HF Highlights
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX explains where to find current information about DX activity on HF.
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX explains where to find current information about DX activity on HF.
At the time of writing (mid-June) we are well into the northern hemisphere summer Sporadic E (Es) season. As a keen HF DXer I have to admit that I have actually spent more of my operating time during the last month on VHF (50MHz), in order to take advantage of the Es propagation. And I haven’t been disappointed, with contacts all over Europe as far north as the Arctic Circle in Sweden, as far east as the Ukraine and Cyprus and as far south as Gibraltar (regular PW contributor
and Ceuta (EA9). To the west I worked several stations in Oregon and Washington states in the USA and, even farther north, VE6 in Canada. Even stations in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel and Qatar) were decoded on FT8 although unfortunately no QSOs resulted.
However, this is the HF column and not Tim’s World of VHF, so it should be pointed out that although Es is often thought of as a VHF phenomenon it can also provide some excellent contacts on the higher HF bands, particularly 28MHz. This is reflected in this month’s reports in the ‘Around the Bands’ section.
The majority of the Es openings to Europe experienced here have been during the late evening UK time, well after the hour when one might expect the band to have closed for the day if one is more used to ‘normal’ (F-layer) propagation. The Solar Flux Index (SFI) and Sunspot Number (SN) have still been too low to allow for much in the way of long-distance F2 propagation on 28MHz, so the E-layer propagation, albeit sporadic, has been most welcome. The SN was as high as 36 on 26 May and the SFI peaked at 86 on 27 May although both then decreased, Table 1.
DX Information
At the time this is being written it looks as though Covid restrictions might be starting to be lifted in the UK as well as other places around the world. The lifting of travel restrictions will inevitably lead to the return of the DXpedition. The lead time of any printed publication such as PW means that many operations that are announced close to their start date will inevitably be missed. Similarly, operations that are announced far enough ahead to appear in a magazine such as this may have been postponed or even cancelled altogether by the time the magazine is published. Where, then, can you get up-to-date information on what is expected on the bands tomorrow, or during the coming week?
The Italian 425 DX News, Fig. 1, is a free of charge weekly DX bulletin (written in English) and distributed by email. Edited by husband and wife team Mauro I1JQJ and Valeria
IK1ADH, edition number 1571 was published on the deadline day of this column which, by my reckoning, means the service has been running for more than 30 years now. To subscribe go to: www.425dxn.org
Another great source of up-to-date DX information is the DX World website, Fig. 2, run by Col McGowan MM0NDX. Updated daily or whenever there is new DX information, DX World features photos of the DX locations mentioned, often submitted by those taking part in DXpeditions. Even when the pandemic has meant there has been little DXpedition news to report, there has still been plenty of interest on the website, with some fiendishly difficult DX quizzes and rare or old QSL cards pictured in the ‘QSL of the Day’ feature.
dx-world.net
For real-time DX information, arguably the best option is to keep an eye on the ‘spots’ being reported on the DX Summit website, Fig. 3. This site allows you to filter the spots according to your own interests, including or excluding particular bands and/or modes as desired.
dxsummit.fi
Readers’News
May Day opened up the DX bands for Victor
Brand G3JNB with some sparkling CW received from distant parts. K1ZZ, the ARRL’s ex-CEO Dave Sumner with his big 20m antenna out there in Connecticut, heard 10 watts of CW from Victor for a ‘quickie’. “The sounds in my headphones had that distinctive ‘open’ quality that speaks of good DX conditions. As if to prove the point, the Royal Australian Air Force was celebrating its centenary with special event calls VI100AF and VK100AF,” Fig. 4. On 13 May, Allan VK2GR in New South Wales was working on 17m CW, when he thought he glimpsed a UK call. He sent ‘G3?’ and ‘Listen only G3?’ until he had silence. Then, he was able to copy G3JNB who went through with 14 watts at the feedpoint of his vertical. “I had to keep repeating my suffix but we made it − eventually! My grateful thanks to the other callers.
“On the 2nd, K1ZZ was back with a good signal on 40m and he responded to my first call. On the 3rd, I just sat listening to Rob ZS1OPB booming in from Cape Town on 20m SSB, the first signals from ZS heard for ages, and soon realised that I was actually receiving both sides of his QSOs with EU. Similar conditions presented, among others, CX5FK on 30m and L21RCA on 20m. Powerful call
Fig. 1: Extract from a recent 425 DX News bulletin, sent by email to subscribers.
