6 Meter E Season Wrap-up for 2021

For all practical purposes my 6 meter sporadic E season is over. Yes, there will be more openings from time to time. However, the likelihood of DX is low, and that is my primary motivation. For me this is as good a time as any to look back at the season that was while memories are fresh. Look back in the blog and you'll see that I do this every year.

One important observation is that activity is higher. Interest in 6 meters is increasing and that's a good thing. There is more QRM of course but that's a fair trade off for the increased opportunities that the activity engenders. There is a lot of spectrum available that, as a community, we have yet to exploit. Digital modes, especially FT8, tend to encourage the majority to crowd into one or two SSB 3 kHz watering holes. Eventually that will have to change.

With respect to the objectives I set at the beginning of the season this has been a very successful year. I surpassed by one my DXCC stretch objective of 110 countries on 6 meter digital modes. Of these, 103 are confirmed on LOTW. I do not intend to apply for the DXCC award since awards are unimportant to me. It is enough to know that I've done it.

Since early May my log has accumulated around 1000 DX contacts. The station improvements I made earlier this year have paid dividends.

Two of my close 6 meter buddies also passed the 100 confirmation mark this season. We notify each other of openings and happenings throughout the E season, and cheer each other's successes and commiserate when we are not so fortunate. With pandemic restrictions removed we are planning a get together to celebrate our achievements. 

Power

As I've said numerous times on this blog, FT8 is not a low power mode. More precisely, it is no more a low power mode than any other. For example, CW is a low power mode yet QRO is a strong advantage whether you are DXing, contesting or simply having a conversation. 

During the first major opening to Europe on May 19 my country count jumped from 90 to 96. These were countries I've heard and called in the past but could not work. With power I did. Some would prefer to keep it challenging with low power, but for my tastes this is a welcome development. Sporadic E openings are mostly brief and marginal, and I see no reason to continue struggling.

One thing I find myself doing more often is to call CQ for long periods. The reason is that with a bigger signal I have the opportunity to "open" the band. That is, those monitoring a quiet band may hear me and start transmitting. We all like to passively monitor a dead or quiet band for those elusive DX openings, waiting for the "big guns" to break through. With QRO I can now make a contribution.

Yet there are many stations that still cannot hear me. Some have mentioned on chat groups and elsewhere that the local man-made noise is strong so signals must be very strong. One Middle East station said he has to shut down at dusk because the noise of LED lighting wipes out the band. This is a global problem that will only get worse. 

QRO on my end helps to be heard by those living with the plague of noise. Since I hear very well at my quiet rural QTH many stations I can hear don't hear me. It's frustrating, though a little less so now that I can run more power. The downside is that sporadic E occurs when the weather is warm and heat from the amp can make the shack uncomfortable.

Europe and Caribbean

During the peak weeks of the season it is rare to not decode at least one station in Europe or the Caribbean. That's why I've lumped them together. The hops to these areas are geographically favourable for transitory E-layer clouds almost daily. That does not mean that there is a workable opening. These are merely "teasers" that keep hams in the shack when they could be doing something more worthwhile.

That said, there are frequent openings to these areas. Activity is high enough that if there is a reflection there will be a station at either end of the path to decode the digital message. First you hear the big guns and then you wait (or you probe with your own CQs) for the next layer of stations to appear. In the best case the opening brings in the smallest stations. I have had more than a few stations in Europe tell me that I'm their first Canada or first North America on 6 meters.

While I do love these openings my priority is working new countries. Both of these areas are filled with DXCC entities that I need on 6, but where the activity is absent or the stations are small and therefore relatively rare. So I work the openings and keep an eye on all the decodes for that elusive new one. I interrupt the pile up to call them, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. 

The rare ones can accumulate quite the pile up. HV0A moved their pile ups from 50.313 MHz to 50.303 MHz to make it more managable. Other shift to 50.323, 50.333 or elsewhere. You must pay attention to the spotting networks or QSY frequently or you'll miss when this happens. When I worked OH0Z they chose an audio frequency (DF) of less than 200 Hz. It was necessary to shift the VFO lower to get a reliable decode. Digital modes are not as simple as many imagine! There are tactics to be learned to successfully work the DX that are different than for traditional modes.

The more northerly path to Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, Ukraine and Russia opened numerous times but were so marginal that contacts were difficult most of the time. New ones on that path included OH0, ES, YL and UA.

