• [EI7GL] Big Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz - 30th Apr 2021

    From EI7GL via rec.radio.amateur.moderat@21:1/5 to All on Sat May 1 14:49:04 2021
    XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated

    EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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    Big Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz - 30th Apr 2021

    Posted: 30 Apr 2021 10:51 PM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/05/big-sporadic-e-opening-on-28-mhz-30th.html




    Friday 30th April 2021: This was the first real big Sporadic-E opening on
    the 28 MHz band for 2021 with a total of 403 stations in 39 countries heard
    on FT8.
    Just 4 of those were outside the normal Sporadic-E range and were probably
    via F2 propagation. Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC) PU9OJZ 10m FT8 8787 km 20:24:59 Brazil
    5Z4VJ 10m FT8 7260 km 14:16:44 Kenya
    A45XR 10m FT8 6428 km 11:32:44 Oman
    A92AA 10m FT8 5644 km 12:24:59 Bahrain

    The European stations heard via Sporadic-E are shown in the map below...

    As can be seen, it was a very widespread opening. Unlike some of the
    previous openings in April, some of the signals were very strong as well.
    At one stage when I checked, the S-meter on the radio was up at 9+10dB for
    some of the signals.
    The band also seemed to be open for most of the day. The first signal I
    heard was at 08:40 UTC and the last one was EA1IF at 23:52 UTC.
    I did a few scans of the band and logged 7 beacons...
    EI7GL 28251.0 ED4YAK/B 20:15 30 Apr IO51TU<ES>IN80FK SpainEI7GL 28243.0
    F5ZWE/B 20:13 30 Apr IO51TU<ES>JN03SL FranceEI7GL 28237.4 LA5TEN/B 20:08 30
    Apr IO51TU<ES>JO59JP NorwayEI7GL 28241.6 F5ZUU/B 14:43 30 Apr
    IO51TU<ES>JN24IL FranceEI7GL 28279.0 DB0UM/B 13:15 30 Apr IO51TU<ES>JO73CE
    Fed. Rep. of GermanyEI7GL 28273.0 DB0BER/B 09:43 30 Apr IO51TU<ES>JO62QL
    Fed. Rep. of GermanyEI7GL 28271.0 OZ7IGY/B 09:27 30 Apr IO51TU<ES>JO55WM DenmarkEI7GL 28298.0 SK7GH/B 09:26 30 Apr IO51TU<ES>JO77BF Sweden
    I did notice more than once that the FT8 frequency might be busy with
    signals coming in from several countries and yet when I would scan the
    beacons, I might hear just one on its own.
    I can't help wondering if plain old fashioned CW beacons play a useful role
    on the HF bands anymore?

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    New 8m beacon from Slovenia on 40.670 MHz

    Posted: 30 Apr 2021 02:30 PM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/02/new-8m-beacon-from-slovenia-on-40670-mhz.html


    Update - 30th Apr 2021: The S55ZMS beacon has now been moved to its final destination and is on air with a full 7 watts to a Halo antenna.
    Frequency: 40.670 MHz Call: S55ZMS Locator:JN86CR QTH: Dolina Height ASL:
    320m Antenna: Halo Polarization: HorizontalPwr: 7.00 W Modes: PI4 + CW
    Beacon Ops: S53M & S51FBStatus: ActiveBeacon website: https://slovhf.net/svetilniki/Updated: 30.04.2021
    Antenna is about 3m above metal roof, abt 7m above ground.



    Update - 16th Feb 2021: The S55ZMS beacon is currently under test. The
    power output is 4-watts into a multi-band dipole. The plan is to eventually increase this to 10 watts and to move the beacon to the S53M contest
    location which is situated on top of a hill. A proper 40-MHz dipole is
    planned for the site but its exact location on the site and its orientation hasn't been finalised.
    * * *
    More good news for the new 8-metre amateur radio band! A new beacon in
    Slovenia is now operational on 40.670 MHz.
    The callsign of the beacon is S55ZMS and it has an output power of 7 watts
    into a dipole. The transmissions are in both CW and on PI4, a digital mode designed for beacons.
    The beacon is located near Bakovci in the far eastern part of Slovenia near
    the border with Hungary and its locator is JN86BO.
    The licensing authorities first gave permission for 8m beacons in Slovenia
    back in June of 1998 but not much happened at the time. This new beacon in
    the 40 MHz ISM band (Industrial, Scientific & Medical) is now the third operational 8m beacon in Europe joining OZ7IGY in Denmark and EI1KNH in Ireland.

    The map above shows the location of the 8m beacon in Slovenia and the
    distances from it. It's very likely that it will be heard around Europe
    during the Summer months by Sporadic-E propagation. The range is likely to
    be in the region of 800 to 2100 kms.
    The fact that the new beacon from Slovenia is also further south than the beacons in Ireland and Denmark is also significant. As we move further into solar cycle 25 and the flux rises, there will be times when 40 MHz signals
    will be heard much further away in places like North & South America,
    Africa and Asia.
    It's also highly likely that the 40 MHz signal from Slovenia will be heard
    in South Africa through a combination of Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP)
    and Sporadic-E (Sp-E).
    For more information on the 40 MHz band, visit this page on the blog... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/p/40-mhz.html

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