There are FT8 activity nights on the VHF & UHF bands every Wednesday evening in Europe for the 4th quarter of 2024.

The European activity evening which uses both FT8 and FT4 rotates through the 2m, 70cm, and 23cm bands each week. Activity is from 17:00 to 21:00 UTC.

This might be an opportunity not only to try FT8 on the higher bands but also just to have a listen and feed the reception reports up the the PSKReporter website.

Further details available at www.ft8activity.eu

A little bit of history was made on Wednesday 25th September 2024 when EA4I in Spain and ZD7GWM on St Helena Island in the South Atlantic managed to complete a Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) contact on the 144 MHz (2m) band.

This is as far as I know the very first TEP contact on the 144 MHz band between these two countries.

José, EA4I in the west of Spain was running 700 watts into an array of 4 x 17-element Yagi antennas. As far as I know, the polarization was horizontal.

Garry, ZD7GWM on St Helena had a much more modest station with just 50-watts from a Yaesu FT-897 into a Diamond X700H vertical antenna.

While many other TEP contacts are made with the Q65 mode due to the TEP spreading and distortion, this particular contact was made with the FT4 mode.

Andy, EA7KBX reports... "A new record was set tonight between EA4I Jose and ZD7GWM Garry - a small group of us have been running TEP tests from Spain to St Helena Island on 2m / 144Mhz the QSO was completed using FT4 at 6,094.22Km !! 

Jose using 4x 17 element beams and 700w while Garry was using a Diamond vertical and FT- 897 with just 50w !! Amazing contact for the record books"

Analysis... 2024 has been a pretty remarkable year for Trans-Equatorial Propagation on the 144 MHz band. For the last few years, there have been many reports of TEP openings from Argentina & Brazil in South America to the Caribbean area.

Some were claiming that it wouldn't be replicated in other parts of the world because the Geomagnetic Equator was too far north but that hasn't turned out to be the case. We've seen regular 144 MHz TEP openings this year from Namibia to Europe, the Middle East to the Indian Ocean and from Japan to Australia.

As long as both stations are roughly equidistant from the geomagnetic equator and the signal crosses the geomagnetic equator at about 90-degrees then a path is possible.

The biggest obstacle is getting someone active at either end of the TEP path. In this case, Garry, ZD7GWM is the only person active at the southern end of this circuit.

I'm sure if the antenna was upgraded to something modest like a 9-element Yagi fixed in a northerly direction then even more 2m TEP contacts with Europe should be possible.

I wonder if there are any VHF DX groups that help out DX stations with modest antennas?

I have a previous post about Garry's set up HERE

For more information about other long distance openings on the 2m band, see my 144 MHz page.

There have been many remarkable Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings recently on the 144 MHz band from Namibia to Europe. This all started off when a group was established on WhatsApp where individuals in Europe and Africa exchanged messages to try and co-ordinate the tests.

The problem with evening type TEP is that the signals are often very distorted at 144 MHz and modes like FT8 often don't work. To address this issue, the group decided to try the Q65 mode which has been a huge success. They picked the frequency of 144.190 MHz to carry out these TEP tests.

The choice of frequency is important because it was just a frequency chosen to carry out TEP tests, it's NOT the official Q65 frequency.

The problem now is that as news of the TEP contacts has spread, European stations are starting to work each other on 144.190 MHz with Q65. The problem here is that they are blocking the weak TEP signals from Africa.

The organisers of the TEP tests moved the frequency to 144.192 MHz to avoid the interference from EU to EU contacts but the central message is that the area around 144.190 MHz should be left clear for only TEP contacts from Europe to Africa.

In terms of sequence, Africa always transmits first, Europe always second.

On the 9th of April 2024, 3B8FA in Mauritius made the first Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) contact on the 144 MHz band from that country when he completed a contact with A65BR in the UAE. As the screen grab shows above, there was also a path to A71XX in Qatar.

