Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Skewed propagation path on 28 MHz between Australia & South America - Dec 2021


Recently, Scott VK4CZ reported a skewed path on 28 MHz between Australia and South America.

The image above shows what happened. The direct and shortest path from VK4CZ to CE2SV is 11,800kms and is shown in Green. The beam heading from eastern Australia is 142 degrees.

VK4CZ however found that the FT8 signals from CE2SV peaked at about 70 degrees, a skewed path that was about 70 degrees off the direct path.

Scott mentions that the skewed path opening was from 21:00 - 22:00 UTC and I believe at that time period, the sun was directly over the centre of the Pacific.

VK4CZ was using an ICOM IC-7600 with a 5-element monoband Yagi for 28 MHz at 20 metres above ground level.


Scott, VK4CZ writes... "It's been amazing to see the scatter path to South America out of the North Pacific available again on 10m yesterday and again this morning. This path was a consistent feature through the peak of last cycle, and with digital modes it's becoming available now!

Worked/seen this morning were HK (Columbia), LU (Argentina) and CE (Chile) all peaking at a QTF of 70. Direct QTF for CE 145... so well off a direct path.

It's an interesting propagation mode that I regularly observe across the Pacific. As I understand, it's trans-equatorial scatter.

The same path should be available to Africa in the afternoon/evenings from here.

The likelihood of it also being available at 50MHz is high.... we'll just need the cycle to progress towards the peak to be sure.

A couple of cycles back, I heard Peter PY5CC in Brazil on 6m CW using the same path (albeit late afternoon when TEP peaked to KH6 / Hawaii)."

Analysis... This is my understanding of what happened and I'm open to correction. Directly under the sun near the equator, the solar radiation is at it's highest and the F layer of the ionosphere is highly ionized with a high maximum usable frequency (MUF).

This is usually split into two zones of high electron density either side of the geomagnetic equator but in December, the southern one is much larger.

This can be thought to be like a tube like structure that is stretched out east-west.


The above graphic is a bit rough but you can get the general idea of the signal hitting the F layer from the side.

Skewed paths are a fascinating subject and are allow serious DXers and contesters to exploit paths when the direct path isn't possible. This is especially true on the higher HF bands like 28 MHz where the shortest east-west paths are often closed.

I suspect these skewed paths happen a lot more often than we realise especially now that so many people are using weak signal modes like FT8.

Sunday, December 5, 2021

Guest Post: VHF & UHF operation... by Alan Johnson, VK3DXE

VK3DXE in Australia recently posted this article on his Facebook page and it is republished here with his kind permission to reach a wider audience. In it, he outlines what attracted him to the VHF bands.


I've been a member of a number of VHF/UHF Ham pages for a while, and keep seeing a lot of misconceptions and myths being picked up and quoted over and over by newcomers, and sadly a lot of not-so-newcomers who’ve brought their HF Game with them to the higher bands. 

I first became fascinated with VHF tropo propagation as a young kid living in the country, where we only had 2 TV channels, but occasionally we’d get the channels from the city suddenly appear when the conditions were right. You can imagine the excitement for a young kid way back then who's suddenly discovered some new TV channels! We had a neighbour up the hill who happened to be a Ham, and he explained to me how tropo worked. I was hooked, and from then on, whenever the weather forecast maps looked promising, and we got the right conditions, summer or winter, I’d start looking for the telltales that the city channels were going to pick up.

Fast forward 7 or 8 years, and I eventually got my Australian Novice license, quickly upgrading to the Advanced Call within a year when I was about 15 or 16. We were near the top of the sunspot cycle at the time, so I went nuts on HF for the next few years. But as the sunspots waned, I was drawn to the higher bands…..

As a youngster it was sometimes tough putting up a decent 2m yagi, but I always found a way of getting something in the air, and making the most of what I had available, even when living in rental housing. I just had to be creative, and sometimes a bit cheeky. The good thing about a 2m yagi though, was that even if anybody noticed it, they'd just figure it was a TV antenna.....  

You can build a small yagi like this in an afternoon with some simple tools.

I learned about aircraft enhancement in the days before we had all the funky tools we have today, before the widespread coming of the Internet. We managed to regularly make 2m SSB contacts of up to 700km (400+ miles) with smallish yagis and relatively low power - one path of 740km was quite good even with my portable station, with just a little 4 element yagi and Yaesu FT-290R II running only 2.5 watts!  

Living in inner city urban areas, I really began to appreciate low noise antenna designs (DL6WU & K1FO were the early leaders) and radio frontends that didn't collapse in the presence of strong out of band signals. I learned about GaAsFET LNAs (Low Noise Amplifiers, or preamps) too, and the importance of what was in front of the radio on RX. You have to think of your station as a system.

