We Have Propagation

I often hear hams expressing impatience with the current state of propagation. There are few or no sunspots and the cycle minimum drags on and on. At least it seems that way when you're in the midst of it. Some go so far as to speculate (based on nothing at all) that the poor conditions will never end.

A big DX contest changes that. The bands are lit up with megawatts of RF from all corners of the globe. If there is a path some of that energy will push through. The following brief notes are my experience of DX propagation in the previous weekend's ARRL DX CW contest in which I made 2.5k DX contacts on 160 through 10 meters. If you were active you'll know what I mean.

Over the pole

As we creep towards spring the hours of daylight are rapidly increasing. Northern paths benefit as the ionization in the far north spikes. There were lengthy openings to Japan, UA0 and parts of the Far East on 20 meters. It was a joy to hear so many strong signals and the running was good.

On 40 meters there were intense though brief opening after sunrise on the short path. Japan, China and others sounded like they were next door. VR2XAM in Hong Kong was at least S9+10. I missed JT though others logged them. Since I was unassisted I couldn't find everyone. An even shorter though weaker opening to the Far East on 80 meters added multipliers.

The long way around

Long path was quite good during the contest. While running I was called by a number of VK and ZL stations on both 40 and 20 meters. Signals were surprisingly strong. It was about 2 hours before sunset and 2 hours after their sunrise. These openings are common if unnoticed much of the time. For us it's the most reliable path to VK.

In the evening there was long path over the south pole on 40 meters to Japan and elsewhere in the Far East. I missed most of it since I was busy on 20 working many of them short path.

QRP makes the grade

Harking back to the several years I operated only QRP, including successes in the major contests, I was pleased to log many QRP stations from around the world. In the ARRL DX contests the DX sends their power in the exchange making it easy to identify who was running QRP.

While running Japan on 20 meters I was called by 2 or 3 running 5 watts. They were easily copied. That's how good the openings were. On 40 meters there were QRP stations calling me from across Europe and well into Russia, all in the afternoon sunshine. Some were weak but most were copied well. I had to use the Beverage to pull some of them out of the noise. Many more QRPers were worked on 20 meters and a handful make the grade on 80 meters.

Dancing with the MUF

This far north the first direction to open when the MUF rises is usually south. Although there are not a lot of stations to work down there the multipliers are worth gold. You have to monitor since the openings can be quite brief and limited in scope. When 15 meters opens south you need to work the closer DX in the Caribbean fast since they fade out early.

As the band goes long South America comes through. There was a short opening on 10 meters which I unfortunately almost entirely missed. I used the sub-receiver to check on 10 periodically while running Europe on 20 meters. This required switching to my south tri-bander and listening with the split headphone audio of the FTdx5000 (similar to SO2R).

I called many as the band was fading but only logged Brazil. Most others did better, especially the multi-ops, those in assisted categories and SO2R operators who could monitor more effectively than I. Few hams notice those southern openings during daily operating yet they're there.

On 15 meters the openings on the northerly paths were marginal, just in the vicinity of the MUF. Many European countries could be worked if you paid attention. As patches of ionization grew and faded one station would get loud and another would dip into the noise. A few minutes later the situation would reverse. These conditions are there most days but go unremarked since most hams believe the band is dead.

Low band pile ups

The long winter nights, low atmospheric noise and a dearth of sunspots justifiably drives a great deal of low band activity. A little propagation enhancement during a major contest can turn a graveyard shift into the highlight of the weekend.

The 160 meter band is the least adversely affected by few sunspots and geomagnetic activity. It marches to a different beat and can offer surprises any night. Saturday was one such night. For hours signals from Europe were strong and numerous. With a kilowatt and full size antenna I was able to run DX stations for several hours. My low noise receive antenna helped me to hear the weakest callers.

Working over 60 countries on 160 meters over the course of a weekend is an excellent result. I did far better on 80 meters, adding the Far East, Africa and Pacific stations to my log. Smaller stations were also having good luck. While openings to many rarer locales were not on tap from my area stations further south and west had successes.

On both 160 and 80 meters signals continued to pour in from Europe well after their sunrise. Propagation this good doesn't happen all the time but more than many realize. But if you're not listening or calling CQ you won't know.

For the DXer

Big guns routinely exceeded DXCC on 20 and 40 meters. In a few cases they did so on 80 meters as well. While this is difficult for the contester with a modest station you can get close. Indeed many small stations and non-contesters in the assisted categories harnessed the skimmers and spotting networks in their DX pursuit.

One of the benefits of big antennas and power is that very often the DX finds you. Run on a band with good propagation and you will be amazed by who calls you. This weekend I was called by NH2, TZ, EX and other uncommon if not very rare stations. Last fall in CQ WW SSB I was called by VP6D (Ducie I.) on 80 meters, and I was running just 100 watts.

On 160 and 80 meters I was pleasantly surprised by calls from the Middle East, Asia and South America, and occasionally from the Caribbean and Central American contest operations that I was hunting for multipliers. If you have a decent station call CQ even if you are not a contester and you will sate your DX appetite. My best country count during the contest was 95 on 20 meters.

Get active

Solar cycle 25 is coming and there will be sunspots. As to how good, mediocre or bad it'll be will remain the subject of conversation for some time. Instead let's focus on the now. Yes, there is propagation, often excellent propagation and not just the low bands. Good low band propagation is dismissed by many hams since it is difficult to put up an effective DX antenna on 80 meters and 160 meters. High band openings are shorter and more fleeting than at other points during the solar cycle, and can pass in the blink of an eye on 15 meters and above.

I became a ham in the early 1970s when we were fast approaching a solar minimum. Older hams mused on the great propagation of the cycles that were. Those stories meant little to me and my friends. I was thrilled to be working any DX at all, and I was. The pickings were paltry but I didn't know that. I did dream a little about the peak conditions the old timers talked about.

My first contest experiences were in the major domestic events such as Sweepstakes where we were not so dependent on sunspots. Working several hundred contacts in DX contests was thrilling. Then the sunspot number began its long climb to 1979 and the propagation became eye popping. As chance would have it that was the time when I was busy finishing my post-graduate degree and moving from the propagation black hole of VE4 to VE3. I had no station at all for 5 years.

It is a good idea to appreciate what nature throws our way. HF propagation is quite good during the minimum though not spectacular. One has only to get on the air in the right place and the right time and the DX is there. Many open bands lie fallow because pessimism keeps hams away from the shack. Don't be one of those hams.