Far East

To my surprise there were many openings to Japan this year: 6 that I can recall. Some were so feeble that few stations could be worked. One remarkable case was discovered by accident. Around 2330Z one evening -- an hour later than the typical peak for a JA opening -- I checked PSK Reporter while I was working the Caribbean. I had a flag in JA8 (Hokkaido), off the back of the beam. 

I turned the yagi, half convinced it was a mistake of some kind, heard nothing and called CQ. I was immediately answered by JA8EPO. After our QSO we both CQ'd for quite some time and worked nothing. I gathered several flags in JA8 over the next 20 minutes but heard and worked no more stations. No one else nearby appeared to hear anything at all. That was quite the spotlight opening.

The path to the far east was otherwise disappointing. I heard one HL briefly, and that was it. The only success on that path was finally working KL7HBK for a new one on digital. I heard several more Alaskans that were not coming in for long enough to work. Stations to the south and west had more success, working BA, BV, HL and DU. Maybe next year.

Middle East and Central Asia

I had success though not as much as I had expected. Two 4X stations were worked and then I had a drought. There were many openings into the Arabian peninsula, with many enticing new countries, yet little resulted. While calling an A7 station I was called by two in 9K. That was nice but the others went unworked. Heard and not worked countries included: TA, OD, A7, 7Z, A9. 

As mentioned earlier, it could have been noise on their end. Others had similar difficulty getting through. Another problem is that we have to penetrate the European "wall" on this tenuous path and there is no good way to know whether our chosen frequency is clear. Calling on their frequency, which ought to have been fairly clear of QRM, was also unsuccessful. Of course there may have been other callers on that frequency, and due to the peculiarities of sporadic E propagation I wouldn't hear them. 

Those a short distance to the east in W1 had far better luck, as did those in VE1/VO1/VY2. The same goes for the openings to central Asia. Others were heard working UN and EY, which were not heard here at all. Last year I did hear a few of these stations but it was impossible to be heard without an amp. Hopefully my luck will improve next year.

Pacific and West Coast

There were numerous openings to W6/W7/VE7 this year. A handful were remarkable. One was so good that I heard many new stations. In an email, a California station told me he uses an indoor antenna and it is difficult for him to work my side of the continent. Portable operation from several rare grids were there for the taking for those on the hunt for grids. I worked a few of them despite that not being my interest.

Going further to the west, I worked two more stations in Hawaii. During one opening, NH6Y was heard for almost 30 minutes. That's impressive. Unfortunately most of the Pacific is devoid of land and hams so the propagation goes to waste. One exciting event was several in the northeast copying a ZL near 00Z one evening. I was on the great circle route aligned with those stations so I listened and CQ'd for some time. Unfortunately I heard nothing and I raised no flags far away. It would be a stunning achievement and you can be sure I'll try again next year.

Africa

The main difficulty working continental Africa is the low activity level. There are few hams and even fewer are active on 6 meters. Digital helps since it encourages more to make the attempt. Even if there were more activity it would be difficult to reach beyond northwest and west-central Africa with sporadic E. East, central and south Africa are particularly challenging. I have yet to hear any of those stations during my most recent years of activity. Yet I keep listening.

A few stations are well equipped and within reach. Good examples this year are TZ4AM in Mali and 5T5PA in Mauritania. Of these I've only worked the latter since Jeff TZ4AM has a high noise level and I have yet to catch him when signal levels are sufficiently strong. It is admirable that he keeps trying and many in North America got lucky this year. 

Other Africans I notched up this year include XT and 7X. These were difficult because they do not have big stations. I did not hear TT8SN this year, which is unfortunate since my uncertain QSO with him in 2020 did not make it into his log. I regrettably erased TT from my worked list. 6W1TA was worked again this year, while 9G5FI remained out of reach. 

With more activity I am sure I will put more Africans in my log next year. Other than hoping for exceptional openings there is little I can do until the current solar cycle peaks.

South America

Working the north coast of South America is becoming routine. There are a few well equipped stations in north Brazil (PV8) that are also frequently heard, and occasionally a few in HC and ZP. Crossing the equator to the countries further south is far more difficult. Sporadic E is not enough to reach the far south. Concurrent TEP is needed to complete the path. Conversely, this is a relatively easy path via the F-layer during solar maxima.

I heard one LU last year who could not hear my 150 watts. This year there was one great opening to LU and I worked 3 stations, including LU5FF on FT4. I'm glad he changed modes since FT4 is much faster and more stations can be worked during these brief opening. Yet few others do the same. I get few takers when I CQ on FT4 during strong openings.

