5400km TEP opening on 144 MHz between Argentina and the island of Aruba - Nov 2020

In two recent posts, I covered some recent 144 MHz TEP openings from Guadeloupe to Brazil during October 2020 and from Bonaire to Argentina in early November.

P41E on the island of Aruba has been also been busy during the month of November 2020 and has worked several stations in Argentina via TEP.

One of the longest contacts was with LU2EPO with a claimed distance of an impressive 5449 km.

In the graphic above, the geomagnetic equator is shown in Purple. Both P41E and the LU stations are equidistant from it and are also at right angles to it, both factors which are important at 144 MHz.

With Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP), zones of high ionization occur either side of the geomagnetic equator in the F layer of the ionosphere. What makes the mode so interesting is that it can allow propagation on the VHF bands from 50 MHz to 144 MHz. As the zones of ionization is roughly 400kms above ground level, the propagation paths achieved are in the region of 4000 to 5000 km, much greater than what might be usual with Sporadic-E.

Here is a selection of videos showing the contacts made during the month of November 2020…

Contact with LU4FW on SSB…