2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - M0GBZ & G0FTD in England - 3rd June

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 3rd of June, I added M0GBZ and G0FTD to the tally during a short skip Sporadic-E opening at about 16:00 UTC. 

The map below shows the location of the stations shown in the screen grab above.

TF3HZ in Iceland is a relatively easy catch at 1576kms and I got a screengrab of his signal back in January. The stations near London in the east of England are about 560 to 650kms from my location and require the skip distance for the Sporadic-E opening to be shorter than usual.

Getting good screen captures for both M0GBZ and G0FTD is quite difficult for me. It's not really the distance as it's June and there are plenty of short skip openings on 28 MHz. The problem is that the signals from G0PKT and G0MBA are so much stronger.

This is my usual screen grab during a short skip opening...

My sound card in the PC seems to get overloaded by the signals from G0MBA and G0PKT and I get a screen of false signals. If I adjust the audio levels to a low enough level to get rid of these false signals, M0GBZ and G0FTD disappear.

What happened on the 3rd of June is that there was a very small footprint for the Sporadic-E signal.

The footprint of a Sporadic-E opening tends to be in the shape of an oval and as suggested by the image above, the footprint favoured both M0GBZ and G0FTD with G0MBA and G0PKT being at the edge of the footprint.

This meant I could get good QRSS signals from both M0GBZ and G0FTD while the signals from the G0MBA - G0PKT duo were weaker and not overloading my sound card.

What's really interesting about this is the relatively short distances between these stations. G0FTD is at the south side of the Thames Estuary while the G0MBA - G0PKT duo are at the north side, a distance of about 50 kms.

From my location on the south coast of Ireland which is about 650kms to the west, I could see how the small Sporadic-E footprint allowed me to hear stronger from one side of the Thames Estuary compared to the other side.

This is a nice example of just how small and localised Sporadic-E openings can be. You can hear big signals from a particular station and someone a short distance away hears little or nothing.

This gets even more pronounced for higher frequencies like 50 MHz, 70 MHz or even 144 MHz.

QRSS... It also shows how QRSS (slow morse code) signals allow you to 'see' the propagation moving. With modes like WSPR or FT8, you either get a decode or you don't. 

With QRSS, you can see the propagation moving in real time. Several times during short skip openings, I have seen QRSS signals disappear in the space of a minute as the Sporadic-E footprint moves.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 23-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10th Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8
14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK
15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER
16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9
17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ
18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10
19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ
20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B
21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B
22) 3rd Jun 2024: M0GBZ
23) 3rd Jun 2024: G0FTD

Successful test of sending QRSS signals on 28 MHz...

Introduction... QRSS is a beacon mode where callsigns are sent at very slow speeds in morse code and it's a useful mode for investigating radio propagation. The signal can usually be found on the main HF bands just below the WSPR signals.

For example, the 10m WSPR frequency is 28.1246 MHz USB and the WSPR signals are in the audio range of 1400 to 1600 Hz. Using the same dial frequency, the QRSS signals are about 400 Hz lower in frequency around 1100 Hz.

This has the advantage of using programmes like WSJT-X to decode the WSPR signals while at the same time, you can see the QRSS signals with programmes like SpectrumLab which displays the audio spectrum.

Some people operate 'grabbers' which take screen grabs of the QRSS band from their receiver and these are them put up on a website. They usually update every 10 minutes.

28 MHz tests... At about 12:00 UTC on the 29th of May 2024, I noticed that there was a Sporadic-E opening between Sweden and Ireland. The image above shows how my callsign was successfully received by the SA6BSS grabber in Sweden at a distance of about 1554kms.

How to send QRSS signals... If you are already using FT8 with programmes like WSJT-X then you are all set up for sending QRSS signals. For my tests, I was just using my HF radio and a PC.

The first thing I did was to go to the PA2OHH website and using the SPACE, DOT & DASH tabs, I generated my callsign in morse code. The audio can be adjusted from 1500 to 1900 Hz. The QRSS mode can be adjusted for length as well as whether it is on/off or uses Frequency Shift Keying (FSK).

After pressing 'Start QRSS', it's just a case of waiting for the sequence to start which happens at 10-minute intervals past the hour e.g. 12:00, 12:10, 12:20 and so on. In my case, it was really as simple as holding the microphone next to the PC speaker and pressing the PTT once the QRSS sequence started.