In that opening and another, CE and CX stations were heard and worked by those not too far away from me. Unfortunately I copied none of them. These are two more countries to try for next year.

The wanderer

It is not only more hams that are showing up on 6 meters. As more and fancier digital technology invades our communities there are more noise sources. I am occasionally affected even though my closest neighbour is 250 meters from my 6 meter antenna.

The latest invader is sometimes called "the wanderer". It is showing up in numerous places. The signal takes the form of a carrier, either alone or with weaker companions, that wanders up and down the band in the vicinity of the digital watering holes above 50.3 MHz. An example spectrogram is shown to the right.

In my case it peaks to the northeast. This is odd since the distance to my nearest neighbour in that direction is 1.5 km. Others see the wanderer far stronger, including some VHFers that I know in the Toronto area. It hasn't affected my operating, yet, although others have been less fortunate. I am sure the responsible devices are known, just not by me.

There are other noises on the band that I can identify. One is my own heat pump that radiates a weak though narrow signal when it is in air conditioner mode. It is not causing me any difficulty so I'll let it be.

Signal quality

There are many hams who have no idea how to adjust their rigs and PCs for digital modes. The result is a lot of heavily distorted signals that cause grief to everyone. The worst offenders are not the newer hams. These more experienced hams ought to know better. We all make mistakes but some persist in their bad behaviour despite having been informed by their neighbours. 

I don't expect any improvement until there is a new generation of equipment that does not rely on the SSB mode of current generation rigs. There are too many ways to mess up our digital transmissions so that even the most careful of hams will run into problems. 

Below is an example of third audio harmonic distortion that may be due to over-driving the transmitter or amp, or forgetting to turn off the SSB compressor. Most distortion case are unintentional so they may need nothing more than a gentle reminder from someone they know. They may be remain unaware of the problem if others are too shy to tell them.

When a ham informed me of a signal quality problem this year I went to work on it immediately. Although the root cause remains elusive I was able to find a workaround to clean up my signal. I'll have more to say about this in a future article since it could prove useful to other digital operators. I am awaiting a few parts to make the solution permanent.

Remote confusion

Numerous 6 meter enthusiasts in locations less favourable for select DX paths are opting to operate remote. I see just the US side of this phenomenon, and I know it is also done elsewhere. The motivation is to improve results for DXCC, VUCC and other awards, or to simply have some fun. With many commercial "for rent" stations in the northeast US they are routinely heard here. 

The rules for DXCC credit remote operation from within the same country. Like Canada, the US is a large country, and with 6 meter propagation being what it is there is a strong temptation to take advantage of remotes thousands of kilometers away. It is not unusual to hear US 6th district call signs sporting W1 and W2 grid squares during openings to Europe, Africa and further afield.

None of this bothers me. I don't often bother working the US and Canada on 6 meters so it is easy to ignore. Besides, with US call sign regulations it is common to hear mismatched grids and call signs. However, there are some that are less observant of the regulations. A few Europeans have been heard on these remotes using their home grid squares and not signing portable. I can only shake my head at this absurd behaviour. A stable and strong signal with an east European call sign on 6 meters is suspicious when other signals from that area are weak or absent.

I know that the commercial station owners tend to take a dim view of this use of their facilities. How well they police their customers is unknown to me. I am not really affected other than to shake my head at the absence of operating ethics of a (hopefully) small number of hams.

Wrap up

I was so focussed on 6 meters that, on reviewing my log, I found that I made only 4 QSOs on HF in July. That is, other than 800 during the IARU contest. My HF activity continues to be low in August, so far, while I am busy with antenna construction and non-ham summer pursuits. That will change. It takes time for me to switch gears and get back into the HF mindset.

I continue to monitor the spotting nets for signs of 6 meter activity despite my absence from the band. Anything can happen at any time of year. I am not terribly interested in meteor work, such as the ongoing Perseids meteor shower, since it does not mesh well with my DX ambitions. Who knows, perhaps I'll try EME one day.

Overall, my 2021 season was a good one. I had fun and it kept me active during the months when my attention would otherwise wander to other things. Soon I will begin to consider my plan for the 2022 sporadic E season. From here on the difficulty of working new countries will increase quite a lot. Either I will have to get lucky or countries less distant will have to be active. There are quite a few in the Caribbean I have yet to work. I anticipate no changes to my 6 meter capabilities in 2022.

The coming winter E season is less compelling since my geomagnetic latitude is not favourable to generate DXing opportunities. Unlike last winter I will have my 6 meter antenna connected, so we'll see.