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EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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US Experimental 40 MHz Station WL2XUP is heard across the Atlantic in
England - 22nd July 2021

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 12:40 AM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/07/us-experimental-40-mhz-station-wl2xup.html


On the 18th of July, I had a post up about the new US experimental station WL2XUP on the 40 MHz band. Just four days later on the 22nd of July, a WSPR signal from WL2XUP was heard across the Atlantic in England.

The owner of the experimental station WL2XUP is Lin, NI4Y and in a message
he writes...
"I can report that VE3QC and VE2DLC received my station via Eskip on July
22nd. Shortly after VE3QC received my signal G7PUV received WL2XUP via
multi hop Eskip. The following Day KI4RVH received the WSPR signal via what
was likely tropo ducting.
VE3QC also reports hearing my FT8 signals transmitted later in the day on
July 23rd.
2021-07-22 19:00 WL2XUP 40.663508 -26 -1 EM73vv 20 VE3QC FN25fk 1557 29 2 2021-07-22 20:42 WL2XUP 40.663488 -34 0 EM73vv 20 VE2DLC FN58rk 2155 35 2 2021-07-22 19:40 WL2XUP 40.663514 -26 -1 EM73 20 G7PUV JO00au 6869 46 2 2021-07-23 14:08 WL2XUP 40.663536 -13 -2 EM73 20 KI4RVH EM95 429 58 2"
Paul, G7PUV is located in the SE of England and was using an SDRPlay RSP1A
SDR and a W4KMA 18-100MHz Log Periodic on a 6.2M boom up at 15M AGL.
Paul heard seven WSPR transmissions from WL2XUP between 19:40 and 20:42 UTC
and the strongest signal was -16dB.
The 40 MHz trans-Atlantic opening coincided with a big opening on 50 MHz between Europe and North America.

Analysis: As NI4Y points out, this was very likely to be a multi-hop
Sporadic-E opening across the North Atlantic with maybe 3-4 hops involved.
What is significant about this reception report is not so much the distance
but the fact that this is the first crossing of the Atlantic on the 40 MHz band.
During Sporadic-E openings on 50 MHz, it's very likely that paths on lower frequencies like 40 MHz will be open as well. It's just a question of more people listening on the band and reporting what they hear.
This new experimental 40 MHz station has already sparked some interest in
the 8m band in North America so hopefully it will encourage activity on the band.
Update: The exact frequency was 40.662 MHz USB with the WPSR signals
roughly 1.5kHz higher.
Link...
1) See my 40 MHz page for more info on the band

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