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This is what i believe to be the first good tropoducting openning between ZS and FR.
- Openning of 12 August 2008 : ZS2GK,
Glenn in KF47kt, heard the FR5DN/B beacon from before 08h45z to 10h15z.
I copied Glenn SSB at 41-51 report, pick at 52, but then we lost each others.
At 10h53, i lost all signal...and the bcn was back on the air again.
The general situation :
1-We are on the morning of the maximum of the Perseids meteor shower
2-The Hepburn prediction :
3-The radiosounding data from PE at 0000z
68842 FAPE Port Elizabeth Observations at 00Z 12 Aug 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRES HGHT TEMP DWPT RELH MIXR DRCT SKNT THTA THTE THTV
hPa m C C % g/kg deg knot K K K
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1008.0 63 5.2 0.2 70 3.87 270 5 277.7 288.5 278.4
1003.0 103 10.6 10.3 98 7.90 270 4 283.5 305.4 284.9
1000.0 128 13.0 10.5 85 8.03 270 3 286.1 308.7 287.5
996.0 162 16.0 11.0 72 8.34 272 3 289.5 313.2 290.9
989.0 222 20.8 8.8 46 7.23 275 4 294.9 316.1 296.2
982.0 284 20.6 -5.4 17 2.62 278 4 295.3 303.4 295.8
969.0 398 19.6 -9.4 13 1.94 284 5 295.4 301.5 295.7
939.0 668 19.4 -9.6 13 1.97 298 7 297.9 304.1 298.2
925.0 797 18.4 -9.6 14 2.00 305 8 298.1 304.5 298.5
918.0 862 17.8 -9.2 15 2.08 306 10 298.1 304.8 298.5
877.0 1249 16.0 -11.0 15 1.89 315 19 300.2 306.3 300.6
850.0 1514 14.8 -12.2 14 1.77 305 25 301.6 307.4 302.0
830.0 1714 13.6 -13.4 14 1.65 300 30 302.4 307.8 302.7
777.0 2264 8.6 -15.4 17 1.49 292 24 302.8 307.7 303.1
762.0 2424 8.6 -25.4 7 0.64 290 22 304.5 306.7 304.6
739.0 2677 8.0 -30.0 5 0.43 286 21 306.5 308.1 306.6
719.0 2902 6.0 -33.0 4 0.33 283 19 306.7 307.9 306.8
68842 FAPE Port Elizabeth Observations at 09Z 12 Aug 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRES HGHT TEMP DWPT RELH MIXR DRCT SKNT THTA THTE THTV
hPa m C C % g/kg deg knot K K K
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1002.0 63 29.6 -4.4 11 2.77 330 13 302.6 311.4 303.1
1001.0 71 29.6 -4.4 11 2.77 330 13 302.7 311.5 303.2
1000.0 78 29.6 -3.4 11 2.99 330 14 302.8 312.2 303.3
982.0 239 27.8 -4.2 12 2.86 321 20 302.5 311.6 303.0
969.0 355 26.8 -4.3 13 2.87 315 24 302.6 311.8 303.2
956.0 474 25.7 -4.5 13 2.88 300 25 302.8 311.9 303.3
925.0 762 23.2 -4.8 15 2.91 280 27 303.0 312.2 303.6
880.0 1190 19.0 -6.4 17 2.71 300 34 303.0 311.7 303.5
857.0 1417 16.8 -7.2 19 2.61 296 37 303.0 311.4 303.5
850.0 1487 16.0 -7.0 20 2.67 295 38 302.9 311.4 303.4
829.0 1694 14.3 -8.8 19 2.39 285 42 303.3 311.0 303.8
702.0 3072 3.4 -20.6 15 1.06 280 35 306.0 309.6 306.2
For info in Capetown :
68816 FACT Cape Town Intnl. Arport Observations at 00Z 12 Aug 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRES HGHT TEMP DWPT RELH MIXR DRCT SKNT THTA THTE THTV
hPa m C C % g/kg deg knot K K K
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1007.0 42 6.6 6.4 99 6.02 60 7 279.2 295.8 280.2
1006.0 50 6.6 6.4 99 6.03 60 7 279.3 295.9 280.3
1000.0 99 10.0 9.2 95 7.35 40 8 283.1 303.6 284.4
995.0 141 12.6 11.3 92 8.52 34 9 286.2 310.0 287.6
984.0 235 18.6 11.6 64 8.79 21 10 293.1 318.5 294.6
972.0 341 19.8 3.8 35 5.20 7 11 295.3 310.8 296.3
962.0 430 20.0 -4.0 19 2.97 355 12 296.4 305.6 296.9
946.0 573 19.6 -6.1 17 2.57 335 14 297.4 305.4 297.9
925.0 766 19.0 -9.0 14 2.10 335 19 298.7 305.4 299.1
902.0 981 17.6 -15.4 9 1.29 327 22 299.4 303.7 299.7
884.0 1152 17.2 -18.5 7 1.01 320 24 300.8 304.1 300.9
850.0 1485 16.4 -24.6 5 0.62 320 28 303.3 305.5 303.4
815.0 1840 14.6 -29.4 3 0.41 315 30 305.1 306.6 305.1
790.0 2102 12.2 -28.8 4 0.45 311 32 305.2 306.8 305.3
767.0 2348 10.4 -29.6 4 0.43 307 33 305.9 307.4 306.0
68816 FACT Cape Town Intnl. Arport Observations at 09Z 12 Aug 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRES HGHT TEMP DWPT RELH MIXR DRCT SKNT THTA THTE THTV
hPa m C C % g/kg deg knot K K K
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1002.0 42 20.8 4.8 35 5.41 330 10 293.8 309.8 294.7