Fig. 2: The DX-World.net website is updated daily and provides up to date DX information.
Fig. 3: The DX Summit website with real-time ‘spots’ of DX activity. In this case the website is filtered to show only HF spots, but on all modes. Fig. 4: The four-sided VK100AF/VI100AF QSL card commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force (Image courtesy of QSL Manager Tim Beaumont M0URX).
Fig. 5: New WWFF award issued to Carl 2E0HPI/P. Fig. 6: The 2E0HPI/P location at GFF-0336 north of Sunderland. Fig. 7: What a location! The 28MHz 2-element Yagi used by ZB2GI/P and ZB2JK/P from the top of the Rock.
ers, all thirsting for ‘real’ DX, persuaded me not to try join in but to just enjoy the longed awaited ‘lift’.
“I logged QRP CW QSOs on 17m with 9K2HS Kuwait, OX3XR Greenland on 20m and OY1CT Faroe Islands on 10m. But, the most impressive operator I’ve heard in years was during YOTA [‘Youth On The Air’ – Ed] when I worked DL7PIA on 40m SSB. The ‘Young Lady’ Pia was fluent in German, Italian and faultless English as she ran her pile-up with all the aplomb of the very experienced DXer. She said “I’ve been licensed for two years and I think that this is a beautiful hobby”.
Pia is aged 13!”
Owen Williams G0PHY reported that
“The 20m band seemed livelier this month with some good DX to be had, especially in the evenings. My best DX was VK2CR who was calling CQ Europe via the long path last Saturday at 2148UTC. I managed to get him and although he only gave me 42, he was 55 with me. I also managed to work 5Z4VJ who was a very strong signal. There have been strong signals from South America in the late evenings with stations from CX, PY, HK and CE being audible. I was also surprised to hear ZS6CCY calling CQ Europe on 40m at 1841 one evening. He was strong but a pileup soon developed and I was unable to break it. Although not DX by some definitions I also worked 3A/IW1RBI on 20m.”
Tony Usher G4HZW is one who has been enjoying the Sporadic E propagation on
28MHz: “Ten has been good for the period in question and I’ve not felt inclined to move to the standby of 40m. There has been Sporadic E every day and on 14 May there was much very short skip with stations in the south of Scotland 59+ and I worked two mobile stations who were both running just 5 watts (I was using the TS-830 at 100W). On 7 May stations from North America were coming through at 0800UTC, as far as I can remember I’ve never heard them so early before. West coast stations were heard in the evening and, on 23 May, KL4NE in Alaska was heard, though not worked. 4 June provided the most interesting conditions with the band open to North America at midnight our time followed by a short path opening to Japan as it approached 1.00am!”
Etienne Vrebos OS8D is another who took advantage of the Es, saying: “I have been very active on 6m and 10m, wide open last weeks and made in total 350 QSOs this May... Again, I was delighted to work a huge amount of newer [operators], with low power, many UK stations, beginners and had good chats with most of them, in order that they feel great with their first SSB QSOs. A lot of stations were /P or /M, even one /AM: a German plane above Saudi Arabia at 40,000ft working with his Collins and 400W output. A long chat and the pilot mentioned a lot of squares they crossed: that’s interesting to fill up a map for square chasers, much more quickly than with /MM transmissions.” Tim Kirby GW4VXE says that “with the distractions of 6m, I am afraid HF operation has been rather minimal apart from the Wednesday CWOps sessions. I did spend a few minutes, literally that, on 10m during the CQ WPX CW contest and was pleased to work D4Z. 20m has been open later and there have been a few nice chats on CW. Bob W6PU
on a 6000ft mountain in New Mexico was a nice one at the end of May. During RSGB CW NFD I was pleased to give some points away on 80m as GW4MM/P – it was nice to hear some familiar calls from ‘years ago’. Looking forward to next year – with Covid hopefully behind us, perhaps there will be more portables out again. Having discovered (while reviewing an antenna analyser) that my 80m dipole matches very respectably on 17m, I’ve been listening on the band from time to time. ZD7FT was one of the first stations I heard on SSB – and there was some other DX heard shortly afterwards – quite impressive! I have been using a 1980s vintage FT-757GX as a receiver – I don’t have a microphone for the rig. I will have to bodge up an adapter cable.” We welcome back Carl Gorse 2E0HPI who unfortunately has not been too well of late
“so the radio has been put to one side... but hopefully [I’m] on the mend now”. Carl is very involved with the amateur radio Flora and Fauna organisation (see Fig. 5) and went out portable on 31 May to activate Souter Lighthouse ENG-127 and WWFF GFF 0336, Fig. 6. Using 20W from a Xiegu G90 transceiver to a home-made dipole, Carl made 92 QSOs on 7MHz SSB. He reports that there is a new award, the GxFF Home Nations Award and there are plans for a September ‘Autumn Event’ for GxFF activities. See:
“painted the GARS club house this month, the walls and ceilings have been given a fresh coat of white paint and the concrete floor has been repainted green. My May log included 550+ FT8 contacts operating from my home station and 150+ SSB QSOs operating from the club station and portable. I operated portable from the upper galleries twice with John King ZB2JK earlier in the month, but we found band conditions poor on both occasions. John did make a few 10m QSOs into Italy and France operating Pedestrian Mobile. The crazy 10m conditions enjoyed across the UK and Europe did not reach this far south until last weekend. Operating portable up the Rock, Fig. 7, on the 23rd with John, we found 10m and 6m SSB open.”