This screen capture below from Oleg, A65BR shows the contact on the Q65 mode.

FR4OO on Reunion Island also had the same TEP as the previous day to A65BR, A71XX and 9K2GS.

Just to keep the report as complete as possible, there was also a path from FR5DN to Qatar...

In a follow up to my recent post about lightning scatter at 1296 MHz, Kadri TA1D got in touch to say that he saw another example at 144 MHz. He wrote a post about it on his blog in Turkish and that is linked from the bottom of this post. 

He has kindly given me permission to publish a version in English here. I'm using Google Translate for most of this post with a few corrections so a few errors may creep in.

John, EI7GL

***

Contribution of lightning to Radio Communications at 144 MHz ...by TA1D

Towards the end of summer 2021, I was operating from my summer QTH station in the North Aegean in Turkey / Turkiye. It was raining with lightning one day when I was communicating with Meteor Scatter on 144 MHz and I decided to check if the SV2JL/B beacon station in Greece on 144.450 MHz could be heard during the hours when lightning was concentrated in the middle of the Aegean Sea.

I turned my antenna to the west and started listening on 144.450 MHz. At that time, the sound of the CW beacon could be very faintly heard with some fading (QSB). Sometimes it became  unreadable and rose again, but overall, the signal level was very poor.

While I was listening, I also had the computer monitoring with the MSK144 mode and sometimes, the morse signal appeared clearly on the screen as short and long lines.

I noticed that I was also hearing the static crashes from the lightning and these can be seen on the screen shot above.

I noticed that I could hear the radio signals of SV2JL/B very faintly during each lightning strike. When the static crash was at a red level, the morse signals became loudly audible before dropping back down to a lower level.

I realised that I had witnessed an interesting physical event and it was possible due to my position and situation.

Is it of any use to radio amateurs? Yes, it can be useful. We can make use of meteor scatter with the MSK and FSK modes to make contacts using short pings and bursts. We could also make use of the short scatter signals from lightning strikes.

Thanks to lightning, we are listening and sending like meteor scatter communications. Lightning strikes at the appropriate angle between the two stations during our meteor scatter style QSOs may help us communicate.

In conclusion; This physical phenomenon that I have noticed and determined can be effective in amateur radio communication.

There may be articles written by people who witnessed similar events on different web pages, but I have not come across them yet.

Meteorite: Pieces of Stone, Soil, mineral and ice floating or orbiting in space.

TA1D Kadri K.Mehmet Başak

Links...

1) The full original article is on the TA1D website... http://ta1d.com/?p=226

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 8th of April 2024. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

As can be seen from the list, this was quite a good opening and the one big change was the path to SV1DH near Athens in Greece. The horizontal spread of stations at the northern end of the circuit was in the region of 800kms.

At 144 MHz, the signals need to cross the Geomagnetic Equator at nearly 90 degrees for TEP and it gets a lot more difficult the further the station gets from 90 degrees. That's why it is interesting to see SV1DH listed.

The optimal TEP path from Athens is probably down to Zimbabwe but there are no stations active there on 144 MHz.

Alex, SV1NZX reports... "V51JH heard SV1 and a smattering of other stations; ZD7GWM was cqing on 144.300 but sadly no copy from EA stations. SV1DH worked V51WW quite easily."

Felice, IZ8FFA reports working V51WW with 100W to a 12-element home made LFA Yagi on a 7m book.

On the 8th of April 2024, a little bit of amateur radio history was made with the first ever TEP contacts on the 144 MHz band in the Indian Ocean.

Over the last few decades, Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) contacts on the 144 MHz (2m) band have been reported from South America to the Caribbean area, from the southern part of Africa to the Mediterranean area and from the north of Australia to Japan. This is as far as I know, a first for the Indian Ocean.

Inspired by the recent TEP contacts from Namibia to the south of Europe, other radio amateurs are trying other potential TEP paths. On the 7th of April 2024, A65BR in the UAE reported reception of the signal of FR4OO on Reunion Island... see previous post. On the 8th of April, three successful contacts were made as shown above.

