Best time of day ? UK to W.Coast USA

[RadioDXfun]

I really enjoy these contacts. Only made 2 on 15m band and they were really hard work super low signals each way.
This was about 6 PM UK time so around 10AM in let's say L.A.

Western states when is the best time you have worked into the UK/Europe ?

I heard a UK station suggest most W States contact happened in UK morning time (so I guess something like 11PM in the western USA.

I want to make more W. states contacts and wanted a little help on when, thanks.

Also are all the UK to Western states contacts the short way i.e. about 5,000 -5,400 miles ?
I get the impression that it is a fairly difficult path need at least 1 land bounce by the looks of things on Google Earth
(I am just on a vertical wire 100W) judging by the signal levels... S0/R3-4's

 

[RadioDXfun]

I may have found an answer, at 4AM UK time it looks like there could be a path long or short path if I am reading this right.
That's my least favourite time for portable radio. Sunrise is 5AM at the moment.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility. I have an alarm clock.

 

[alcahuete]

There are two generally good timeframes. Looking at your chart, when we are both dark, 160m, 80m, 40m (and sometimes 30m) would work.

When we are both light, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m.

 

[RadioDXfun]

Thanks alcahuete, I do not really go on the lower bands as the antennas are too large to get them high enough to get good low angle radiation. So I tend to stick to the higher bands. What you suggest seems logical based on what we know about bands.

My image suggests that grey line +/- an hour each side, at a guess, could be the time to aim for, for an efficient opening. Although for what bands I set the VOACAP for I am not sure as it was my first time trying VOACAP.

 

[majoco]

First thing in the morning, say 0400, both ends on grey line propagation so the lower frequency bands, 80 and 40.

 

[RadioDXfun]

For 40m I have yet to get my signal out of Europe never mind W.Coast USA. I can run a 1/4 wave for 40m and have used a rather outlandish 1/2 wave end fed vertical for 40m as well (18m fibre glass pole extended with 2 thin plant stakes). It was pretty much ground mounted. I suspect it will work no better than a 1/4 wave that is a little elevated, it was just a fun experiment at the time on a no wind day.

I am not really a 40m guy. I guess I will use patience for now. No plans to be up at 04:00 am for the foreseeable future.

I will leave it to lady luck. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Hang in there DXfun

If the predictions about this latest evolving sunspot cycle come true, you will be able to talk to the world on 10, 12, 15 (even 6 ) metre's almost at will with surprisingly low power and simple antennas.

A case in point- during the last peak, which was real sad btw -- I strung up a 10 metre dipole about 8 feet in the air for a feeble Field Day attempt. We where camping on the side of one of our central Colorado Rockies and the little 35 watt 10 metre transceiver was an after thought.

"Can you talk to anyone with that ? "

I turned on the radio, twirl'd the dial

"That fellow has an accent"

--------------------------------- Five-Nine into Japan !


Timing - and luck, is everything.
Good Hunting, guy !


Lauri



.

 

[RadioDXfun]

Yes timing and luck is everything. 100pct in agreement with that. Some of my most enjoyable and impressive dx has been
in typically low SFI's of 110 and below. With this lesser ionization you work out what a really good (yet simple wire) antenna is.

When powerful chance ionization happens and you happen to be on the right band with someone listening it is amazing.
The reality for most radio DX operators is most of the time we are DXing in adversity. Having a poky low angle signal in low SFI conditions
can also bring marvels.

By having a great antenna system set up (which can be a super simple single wire) you increase your chances of DX in all situations and on more difficult and paths that may have greater geographical and atmospheric loss.

 

[Boombox]

Best thing I'd think is to just do a quick estimate and turn on the radio, and listen or maybe call CQ. I heard a German ham talking to a west coast US ham earlier this evening with steady signals on both ends, maybe S3 for the German ham, and I'm in the PNW. It was around 0400 UTC. QSO was more than 30 minutes before I tuned out. 20 M band USB. It's doable, all depending on prop, of course..

 

[prcguy]

UK to California is not very common but I made one memorable contact about 20yrs ago on 10m. This was on my way to work at about 8am and I had just made contact from my 100w mobile to a station in the UK, Ireland I believe. I had a 6 watt CB/10m SSB hand held radio with me and I asked the UK station to listen carefully as I parked at work in So Cal and fired up the hand held radio with roughly 5ft telescoping whip.