Around the Bands
Owen G0PHY: 14MHz SSB: 3A/IW1RBI, 5Z4VJ, CN8LAH, KP3DZC, TC568FA, VK2CR.
Tony G4HZW: 28MHz FT8: 4J3DJ, 7X3WPL, 7Z1AL, 9J2BS, 9K2OF, AB1II, AG9S, AI3Q, CE1PTT, CN8DN, D4Z, FS4WBS, HC6IM, HD1ECU, J69BB, JH0RNN, JH1FSF, JY4CI, K0TT, K2AL, K4MY, K7OP,
KA5SYP, KP2B, LU1ASP, LU8ENU, N8LRG, P43RR, PJ2MAN, PJ4EVA, PP2FRS, PU5AOA, PV8ABC, PY4WL, R9CA, RZ8U, TF1OL, UN7FGZ, VA3DAZ, VE1WAN, VE2JI, VO1CH, YB2HAF, YW200BC/1, ZD7JC.
Etienne OS8D: 7MHz SSB: 3A/IW1RBI.
14MHz SSB: BD7MHZ, JA2DXD, JE1RXJ, JE1RZR, JR7TKG, JS1KSU, JW4GUA, UN7MBH, UP2L, UP55L, VU2DSI, VU3ESV, VU3TPW, VU3WEW, YB1DNF. 18MHz SSB:
AP2SD. 28MHz SSB: ZD7FT.
Carl 2E0HPI/P: 7MHz SSB: DF7GK (DLFF 0124), F5NLX/P (FFF 2689), G1OCN/P (GFF 0376), GI0AZA/M (GIFF 0028), ON/ PD0WRL/P (ONFF 0252).
Kevin ZB2GI: 7MHz FT8: W1EL. 14MHz
FT8: 7Z1WW, AC9QR, K1ADV, K4RHS, K8SIX, KB3LAN, N0FW, NX2O, VA7DXX, W7AV, WB6EWM. 18MHz FT8: CE1LEW, CO6DS, HI8MDQ, K4MQM, W7VA, YV1SW, ZS4JAN.
21MHz FT8: 4Z1TL, 5B4AJG, 9K2RT, HP1RY, K7PT, N4CC, NR5T, OD5TX, PJ2CF, PU2PPP, PY2SGL, TA4SO, W4HWD, YV1HGS. 24MHz
FT8: HK3CFM, K4IJQ, PU4MMZ, PY2WC, VE3PJ, W8HW. 28MHz SSB: EA8CWA, GB0SOS, PY2TDY, PY2KY, PZ1EL. 28MHz
FT8: 9K2HN, 9Y4DG, AB1NS, CA3OPJ, FG4ST, HC6IM, HI8JSG, HK3X, KI4FSI, PY6TH, W3FOX, W5BN.
GARS club station ZB2GI: 14MHz SSB: 5B4AAB, RP76BA, RP76KPA, TC568FA, VE2CSI.
Signing Off
Thanks to all contributors. Please send all input for this column to teleniuslowe@gmail. com by 11th of each month. Photographs of your shack, antennas, or other activity would be particularly welcome. For the October issue the deadline is 11 August. 73, Steve PJ4DX.