In terms of frequencies, I used the default 1600 Hz option. I tuned the radio down about 300 Hz from the WSPR frequency to about 28.1243 MHz USB. This made sure that my transmit signal was below the WSPR band and above the other QRSS signals.

If we look at my signal above in more detail, the bright part at the start was when the audio from the PC speaker was too loud and I had to turn it down. The rest of the QRSS audio resulted in an output power of about 5-10 watts from my radio.

There is also a very obvious upward drift in the signal! My callsign was sent over the space of just over 5-minutes and in that time, my signal drifted upwards by about 10 Hz.

My HF radio is quite old and for modes like CW or SSB, 10 Hz is really nothing. If you were to listen to CW or SSB signals from my HF rig then you'd hear nothing wrong. It's just that with QRSS, tiny changes like 10Hz become very obvious.

Nearly all QRSS signals on the bands are from dedicated transmit modules which are GPS stabilised. You can see these is the top image as nice straight signals. In my case, there is probably some crystal oscillator in the transmit chain in my HF radio that is being turned on and is drifting slowly as it warms up. 

Aurora... Back on the 10th of May 2024, I tried this QRSS test as well during the big aurora.

Using the same grabber in Sweden, the signals from the SE of England are there and are of course distorted by the aurora. I'm almost certain the signal above is me and it even has that little telltale upward drift.

In hindsight, I probably should have used on/off keying rather than frequency shift keying and the signal would have been a lot more obvious. It's still pretty cool to see your own signal coming back from the auroral region.

In conclusion... What I have outlined above is basically just putting the microphone from your radio up to the speaker of a PC and checking a website to see if your signal was heard, it's really that simple. It would be nice to see others giving it a try.

Links... Here are some useful sources...

1) https://groups.io/g/qrssknights - This email group is the place to go for all things QRSS related.

2) https://www.qsl.net/pa2ohh/21htmlqrss01.htm - PA2OHH website for generating QRSS signals.

3) https://www.qsl.net/sa6bss/ - SA6BSS grabber in Sweden.

4) https://www.qsl.net/pa2ohh/grabber.htm - PA2OHH grabber in the SE of Spain.

5) https://qsl.net/g4iog/ - G4IOG grabber in SE England

6) https://www.qsl.net/g0ftd/grabber.htm - G0FTD operates a grabber from various online receivers.

7) https://qsl.net/wa5djj/ - WA5DJJ operates several grabbers from New Mexico in the United States.

8) https://swharden.com/qrss/plus/ - AJ4VD has links to a lot of grabbers

Trans-Atlantic opening on the FM band (87-102 MHz) - 27th May 2024

On the 27th of May 2024, a little bit of radio history was made with the very first reception of a trans-Atlantic FM radio station in mainland Europe. The map above shows the radio stations that FMDXer Mauricio Molano  in Cáceres in the west of Spain managed  to log including CHCM-FM in Marystown, Newfoundland on 88.3 MHz.

Log...

UTC QRG ITU Station, location Details, remarks Distance km kW ERP

12:06 90.20 AZR R80 Rádio, Pico da Barrosa (smg) 1674kms 0.5kw

12:15 87.70 AZR RTP Antena 3, Pico da Barrosa (RDP) (smg) 1674kms  40kw

12:50 88.30 AZR Rádio Clube de Lajes do Pico, Pico do Geraldo 1896kms 0.05kw

14:25 88.30 CAN CHCM-FM, Marystown (NL) Openline with Paddy Daly. Special log: double hop. First Canadian station received from Spain! 3985kms  27kw

As can be seen from the log, CHCM-FM was heard at 14:25 UTC and it's likely that the propagation mode was double hop Sporadic-E.

Mauricio writes... "I have managed to fulfil another of my DX challenges!: to catch an FM station from the other side of the pond!. It was this afternoon, during the opening of Es, which had started around 1200Z and brought me several stations from the Azores Islands with good signals. A couple of hours later, our colleague Larry Horlick (Coley's Point, NL) began picking up Spanish and Portuguese stations. 