1000.0 62 20.8 4.8 35 5.42 330 9 293.9 310.0 294.9
986.0 184 20.8 5.8 38 5.90 330 13 295.1 312.6 296.2
974.0 289 18.6 3.6 37 5.11 330 17 293.9 309.1 294.9
960.0 413 18.8 2.8 34 4.90 330 22 295.4 310.0 296.2
953.0 476 18.7 1.6 32 4.51 330 24 295.9 309.5 296.7
930.0 685 18.4 -2.6 24 3.41 322 23 297.7 308.1 298.3
925.0 731 19.0 -5.0 19 2.86 320 23 298.7 307.7 299.2
911.0 861 18.2 -9.8 14 2.00 318 26 299.2 305.6 299.6
852.0 1430 15.9 -11.2 15 1.92 310 39 302.6 308.8 302.9
850.0 1450 15.8 -11.2 15 1.92 310 40 302.7 308.9 303.0
827.0 1682 14.6 -4.4 27 3.35 310 45 303.8 314.4 304.4
822.0 1733 14.4 -3.6 29 3.58 310 46 304.1 315.4 304.8
739.0 2619 7.2 -5.8 39 3.37 310 51 305.6 316.4 306.3
4-The data from NOAA Air Resources Laboratory - GDAS1 Profile
South 5R8 03z
 |
South 5R8 06z
 |
South 5R8 09z
 |
South 5R8 12z
 |
FR5 03z
 |
FR5 06z
 |
FR5 09z
 |
FR5 12z
 |
5-The surface pressure chart
6-The visible map
7-At 0844z Glenn is
calling me on my cellphone. I'm at qrl and busy, so don't get his
message immediatly. He says he receives the beacon at S1-S2, and i hear
perfectly my beacon on the background! Imagine how excited i am. So i
leave qrl and i'm in the car at 09h30z, and phone Glenn to let him know
i will be home in about 30 minutes later.
I'm stopped on the highway because of a large trafic jam! At 10h22z i'm
still on the road, knowing we have lost the qso! Finally arrived home
at about 1050, called Glenn, heard him coming back, but we faded
away...No more conditions to exchange report and make that first long
DX! Glenn was 51-52 at best (i was not using preamp)...
---------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
Here is the complete sequence, mails exchanged with me and on the list :
Hello Phil,
It is now 08:45 UTC.
I am copying your beacon at 4/4/1 at my QTH which is at KF47KT
de fr5dn/b fr5dn/b lg7
The above I copied through CWGet program.
73 - Glenn
ZS2GK - KF47kt
--------------------
Greetings everyone.
I an copying the FR5DN beacon at signal strength 1 at my QTH - KF47kt. The time is 08:50 UTC
I tried to phone Phil directly and have left a message on his voicemail
73 - Glenn
ZS2GK - KF47kt
-------------------
Hi All,
I copied the FR5DN/b beacon from 08:50 until 10H15 with a best signal signal strength of 1 but Q5 copy all of the time.
Very little QSB but a sudden fade out at 10H15. The beacon can still be heard but with heavy QSB at the moment.
73 - Glenn
ZS2GK
------------------
I will tell the list on your rx, so i need (also for me) any detail on
the signal, strength, sigs pick time, qsb, noise floor on the band, any
sign of anything before the openning, etc...
You were 51-52 here, i came too late, i was furious in that trafic jam,
like a lion in a cage,!....!
i would like to put your recording on the web page too.
Even if no qso, that is GREAT GREAT news!!!!
I'm home and qrv. The bcn is on tx again now.
If the band opens again, we qsy 144.200 usb, and then cw if you can.
Phil (1151z)
-------------------
Hi Phil,
No copy on the beacon at the moment but I will stay and monitor, as soon as
I have a copy, I will email and phone.
73 - Glenn (1153z)
---------------------------
Hi Glenn,
After looking at the Hepburn forecasts I was wondering whether it could have
been Sporadic-E from the way you described it. Nevertheless whatever
propagation it was you still deserve the full credit. Hi. This could be a
first South African record on 144 MHz over a distance of almost 3000 km if
it is Sporadic-E.
I often used to pick up Sporadic-E signals about the same time from division
6 on 50 MHz that lasted about an hour or so, and then suddenly started to
drop out with QSB. From Port Elizabeth we worked many division 6 stations
and a few Namibians, but never division 4 or 5 beacause they were in the
skip distance. I was fortunate enough to work division 1 on back scatter off
a Sporadic-E cloud.
