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Perspectives on a 6m DX Opening

Posted: 24 May 2020 09:39 AM PDT
https://stationproject.blog/2020/05/24/6m-dx-opening/

6m DX Opening to Europe PSKReporter

Ive had a chance to operate on the 6m Band this past week. We are
approaching the prime time for the summer Es (E-Skip) season here in the
Northeastern United States. As a result, I wanted to see how propagation on
the 6m band might be unfolding during this spring Es season. I was
fortunate to catch a typical limited DX opening on the 6m band between our
location here in New England and Europe. I thought that it might be helpful
for those who are relatively new to the 6m band to see what this was like.
A 6m DX Band Opening Begins JTDX Software View

I spent some time on and off yesterday calling CQ and monitoring the 6m
band using the JTDX software and FT8 mode. FT8 now dominates most of the
activity on the 6m band. This is a result of a combination of FT8s
weak-signal performance and available reverse beacon tools such as
PSKReporter. As you can see from the JTDX screenshot above, the 6m band was
basically only open to the United States here until about 16:58z. At that
point, I weakly decoded CT1ILT. This station faded almost immediately and I
was unable to make a contact.

Approximately 4 minutes later, the 6m band opened solidly to Spain and
France and quite a few stations in this area of Europe appeared with
relatively strong signals.
6m DX Opening to Europe Spotlight Area Propagation (PSKReporter)

As you can see from the PSKReporter screenshot above (taken near the end of
the band opening), the probation on 6m was quite strong but limited to a
very specific area and heading in Europe. This is typical of limited
double-hop Es propagation. We most likely had two Es clouds aligning in
such a way that a narrow path of propagation had been created on the 6m
band.
A 6m DX Band Opening In Full Swing JTDX Software View

The view above shows the 6m band opening in full-swing. I was hearing 5-6
strong stations from France, Spain, and Italy almost immediately. These
stations are all on a relatively narrow range of headings center at about
65 degrees from my QTH. I am scrambling to work the stations that
represented new grid squares for me. I am using JTAlert as a bridge to my
logger (DXLab Suite) and it is telling me that 2-3 of the station in the
mix are in grid square that I have not yet worked on the 6m band.
A 6m DX Band Opening Comes to an End JTDX Software View

Like all good things, the 6m DX opening had to come to an end. As you can
see above, the 6m band closed as rapidly as it opened, leaving me calling
CQ with no takers to work in Europe.
Contacts Made During the 6m DX Opening

The total duration of this opening was about 20 minutes. The contacts that
I made during this period are shown above. During the brief opening, I was
able to make a total of 11 contacts with a limited set of grid squares in
Europe. Most of the signals were quite strong (see the Sent and Rcvd
columns in my log above). During the opening, I worked 5 new grid squares
that were centered around the border between France and Spain.
AB1OC 6m Grids Worked and Confirmed

By this morning, three of the five new grids that I worked had already
confirmed on LoTW. Just for fun, I plotted my 6m grid progress on the
Gridmapper website. I keep a copy of the Gridmapper view of my log by my
operating area as a reference that I use in conjunction with PSK Reporter
to help me identify 6m band openings that might provide opportunities to
work new grids.

I hope that this article gives you some idea of the nature of 6m DX
openings. The opening described here is pretty typical in that:

The band open (and closed) suddenly without much warning
The propagation was very good with many strong signals being decoded and
worked at once
The opening was of short duration lasting only about 20 minutes
The band closed as rapidly as it opened

Monitoring the 6m Band at AB1OC

In order to work 6m DX, this experience emphasizes the need to monitor the
6m band for DX openings on a regular basis. This is most easily done using
PSKReporter. The pattern of DX openings on 6m to Europe from here in New
England is such that EU DX openings typically begin south of us and
progress northward. I use our Remote Operating Gateway, a Flex-6700 SDR
based setup, to monitor the 6m band for DX openings while I work here in my
office. You can see the 6m FT8 setup here in my office running in the
monitor-mode above.
FlexRadio Maestro Console

I use the Maestro here in my office as my SDR client.

I hope that this information has been useful to our readers. As you can see
from this example, the 6m Band is called the Magic Band for good reason. It
is very exciting to be able to catch and work a good DX opening on 6m. The
FT8 mode has both increased the level of activity on the 6m band and made
6m available to many stations with simple antennas and 100W transceivers.
You can learn more about how to get started with FT8 on 6m here.

As I sit here writing this, the 6m band just opened to Austria and Hungry!
Have to go work some DX on the 6m band

Fred, AB1OC