The contacts are similar to other recent TEP contacts... made in the late evening, approx 5200km north-south path, equidistant from the Geomagnetic Equator and using Q65 to handle the distortion and weak signals.

The first contact was made by Oleg, A65BR around 16:30 UTC...

Oleg, A65BR writes... "Today TEP to FR on 2m was amazing. Q65 QSO with FR4OO done. Never try before, looks like we have permanent channel via TEP on 2m. Signals are huge, CW can be easy."

Oleg continues... "Today a QSO took place without any problems, the opening lasted 2.5 hours, the signal rose to -2 dB, FR4OO also worked 9K2GS and A71XX. Tomorrow 3B8FA will join their side, I hope it will grow together. It all started at 16.20 utc, (20.20 local Umm Al Quwain) and until 23 pm. It’s interesting to try at 70 cm.

Alex, SV1NZX reports... "FR4OO completes with 9K2GS, A65BR and A71XX on 2m. FR5DN hears A71XX for one period. Congratulations to all stations!!"

As Alex mentions, the signal from a second Reunion Island station (FR5DN) was also heard in Qatar (A7).

These are the spots from the DX Cluster...

Analysis... If the recent TEP openings to Europe are anything to go by, these openings in the Indian Ocean should be almost a daily occurrence for the few weeks around the equinox. This path is probably there year after year but it just takes someone at either end of the circuit to try it.

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 7th of April 2024. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

Interest is growing is these long distance TEP paths and more people are getting involved. In a previous post, I had details of how A65BR in the United Arab Emirates managed to hear FR4OO on Reunion Island via TEP on the 7th of April.

Also on the 7th of April, the PSK Reporter website shows that IK7EZN in Italy reported reception of V51NH, the second station in Namibia. IZ7EZN is the only station reporting this so I'd be always wary of just one station reporting as someone may have made a mistake reporting the incorrect band.

It is also reported that ZD7GWM on St Helena is trying the TEP north to Spain (EA) & Portugal (CT). Stations in South Africa (ZS) are also beaming north.

SV1NZX in Greece reports... "Lots of TEP action tonight - V51WW seen/worked in at least 7 PSK-enabled stations, more saw him, reported via group chat, A65BR heard FR4OO, ZD7GWM was CQing dir EA. Overall 2xV5, a few from ZS (various areas) and ZD7 vs over 80 EU and AS stations

V Important.  AF stations are CQing 1st and EU 2nd. We implore that 144.190 is kept free of tropo QSOs and attempts for EU->EU on 1st period. Tomorrow, 9K2GS and A65BR will be testing with FR at 1630z, V5/ZS-EU from 1800z and ZD7GWM will be cqing .300U/301cw from 1930z dir EA"

With the success of the now almost daily TEP openings on the 144 MHz band from Namibia to Europe, it has encouraged others to try similar possible TEP paths.

On the 7th of April, Olen A65BR in the United Arab Emirates reported reception of the 144 MHz signal  from FR4OO on Reunion Island. The distance is around 5,160kms.

The screen grab above from A65BR shows several decodes of the Q65 signal. As far as I know, it was a one way reception report and a two way contact did not take place.

This is as far as I know a new TEP path and hasn't been reported before. Hopefully, it might encourage others to try some tests on the 144 MHz band.

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 6th of April 2024 and again to the same geographical area. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

SV8ALQ in Greece reports... "Today was a very good opening between Greece and Namibia. I made contact with V51WW mode Q65b at 144.190 at 18.47. Best I heard him was -12dB"

The Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) openings from Namibia to Europe on the 144 MHz continued on the 5th of April 2024 and again to the same geographical area. The reports from the PSK Reporter website are shown above.

There was an earlier report in the day at 12:32 UTC from Albania but this was almost certainly an error with someone reporting the 6m decodes as 2m.