More TEP from Scotland?

Trans equatorial propagation, something I don't get here.

This was something I wrote on this blog back in March 2015. You can find that here if you want to read it (but I suggest you don't).

It is true. TEP does not work from here (or much of Northern Europe which is north of, say, Birmingham), because the path simply does not exist. There is no landmass as far south as I am north of the geomagnetic equator. This is true even though for those in the UK the geomagnetic equator tracks north of the geographical equator at our longitude. The stations have to be almost equidistant on each side of the geomagnetic equator. Maybe a tiny tip of the South America somewhere near Punta Arenas might just do the trick. I doubt, however, that there are many amateurs in Patagonia sitting all day listening to 6m in the vague hope of working GM4FVM.

So I still believe that direct TEP is impossible from here, at least until somebody proves otherwise. 

(I sense a "BUT" coming, Jim.)

 BUT, I also wrote this in the 2015 blog post

... perhaps Sporadic E could carry my signal far enough South to reach the Northern extent of TEP. The snag is that Es occur here in the Summer (and for a few days in Winter) whereas TEP generally occurs in Spring and Autumn. So there might only be a few days each year with the potential for it to work (if it would work at all).

Well, that seemed to happen back on 20 October 2022 when I worked TT8SW in Chad. I wrote that up in the blog posting before last (here) which was partly titled "TEP from Scotland mystery" and even had a photo of the mysterious Toyah Wilcox to prove it.

In that posting I said:-

I am left with assuming that this was Es, encouraged by the high K number, linking into TEP

It just felt odd. A sudden burst of unseasonal Es would be needed as TEP happens mostly outside the Summer Es period. And then it needs to link into TEP at just the right point and there needs to be some activity at the other end of the TEP. Most of the places covered from here would be in the Indian Ocean or the Southern Ocean, or some other watery locator squares. So that remained an untested theory as far as the Chad contact was concerned. Unless it all happened again of course.

And then on 18 February it all happened again.

Once again, a new country and a new square for me. But this time also a new distance record for me on 50MHz. My contact with ZS6NJ in KG33 square (9545km) beat my previous best to JG1TSG at 9281km by a large margin.

Contacts on 50Mhz at GM4FVM between 21 January and 19 February 2023

Not bad for the only 6m contact in 4 weeks. As usual, click the image to enlarge if needs be.

To say that I was not ready to work South Africa on 6m would be an understatement. I was sitting in the shack when I noticed that there was a lot of TEP activity from Southern Europe to South Africa. Not much hope of me joining it but then I also noticed what looked like a small upward blip in chart showing the X-Ray flow from the Sun. In addition to the disturbed geomagnetic conditions at the time I did wonder if this might mean some possibilities of Es.

Looking at the display of 6 metre FT8 activity on my PC I noticed ZS6NJ working into HA and S5. He was about -10dB so a contact seemed possible. As I said, I was not ready. I did not know the beam heading for South Africa, so I just pointed the beam south. If I had thought about it, all I had to do was put ZS6NJ's locator into my rotator control software and the beam would have pointed in the correct direction, but I was initially too confused to work that out. So I was about 20 degrees out, which is a long way off when you get halfway round the world. Only later did it occur to me that the mast was not raised and the HB9CV was pointing straight at the roof tiles. 

So with a two element beam pointing the wrong way, at only 5m elevation, below rooftop level, and 150W, I worked a station on 6m who was 9500km away. My report to him was -12dB, and his report to me was +00dB.

For the second time in a few months I cannot see how this propagation could have occurred if it was not by Es linking into TEP. I logged it on the cluster as "unknown" but DXMaps converted that into "multi-hop Es". I have only ever experienced multi-hop Es in the Summer so I think I can safely rule that out. 

Lots of other stations north of my imaginary TEP cut-off point at Birmingham heard and tried to work into South Africa and several seemed to have succeeded. Well done to them too if they did. At least one was even further north than I am.

Tim, GW4VXE, wrote in his VHF column in the March 2023 edition of Practical Wireless magazine, in answer to a query from G4MCU, "While a 'classic' TEP path might not work from the UK to South Africa, it may be that a compound Sporadic-E plus TEP might work". Well said Tim.

I feel pretty sure that what I stumbled upon was just what Tim described. I think that path to Chad in October was the same though obviously the point at which the Es linked to TEP would have been entirely different. The limiting factor to these paths seems to be the lack of Es here at times when TEP is active. You have to seize the moment - it only lasted just over five minutes and I missed the first three minutes of that due to dithering and having the beam pointing East.

Confirmation from LOTW of matching log entries for the contact on 18 February 2023

I must look for this type of propagation more often. 

Now that I am gradually recovering from my last operation I hope to restore one of my better antennas for 50MHz soon. Perhaps then run a bit more power. But this was not about power or antennas. The antenna was simple, not high, surrounded by buildings and the power was not excessive. This was about radio and being alert to the possibilities.

A stonking tropo opening one week (see last posting) and then this yesterday. And today - total silence.

Isn't radio propagation wonderful?

(Now, where next in Africa, and what about TEP to South America, Jim?)

73 

Jim

GM4FVM

I need a lift.

I definitely need a lift.

Not in the sense of a small moving room allowing me to reach different floors in a building (which some call an elevator).

No, I mean a psychological pick-me-up.

Maybe it was just the January blues, when VHF amateurs often face closed bands and white noise. Maybe it was just having to deal with various equipment breakdowns. Maybe the long nights and short days, it being dark at 15:30 in the evening and nothing on the radio, have combined to depress my mood.

Then this arrived ...

Contacts at GM4FVM 3 to 13 February 2023

As usual click the image to enlarge it if you need to. The red pins on the map are for 144MHz contacts, the blue ones are for 432MHz. There are two 70MHz FM contacts in there but they were both local and have no coloured pins.

