Trans-Atlantic opening on 144 MHz between the Canary Islands & the Caribbean

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It looks as if there is a remarkable tropo opening in progress at the moment with EA8CXN on the Canary Islands making contact with several stations in the Caribbean on FT8 & SSB on 144 MHz!

These are some of the stations listed on the PSK Reporter website for the 27th of August 2020.

 Txmtr      Rcvr      Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM   EA8CXN    2m    FT8   5236 km   19:26:26
EA8CXN KP4EIT      2m    FT8   5189 km   18:00:44
WP3DN  EA8CXN    2m    FT8   5158 km   20:18:59
WP4G     EA8CXN    2m    FT8   5153 km   20:25:11
J69DS      EA8CXN    2m    FT8   4850 km   22:04:14
FM5CS    EA8CXN    2m    FT8   4836 km   17:49:26
FG8OJ     EA8CXN    2m    FT8   4775 km   19:25:26
Note that EA8DEC was also heard across the Atlantic.
Txmtr Rcvr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
EA8DEC NP4BM 2m FT8 5236 km 23:30:14

Note the distance! Several are in excess of 5000 km which would be a new distance record for a 144 MHz contact across the Atlantic.

Back on the 8th of April 2020, D4VHF on Cape Verde worked PJ2BR on Curacao and the distance on that occasion was about 4759 km. It looks as if the new contact by EA8CXN to NP4BM in Puerto Rico has extended that record by roughly 500 km.

This is the tropo map from F5LEN which shows a marine duct across the Atlantic…

Note that this opening is still in progress and there does seem to be a remote possibility of an opening from the west coast of Spain & Portugal to the Caribbean!

Here are some of the screenshots of the FT8 contacts with EA8CXN.

EA8CXN and FG8OJ.

EA8CXN and WP3DN.

Update – 28th of August – 13:17 UTC: The trans-Atlantic path is still open on the 28th.
This is heard/sent log for EA8CXN on the PSK reporter website…
Txmtr    Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM   2m     FT8   5236 km   12:45:26
KP4EIT   2m     FT8   5189 km   12:42:26
WP4JCF  2m     FT8   5170 km   21:46:26
WP3DN  2m     FT8   5158 km   10:53:29
WP4G     2m     FT8   5153 km   11:15:26
FG5GH   2m     FT8   4809 km   12:09:44
FG8OJ     2m    FT8   4775 km    12:47:26
Reports for EA8DEC.
Txmtr     Rcvr      Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
KP4EIT EA8DEC    2m    FT8    5189 km  12:32:59
FG8OJ   EA8DEC    2m    FT8    4775 km  12:06:14
Reports for EA8TX.
Rcvr      Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)
NP4BM   2m    FT8    5219 km  12:54:44
KP4EIT   2m    FT8    5173 km  12:57:44
WP3DN  2m    FT8    5141 km  09:46:41
WP4G     2m    FT8    5136 km  09:48:44
DX-Cluster spots for the 27th of August.
EA8DEC 144174.0 KP4EIT 23:56 27 Aug IL18SK TR FK68 FT8 Puerto Rico
EA8DEC 144174.0 NP4BM 23:39 27 Aug IL18SK – FK68 FT8 Puerto Rico
KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8DEC 23:52 27 Aug -13 TNX Canary Islands
NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:07 27 Aug still strong Canary Islands
KP4EIT-@ 144280.0 EA8CXN 18:11 27 Aug swl 4/4 fk68 Canary Islands
NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 17:32 27 Aug calling cq Canary Islands
NP4BM-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 17:10 27 Aug tnx ft8 QSO tropo Canary Islands
EB1DJ 144174.0 KP4EIT 23:57 27 Aug  TR  FT8 -22 dB 1092 Hz Puerto Rico
Update – 28th August 2020 – 15:21 UTC: Alex, EB1DJ in the north-west of Spain reports that he got one single decode of the FT8 signal from KP4EIT in Puerto Rico.
EB1DJ 144174.0 KP4EIT 23:57 27 Aug TR FT8 -22dB
As you can see from the report above, the signal was pretty weak at -22dB so it was buried in the noise. It does however show the potential of the path and if the conditions are right, it may happen again.
To put this in context, the distance from NW Spain to Puerto Rico is just over 6000 km!
 
