Category Archives: Propagation

Marconi Memorial VHF Contest ’21

Posted on November 7, 2021 by dh8bqa

I really like the MMC. Being CW-only on VHF it provides plenty of opportunities to work DX while using your own brain to decode the signals. And it’s always good for a surprise. Being in autumn it’s “usually” some tropo … Continue reading →

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CQ WWDX SSB ’21

Posted on November 2, 2021 by dh8bqa

Nice condx! Great to have some F2 propagation on 10 m again. Saturday was good to JA, worked almost exactly 100 of them. On the other hand North America was only open for about 45 minutes in the afternoon with … Continue reading →

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Small tropo opening & 70 cm QSOs

Posted on October 29, 2021 by dh8bqa

Driving from Hamburg to Schwedt along the German Autobahn  A20 last night I listened to Swedish FM radio all the way from about Rostock to Stralsund! There seemed to be a nice tropo lift across the Baltic Sea. I kept … Continue reading →

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(No) Perseids this year …

Posted on August 15, 2021 by dh8bqa

Only made two QSOs on August 9, 2021. Worked R2OA/KO91 and special event station ES9ØFA/KO49, both on MSK144 mode. Just not enough time to play with the meteors this year …

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More (and bigger) Tropo!

Posted on July 23, 2021 by dh8bqa

Wow! Almost 100 QSOs in one-and-a-half-days on 2m outside of contests must mean there was something special. And indeed it was, we had some nice tropo across the North Sea again, this time on a more northerly path so the … Continue reading →

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Some tropo for a change ;-)

Posted on July 16, 2021 by dh8bqa

After all these great Sporadic-E openings we had a small Tropo lift to the UK this morning. Predictions showed some enhancements across the North Sea that probably helped although most of the path from JO73 to the UK is over … Continue reading →

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Another massive 2 m opening (just too close)

Posted on July 11, 2021 by dh8bqa

Another massive 2 m ES opening this afternoon! But as you can see from the MUF map I’ve been too close to it. Nevertheless managed a few QSOs during a short 15 minutes opening when the MUF was high enough, … Continue reading →

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ES on 144 MHz & DXCC #50 on 70 MHz

Posted on July 8, 2021 by dh8bqa

Early morning opening on 2 m to the west! 😎 More UK on 4 m afterwards. Worked 4X1TI/KM71 at 8:25z who provided DXCC #50 on 70 MHz. 😎 W4IMD/EM84 on 6 m at noon. More 4 m to EA/EA6 in … Continue reading →

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Japan, Caribbean & Svalbard on 6 m

Posted on July 7, 2021 by dh8bqa

Good JA opening this morning. But despite 400 W and an 8 ele LY my ERP still seems too low, really had trouble getting through. So just 5 QSOs made with PM51/53/74/86 squares. A small opening to the Caribbean late … Continue reading →

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Small US opening on 50 MHz

Posted on July 6, 2021 by dh8bqa

Same as yesterday, not positioned well enough to gain a lot from the multi-hop openings. Just caught UN7LZ & UN9L from MO13 in the morning. W8TN, KA8SYV & WB8CQV all from EM98, W4WT/EM74, WA4CQG/EM72, K4PI/EM73 and KA9UVY/EM58 in the afternoon.

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More patchy 6 m openings

Posted on July 5, 2021 by dh8bqa

Propagation not too good today. Well, probably it was, but just not here. Really had difficulties getting into it. So just a handful of QSOs including JA8KSF/QN03 early morning and VP2V/K3TRM in FK78 (another new one), 7Z1SJ/LL25 and A92EE/LL56 in … Continue reading →

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XE – Mexico on 6 m

Posted on July 4, 2021 by dh8bqa

Besides handing out a few more points in the 2 m contest this morning I was monitoring Six & Four all day long. While there was nothing on 4 m except a single EA1/IN52 there were some patchy openings on … Continue reading →

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Spain again on 144 MHz / USA on 50 MHz

Posted on July 3, 2021 by dh8bqa

After a few days of silence we had another short Sporadic-E opening on 2 m into Spain this morning: —————————————————————— TIME CALLSIGN LOCATOR TX RX BAND MODE PROP. QRB —————————————————————— 08:17 EA1MX IN73XK -12 -05 2 m. FT8 ES 1722 … Continue reading →

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Short QRB 4 m opening

Posted on June 30, 2021 by dh8bqa

Today some good 2 m Sporadic-E elswhere in Europe, we were too close to the clouds. But just far enough to gain from it on 4 m enabling short distance contacts! It’s not too often you can work within Germany … Continue reading →

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Six, Four & Two into Spain

Posted on June 25, 2021 by dh8bqa

Sporadic-E was quite localized today. While 6 m was open into different directions (worked A7/LL55, 5T/IL10 and EA8/IL17 on double hops) it was basically Spain only on 4 m starting to open early evening only and one hour later 2 … Continue reading →

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2 m ES & three new ones on 6 m

Posted on June 19, 2021 by dh8bqa

Nothing too special yesterday. 4 m was open every now and then, worked G, GW, YO, SV, EA8, 9H and OH. All very patchy and spread across the day. Some more luck on 6 m this morning! Worked BX4AG/PL04 & … Continue reading →

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Gimme more VHF DX …

Posted on June 17, 2021 by dh8bqa

The Sporadic-E season continues to be strong. 😎 Four was open to G, GW, EI & EA in the morning already. At 10z WW1L/FN54 made it into the log on 6 m but should be the only one. 4 m … Continue reading →

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Another great ES day on the VHF bands!

Posted on June 16, 2021 by dh8bqa

What a great DX day today! Made 70 QSOs across Four & Two. Both bands started to open simultanously overhere at 8 UTC. While it started to the west with G/GW for the first 20 minutes it soon shifted to … Continue reading →

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Multiple multi hop openings

Posted on June 15, 2021 by dh8bqa

Six has been in great shape lately. The band was open to the Middle East on June 14 almost all day long. Noteworthy QSOs were made with UK7AL/MN41, UN7NII/MN42, 9K2YM/LL48, A65BR/LL75, A71AE/LL55, A62A/LL75, 7Z1SJ/LL25, HZ1SK/KL91, A65IN/LL74, A92GE/LL56 as well as … Continue reading →

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ES openings early June ’21

Posted on June 11, 2021 by dh8bqa

The good thing being forced by the doctors to stay at home is you can monitor the bands almost continously even besides doing some QRL work. 😉 June 5 brought a nice one hour 4 m opening to the Balkans … Continue reading →

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