In the early 1990’s the Bible of VHF+ was published. The VHF/UHF DX Book very quickly became the must-have tome in every serious VHFer’s library. Although some of the chapters are now a bit dated, especially those relating to equipment, I strongly suggest everybody with even a fleeting interest in the higher bands downloads a copy and reads it. Hopefully it’ll help to undo some of the myths about VHF+ that have persisted in the hobby for far too long, things like the belief that troppo is only a summertime thing, and that troppo is the only worthwhile propagation mode on VHF+. Download it here: http://www.trpub.net/assets/applets/VHF-UHF_DX_Book.pdf

As the Internet came along and people developed all sorts of new tools, and we learnt about Forums, email reflectors, and then FaceBook pages, the opportunities to learn and collaborate grew amazingly.

Then the WSJT suite of software changed things overnight. All of a sudden, the little guys running just 100w to a 10 element yagi could successfully work stations on the other side of the world on 2m and above via EME, or Earth-Moon-Earth. I worked a dozen countries with just a single yagi and less than 200w at the antenna. 

Just last weekend, I was listening to HB9Q in Switzerland on 23cm for hours here in my /P shack while we're living in temporary accommodation, with a beautiful steady signal, often quite audible in the speaker, all on a tiny 60cm x 90cm gridpack antenna. 


Eventually, once I get my 2.4m dish in the air and find a suitable amplifier, I hope to be able to work him on 23cm SSB at home.... JT65 and Q65 will be an absolute walk in the park.

Lots of signals on 23cm with the gridpack.

In Australia, where we don’t have the population of Europe or North America, the Ham fraternity have embraced WSPR on 2m, and have demonstrated VHF paths of sometimes thousands of kilometres that no amount of listening to white noise for beacons or a coincidentally-timed CQ would find with the naked ear. Those paths are now being exploited regularly on digital modes, with people moving to SSB when conditions become strong enough. I've been around the hobby for a long time, but so too have the "old farts", some of whom vociferously decry the use of digital modes, but our experience here in Australia has really demonstrated how digital modes can be exploited to help get those SSB contacts that very probably would never have taken place otherwise. WSPR has been so successful that there are now WSPR beacons on Hawaii (often heard on West Coast USA), and in New Zealand, with a fantastic signal into East Coast Australia during the summer tropo season.

A little 4 element Cushcraft yagi. Even this is enough to decode some of the Big Guns off the Moon. I had many WSPR 2-ways with this one, out to 700km with Aircraft Enhancement

Next time you're asked by anybody (PARTICULARLY CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE) about the hobby, instead of trying to excite them with boring stories of talking on HF or FM repeaters, which they tend to equate with the equivalent of dialing random numbers on their cellphone to talk to old farts with bad combover hairstyles about their hemorrhoids, try telling them about stuff like all the space comms stuff we have access to, and can actively participate in, like using the repeater on the ISS, and all the other satellites we have access to. Tell them about Moonbounce, and how you can actually demonstrate the speed of light in action - you know exactly when the station on the other end has stopped transmitting, but can still see and hear his signal coming back at you for those additional 2 or 3 seconds it takes to travel all the way to the Moon and back. THAT gets young people more excited than listening to old farts! Try talking to them about meteor scatter, and how the military has used it for communication systems to counter the effects of comms satellites being wiped out in a conflict, or a dirty big EMP bomb wiping out HF. Tell them about aircraft enhancement, which is really bistatic radar, and how some clever dude worked out a way of using it to detect stealth aircraft by using commercial broadcasters behind enemy lines to illuminate the target. Tell them about all the really funky atmospheric and weather science they can learn just by playing with weak signals on VHF+. Tell them about the funky networking knowledge they can gain from modes like D-Star, IRLP, Echolink, etc. 

The /P shack while I'm away from home

Anyways, I've written this piece in response to a recent influx of newcomers and not-so-newcomers to the higher bands, possibly on the back of purchasing themselves a brand new IC-9700. I fully appreciate that everybody starts their learning journey from different places and has different interests, but some of the myths and misunderstandings I see are staggering. Unfortunately, so much of the Ham narrative has become very HF-centric, and that mindset often pervades discussions, and the marketing of the hobby, so this is just my little bit to try to counter some of that.  Remember to download the VHF/UHF DX Book from the link above, and jump onto some of the more technical pages and start learning. 

I'll be doing a bit of a write up soon on the importance of frequency accuracy and STABILITY on VHF+. Watch this space.