This tropospheric lift came in two phases, one 3 to 4 February and then again on 11 to 13 February. The high pressure though was present for almost the whole period, so I was able to work F5APQ on 6 February at a healthy -04dB.

Best DX, SP8WJW in KN09 1721km? That looks very much like the six SSB and data contacts I have had with Peter over the last ten years or so. But no, it was in fact my second one with him on 144MHz. I worked him before on 2m on SSB back in 2017.

OK, so a lot of these contacts are with stations I have worked before. Not all, as I picked up a number of new squares, mostly in Poland. For me that is not really the point. I enjoy watching the propagation develop and I am not so keen on collecting squares or new stations just to compete with myself our anybody else. Very few of those 136 contacts could have been made under flat conditions.

Sure, I like to see the squares total edging up, but that is not my main goal in life. The point is that it shows progress.

These tropo openings had been accurately predicted by the two sites I have provided links to on the right hand bar of this blog. Hepburn gave around 5 days notice, and F5LEN around 7 days. Generally Hepburn gives more generous predictions, and this shows up the weaker events. F5LEN is a bit more cautious, but his site has the advantage of giving rough predictions for a week in advance. The further ahead the predictions cover the less accurate they tend to be, though in this case they were both spot on.

Hepburn tropo chart for Monday 13 February 2023

Both the 3 and 4 February and the 11 to 13 February followed the same paths, and this was as predicted by the two sites. The high pressure built over Spain, before travelling in a clockwise direction to pass over England and the North Sea, before heading off over Denmark and into the Baltic Sea area. The propagation followed a similar path, first to France and Spain, then Ireland and South West England, eventually Germany Sweden, Poland and off into the distance. The bands were open and then abruptly closed as it passed.

It has to be stressed that tropospheric predictions are just that. Predictions. They are really a guess based on weather forecasts which are also fairly approximate. Despite this, they often good indications of what will happen. This is especially true for the next day or two, but less so the further ahead they cover. 

I would take note of the predictions, but I would not place too much faith in them. It is true that both sites predicted another opening this year which never happened. In that case the high pressure arrived, but the enhanced conditions did not. As other factors come into play such as the moisture content of the air and the wind speed at any particular point it is hardly surprising that they get things wrong sometimes.

Anyway, they were both correct this time. 15 countries worked on both bands, DL, EA, EI, F, G, GM, GU, LA, OK, ON, OZ, PA, SM and SP. In the not so distant past that would have been a good lifetime achievement for me on 2m and 70cm. Now it happens in ten days, or actually two days at the start and three days at the end.

This is thanks to nothing I have done of course. The troposphere has not changed much either. The developments at my end really come from having adopted better technology. In particular I would mention (with the real innovators) better antennas (I0JXX on 2m), better radios (Icom) better coax (M&P), better masthead preamps (SSB Electronics) and of course better software (K1JT et al).

Looking particularly at 70cm contacts, as usual low activity levels limited what could be done. It still looked pretty good

432MHz contacts at GM4FVM 3 to 13 February 2023

Even with limited activity, 9 DXCC on 432MHz is pretty good for me. I still get great joy from working into France, never mind Spain. Spain for me is real DX on any of my three high bands (2m, 70 and 23cm). Oddly I heard no signal on 23 cm for the entire period.

It looks a bit like EA1W should have been the best DX as at 1393km in square IN73. That is a long haul for 432MHz. But no, SP2JYR gains the crown at an additional 6km further at 1399km to JO92.

That contact with Ryszard, SP2JYR, was almost my best DX on terrestrial propagation on 70cm (F5DYD/P at 1415 beats it) but it is still remarkable. Rather like the SP8WJW contact above, I am more accustomed to working Ryszard on 70MHz. I have had 19 contacts with him on 70MHz over the past decade, two on 144MHz, one on 50MHz, and now one on 432MHz too. SP2JYR becomes a DX four bander on VHF and above. We even had a contact on both 2m and 70cm on 13 February.

So SP2JYR gave me a new 70cm square, and SP2FRY gave me JO83, and DL1VPL gave me JO61 ... no need to go on. On 70cm I have now worked 93 squares. Time to think about the century?

Look, once again, 37 contacts on 70cm, one an FM one to a hill top walker nearby so 36 DX. 27 squares, 9 DXCC, Spain. Poland, Sweden etc, etc. Plus higher bands mean extra points. And as I always say, points mean prizes. Well, no, there are no prizes. However, the thrill of working stations on higher frequencies continues to energise me when other radio things do not.. 

I have had more 70cm linear trouble which I may relate later. Actually, a nagging problem from ages ago which I have now decided to fix. This has stopped me doing any more moonbounce on 70cm at the moment. So all this recent activity was on about 80W with the 16 element Wimo. That antenna has been panned by a certain other amateur who tells me I could do better with something more elaborate. I dunno, more money for an antenna which is no longer and claims no more gain? 

I do have a new 70cm masthead preamp, with the SHF 432VOX having been replaced by an SSB SP70. This is something I had been planning but which I had to do urgently following .. erm ... a mistake on my part. No need to go into that just now.

So what is next? High pressure due to return briefly next week! Disturbed geomagnetic conditions thanks to solar activity so possible Aurora/Es this weekend. Is my mojo working again?

Anyway, there you go. I got my lift.

Perhaps with my knee still giving trouble that lift to get me up to higher floors might be a good idea. Can I get a portable one.

Do Stannah make one on wheels? A bit like an aircraft staircase like the one you see at airports, but with a motorised chair on rails, maybe?

Can I apply for a patent?

73 Jim GM4FVM