F2
DX Opening in Cycle 22 by GI0OTC
Here follows a description of a typical
day on 50 Mhz in Cycle 22.
11th November 1989
08:30 entered the shack as usual with
coffee mug in one hand a pile of direct QSL cards just freshly pushed through the
letterbox in the other. Huge numbers of QSL's is one of the snags when you live
in a reasonably rare grid square (IO65), and especially so if it's also in a
new country for most six metre DX stations. At the beginning of solar cycle 22
there were only a handful of 50 Mhz operators active in GI (Northern Ireland),
and of these only a couple were set-up and DX capable.
As GI8YDZ in 1989 I was in the happy
position to be one of them. And the most important thing to be successful, in
six-metre dx-ing, is the ability of being able to be close to the shack. Unlike
most other amateur bands, 50 Mhz can never be taken for granted. The only way
to get ahead on the band is by listening to an awful lot of white noise. Just
when you are about to give up and turn the receiver off, it can spring to life,
and usually with very little warning.
One of the most useful propagation
indicators for 50 Mhz, next to the amateur beacon network, is the worldwide
Band 1 television transmitters. Oh well, back to the description of a typical
day, the first thing to do is check the TV video carriers. If there was an
opening brewing, this is the part of the spectrum (46 - 49 Mhz) most likely to
produce signals.
08:35
the 48.250 and 49.750 video plus offsets are very strong (40-50 db over S9)
with a QTF (heading) of 120º - 90º. The next thing to do is check for the
Cyprus beacon 5B4CY on 50.499; sure enough this is producing good signals up to
599. Having established the band was open, and retuning the receiver to 50.110
Adrian, ZC4MK was calling CQ DX. A quick call and QSY up the band clear of the
calling frequency, resulted in yet another pleasant contact with Cyprus.
Notes: The path between N.Ireland and Cyprus at
2373 miles is an almost optimum (2500 miles) distance, for single hop F2
propagation. In 1989 there was a lack of countries able to transmit on SIX in
the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Therefore quite a bit of cross-band 28 Mhz -
50 Mhz operating took place.
On tuning the HF receiver to 28.885 (the 6
metre liaison frequency), Ralph 4X1IF had just announced that he was listening
on 50.105. A quick swig of the now, almost cold coffee, and a call on 50.105
got Ralph's attention and a 559 report to boot. That was usually the height of
the activity from the Middle East apart from one or two 5B4 stations.
10:00 band is still full of video, but no
amateur activity. Constant checking in the direction of VK and the Far East
produced no results. Mid November is a bit late in the season for Australia, as
most previous QSO's have taken place in October and February.
10:30 a chat with a local GI4OPH, exchange log details and generally try to
predict what the band is planning for us in the coming hours!
10:35 Beaming South toward West Africa
now, unusual, no one about. The lack of beacons in this part of the world in
1989 didn't help.
11:00 now with the antenna Westward, the
band has started to become very noisy (rough sounding), start to hear some weak
G and European stations via forward scatter, peaking at 225º. Signals continue
to build, then at 11:38 PZ1AP (GJ25) pops up on .110 and we exchange 59. Next
in log is DL3ZM/YV5, I move up the band and at 12:30 (old faithful) Rick, K1JRW
(sadly now a silent key) calls in to wish me a good morning. Another few
minutes brings rock crushing signals form Ted, HC5K another regular, a few more
Hc's then I'm called by VE1YX (seems to
be a daily ritual!). Some more VE and VO's then at 13:17 after a quick look
around, I managed to break the pile-up on 50.111 to work ZF1RC for a new
country.
HP3XUH
is worked at 55 another new one, back from lunch and I try to find a clear
frequency to start calling CQ. 13:47and the fun begins, AA2U starts the ball
rolling, then TI2KD stops by, a few more W's and I exchange 59 with KP4EIT
again!! Its now 14:09 and stateside has woken up, the band sounds just like a
contest weekend on 20M. Still mainly working the East coast, at 14:22 the path
lengthens and the W4 and 5's are now bounding in. As the afternoon progresses
the propagation heads out mid west, call areas 9 and 0 get their turn, then
K7KV in CN87 best DX of the day. 17:47 the band is getting quiet now only one
or two signals to be heard, VE1YX calls to say good evening and to look for
each other tomorrow!
18:00 North American propagation all gone now, exchange the days happening with
Callum, GM0EWX, we seem to be the last two stations in Western Europe to have
50 Mhz signals, the G's and Europeans having long since lost propagation. Might
be different this coming cycle (23), now the Spanish have 50 Mhz.
Just a few lines short of six pages in an
RSGB logbook (no computer logging in those days). Almost 150 QSO's in
11countries,
1 X-band, and 2 all time new ones, an average days work in cycle 22. Now you
can see where all the QSL 's came from. Time to have a rest and prepare for it
all again tomorrow!!!
I hope this little insight will be of some
interest to the new SIX metre operators eagerly waiting their first F2 season.
If anyone has any questions or would like some more details, I will try my best
to help. Please email me at:gi0otc@qsl.com
73 and enjoy the 'Magic Band'
Alan, GI0OTC
Copyright
1999 - Alan Doherty, GI0OTC