Since it is close to the ES season I'm planning to remove the HF5B and replace it for the 5 element 6m beam again. The days are getting longer and we look towards the summer. Actually I didn't expect the 60m band in good shape for DX since so far I thought long distance could only be made when it is dark or just before/in/after greyline. But since the KH8 DXpedion from American Samoa is on 60m sometimes I thought it would be interesting to see if I could receive them. Well so far that didn't happen. But surprisingly I was spotted every morning at ZL4YL in New Zealand last week. This sunday morning I was surprised by the constant signal from V31DL (Belize), the sun is already up for at least 2 hours! It's a sunny warm day and still V31DL is received with at least +1dB on FT8 60m! And not only him but some USA stations as well. To me the excellent greyline propagation on this band at this time of the year is really a big surprise.
At the moment I post this it is 8:35 local time. Greyline is long gone. But V31DL is still received with -5dB. Following PSK reporter my 15W signal is still spotted with -17dB by him. It is incredible the path is still there...
Update 21-4-2019 end of day:
I left my computer on to see when the signal from V31DL would disappear. You see him still calling but no one answering. I wonder I was the only one still receiving? Still after almost 3 hours after my sunrise I still received him with -9dB. And I guess then he stopped calling...
Update 21-4-2019 end of day:
2 comments:
Nice! 60m really is interesting, and I have a lot to learn about it!
It shure was a surprise to see V31DL's signal way into daylight. A strange experience although I've made incredible contacts with USA in the past at the end of the morning on 40m. 73, Bas
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