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...