In the first minutes of the opening was when I caught the CHCM-FM (Marystown) signal on 88.3 with 

VOCM programming. On 88.5 I have another signal but very weak. I assume it is CBN-1-FM CBC-R1 

Saint John's, but it will be difficult for me to identify it 100%. Both frequencies are very difficult in my 

listening place (Aldea del Cano, Cáceres) due to the presence of semi-local stations on 88.2, 88.4 

and 88.6 MHz. This year the DX season has started late here, but it has started very, very well!."

Mauricio also notes that he has two receiver/antenna systems. The first one is a three element Yagi points to the Canary Islands (south-west) attached to a RSPDuo receiver. The second one is a 4-element Yagi pointing to Newfoundland and attached to a Perseus with the FM+ converter.

In this case,  the station from Canada was actually heard on the antenna pointing to the Canary Islands!

Just to clarify, this isn't the first trans-Atlantic FM stations have been heard in Europe but all of the previous reception reports were to the UK and Ireland. This is the first time of a trans-Atlantic reception report on the Iberian Peninsula and mainland Europe. 

Larry Horlick, VO1FOG in Newfoundland... Larry is a long time FMDXer and he caught an impressive haul of FM radio stations from Portugal and Spain in the same opening. Larry has the advantage of a quieter FM band on his side of the Atlantic.

One of the major advantages of modern SDR receivers is that an opening can now be recorded and then be later reviewed afterwards to see what was heard. 

Larry's log is shown below and it's worth remembering that these are FM radio stations from the other side of the North Atlantic.

The frequencies range from 87.6 MHz to 102.4 MHz and the distances range from 3632 kms to 4136 kms.

Larry says his catch of the day was SER, Estepa, Spain on 98.3 MHz which has an ERP of just 250-watts.

In conclusion... While there have been trans-Atlantic openings on the FM band before, it is still a remarkable occurrence and worth noting. Every year, we see multi-hop Sporadic-E across the North Atlantic on the 28 MHz and 50 MHz bands and while it's of interest to those involved, it's really nothing out of the ordinary.

Band 2 signals (88-108 MHz) are different though and it's always interesting to see FM radio stations from either side of the North Atlantic reach the other side. The question always remains as to how high does an opening reach? Can it get up into the aircraft band at 118 to 135 MHz? What about 144 MHz? Spain to Newfoundland on the 2m band? Is it possible? Is anyone trying?

Links...

1) See my 88-108 MHz my 88-108 MHz page for more examples of trans-Atlantic openings

2) Mauricio has his own SWL website here... https://moladx.blogspot.com/

3) FMList website... https://www.fmlist.org/

Video: Suppression Ferrites ...by Bruce Sparrow, N2KTV

At the recent 2024 Hamvention, Bruce Sparrow N2KTV gave a short presentation about ferrites used for suppressing RF interference.

The video can be seen below...

FM radio station on 91 MHz in Greenland is heard in Ireland - 19th May 2024

On the 19th of May 2024, FMDXer Paul Logan in the north-west of Ireland reported reception of a radio station in Greenland on 91.0 MHz.

Logbook 2024-05-19 
UTC QRG ITU Station, location Details Distance km kW ERP Pol
2044 91.00 GRL Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa, Niaqernaartik/KTYC (Kap Tycho Brahe) 2095 0.1 v

The radio is located on the east coast of Greenland, has an effective radiated power of just 100-watts and runs vertical polarisation. Paul logged it at 20:44 UTC.

A 52-second audio file from the reception can be heard HERE

The distance to Paul's location in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh is 2095kms and the propagation mode was Sporadic-E (Sp-E). While the distance is well within the maximum for a single hop of Sporadic-E, it's always interesting when a FM station in Greenland is heard in Europe.

Greenland is technically part of North America and hints hopefully at maybe some very rare trans-Atlantic signals on the FM band in the weeks ahead.

Link...

1) More examples of long distance paths on my 88-108 MHz page.

EI6KC achieves first Satellite Worked All Zones Award (SAT WAZ) in Ireland

Congratulations to Max, EI6KC on achieving his third CQ Satellite Worked All Zones (WAZ) award. He already holds two SAT WAZ awards as SA5IKN (#40) and M0SKN (#92). His latest SAT WAZ award (#121) is also the first one in Ireland.