Enjoy!

de VK3DXE

Friday, December 3, 2021

Successful WSPR reports on the 40 MHz band in the USA - Nov 2021


Over the last few months seven stations in the USA have received experimental permits for the 40 MHz band... see previous post.

While a few have tried FT8, a number have been using the WSPR mode as an experimental beacon. 

A list of of some of the reports are shown below with maps shown above.

1) WX2XCC in California is operated by Chris, N3IZN and he has a remote receiver listening for his own WSPR transmissions. During what was probably a Sporadic-E opening on the 40 MHz band, he was decoded by VA7MM in Vancouver in western Canada at a distance of 1819 kms.

UTC (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2021-10-28  22:12 WM2XCC DM13 N3IZN/SDR DM13ji 40.663484 2 7 0 21
2021-11-28 17:48 WM2XCC DM13 VA7MM CN89og 40.663488 2 -17 0 1819

2) WM2XEJ in Georgia is operated by Tom, WB4JWM and his WSPR signal has been reported by two stations... NZ2X and N4WLO.

UTC (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift km
2021-11-23 15:08 WM2XEJ EM83 NZ2X EM83ij 40.663473 10 5 0 25
2021-11-29 17:48 WM2XEJ EM83 N4WLO EM50uo 40.663433 10 -23 0 589

While NZ2X is a local station, the distance to N4WLO is 589 kms which is pretty short if it was Sporadic-E.

3) WX2XCW is operated by Hal, NR7V is just in the far north-west of Washington state. He is very close to the city of Vancouver and all of the reports are from local Canadian stations.

UTC (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W SNR drift
2021-10-28 22:06 WM2XCW CN88 VA7MM CN89og 40.663527 0.2 2 0
2021-10-28 22:06 WM2XCW CN88 VE7UTS CN89li 40.663524 0.2 -8 0
2021-11-22 18:16 WM2XCW CN88 VE7RPX CN89lh 40.663529 2 -16 0
2021-11-22 18:36 WM2XCW CN88 VE7AFZ CN89ji 40.663527 2 -28 0

Overall, it's still early days but hopefully more stations will start transmitting on WSPR and more will start listening and uploading their spots to the WSPRnet website.

Link...
1) More info on my 40 MHz page

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

New experimental license issued for the 40 MHz band in Canada - Q4 2021


In a recent post, I outlined how seven stations in the USA had been given experimental permits for the 40 MHz band.

One of those permits (WM2XCW) went to Halden Field, NR7V in the far north-west of Washington state. Halden also holds the Canadian callsign of VE7UTS and he has also received an experimental license from the Canadian authorities for the 40 MHz band.

The experimental callsign allocated is CGB209 and it is for 50 watts ERP from a fixed location in a 4 kHz wide frequency allocation centered on 40.6635 MHz.

VE7UTS writes... "CGB209 is now transmitting from the same location as VE7UTS on a 10-minute interval.  The VE7UTS receiver is deaf when CGB209 is transmitting.  

CGB209 is encoded in reverse sequence in the WSPR packet because WSPR protocol doesn't support numbers in a callsign suffix or a letter as a callsign's 3rd character."

CGB209 has been transmitting for the last few weeks on WSPR on 40 MHz and has been received by the following stations locally in the Vancouver area.

UTC (y-m-d) TX txGrid RX rxGrid MHz W                 SNR drift 
2021-11-16 20:02 902BGC CN89 VE7RPX CN89lh 40.663529 0.2 -3
2021-11-17 04:52 902BGC CN89 VA7MM CN89og 40.663528 0.2 -13
2021-11-21 15:36 902BGC CN89 VE7UTS CN89li 40.663406 1 -13
2021-11-23 05:30 902BGC CN89 VE7AFZ CN89ji 40.663526 1 -25

VE7UTS / CGB209 is currently using 1-watt into a quarter wave ground place and hopes to upgrade to 10-watts soon.

Analysis... The main propagation mode for experiments in the short term is going to be Sporadic-E and with a maximum single hop distance of about 2200kms, all of the current US experimenters will be out of range with the exception of WM2XCC in southern California. 

Over the Winter months, there will be plenty of Sporadic-E openings on the 40 MHz band and it's likely that anyone in the LA to San Francisco area will be able to hear the 40 MHz WSPR signals from Canada if they put their mind to it.

From the second half of April 2022, the single hop Sporadic-E openings will become a lot more common. In May, June & July 2022, some double hop openings to the eastern half of the USA are possible.

