6 Meters is (Temporarily) Dead

The summer solstice is the peak of the sporadic E season. However, that is a probability, not a certainty. We don't have any reliable models for predicting sporadic E propagation so all that we can do is watchful waiting. Although unusual for this time of year, this is what 50.313 MHz looks like this morning.

It's largely been like this for the past week. Okay, I am exaggerating, but only a little. I have heard at least one DX station every day, if only one or two stations. There has been little workable since the openings have been brief and weak. Mostly all I see on the screen all day, every day, are the optimists (CQ DX) and the robots. I filter most of the latter. I am happy to hear the CQ DXers since those east of me in VE1 and W1 and those south (W3 and W4) regularly copy DX stations before I do as conditions ramp up in the early morning.

There has been only one widespread European opening this year. There have been many marginal openings to Asia (east and west Asia), Africa and Pacific (New Zealand and Hawaii), but little that put contacts in my log. I have one new country (thank you OD5VJ) and almost logged A7.

So we sit and we wait. Probability is like that. The band is barren this week but it could be wide open every day next week. There's no good way to know. Magic on the magic band is whimsical. Elsewhere in the northern hemisphere the propagation on 6 has been better, but not by much. Often when I check the global spotting networks there is nothing being heard on 6 anywhere. The temporary absence of propagation is global.

You would think this would leave more time for blogging, but it is not so! Summer has many distractions. In a way, this article is more about letting you know that the blog is alive than that 6 meters is barren. Here's hoping for better days ahead.

One final note about GridTracker. A friend encouraged me to give this tool a try. So I installed it and found a few uses for it. Although I don't chase grids I've found that it provides a very useful graphical view of developing 6 meter conditions by linking it to WSJT-X for live tracking of what my station is hearing.

In this snapshot there is an abundance of activity on 50.313 MHz. It is very difficult and time consuming to watch the scrolling messages on the decode pane. So I put GridTracker on top. There is a limited sporadic E opening to France and Spain (those are common from this region) and a line of US stations almost exactly to the west. You can tell where the ionization patches support propagation of signals.

More recently there was a similar line that gradually extended to the southwest, encompassing W6 and XE stations with strong signals. A few minutes later ZL1RS and ZL1SG popped out of the noise, when GridTracker "painted" their grids on New Zealand's north island. They are on the exact same bearing as those North American stations. We had a similar opening to KH6 develop from a westerly line similar to that on the screenshot

The graphical presentation of signals is superior for tracking developing sporadic E conditions. I can sit at my usual (non-ham) computer doing work and occasionally glance over my shoulder at the GridTracker window on the shack computer to stay abreast of conditions. If you remote your desktop you can do the same from your phone.

This may not be how most hams use GridTracker, but that's how I use it. It installs easily and automatically taps into WSJT-X. All software should be this easy to use and configure. If you are a 6 meter enthusiast you could benefit from this application, just as I have. Perhaps you already do and I've been slow to embrace it.