ICOM hint at new 60th anniversary X60 product

At the Dayton Hamvention this weekend, ICOM put on display are number of printed circuit boards from what is supposed to be the 60th Anniversary Concept Model “X60”.

ICOM-UK write... "Referred to internally as the "X60" all lips are very tightly and firmly sealed about this project and the exciting concept model behind the secrecy. Only a carefully selected handful of our very top development gurus and members of our absolute senior management in Osaka know the complete and full details about this very special project.

The full reveal will be at the Tokyo Ham Fair which will be held over the weekend of August 24th & 25th 2024. Full details on the new model, its name, its specification and its availability, plus its target price will be disclosed there."

What is it??? Well, it's not a handheld!  Considering the number of PCB's and the fact that the one in the middle and at the top has plenty of toroids and relays, it probably is some sort of flagship HF transceiver.

On the PA board PCB, there is 'PA200W' written on it which would certainly suggest a top end HF transceiver.

If it's just another expensive HF & 6m model then I doubt if the hype is worth it. If it's a 'shack in a box' and includes some VHF and UHF bands then it certainly could generate some excitement.

We'll have to wait and see.

More photos below...

Antenna Tuner Board

Video: Long-haul Ionospheric Propagation on 50 MHz - Roger Harrison, VK2ZRH

On the 14th of May 2024, Roger Harrison, VK2ZRH have a very detailed presentation titled 'Long-haul Ionospheric Propagation on 50 MHz' to the Madison DX Club.

In the video, Roger goes into quite a bit of depth about Sporadic-E propagation, Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) and the complexities of both.

I think anyone who has an interest in propagation at 50 MHz or even in the low VHF region will find this presentation of interest.

The presentation is about 70 minutes in length and is shown below...

Link... See my 50 MHz page for other presentations and posts about some long distance paths on 50 MHz.

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - IZ1KXQ beacon in Italy - 14th May

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 14th of May, I got a screengrab of the QRSS signal 'SP' which was sent by the IZKXQ/B beacon in the north of Italy.

Usually, nearly all of the QRSS signals on the 10m band are on 28.1246 MHz and the audio of the signals is about 400-500Hz below the WSPR signals. In this case, the IZ1KXQ beacon was on 28.3215 MHz.

In the image above, the fuzzy part of the signal is when it was sending the callsign of the beacon in normal morse code. The QRSS 'SP' part is sent after this.

The beacon runs 0.1-watts or 100-milliwatts into an inverted V-dipole antenna.

The map above shows the path and the distance was about 1600kms. The signal was almost certainly via Sporadic-E and it's pretty much the ideal distance for that mode of propagation.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 21-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10th Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8
14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK
15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER
16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9
17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ
18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10
19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ
20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B
21) 14th May 2024: IZ1KXQ/B

FM radio stations in the Azores heard in Newfoundland - 14th May 2024

Now that we're well into the Summer Sporadic-E season, there have been plenty of reports of openings on the FM band going from 88 to 108 MHz. Most reports seem to be single hop Sporadic-E for now but this one caught my attention.

On the 14th of May 2024, Larry Horlicks (VO1FOG) recorded an opening from the Azore Islands to Newfoundland. As can be seen from the image above, the distances were in the region of 1894 to 2259 kms.

While the propagation mode was still one-hop Sporadic-E, any openings on the FM band across the North Atlantic are always of special interest. As we move into June and July, there should hopefully be some double hop Sporadic-E openings and reports of radio stations on the 88-108 MHz band being heard across the Atlantic.

Some examples of previous trans-Atlantic openings can be seen on my 88-108 MHz page.

HAARP director says timing of the May 2024 HAARP tests and aurora were a coincidence

I recently had a post up about the May 2024 HAARP radio transmission tests in Alaska... see HERE

During the HAARP tests which ran from the 8th to 10th of May, there was also a very large aurora  visible on the 10th of May. Apparently many people in the media and public were wondering if the two were connected?

In a statement, HAARP director Jessica Phillips said that the two events were a coincidence and were in no way connected.

Phillips writes... “We have been responding to many inquiries from the media and the public. The HAARP scientific experiments were in no way linked to the solar storm or high auroral activity seen around the globe.” 

