it's symbolism. 

If a FM transmitter on 95.8 MHz serving Madrid, the capital of Spain can be heard across the North Atlantic in Newfoundland then what can FM Dxers and other radio enthusiasts in the Iberian Peninsula hear from North America?

And on a final note. Larry observes that there were MANY other radio stations in Spanish during this opening. We were able to identify just two from the audio recordings.

Mystery Station: There is a third and final recording but it's just a song. 

It is the song 'Black Velvet' from Alannah Myles and it was heard from 11:55 UTC to 11:59 UTC on 89.9 MHz. Station? Location?

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Update - 27th June 2021: The mystery third station has now been identified as Los 40 Classic. A visitor to the blog (FinnDX) saw the comment above about the mystery station and then used this website to check back through the playlist of stations for the last week... https://onlineradiobox.com/

This is a composite of a screen capture that I took before it disappeared. The website seems to be showing what the time was in my location which is an hour ahead of UTC during the Summer months.

12:54 Irish time = 11:54 UTC.

This is a 2kW transmitter located at Segovia which is just to the north-west of Madrid.