F2 to Florida???... As we head towards the sunspot maximum, the maximum usable frequency will climb upwards and will reach the 40 MHz band. It will be interesting to see if there will be a 4000km opening via F2 propagation from Vancouver to Florida?

Canadian Info: If any radio amateurs in Canada are interested in trying for a 40 MHz 'Developmental Licence', have a look at this website for more info... https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf11373.html#how

40 MHz Info: As always, check out my 40 MHz page which has plenty of information about this new 8m band.... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Monday, November 29, 2021

Example of TEP on 40 MHz between South Africa & Spain - 30th Oct 2021


Back on the 30th of October 2021, there was a nice TEP opening on the new 40 MHz band between South Africa and Spain.

Joan, EA3ERE reports that he heard the ZS6WAB beacon on 40.675 MHz using an ICOM IC-7300 and a dipole for the HF bands. The distance was almost 8000kms.

Joan kindly sent on a video of the reception and it's shown below...

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Galway Radio Club Newsletter - Issue 3 - Winter 2021


Galway Radio Club have just released their Winter 2021 edition of their annual newsletter and as always, it's packed full of interesting features.

It literally covers the whole spectrum going from a 5-element beam for the 80m band to WiFi interference in the microwave bands.


You can view the PDF document HERE

For a free publication, a lot of work has obviously gone into compiling it and it a credit to what is a small radio club.

I have links to the 2019 and 2020 editions below.

3) For more information on the Galway Radio Club, visit https://www.galwayradio.com/

Friday, November 26, 2021

Baofeng UV5R is banned for sale by German authorities


The Baofeng UV-5R is a hugely popular handheld radio covering both the 144 and 432 MHz bands and is usually available for a very low price.

It is also well known for not being the cleanest of radios transmit wise with many spurs which aren't that far below the fundamental signal which can be a potential source of interference to other services.

On the 24th of November 2021, the German authorities announced a ban on sale of this radio.

Will a EU wide ban follow??

From Google translate...

Official Journal of the Federal Network Agency for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railways 
22 2021 - regulation, telecommunications - 1457

Ordinance No. 91/2021
Law on the provision of radio equipment on the Market (Radio Equipment Act -FuAG):
General decree regarding a sales ban for a machine
As part of the market surveillance according to the FuAG, the Federal Network Agency pointed out that the below named device does not comply with the requirements of the FuAG.
The Federal Network Agency issues on the basis of Section 23 Paragraph 2 No.4 i. V. m. § 30 Paragraph 3 FuAG the following
General decree:
1. The further provision, placing on the market and the passing on of the device listed below is prohibited.
Information about the device:
Product Type: Radio
Device type: radio telephone
Model: UV-5R 5W HT
Trademark: BAOFENG

Importer: Agnieszka Bastek Demo Bis, Warsaw

Modest conditions on 28 MHz - 25th Nov 2021


Thursday 25th November 2021:
For the last week or so, I've left the radio listening for WSPR signals on 28 MHz and the number of stations that I am hearing has seemed to decrease.

For a change, I listened to the much more active FT8 frequency on 28 MHz and and the map for the day is shown above. There are some DX signals in there including Australia and Thailand but I wouldn't say conditions were particularly good.

I heard a few Sporadic-E signals from western Europe but most of the stations heard were via F2 propagation. You can clearly see the first hop F2 signals going from the south of Italy, though Greece and up to the Ukraine and Russia.

The solar flux was 84 which is low enough as the sun seems to have lost a bit of its recent sunspot activity.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Video: A beginners guide to FT8 ...by VK7HH


Even though I don't use FT8 for making contacts, I find it to be a very useful tool in that it can give me a very good idea of what band conditions are like after listening for just a few minutes.

Hayden, VK7HH recently released this video which might be of interest to anyone new to the mode.


Chapters
0:00 An Introduction for Beginners
0:28 What is FT8?
2:16 A QSO Example & How well does it work?
4:16 Get Your Timing Right!
5:12 Setting up WSJT-X for the FT8 Mode
8:29 My Waterfall settings
9:44 Transmitting and message sequencing
14:54 Setting your TX audio level and ALC drive
17:15 I've never worked that country before!
18:11 How much Power should you run?
19:48 A bonus tip to level up your DX abilities!

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

FM radio station in Colombia on 93.1 MHz heard in Chile via TEP opening - 21st Nov 2021


21st November 2021: Back in October, I had intended to publish a post about reception of a FM radio station on 93.1 MHz in Columbia by Alejandro, CE3VRT in Santiago, Chile. The distance was 5000kms and the propagation mode was TEP - Trans-Equatorial Propagation.