The news item on the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska website goes on to say... “The May HAARP campaign was scheduled about a month and a half before the geomagnetic storm. The timing was purely coincidental; geomagnetic storms are unpredictable, with lead times before a solar event is detected from Earth measured in minutes, not months.”

Link... https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/solar-storm-not-haarp-creates-intense-auroral-display

Huge X8.7 flare erupts on the sun - 14th May 2024

At the moment, I pretty much have my HF radio on 28.1246 MHz USB all of the time listening for QSPR and QRSS signals on the 10m band. Over the last few weeks and months, I've noticed plenty of solar noise from flares erupting on the sun.

The vast majority of these hardly move the S meter on the radio, it's just that I can hear the increase in noise level. At 16:47 UTC on the 14th of May 2024, there was a huge burst of noise and when I looked, the S meter was up at S6.

The is shown in the audio spectrum display above with time moving from right to left. The sudden onset of the solar noise can be seen as a result of the flare on the sun.

I knew that this flare was a really big enough and sure enough when I checked later, it turned out to be X8.7 solar flare and the largest one so far for the the current solar cycle.

I posted on Twitter /X that a big flare had occurred and Chris, G4IFX in England noted that he had heard the same thing on the 50 MHz band.

Larry, VO1FOG in Newfoundland got a screen capture of the solar noise while listening at 92.3 MHz  so it was certainly broadband as expected.

It also resulted in a big radio blackout on the HF bands. The question now is if this will result in a big aurora in the next day or two? We'll have to wait and see.

Help wanted for IRTS VHF/UHF management team...

The Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) is the national association for radio amateurs in Ireland. They had this news item on the 12th of May 2024...

"The IRTS is currently looking for a person or perhaps a team of people to form a VHF/UHF management team. This team will look after all things VHF/UHF. Ideally people who do a lot of VHF/UHF radio work and know what's happening around the world in VHF/UHF would be ideal but not necessary. Anyone interested is asked to please contact IRTS Secretary, Owen EI4GGB at irts_secretary AT irts DOTie"

Solar Noise on the 28 MHz band - 10th May 2024

10th May 2024: I had the radio turned on in the background this morning and I noticed a large burst of noise from the sun. I had the SpectrumLab software running since yesterday and I took this screen grab.

Just to explain the image above...

1) I was listening on 28.1246 MHz USB which is the 10m WSPR & QRSS frequency.

2) Around 06:42 UTC, a meteor burnt up about 100kms above the west of England or Wales leaving an ionised trail behind. This lasted long enough that I was able to hear some of the QRSS signals from stations to the east of London, about 600kms to the east of me. The signals lasted for about a minute.

3) At about 06:43:30, the noise from a solar flare erupting on the sun reached the Earth and I heard the burst of solar noise as a loud hissing sound on 28 MHz. You can see this as the brighter colour in the image. It then faded slowly with some minor peaks over the next few minutes.

I later checked the NOAA website in the US and sure enough, there was a peak in the GOES X-Ray flux at about the same time. Link - https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/goes-x-ray-flux

It looks as if it was a X3.9 burst from the sunspot group AR 3664.

Maximum 10 May 2024 06:54:00 GMT X3.9 Integrated flux: 4.4e-1 J m-2

I often hear solar noise on the 28 MHz band but this one was a bit stronger than usual.

2024 10m QRSS Challenge: - IW0HK beacon in Italy - 8th May

As part of a challenge for 2024, I've decided to see how many QRSS signals I could capture on the 28 MHz band during the year. On the 8th of May, I got a screengrab of the QRSS signal 'HK' which was sent by the IW0HK/B beacon near Rome in Italy.

Usually, nearly all of the QRSS signals on the 10m band are on 28.1246 MHz and the audio of the signals is about 400-500Hz below the WSPR signals. In this case, the IW0HK beacon was on 28.322 MHz.

In the image above, the fuzzy part of the signal is when it was sending the callsign and locator of the beacon in normal morse code. The QRSS 'HK' part is sent after this.

The beacon runs 1-watt into a vertical five-eight wave antenna.

The map above shows the path and the distance was about 1800kms. The signal was almost certainly via Sporadic-E and it's pretty much the ideal distance for that mode of propagation.