The UK station heard me on the hand held radio and we chatted for another minute or so then I signed off and went into work. This is one of the very few times I heard the UK in So Cal at any time on any band in the last 40yrs or so.

 

[alcahuete]

UK to California is not very common

Huh?? I probably have 3 or 4 dozen contacts to England alone in the last couple years. I only have 1 Wales in the log this year, but England and Scotland are literally in there several dozen times. Ireland 9 times this year. All were on 40m, 20m, 15m, mostly SSB and CW.

 

[RadioDXfun]

Well it makes the contacts I have made so far on 15m to West coast/Western states all the more amazing to me. Very interesting perspectives. I imagine precise QTH (local terrain) and antenna systems used in California (and other Western states such as Arizona/Nevada) power levels / noise floors will be a significant reason why some do and some don't. One station I made contact with was University based in San Jose W6YL .. I recall they were using a beam.. it was fleeting, very difficult contact just call signs QTH and named exchanged.

The more difficult a contact is the more I enjoy it.

I will always keep my ears pinned back for West coast. I made a QSO with Alaska a week or so ago, first contact there, amazing and the signals were good 5/5's each way. If you hear a G call portable it may be me. Fortunately I put out a superb signal (I am not bragging by the way just stating a fact as I keep super simple 1/2 waves mono band and get them up really high and use high end coax) for my diminutive station (100W and a very high elevated vertical on a small hill) I suspect I am making some very fragile but very low angle, slightly elevated MUF (due to the extra low angle path - it is a guess) Very low angle paths increase the MUF a little.

I attach a possible path image.. not what one might imagine in mind, I was surprised, tricky one need a land bounce so it seems significantly more lossy than to East coast. It also explains how difficult my sole contact with Mexico was, a likely similar path.

The more the merrier. I absolutely love radio DX.

 

[RadioDXfun]

I just add a new image as I was lazy and now see that is the path to Mexico above... GoogleEarth is a great tool to check possible paths.
5,371miles.. not the longest distance but some of the hardest DX for me so far. (And I am not near the sea either so not getting the free 9dB salt water gain) though I am getting 8.4dB over a 1/4 wave on the ground at 5 degrees on 15m which does help. On 10m that improves further as feed point relative to wavelength becomes greater. But alas we need more ionospheric charge to get the 10m band open of course as wire users. All in good time.

 

[AK9R]

You mentioned VOACAP. I think that's the best tool for HF propagation predictions. On VOACAP Online for Ham Radio you can enter your location and your destination using city, Maidenhead grid, or lat/lon. The click on Prop Wheel to get a chart that shows the best time for each band between those two location. You can also set the day that you want the prediction for and you can set other parameters like antenna gain and power output.

 

[Boombox]

Yeah, orient your wire, aim it right at California. You might do better if you build a quad, though. It's just as simple as a wire, and you'd get slightly better performance.

Either way, just keep at it and you'll get something out west again. Of course, right now prop seems to go up and down, as we're not in the high part of the solar cycle yet. In the winter of 2002-2003 I used to tag along (i.e., just monitoring) when a massive station out of Southern Cal would work Europe Long Path, on 80 Meters, in the early mornings. He was using the "DX Window", which was a couple frequencies low in the SSB part of the band. Sometimes I could just barely hear the EU stations, other times, I couldn't, but the other Southern Cal hams who were on the same channel were working the same EU stations for the most part.

My equipment at that time was a 100 ft wire and my DX-440 (Sangean ATS803A receiver, basically). And I'm in a hole.

My point being that a lot of it is just listening (in your case, calling as well) and seeing what's out there. I mostly hear EU hams on 20 Meters, when I hear them. Rarely, if ever on the lower bands. I haven't heard any on CW to my knowledge, but then they're probably the faster senders that I can't quite read. CW might be the way to go if you're dealing with lower signal levels.

There used to be a guy on SSB out of Northern Ireland that had a massive signal towards the US, and another guy in Spain somewhere. I heard those two guys a lot, even in the early 2010s when I was just listening on a 25 ft indoor antenna upstairs. A lot of US hams knew about those two guys, so they apparently got out a lot, even to the West Coast. So it can be done, obviously. But that was over a decade ago, when the solar cycle then was up. I'm in the PNW -- WA/OR/ID -- just north of California, but I only have a radios and wire antennas. I'm sure some hams with beams, great transceivers et. al. in California should be able to work you. Just have to be patient. And later in the solar cycle will probably help, too.