73
Mike Bosch ZS2FM
Port Elizabeth
(1625z)
---------------------------
Hi Phil,
I came into the shack this morning, turned the beam to 71E (Your direction)
and switched over to CW. I heard your beacon immediately at no signal
strength at first and after listening for about 5 min the level rose to 1 on
the meter. Noise was reasonably quiet (out here in the country it usually
is) I adjusted the notch and NR on my Rig (ICOM-746Pro) to give me the best
noise levels.
No signs of anything else regarding an opening between us. I checked down
towards East London and noted that I could key their repeater easily (Can do
that most days, not always). But no other signs.
There was very little QSB on your signal for the first hour, but at 10:15
UTC the band changed and there was a lot of QSB (Rapid QSB) before it
dropped out.
It may be a pity that I did not try earlier or contact you earlier as the
"band" did drop out before you arrived at home. When we called each other,
I could just hear that you were there but without any way of being able to
receive a signal report.
Attached you will find the wave file that I recorded on my cellphone of your
signal.
Hopefully conditions will return a bit later and we can have a SSB or FM
contact, unfortunately no CW key here.
73 - Glenn
ZS2GK
1302z
------------------------------------
Hi Glenn,
Congratulations on hearing the FR5DN/B beacon. I am absolutely
certain that the FR5/ZS2 path will be worked this coming spring and
summer, but was pleasantly surprised to hear of your success today. It
was very good to hear that you received the signal with the last 80 km
being over land.
Looking at the Hepburn maps, it looks like tropo conditions were
predicted as moderately good for half the path, but poor for the
northern half. The Hepburn maps are a good indicator, but the absolute
accuracy is not assured. Conditions might have been good enough for
tropo all the way.
Another possibility as Mike ZS2FM pointed out is E-layer
propagation. The 2900 km distance is longer than normally accepted for
E-layer, such as sporadic E, which normally gives a maximum on the
order of 2400 km. However, these are strange days.
The Perseids meteor shower peaked this morning. I have seen good
meteor showers boost the E layer MUF high enough for a few hours to
give very good Es like conditions. With a meteor-enhanced Es, it may
have been possible to get a double-hop Es opening, or a chordal
double-hop Es path.
Another very distinct possibility is that multiple propagation
mechanisms were involved. You may have experienced tropo-ducting on the
southern half of the circuit, and meteor-enhanced Es on the northern
half.
Multi-mode propagation with meteor enhancement was certainly
responsible for pings from my N7BHC/B beacon in FM15 being heard in
Portugal on Saturday. That was 5966 km, but signals were very marginal
compared to the long duration propagation you had.
Keep up the great work. Congratulations to you and Phil on a great
milestone. Its just a matter of time before you and others in ZS5 - ZS2
- ZS1 work Reunion on 2m and even 70 cm. On the the Atlantic side,
we're still working towards putting a breakable beacon on ZD7. The St.
Helena beacon should be ready to ship in the next few weeks, just
waiting for a location to be secured on the Island.
73,
Dave N7BHC
ex-ZR2BI
1330z
------------------------
Hi Dave,
Many thanks for the wishes,
Phil was held up in traffic before he could get home so was about
45 minutes later than he predicted. We called each other on USB and he
informed me that he copied me 5/2, unfortunately I knew he was there
but could not get enough to verify the contact........... next time
though.... Hi.
The beacon peaked at S1 without a stitch of QSB for the first
hour. I forgot to mention to Phil that the beacon was heard without my
masthead pre-amp being switched on, did not realize that the power plug
had fallen out......... pity as I'm sure that I would have copied Phil
5/3 - 5/4 with the pre-amp running
I sent Phil a recording of the beacon which he says that he will post sometime.
Good luck with St Helena.
73 - Glenn
ZS2GK
--------------------------------
Glenn,
Solid copy with no QSB points very strongly at tropo ducting. Makes
me wish I was back in East London for a while. The best I worked was
Cape Town, and heard South America once.
One suggestion for you and Phil. Exchange repeater information for
repeaters on the cost of South Africa and in Reunion. It may be quite
feasible to work on a repeater as well, or FM simplex. I worked many
station in Durban from East London who were using a hand held radio in
Durban.
Dave
---------------------------
And finally the sound file of the FR5 beacon signal, as received by ZS2GK, is HERE
---------------------------
On ZS2GK side :
..I am in fact 365Km North
East of Port Elizabeth on a reading of 58 degrees East from Port
Elizabeth. Grid Locator is KF47kt. The QTH is about 200M above sea
level and is 5Km inland. The track to Reunion still about 80Km over
land with a small annoying hill in between. (Affects about 3 degrees of
Horizon)
Glenn was using his 4x2M9SSB array, horizontal polarisation, and no mast preamp (it was off).
On FR5DN/B side :
The setup here was/is :
TX : Kenwood TR-9000, PA at 120w out into 17el yagi at 6m above ground. ERP = 1800w.
--------------------------
14/08/2008
And finally the sound file of the FIRST QSO is HERE and HERE
For all details on the first qso click HERE
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