I was so busy, I forgot to publish it and it remained as a draft! The post is now shown below for the 20th of October 2021. 

What reminded me of this was that CE3VRT heard the same radio station again on 93.1 MHz but this time the TEP signals were so strong, he was able to hear them with just the telescopic whip on his TecSun PL398.

Back in October, Alejandro was using a log periodic directional antenna outdoors on a mast to hear the signals but to hear FM radio signals on 93.1 MHz on the VHF FM band from 5000kms away with just a telescopic whip is really amazing.


20th October 2021:  Recepción FM DX via TEP (muy fuerte) "La Mega" 93.1Mhz Colombia, desde Stgo, Chile. Reception of 'La Mega' radio station in Colombia on 93.1 MHz by CE3VRT in Chile

Propagation mode: TEP
Distance: Approx 5000kms

"TEP opening (trans-equatorial propagation) very strong and somewhat short. The station tuned is "La Mega" from Barranquilla, Colombia, reception in the southern zone of Santiago de Chile (~ 5000km) using an Airspy HF + dual port and a logarithmic directional antenna for TV / FM."

Reception on Wednesday, October 20, starting at 21:30 PM local time (Oct 21 - 00:30 UTC)

Monday, November 22, 2021

EI2TKR 2m repeater in NW Ireland to return to service soon

The EI2TKR repeater in north-west Ireland has been off the air for a number of years. It used to operate on 145.700 MHz.

The good news is that the repeater has been upgraded and is currently on test at a site near Bundoran in the south of Donegal.

It is currently running 25 watts and it is hoped to upgrade that to 50 watts in a few weeks time. 

The eventual plan is to put the repeater back up on Truskmore, a 647 metre high mountain in the NE of Co Sligo sometime in 2022.

Details of the FM repeater...

Channel RV56 (R4).
Output Frequency 145.700MHz
Input frequency 145.100MHz
CTCSS only 77Hz.

Reports to EI5IMB.

Friday, November 19, 2021

There are now 7 experimental US stations on the 40 MHz band - Nov 2021


18th Nov 2021:
In previous posts, I detailed how some amateur radio stations in the USA had managed to obtain special experimental permits to operate on the new 40 MHz band. 

The first 40 MHz permit WL2XUP near Atlanta was issued back in June of 2021. See this previous post.

The second permit WL2XZQ near Houston was issued in August. See this previous post.

As of mid November 2021, there are now seven experimental permits for the 40 MHz and these are shown on the map above and in the list below. An eight from Alabama is pending.


The permit allows for experiments in the frequency range of 40.660 to 40.700 MHz which is the 40 MHz ISM band (Industrial, Scientific, Medical).

The permits allow ERP powers in the region of 100-400 watts and the license lasts for two years.

Propagation: If you examine the map above, you'll note that the distances between the various experimenters.

For example, take WM2XCS in New Jersey. He is 950kms from WM2XAN, 1200kms from WL2XUP and 2250kms from WL2XZQ. 

WL2XZQ in Houston is 1800kms from WM2XAN.

WM2XCC in California is 2100kms from WL2XZQ, 3050kms from the stations near Atlanta, 1800kms from WM2XCW.

WM2XCW is the far north-west of Washington state is 3150kms from Houston and 3900kms from New Jersey.

It is highly unlikely that tropospheric propagation will contribute much to the experiments. The distances for aircraft scatter are also likely to be too far. Some in the 500-1200km range may manage to complete contacts with digital modes like MSK144 with meteor scatter.

The real workhorse on the 40 MHz band is going to be Sporadic-E. There may be a few openings over the next few months but things will really get going at the end of April 2022. At that stage, the experimental stations will have had time to get their radios and antennas ready for the band and I'd expect that contacts in the range of 800 to about 2200 kms will be common with something in the region of 1700kms being the most common distance.

In the second half of May 2022, double hop Sporadic-E openings will become more common and at that stage, contacts from the west coast to the eastern half of the USA should be possible.


Crossband: Just like in Europe, there are likely to be crossband contacts from 40 MHz to 28 MHz and from 40 MHz to 50 MHz with those who cannot transmit on the 8m band. 

Someone doesn't need an special 40 MHz permit to take part in the experiments. The experimental stations are likely to be using SSB, CW, FT8 and WSPR and I'm sure they would like to make as many crossband contacts as possible as well as receiving any reports of their transmissions.

Analysis: It's great to to this surge in interest in the 40 MHz band in the USA. The 8m band is NOT just another band. It is halfway between the 28 MHz and 50 MHz bands and it can be useful for exploring just how high the maximum usable frequency (MUF) goes as the solar activity increases as we head towards the sunspot maximum.

