New countries worked and DX records reached on aurora recently - thanks to Q65

I have posted before about me using Q65 for auroral propagation. If you need to, you can read about that here. However, this current post is about how much better I have been doing in more recent soar events.

There were two auroral openings here a few weeks ago (4 and 12 August) which I should perhaps have reported on at the time. Well, I had a rough posting in the works but it never got much further. 

Believe it or not I do have to lead a more or less "normal" life outside amateur radio. Sometimes I have to do things like replace 35 kitchen doors and drawer fronts using the skills I learned from "Squarehole". He was my woodwork teacher during our tempestuous time together back in 1968. Would it have helped if I had listened to him? Probably not. It might have helped if he had listened to me from time to time. There is only so far you can go with wooden tea pot stands when you future life is more diverse.

Ah well.

GM4PMK's magnetometer on 12 August 2024

As per usual, click to enlarge the images if necessary.

Anyway, those solar events produced contacts with countries which I have never reached by aurora before. Take for example OH6KTL on 144MHz, my first auroral contact with Finland on that band. I worked Lasse on both events. OK, I have worked Finland on 2m before, on meteor and ionoscatter, plus tropo, so what difference does it make using aurora? Simply that unless we know what propagation method we are using we will not learn anything about propagation. Remember I have this old fashioned idea that amateur radio should be about learning. Woodworking classes should also be about learning, even in 1968, but we will have to let that thought go. Not that I am bitter or anything.

At 1504km the OH6KTL contact is the best DX I have ever worked on 2m Aurora. Also on 4 August I worked OH2BYJ on 70MHz at 1571km, which was my best DX on aurora on that band too. The contact with OH2BYJ is in fact the best DX I have ever worked on aurora on any band.

An aurora almost a mystical event. Radio auroras produce the oddest conditions with roaring band noise, strong distorted signals and dramatic changes in conditions. If the polarity of the matter reaching the Earth reverses then the radio aurora can start or end abruptly. There is also the possible bonus of Auroral Es propagation at the end of an event, but this not so common. We may get two or three days warning of an aurora, or we may not. The feeling in the shack here is of witnessing a remarkable event. So the further I can reach during an aurora extends the majesty of the whole thing.

On 4 April I worked F1FPL on 2m for a new country on aurora. I had never even heard a French station from here on aurora on any band.

Auroral contacts at GM4FVM, all bands, 4 and 12 August 2024

It is not just 2m where I have been doing well. I have been working quite a few stations during 6m and 4m auroras. However, there is no doubt that 2m has shown the greatest benefit lately.

So what might have changed which makes for greater success? Obviously every event is different but over time I can average that out. I am doing better now. 

It appears to be largely down to my use of Q65. My hearing has never been good at picking out either SSB or CW during an aurora. As the distorting effect of the Doppler shift is worse for higher frequencies, that made me shy away from 2m during auroras. Q65 has lifted that barrier and allows me to spend time on 144MHz.

70MHz auroral contact with OH2BYJ on 4 August 2024

When it came to the contact with OH2BYJ on 4 August I could hear nothing but noise on the loudspeaker and see nothing on the waterfall. I could never have made this contact any other way simply because I could not hear him.

It is not just the removal of my hearing from the scene which helps. It is pretty clear to me that using Q65 is very effective. I am working further afield, reaching more stations and filling in some gaps. I recall receiving stations on SSB who were strong but I simply could not decode any modulation in them. Q65 seems to be able to reach those ones too.

In the past, auroral openings for me (especially on 2m) tended to be limited to within these islands with the occasional LA or OZ. Now the field is opening up for me to reach further. This can only be regarded as a victory for Joe Taylor and his team. I doubt if they had me in mind when they created Q65, but it certainly works for me.

Nothing that I say should be taken to suggest that we should not use CW or SSB during auroras. That is our choice. All I am saying is how effective Q65 has been for me. During the 12 August opening I was happy to work GI4SNA and GM4CXM on 70MHz SSB. Those were very pleasant contacts and let us keep that option open. However, they are examples of the shorter range contacts I used to make. SSB does not work well for me on 2m, and CW is doubly difficult for me on that band, and the distance I could work was always relatively short.

Maybe I am odd, but I have no problem tuning around looking for signals and switching mode as I think fit. I cannot see why some people see data modes as the road to extinction of our hobby - we are not obliged to use them. We can use data for some contacts and anything we like for others (and I do).

Q65 is very adaptable, and there are a range of settings you can pick. Most stations seem to be using Q65-30C during auroras. I have tried other permutations, but that one seems to work for me. I am still happy to work stations using another other variation, but I use 30C for calling CQ.

It seems that Q65 allows me to reach further, and for others in areas not often affected by auroral propagation it allows them to reach me. Over many years I had success on this amazing propagation method but it always seemed limited, especially above 50MHz. If Q65 opens the door to more contacts during auroras then I will be very happy.

I could go further and repeat my view from previous postings. I find that Q65 is better than FT8 for contacts in any situation on all VHF and UHF bands, right up to 1296MHz which is as far as I go. The higher the frequency, the better the outcome from using Q65. I cannot really see a reason why VHF+ operators continue to use FT8 when Q65 can produce more reliable, better, DX. I also cannot see why the RSGB have a 70cm FT8 contest when a 70cm Q65 contest would produce better results.

OK, maybe at 50MHz the benefits would be less apparent, but as we go up through the bands the disadvantage of using FT8 increases. An SP station was keen to work my on 70cm tropo recently, just as I was keen to work him (I have 99 squares on that band). It had not worked on FT8 so he suggested Q65. As it happened Q65 did not work either (it is not a miracle worker) but HE suggested it to ME. Come now, this is not just my hobby-horse now. It is time for us to face reality here.

73 Jim

GM4FVM