EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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Reception reports for the ZS6WAB beacon on 40 MHz - Q1 2022

Posted: 06 Apr 2022 09:57 AM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/04/reception-reports-for-zs6wab-beacon-on.html




With the recent increase in sunspot numbers and the improvement on the HF bands, there has been a lot of interest in the ZS6WAB beacon on 40.675 MHz. This beacon which usually sends a message in CW is now seen as a valuable
early warning system for potential openings on the 50 MHz band between
Europe and South Africa.
In the first quarter of 2022, a total of 52 stations uploaded reception
reports to the DX Summit DX cluster and a map of these are shown above.
Outside of Europe, there are two to note.
a) TT8SN in Chad at about 4,300kms was most likely one F2 layer hop.
b) There was a spot on the cluster from W3PQS in the USA but unless I hear otherwise, I think it's a mistake (not counted as part of the 52). I sent
W3PQS an email but got no reply.
Europe... This is the map for Europe in more detail...

As might be expected, the majority of the stations that heard the 40 MHz
signal of ZS6WAB are located in the southern half of Europe.
As for propagation modes, it's likely TEP was involved with some F2 layer reaching as high as 40 MHz as well on this North-South path.
It was interesting to see that the signal from South Africa managed to
reach OH5ZA in Finland as well, a distance of almost 9,500kms.
Example... This video clip is from Sérgio, CT1HMN in Portugal who recorded reception of the ZS6WAB on the 23rd of March 2022 at 12:30 UTC.

Sérgio was using a 5/8 wave vertical for 28 MHz for reception of the 40 MHz beacon.Top Spotters... This is a list of the top spotters on the DX cluster broken down into the number of days they heard and reported the ZS6WAB
beacon on 40 MHz.
It's interesting to note that both DK2EA and F4CXO reported hearing the 40
MHz ZS6WAB beacon on 22 days in Q1 of 2022.
DK2EA 22, F4CXO 22, EA3ERE 17, F6ACU 12
F5JRX 8, G4FUF 8,SV7GBR 8, F4FRQ 7, G7PUV 7, IK0OKY 7, SV1DH 7, F5LNU-@ 6
F5DE 5, HA2NP 5, SV1NZX 5, TT8SN 5, F5JRY 4, S50B 4, SM7FJE 4, DK1MAX 3,
OE6VIE 3, 9H1TX 2, EA2B-@ 2, F6HTJ 2, I0KIB 2, IV3KKW 2, LZ1KG-@ 2, OE3EMC
2, OH5ZA-@ 2, ON4IQ 2, SV2JAO 2, SV3AQO 2, SV8CS 2
9A5CW 1, CT1HMN 1, DL4MP-@ 1, EI2IP 1, F1GTU 1, F4DNP 1, F9YR 1, G0CHE 1, G0DJA 1, G0JHC 1, I0YLI 1, IK0FTA 1, IK5YJY 1, IZ5ILX 1, M0DEP 1, OE1SOW
1, OE3DSB 1, OE3FVU 1, PA/NL8992-@ 18m Yagi at the top of the stack - ZS6WAB

Caveat... I used the DX spots from the DX Summit cluster to compile the
data for this post. It's possible there were other spots which were not on
this platform but other sources of information are incomplete. I do think however it gives a reasonably accurate picture of who heard the South
African beacon on the 40 MHz band.
In Conclusion... First off, it's great to see so many stations in Europe
active and listening on the 40 MHz band!
I think the reception reports of this 40 MHz beacon shows just how valuable
an allocation between 28 MHz and 50 MHz can be, especially for beacons.
It would be nice if more countries allowed one off experimental 40 MHz
beacons as advocated by the IARU even if an amateur radio allocation is unlikely.Links...
1) As always, more info on my 40 MHz page

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Reception reports for G9PUV on the 40 MHz band - 5th April 2022

Posted: 05 Apr 2022 01:23 PM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/04/reception-reports-for-g9puv-on-40-mhz.html



On the 4th of April 2022, Paul G7PUV received a UK Innovation and Research License from OFCOM for the 40 MHz band.
On the 5th of April, Paul carried out some test transmissions using FT8 on 40.680 MHz with the call sign G9PUV.
The map above shows the stations that decoded the FT8 signals and the log
is shown below...
Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
S50B 8m FT8 1167 km 16:13:43
EI9KP 8m FT8 705 km 16:05:41
G0JHC 8m FT8 366 km 15:50:14
G4AWP 8m FT8 162 km 16:10:41
G4WSZ 8m FT8 148 km 16:10:42
G0LRD 8m FT8 138 km 18:39:41
G4APB 8m FT8 70 km 16:21:12
G0CHE 8m FT8 51 km 16:13:14
G7PUV/A 8m FT8 9 km 18:37:14
Most of the signals under 165kms were most likely tropo, it's not so
obvious the mode of propagation for G0JHC, EI9KP & S50B.
Phil, EI9KP reports... "I tuned to 40.680MHz and just let it sit on FT8, to
my susprise I logged UK Innovation and Research License "G9PUV". The 'CQ'
call got forwarded automatically to PSKReporter. For reception I use a
Delta Loop in Horizontal Polarization."

The screen grab from Phil is shown above.
With the Sporadic-E season starting soon, there should be plenty of reports
of the UK stations from across listeners across Europe.Links...
1) For more info on the 8m band, see my 40 MHz page

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