For example, it would be interesting to know what kind of solar flux/sunspot number is required before there are east-west openings between say California and the eastern part of the United States.

It would be really nice if some stations in South America were able to listen on the 40 MHz band and then try to complete some crossband TEP contacts with experimental stations in the southern states of the USA.

Links...
Check out my 40 MHz page for more info... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Some local tropo on the FM band (88-108 MHz) - 17th Nov 2021


Wednesday 17th November 2021: I noticed some tropo signals on Band 2 (88-108 MHz) this afternoon and I spent a while doing a scan of the band.

The biggest problem is that I can hear around 75 signals on the band under flat conditions and that doesn't leave many gaps on the band for distant signals to come through.

I did hear four stations that were certainly via tropo propagation with distances ranging from 167 to 281 kms.


Under flat conditions, I can hear some of the main network FM stations on mountains that are about 130kms away.

While this reception report isn't all that unusual, it was still nice to catch these signals by just using the telescopic whip antenna of my TecSun PL-380 standing at a north facing window of my house.


It always impresses me how well this little radio works with just its own antenna.

Analysis of Sporadic-E propagation with WSPR reports by KN6DAD



In a recent article titled 'Detecting Putative Sporadic E Propagation in WSPRNet Spot Records ' for TAPR, Jeanette Zhou, KN6DAD outlined how she used data from the WSPRnet website to investigate Sporadic-E propagation.

She writes... "WSPRNet propagation data were downloaded from http://wsprnet.org/drupal/downloads  and solar indices were from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) (gfz-potsdam.de) in February, 2021. 

WSPRNet spot records of 28, 50, and 144 MHz transmissions during 2020 were then used for the analysis, combining related spot records with the same timestamp and sender call sign to remove duplicates.

Putative sporadic E propagations were identified as when a transmission’s distance was about 1200 km in the above identified bands; the total number of records used for the analysis was 1,118,989. "

She then used the data to general the chart above which clearly shows the Summer peak of the Sporadic-E season although I suspect that many of the reports on 144 MHz in July, August & October were due to tropospheric propagation. The 144 MHz data may also be skewed from the fact that there aren't that many people using WSPR on 144 MHz in Europe or North America.

It was interesting that she found that a high Kp index resulted in poor Sporadic-E conditions.

"In conclusion, the putative sporadic E propagation in the WSPRNet spot records seems to be consistent with known seasonal variations of sporadic E propagation and corresponding geographic distribution, which suggests that these records provide a large number of observations that could be used to study sporadic E formation.

Exploratory data analysis also suggests that Kp index may be negatively correlated with recorded sporadic E propagation."

This corelates with the theory that quiet geomagnetic conditions are better for Sp-E formation. 

In summary... I found this article interesting not only because it shows the Sporadic-E season but also it shows the perils of using WSPR spots for analysis. 

For example, look at how poor the numbers are for April on 28 MHz and yet we know that there are always plenty of Sporadic-E openings at the end of April. 

The reason there are so few WSPR spots for April is because there are so few people using it on the 10m band. Once the propagation starts getting better in May then a lot more people start using WSPR on the band. 

In other words, a lot of the data is due to human activity rather than actual conditions. If a band looks dead then people are less likely to have WSPR transmitters active which means many openings generate no reports.

A million plus WSPR records sounds impressive but a lot of the data in there will be skewed by assumptions about the propagation mode, a lack of WSPR stations on the higher VHF bands and human behaviour.

WSPR reports can probably be used for propagation analysis but you would need to be very careful about what data you select to use.

The full article can be seen on Page 7 of the PDF document HERE

Friday, November 12, 2021

IW0HK QRSS beacon heard on 28 MHz - 12th Nov 2021


Friday 12th November 2021:
Normally it's during the Summer months and the main Sporadic-E season that I have a look for QRSS signals on the 28 MHz band (QRSS - Very slow visual form of morse code).

During a short Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz the 12th of November, I noticed that I was hearing the IW0HK beacon near Rome on 28.3219 MHz. I didn't recognise the callsign and I had to check the cluster to see that I last heard it back on the 25th of May 2019.

I noticed on the beacon list that it was also a QRSS beacon so I fired up Spectrum Lab and grabbed the screen shot above.

As you can see, the QRSS ID is 'H K' which is sent over the space of about 1-minute.

The power is listed as 1-watt and the antenna is a vertical.

