Summary: During the 2017-08-21 solar eclipse, there was potentially a large increase in 7 MHz signal strengths, on the path from Oregon to east Asia, for only about 20 minutes near Oregon totality. WU1ITU/7 in Oregon contacted YC4CHP, JH4ALY, and JA2VRZ during this time period, approximately four hours after local sunrise. It is conceivable (but certainly not confirmed) that these were the only low-band DX QSOs from North America that were substantially assisted by the eclipse. Other data includes amateur radio reception reports, and reception of a dozen Asian broadcast stations in San Diego as shown in the W6ACU eclipse SWL report. If there indeed was only a 20-minute time period for the most pronounced eclipse effects, then that finding might differ from the 4-hour time period shown in a HamSCI presentation for the Afraimovich et al. (2002) research on the August 1999 eclipse.
On 2017-08-21, WU1ITU/7 operated from western Oregon, mostly on 40 meters, transmitting with about 1800 watts EIRP toward Japan (300 degrees), with an antenna one wavelength above ground. There were CQs on CW decoded by Asian RBN nodes, CQs on FT8 decoded by Asian pskreporter.info contributors, and Asian QSOs on FT8. (There were also several QSOs with North America.) The operating location was about 10 miles north of the path of totality. At this location, maximum obscuration occurred at 1718 UTC.
The general operating strategy was to transmit intermittently with either CW or FT8 on 20, 40, 80, or 160 meters. The amount of time spent continuously on a single band and mode was not established in advance; instead, it varied depending on what results were seen on the RBN and pskreporter.info, and on conjectures about what bands and modes would be productive.
For 40 CW, the operating practice was to choose a CQ frequency that sounded clear, did not have any other known worldwide use shown in recent RBN data, and was historically free of non-amateur QRM in Japan. On each visit to 40 CW, CQs were repeated for at least several minutes, to try to allow decoding by a reasonably large fraction of the reachable RBN nodes.
Here is a subset of the RBN data from outside the contiguous United States:
This first CQ session was a sustained period of good reception in Japan. This was about one hour after local sunrise in Oregon.
VE6AO,VE,NA,7017.4,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,21,2017-08-21 14:18:23,25,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.15,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,28,2017-08-21 14:18:27,26,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,29,2017-08-21 14:18:35,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,20,2017-08-21 14:19:11,25,CW JF2IWL,JA,AS,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,9,2017-08-21 14:19:34,24,CW JF2IWL/2,JA,AS,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,6,2017-08-21 14:19:50,24,CW VE7CC,VE,NA,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,11,2017-08-21 14:27:13,26,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.15,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,40,2017-08-21 14:28:57,25,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,45,2017-08-21 14:29:05,25,CW VK4CT,VK,OC,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,23,2017-08-21 14:29:23,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,18,2017-08-21 14:29:26,24,CW JA4ZRK,JA,AS,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,8,2017-08-21 14:30:56,24,CW KH6LC,KH6,OC,7017.3,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 14:31:10,25,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7033.75,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,34,2017-08-21 14:33:42,26,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7033.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,34,2017-08-21 14:33:50,26,CW VE6AO,VE,NA,7034,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,13,2017-08-21 14:33:52,26,CW JF2IWL,JA,AS,7033.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,8,2017-08-21 14:34:05,26,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7034,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,14,2017-08-21 14:34:06,25,CW JA4ZRK,JA,AS,7033.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,7,2017-08-21 14:35:11,25,CW JF2IWL/2,JA,AS,7033.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,6,2017-08-21 14:35:20,26,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7033.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,45,2017-08-21 14:44:06,26,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7034,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 14:44:06,27,CW VE6AO,VE,NA,7034,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,38,2017-08-21 14:44:08,27,CW KH6LC,KH6,OC,7033.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 14:44:10,27,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7033.75,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,38,2017-08-21 14:44:12,27,CW
An hour later, it seemed that conditions to Japan were somewhat worse.
VE6AO,VE,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,20,2017-08-21 15:42:52,25,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,28,2017-08-21 15:42:53,25,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.55,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,25,2017-08-21 15:42:59,25,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,16,2017-08-21 15:43:06,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 15:43:26,24,CW KH6LC,KH6,OC,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,5,2017-08-21 15:46:12,25,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,28,2017-08-21 16:01:38,25,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.55,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,25,2017-08-21 16:01:45,25,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,17,2017-08-21 16:02:06,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,10,2017-08-21 16:04:41,25,CW
After another half hour, CQing for about 6 minutes did not provide any results from Japan.
