Two of the more gripping radio spectacles at Mid Summer are the fleeting appearances of DX during Two Metre Sporadic-E and the Mid-Summer paths on Six Metres linking Europe with Japan and neighbouring countries. These are completely different processes but my operating procedures for both have evolved to become similar.
I might also add Ionoscatter, but I did not hear any this year, unlike previous years. You can read about my experiences with Ionoscatter by searching for that word on this site.
The key features of these unpredictable phenomena is that they only last for brief periods, and the stations are often only heard for even shorter periods. Basically if I blink I miss them. Having said that, if you have the time and the opportunity (and a lot of patience) you can find them fairly reliably.
What links them is that the skills needed are more akin to a fisherman casting their fly into the river than reliable radio operation. Any fisherman knows that you have to cast a lot of times before you get a fish to bite. Patience and determination are the keys to success.
On Six Metres this path is often called a "solstice" one, suggesting that it occurs directly at the solstice i.e. 21 June (or a day either side depending on the leap year status and other factors). In practice I have found it between 2 June and 23 July. For the purpose of this analysis I am taking the path as being possible on one month either side of the solstice, i.e. between 21 May and 21 July, which is when I usually look for it. Peak time of day is often quoted at around 08:00UTC at the European end, but I have used it between 05:59 and 09:47.
As I write this on 23 June I am assuming that these propagation modes have closed for this year ... maybe not!
This year (so far) has produced these results:-
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Click to enlarge images if needed, as usual.
At a detail scale you can see the spread across Japan was different on each day. The 23 June opening was to the South and West of Japan:-
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| 50MHz contacts at GM4FVM over 8100km on 23 June 2025 |
Whereas the 25 June opening was the North and East of Japan, and there was no overlap in terms of squares worked:-
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| 50MHz contacts at GM4FVM over 8100km on 25 June 2025 |
I posted about the 23 June opening here and for this post I have corrected a data flaw (yes, even I do get those).
Lest this look like a simple prospect to operate I have to point out that there were only two days in that two month period when I was able to use this propagation mode. That meant 60 days sitting doing very little and 56 minutes of action across two days.
50MHz Es openings 2025 at GM4FVM |
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Opening |
Start time (UTC) |
Duration (mins) |
QSOs |
DXCC |
Squares |
23 June |
08:31 |
29 |
7 |
1 |
6 |
25 June |
07:34 |
27 |
7 |
1 |
5 |
Season Totals |
|
56 |
14 |
1 |
11 |
So is all that listening for 15 contacts really worth it? Well, distances ranged between 8478 and 9216km, with best DX being to JM1SZY in PM95 square. The distances covered make it worth it in my opinion. 11 squares worked make it better, but those were all in one DXCC this year.
On two meters the outcome was different but as we shall see, the operating tactics were much the same. 2m Es can occur at any time of year but it is heavily concentrated on either side of the solstice. Openings are unpredictable, infrequent and sometimes very short.
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| 144MHz contacts at GM4FVM on Sporadic E 21 May to 21 July 2025 |
This year I had 28 contacts in 7 DXCC on 2m Es. Of these, 14, half, were in Italy. The rest were Switzerland (6), Spain (3), Germany (2) and one each in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. Distances were between 1190 and 2234km with best DX being to YU5C in KN02. There were 16 squares worked.
144MHz Es openings 2025 at GM4FVM |
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Opening |
Start time (UTC) |
Duration (mins) |
QSOs |
DXCC |
Squares |
3 June |
15:44 |
24 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 June |
10:19 |
54 |
20 |
4 |
13 |
19 June |
13:00 |
28 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
20 July |
11:38 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
20 July |
12:57 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Season Totals |
|
112 |
28 |
7* |
16* |
112 minutes operation across 4 days, and then 58 days not working any 144MHz Es. Is this a reasonable result? Seven DXCC, 16 squares and 27 contacts is a good 2m outcome for me.
Around Mid-Summer, 2-metre Sporadic E occurs fairly regularly somewhere in Europe. Sometimes it happens every day for a few days. The downside is that the areas covered are very small, with the result that the chances of 2m Es happening here on any specific day are fairly low. You can of course sit and watch PSK Reporter as it shows you lots of QSOs going on (apparently) all over Europe. Sadly, these openings are limited to small areas, sometimes to just one station at each end. For those stations the opening might last long enough for one QSO, or possibly only a partial QSO. If they are lucky then the propagation will stay open at their end and move on to somewhere interesting at the far end. Or not ... for many days I can only watch as others work hard for a QSO. And then again sometimes I work a string of stations.
The Mid-Summer 6-metre openings to Japan are in some ways similar in the way stations appear and disappear quickly. The method of propagation is totally different. On 2m Es is almost always single hop, out to about 2,200km. With the Japan openings it is multi-hop and the range is about 9,000km. Calling it a "Japan" opening is shorthand as I have worked into Asiatic Russia, South Korea and China during these openings. This year, however, all my contacts were into Japan, just one DXCC.
Either way, the method of operating I adopt on each band for this purpose is different from my normal one. With stations appearing and disappearing at such speed I have to abandon my usual attempts to complete a QSO at all costs. Instead, the only method that works for me during these events is a slash and burn approach. Anyone who has ever played the arcade game of "whack-a-mole" will understand.
Result of these short openings - MADNESS. Sometimes three stations call me, I have to pick one to reply to. Often the one I pick has gone and the other two are still calling. Do I call the strongest with me, or the one giving me the best report, as most likely to still be there in 30 seconds?
I therefore dispense with my normal practice of sticking with contacts as long as possible in order to complete. If one does not complete, then I move on quickly to give the next one a chance. Over the years this has proved to produce the best results at GM4FVM.
I think that the very fact that I do not know when or if these paths will open is what attracts me to them. If I wanted to work stations every day I could just go to 20m. I don't like 20m. I enjoy the effort you have to put into DX on VHF and UHF. Sometimes nothing happens - some years I have only had one 2m Es contact during the whole year so 28 is pretty good going. This year I worked one 2m station twice. It is in fact unusual for me to work one station twice in a year - usually the searchlight roams widely and rarely passes over the same point.
And when it does happen the operating is fraught and exhausting. I am looking for new squares and longer distances so I have to make quick decisions as to which station to reply to. Strangely, I enjoy this part of the deal too.
I cannot really justify the effort. I just enjoy it when it pays off.
73 Jim
GM4FVM
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