The distance as seen from the map below is about 1900kms which is pretty normal for Sporadic-E. It's just a little unusual to get it at nearly 9pm local time in November.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Hong Kong beacon heard on 28 MHz - 10th Nov 2021


Wednesday 10th November 2021: There are so many signals on FT8 on the 28 MHz band at the moment, it's almost got too easy. It seems I'm happiest when the band is barely open at sunspot minimum! 😂

I really don't have much interest in making any DX contacts so I like to have the occasional trawl through the beacon band to see what's coming through.

It was nice to hear the CW beacon from Hong Kong (VR2B) this morning on 28.200 MHz. As the image above shows, this is part of the IARU International Beacon Project.

I spotted the beacon on the DX Cluster as did F4CXO in France.

  Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
EI7GL 28200 VR2B/B 09:26 10 Nov 21 IO51TU<F2>OL72BG Hong Kong
F4CXO 28200 VR2B/B 09:02 10 Nov 21 JN26PP<>OL72BG 519 Hong Kong

The distance for me was just over 10,000 kms.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

All 5 Greek 10m beacons heard on the 28 MHz band - 9th Nov 2021


Tuesday 9th November 2021: I did a scan of the 28 MHz band this morning and I heard all of the five Greek beacons on the band.

My DX Cluster spots from the morning...

 Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
EI7GL 28265.4 SV2RSS/B 11:43 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>KN10LO Greece (3w GP)
EI7GL 28271.6 SV2HQL/B 11:36 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>KM09UV Greece (5w 5/8 vertical)
EI7GL 28269.0 SV6DBG/B 11:34 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>KM09KQ Greece (2w vertical)
EI7GL 28244.4 SV2FQN/B 11:30 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>KN10FC Greece (5w GP)
EI7GL 28224.8 YM7TEN/B 11:28 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>KN91RB Asiatic Turkey
EI7GL 28224.7 IT9EJW/B 11:27 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>JM77NN Sicily 
EI7GL 28201.4 SV2HNE/B 11:25 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>KN10LL Greece (5w GP)
EI7GL 28200.0 VK6RBP/B 09:45 09 Nov IO51TU<F2>OF87AV Australia

I hear several of these every Summer via double hop Sporadic-E but this time around, it was via F2 layer propagation as the solar conditions improve.

With just one F2 hop, the signals are stronger and I heard all five of the Greek beacons in the space of 20 minutes.

As can be seen from the list above, they are transmitting with just a few watts. It's pretty common for me to see my PC decoding FT8 signals from Greece but it nice to be actually listen to the morse code ID from 2700kms away.

One of the more unusual signals is that of SV6DBG/B...


As part of its transmission sequence, it also sends out a RTTY signal.

To be honest, I have no interest in RTTY but I had a quick try off decoding it as the signal was reasonably strong (519). 

I fired up the FLDIGI programme that I had on my PC... selected RTTY 45 (first on the list!)... two Red lines appeared on a waterfall display... I tuned the signal on USB so that the two RTTY tones lined up with the Red lines... a bar went Green... and hey presto, it started decoding!

DE SV6DBG QRP BEACON LOC KM09KQ. IOANNINA, PSE E-MAIL : SV6DBG AT YAHOO.COM

Maybe not the rarest of DX but nice to hear some beacons via F2 layer propagation on the 10m band.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Darwin beacon heard on 28 MHz - 7th Nov 2021


Sunday 7th November 2021: Over the last two weeks or so, I have 'heard' plenty of signals from Australia on the 28 MHz band... 'heard' as in my PC decoded FT8 and WSPR signals that may well have been buried in the noise.

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I did a scan of the beacon portion of the 10m band and came across the VK8VF beacon near Darwin in the north of Australia.

As you can see from the image above, it is on 28.268 MHz and the signal was 419 at max with me. 

There is something special about listening to a CW signal from Australia on 28 MHz and knowing that my antenna is just a simple vertical half-wave.


The map above shows some of the stations that have spotted the VK8VF 10m beacon on the DX Cluster in the last 30 days using the proper locator format.

As can be seen, the distance is in the region of 14,000kms.

Saturday, November 6, 2021

40 MHz signals from South Africa heard in Europe - 5th Nov 2021


Friday 5th November 2021: This was an interesting day for the 40 MHz band with signals from South Africa reaching Europe and a big Sporadic-E opening in Europe.

The map above shows the reports from the PSK Reporter website...

 Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
SV1DH 8m FT8 6898 km 15:02:56
9H1TX 8m FT8 6828 km 15:02:29
G7PUV 8m FT8 8798 km 15:01:30

TEP Reports: Paul, G7PUV on the SE coast of England (JO00AU) writes... "Willem ZS6WAB has been on 40.675MHz today using FT8 but I was surprised to get some decodes from him around 1500UTC. The path length is around 8800KM and his peak signal was -10dB although I've listened back to my IQ recording and it was strong enough to hear quite clearly.