In summary... That brings the QRSS tally so far for 2024 up to 20-callsigns & 10 DXCC.

1) 8th Jan 2024: VE1VDM - DXCC #1
2) 10th Jan 2024: VA1VM
3) 15th Jan 2024: G0MBA - DXCC #2
4) 15th Jan 2024: G0PKT
5) 15th Jan 2024: AE0V - DXCC #3
6) 16th Jan 2024: RD4HU - DXCC #4
7) 16th Jan 2024: W1BW
8) 17th Jan 2024: OH5KUY - DXCC #5
9) 18th Jan 2024: TF3HZ - DXCC #6
10) 6th Feb 2024: VA3RYV
11) 16th Feb 2024: IK2JET - DXCC #7
12) 16th Feb 2024: N8NJ
13) 21st Feb 2024: PY3FF - DXCC #8
14) 26th Feb 2024: VE6NGK
15) 27th Feb 2024: NM5ER
16) 28th Feb 2024: VK4BAP - DXCC #9
17) 2nd Mar 2024: WA1EDJ
18) 5th Mar 2024: FR1GZ/B - DXCC #10
19) 30th Apr 2024: IK1WVQ
20) 8th May 2024: IW0HK/B

Tracking the KJ7VBX-11 Pico-Balloon over Ireland & the UK - 8th May 2024

As we are now at the peak of the solar cycle, some radio amateurs are using WSPR on the 28 MHz band for their Pico-Balloons as they travel around the world.

Back in April of 2024, I had a post about reception of the KD9NGV pico-balloon as it made its way off the west coast of Ireland to the North Sea. See post HERE

I often see these pico-balloon on my receive list for 28 MHz WSPR but they're nearly all somewhere far away and the propagation mode is via the ionosphere. What I find interesting about the rare really close passes is that there is no propagation mode as such, the balloon is essentially line of sight to my location.

KJ7VBX-11... On the 8th of May 2024, I noticed that I was hearing the KJ7VBX-11 pico-balloon early in the morning just as it had woken up with the sun shining on it's solar panels. I was able to hear it pretty much all day from 07:40 UTC until 18:20 UTC.

During this time, it travelled from a spot off the west coast of Ireland, over the northern counties of Donegal, Derry and Antrim in Ireland, over the south-west of Scotland and then over Cumbria in England before falling silent for the night.

On the 9th of May, it woke up over the English Channel and then headed over the Netherlands.

The balloon is at an altitude of about 13,500 metres or 44,000 feet. The WSPR transmitter is supposed to be 20-milliwatts. As far as I know, it was launched on the 2nd of May 2024 but there seems to be very little information about it.

Format... Early on the morning of the 8th, I was the only person reporting it and it was the only signal I was hearing so I was able to do some tests without any confusion from other signals.

The WSPR transmitter on the balloon seems to have two formats. The first one is shown above. The transmitter turns on as a plain carrier for 30-seconds and then sends one WSPR transmission. I presume this carrier is to warm up the transmitter which is at or below 0 deg C and the 30 second carrier stops any drifting of the following WSPR signal.

The second format is shown below...

This time, there is a second WSPR transmission after the first one.

This is a sample of the decodes that I got in the space of about an hour...

0640    6  -1.6   28.126061   -2   KJ7VBX        IO33     13    361
0642    6  -1.6   28.126060    0   0O2MCY        GC73     53  13482
0650    7  -1.6   28.126060    0   KJ7VBX        IO33     13    361
0700    8  -1.7   28.126060    0   KJ7VBX        IO33     13    361
0702    8  -1.7   28.126061    0   0S2ZAQ        FR20     10   3937
0710    9  -1.6   28.126060    0   KJ7VBX        IO33     13    361
0712    8  -1.6   28.126061    0   0U2MNO        GJ72     10   6437
0720    9  -1.7   28.126060    0   KJ7VBX        IO33     13    361
0722    9  -1.7   28.126059    0   0X2LYI        II99     60   5842
0740    7  -0.3   28.126057    0   KJ7VBX        IO43     13    255
0750    9  -0.4   28.126057    0   KJ7VBX        IO44     13    343
0752    9  -0.4   28.126057    0   012OMZ        JP66     43   2019

The short format results in just a KJ7VBX decode.

