SpE Opening
 

Here in northern Germany I have just been scanning the FM radio bands and am getting strong signals from Kroatia and Algeria. As Sp-E propagation can be quite localized I wonder what the situation in the UK and on the Amateur Bands is.

Mods hope this is in the right place, if not please move it.

Re: SpE Opening
 

A colleague of mine is working in Wales today and has reported strong signals on FM radio from Italy.

Re: SpE Opening
 

Not quite as much as the last week, but the Skip
from Germany, France, Netherlands and especially Italy is
still bouncing in regularly on 11m (CB obviously, not an Amateur Band).

I think there has been quite a big Solar Storm over the last few Days, which
ends around now according to what I read.

I've not been up on 10m recently, as I quite like the less formal CB
frequencies for a change, but I can't imagine 10m will be a lot different.

Germany and Netherlands have been coming in regularly loud and clear on FM,
and Italy and France blast in wiping everything else out on SSB.

Interestingly, these are the Uk Frequencies, not the CEPT ones!

Has the EU harmonized the Uk CB frequencies across Europe ?
The Uk 40 seem busier than the CEPT 40 at the moment!



Ian

Re: SpE Opening
 

No, the EU has not adopted the CB/27/81 frequencies but for some time now there have been 'multi standard' radios which are legally available Europe-wide and what you are required to do in any given country is set it to that country's operating mode and it will then only operate on the correct frequencies and modes for that country. Originally, this was meant to solve the problem of truckers and other travellers who were trying to drive from one country to another having their radios seized at each border.

The UK is / was unique* in having 80 legal 27MHz FM channels, 40 of which are the same as the standard set used in the EU. Obviously, a lot of our European cousins are taking those sets and setting them to UK mode, which gives them their 40 standard channels plus another 40 which they ought not to be using.

The fact that they do, though, means that UK operators using their legal UK equipment have a good chance to work them on the less used, clearer UK CB/27/81 frequencies when conditions are up, as they have been at times over the past week or so.

* I recently discovered that Germany also has an extended range of 40 additional legal channels, but they are immediately below the standard 40 EU channels, ie, on 26MHz.

Re: SpE Opening
 

Started for me yesterday morning with contacts on 70MHz into Hungary, Germany and Austria, in the afternoon 2M went bonkers with contacts into Italy, Sicily and Croatia, missed Malta unfortunately, others were working into eastern Ukraine.
The E’s season has started with a bang with daily openings into the US and Caribbean, Southern Europe has also been working China and Japan on 6M

Re: SpE Opening
 

That all on FT8 Tim?... CW only here.
Looking forward to doing a single band entry in CQ WPX this weekend, lets hope the SpE keeps going.
73 Dave G3YMC