I think it's the first FT8 reception from South Africa in the UK on 40MHz, and presumably all TEP as I had no reception towards EA/CT/I on 10 or 6 to suggest mixed mode."

Reception of ZS6WAB by G7PUV

Thomas, DF6HT in the NE of Germany (JO63BT) writes... "Hi all, today received for the first time a signal on 40.675, around 8minutes long was the call from ZS6WAB who called there CQ, received here on a 15m sw vertical For me a sign to check sometimes this qrg for some action, and also a sign that North DL also have a chance to work on that interesting band! 73s from Thomas, DF6HT"

TEP Analysis: Paul is using a log periodic antenna for the low VHF bands. I suspect that there may have been one Sporadic-E hop from G7PUV to the north of Africa where the signals were coupled into the TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) path to ZS6WAB.

It was probably the same for Thomas in Germany with one Sporadic-E opening to the south.

The problem in Europe is that there can be an excellent Sporadic-E opening to the south but as there are no stations in the north of Africa ,we hear nothing and think the band is closed.

Sporadic-E in Europe: There was also a very good Sporadic-E opening in Europe on the day as can be seen from the report below and the report from 

Report from Borut, S50B... "Very good prop on 8m today in EU. As far, EI1KNH have the strongest signal....599+++ on CW ever on my side. Hrd EI7HBB on SSB too.
Hrd also EI1CAH/b and OZ7IGY/b. I forgot to monitor ZS beacon. Tomorrow....
I was also on 40662, but every time I was on this freq I have strong qrm from some device only in dir of EI and US. I hope that till next year, qrm will be lower/disappeared.
 IC-7100...80W.....4 EL YAGI (YU7EF) 10m high.
"

DX-Cluster Spots for the day...

Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
G7PUV 40675.0 ZS6WAB 15:08 05 Nov JO00AU<TEP>KG46RB CQ FT8 -10dB South Africa 
EA3ERE 40016.0 EI1CAH 13:44 05 Nov JN11CX<ES>IO53CK cw 419 Ireland
EA3ERE 40013.0 EI1KNH 13:42 05 Nov JN11CX<ES>IO63VE cw 559 Ireland
EI7GL-@ 40016.0 EI1CAH 13:29 05 Nov PI4 -25 dB Q=50 Ireland
S50B-@ 40670.0 S55ZMS/B 13:07 05 Nov PI4 -20 dB Q=48 Slovenia
F4CXO 40013.0 EI1KNH/B 13:03 05 Nov JN26PP<ES>IO63VE 519 Ireland
F4CXO 40016.0 EI1CAH/B 13:01 05 Nov JN26PP<ES>IO51CK 519 in CW Ireland
S50B 40070.2 OZ7IGY/B 12:50 05 Nov Denmark 
F4FRQ 40016.0 EI1CAH 12:44 05 Nov JN37KQ<>IO53XK CW 559 Ireland
F4FRQ 40013.0 EI1KNH 12:40 05 Nov JN37KQ<>IO63VE CW 559 Ireland
S50B 40680.0 EI7HBB 11:38 05 Nov Ireland
S50B 40013.0 EI1KNH/B 11:32 05 Nov Ireland
EI7HBB 40670.0 S55ZMS 11:18 05 Nov 529 Slovenia

Link....
1) As always, there is plenty of information about the 8m band on my 40 MHz page HERE

Friday, November 5, 2021

Danish OZ7IGY 40 MHz beacon now back on air - Nov 2021


5th Nov 2021: Back at the end of August 2021, the OZ7IGY 8m beacon on 40.071 MHz had to be turned off due to a faulty trimmer in the power amplifier stage.

At the end of October 2021, it was turned back on after the faulty part was replaced.

It has since been reported on the DX Cluster...

 Spotter  Freq.  DX  Time  Info  Country

OZ1BNN-@ 40071.0 OZ7IGY 15:51 02 Nov PI4 16 dB Q=100 37 km Denmark
EA3ERE 40070.2 OZ7IGY/B 11:37 31 Oct JN11CX<ES>JO55WM CW-PI4 Denmark
EA3ERE 40070.2 OZ7IGY 10:21 31 Oct JN11CX<ES>JO55WN cw pi4 -5db Denmark

As can be seen from the reports, EA3ERE near Barcelona heard the beacon via Sporadic-E propagation at a distance of about 1660 kms.

The website for the beacon is here... http://www.oz7igy.dk/