Update – 28th August 2020 – 17:10 UTC: Video of the SSB contact on 144 MHz between EA8CXN on Tenerife on the Canary Islands and FM5CS in Martinique. Just remember, this is just a 4800 km contact on 144 MHz across the Atlantic!

In this second video, EA8CXN completes another SSB contact with FG8OJ in Guadeloupe.

DX-Cluster spots for the 28th of August.
Spotter  Freq.  DX  Time  Info  Country
KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:34 28 Aug -14 thanks Cesar Canary Islands
WP4JCF 144174.0 EA8CXN 19:06 28 Aug Rx -20 in kp4… Canary Islands
KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8DEC 12:38 28 Aug -20 GRACIAS Canary Islands
KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8TX 09:07 28 Aug SWL -12 INTO FK68 Canary Islands
KP4EIT-@ 144174.0 EA8TX 00:01 28 Aug -12 TNX Canary Islands
EA8CXN 144175.0 KP4EIT 19:33 28 Aug FK68 TR IL18 -12DB. Thanks, QSO Puerto Rico
EA8TX 144174.0 KP4EIT 12:24 28 Aug hrd -2db Pse 144.260ssb Puerto Rico
EA8DEC 144174.0 FG8OJ 12:10 28 Aug IL18SK TR FK96 FT8 CQ Guadeloupe
EA8DEC 144174.0 KP4EIT 09:35 28 Aug IL18SK TR FK68 FT8 CQ Puerto Rico
EA8DEC 144174.0 WP4G 00:52 28 Aug IL18SK TR FK68 FT8 Puerto Rico
Update – 30th Aug 2020 – 09:00 UTC: EA8CXN has now put details of the opening in a post on his blog see HERE
Summary
EA8CXN works 7 stations in the Caribbean on FT8 and 2 on SSB.
EA8DEC works 3 on FT8.
This is the sequence of events on 144 MHz
27th Aug 2020 – 17:08 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with NP4BM in Puerto Rico. Signal reports of -9dB and -13dB is exchanged. The distance was about 5243 km which is a new record for a trans-Atlantic contact on 144 MHz.
27th Aug – 17:15 UTC: EA8CXN complete an FT8 contact with FG8OJ in Guadeloupe (~4780 km). Reports of +25dB and -2dB are exchanged.
27th Aug – 17:20 UTC: EA8CXN and FG8OJ complete contact on SSB.
27th Aug – 17:51 UTC: EA8 CXN completes a contact on FT8 with FM5CS in Martinique (~4842 km). Reports of -11dB and -18dB are exchanged.
27th Aug – 17:55 UTC: EA8CXN and FM5CS complete contact on SSB.
27th Aug – 18:20 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with WP3DN (5165 km). Reports of -12dB and -17dB are exchanged.
27th Aug – 19:24 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with J69DS on St.Lucia (-4856 km). Reports of -5dB and -6dB are exchanged.
27th Aug – 23:44 UTC: EA8DEC completes a contact on FT8 with NP4BM on Puerto Rico. Reports of -11dB and -14dB are exchanged.
28th Aug – 00:08 UTC: EA8DEC completes a contact on FT8 with KP4EIT (5193 km). Reports of -13dB and -13dB are exchanged.
28th Aug – 00:46 UTC: EA8DEC completes a contact on FT8 with WP4G (5156 km). Reports of -14dB and -15dB are exchanged.
28th Aug – 19:33 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with KP4EIT (5196 km). Reports of -14dB and -19dB are exchanged.
28th Aug – 21:49 UTC: EA8CXN completes a contact on FT8 with WP4JCF (5176 km). Reports of -12dB and -9dB are exchanged.
More info as it comes in.

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