Spring is Here!

If you are a frequent operator of radio, you'll soon become linked to the subtle, but constant changes in propagation that mark the advance of Earth in its orbit - and our seasons.

Over the past week or so, as we see the start of meteorological spring, the upper HF bands have seen a renewal in activity. 

On most days, there is a 30 minute period on 12m where Japan comes through very strongly.   Stations in India, China and far eastern Russia have also featured prominently, as have a couple of stations in VK-land.

Last night, on firing-up using WSPR, I found a strange 'flattening' effect on the 14MHz map in where my signal was being received - essentially along a line of about 45 degrees latitude and not above it.  The WSPR traces were also beginning to spread out, indicating a strong geomagnetic disturbance.  On opening the front door, I was welcomed by a sky alive with aurora to high elevations, with prominent streamers. 

Time to reconnect the 2-ele 6m quad, quickly!  If you want to build one, which has an ideal, wide azimuthal pattern for auroral working (and is great for Es and meteor work, too), you can find instructions here.  For a lasting antenna (mine puts up with severe gales to hurricane force during our winters), use fibreglass spreaders attached to metal brackets, not timber, because timber rots quite quickly.

This simple 2-ele quad has given me some magical moments on 6m over the years. 

Because the weather wasn't clear everywhere in the UK, and that it takes time for other operators to realise it's worth trying 6m out of the summer Es season, a minor engagement with self-spotting on the cluster is required to attract attention.  Even when word gets out, there are only ever a handful of aurora operators in the UK, and even fewer will be in view of a given display and so able to make use of it.

After a couple of calls on 50.150MHz, I was delighted to hear Martin, GM8IEM, in the far northwest of Scotland coming back to me.  Nice and stable, there was relatively little garbling by the dynamic aurora, allowing a pretty easy QSO at roughly 57 both ways.

Last night's aurora, permitting some interesting radio!

Sadly, nobody else came on 6m, partly explained by the passing of the most active auroral period, though it remained strong at lower elevations throughout the night.

I then switched to 12m, pointing my 3-ele LFA due north, to find quite strong signals coming from an LA4 station, chasing after some DX in the Pacific over the north Pole.  The second sound file records that there was also an EA8 station coming in, very stable, via an auroral backscatter path.  The sheer stability of the EA8 signal probably indicates auroral E, rather than direct aurora backscatter.

No matter how jaded one becomes through years of radio working, working aurora always fires up the spirits, thinking that radio - already an almost miraculous phenomenon - is letting you talk to someone through bouncing your signal off the northern lights.  That really is quite magical.