The longer format results in an additional decode which are shown above in red.

At first sight, they look wrong. The callsign, locator and power levels seem to be nonsense. However note that the callsign field starts with a zero. This is a special data WSPR signal and contains the information about the location, altitude, temperature and battery voltage. It's just the WSJT-X receive software shows it in a format that doesn't seem to make any sense.

In conclusion... The balloon is currently heading over Europe so it's going to be line of sight to a lot of stations. Just listen on WSPR on 28 MHz and see if you can hear it.

Press Release: ‍Jarvis Island N5J DXpedition - August 5, 2024 to August 17, 2024

There is a major expedition planned to Jarvis Island in the middle of the Pacific in early August 2024 and their planned operations include some 50 MHz activity.

Press release

***

Dear Fellow DXers,

In March the Dateline DX Association was pleased to announce that it has received permission from the USFWS for a DXpedition to Jarvis Island National Wildlife Reserve this August. Jarvis is ranked nr. 18 on Clublog's global most wanted list. It is number 9 in Europe.  In some EU countries Jarvis is ranked as high as second most wanted on phone and digial.  Jarvis is ranked higher than Bouvet (16) in Europe. It is 450 miles from Palmyra Atoll and 1500 miles from Hawaii.

TEP signals on the 28 MHz band - 7th May 2024

On the 8th of May 2024, I noticed a distorted QRSS signal on the 28 MHz band. The signal was from FR1GZ on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, a distance of about 10,200 kms from my location.

The image above shows the distorted signal with the carrier spread out over about 6 Hz. Underneath it, I have an image captured a few weeks ago which shows what the normal signal should look like it via F2 layer propagation.

I usually hear Reunion Island on 10m in the morning or afternoon. It was unusual to hear it at 17:50 UTC in the evening time. Evening TEP signals usually peak around 8pm local time. If it was about 18:00 UTC my time and you move further east and add 2-3 hours then the time over some place like Ethiopia is about right.

Considering the timing of the signal and the distortion, I suspect I was hearing the FR1GZ signal via TEP - Trans-Equatorial Propagation.

Normally, evening TEP signals at say 144 MHz cross the Geomagnetic Equator at right angles. However as you go lower in frequency, the requirement for a right angle lessens. By the time we get to 28 MHz, the angles can be close to 45 degrees as shown above.

I suspect that it wasn't 100% TEP either. There was likely some Sporadic-E over Europe for the TEP signal to complete the journey from the Mediterranean area to my location on the south coast of Ireland.

For me, there are two takeaway messages from this...

1) I think the whole TEP zone has a huge impact on signals on 28 MHz and the lower HF bands. TEP is main contributor to propagation on the HF bands and people don't realise it is TEP.

2) The TEP distortion can result in digital signals not being decoded. I think many people fall into the trap of thinking if there are no FT8 signals being decoded then the band in that direction must be closed. It could well be that distorted CW or SSB signals will get through.

That's the beauty of QRSS signals. You can actually 'see' the signal and it gives more clues as to what is happening to the signals on the band.

Radio quiet site in Scotland required for 50 MHz meteor scatter reception

The GB3MBA beacon near Mansfield in England operates on 50.408 MHz and was set up to investigate reflections from meteor trails.

As the map shows above, the project team has already has a number of dedicated receivers set up to monitor the 6m band for any meteor reflections from the beacon. They are however looking to for a quiet radio site in Scotland for a receiver there.

Brian, G4NNS writes... "What is needed is a reasonably radio quiet site with no nearby 6 m transmissions, with power, (10 W or less) and an internet connection. The data stream is about the same as an audio stream so not excessive. Ideally the site would be a minimum of 200km North of the beacon which is located near Mansfield 53.10N, 1.22W.

An astronomy society with  a dark sky observing site would be ideal. We would need someone local who is radio "savvy" to check the site and help with installation.  A locally sourced mast of 3 or 4m would be handy but we can supply all other materials.  We are trying to achieve a range  of different reflection geometries for each meteor event. When we can make observations from a sufficient number of  different directions it may be possible, by using Doppler measurements, to calculate the trajectory and hence radiant of the meteor."

More information about the beacon can be found here... https://ukmeteorbeacon.org