VE6AO,VE,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,23,2017-08-21 16:33:37,25,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.55,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,22,2017-08-21 16:33:46,25,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,41,2017-08-21 16:33:54,26,CW VE7CC,VE,NA,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,18,2017-08-21 16:34:16,24,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,10,2017-08-21 16:34:21,25,CW
Shortly after maximum obscuration, a few CQs provided three results from Japan. This may indicate a propagation enhancement caused by the eclipse. The typical expectation, on August days with no eclipse, is that 40m conditions from Oregon to Japan monotonically decline in the hours following Oregon sunrise, and do not improve significantly until near Japan sunset (i.e., not until at least 18 hours later).
VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.55,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,26,2017-08-21 17:21:17,25,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,34,2017-08-21 17:21:26,24,CW VE6AO,VE,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 17:21:37,25,CW JF2IWL/2,JA,AS,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,10,2017-08-21 17:21:40,24,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,22,2017-08-21 17:21:41,25,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,15,2017-08-21 17:22:06,24,CW JA4ZRK,JA,AS,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,8,2017-08-21 17:22:31,26,CW
Adding to this limited evidence of a propagation enhancement is this data from about 20 minutes later. CQing for 10 minutes provided no results from Japan. This might mean that the effects of the eclipse had diminished, and the ordinary post-sunrise decline of 40m conditions had resumed.
VE6AO,VE,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,20,2017-08-21 17:41:52,25,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7017.7,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,30,2017-08-21 17:41:56,26,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7017.55,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,26,2017-08-21 17:42:18,25,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7017.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,11,2017-08-21 17:42:21,25,CW VE6AO,VE,NA,7014.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,17,2017-08-21 17:49:08,26,CW VE6JY,VE,NA,7014.8,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,22,2017-08-21 17:49:12,24,CW VE6WZ,VE,NA,7014.65,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,23,2017-08-21 17:49:18,24,CW KL7RA,KL,NA,7014.9,40m,WU1ITU/7,K,NA,CQ,9,2017-08-21 17:49:21,25,CW
Incidentally, WU1ITU/7 was not the only North American station using the 40m path to east Asia during the eclipse. These are the others shown in the RBN data (note that N2BA was operating from Idaho at the time). The complete data starting at 14:44 UTC is also included here, probably indicating a decline after the "sustained period of good reception" mentioned earlier. Specifically, about half of the North American transmitting stations listed below were also active on 40 CW in the hour before and after the eclipse, but the spots from Asia occurred only during the eclipse. The others apparently chose the eclipse time period for their sole venture onto 40 meters.
JO1YYP,JA,AS,7034.9,40m,W7QC,K,NA,CQ,13,2017-08-21 14:44:26,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7026,40m,W6RW,K,NA,CQ,10,2017-08-21 14:46:26,22,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7034.6,40m,W6SX,K,NA,CQ,6,2017-08-21 14:56:56,24,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7029.4,40m,W6SX,K,NA,CQ,9,2017-08-21 15:03:41,24,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7030,40m,VE7CA,VE,NA,CQ,6,2017-08-21 17:00:11,22,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7009.9,40m,AL7LO,KL,NA,CQ,2,2017-08-21 17:03:11,21,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7009.9,40m,AL7LO,KL,NA,CQ,17,2017-08-21 17:03:26,22,CW VE7CC,VE,NA,7012,40m,JA0TUG/3,JA,AS,CQ,8,2017-08-21 17:04:18,20,CW W7HR,K,NA,7012,40m,JA0TUG/3,JA,AS,CQ,14,2017-08-21 17:04:54,20,CW N7TR,K,NA,7012,40m,JA0TUG/3,JA,AS,CQ,9,2017-08-21 17:06:03,20,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7027.9,40m,N2BA,K,NA,CQ,5,2017-08-21 17:07:11,25,CW W7HR,K,NA,7022.5,40m,JO1KSD,JA,AS,CQ,13,2017-08-21 17:08:24,26,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7032,40m,NG7A,K,NA,CQ,10,2017-08-21 17:08:56,20,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7030,40m,VE7CA,VE,NA,CQ,11,2017-08-21 17:10:26,22,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7032,40m,NG7A,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 17:12:11,23,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7032.6,40m,W7QC,K,NA,CQ,12,2017-08-21 17:12:56,26,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7027.4,40m,N2BA,K,NA,CQ,7,2017-08-21 17:20:11,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7032.6,40m,W7QC,K,NA,CQ,18,2017-08-21 17:23:26,24,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7031,40m,NG7A,K,NA,CQ,8,2017-08-21 17:27:11,23,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7026,40m,NK6A,K,NA,CQ,11,2017-08-21 17:30:26,23,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7026.3,40m,W0UA,K,NA,CQ,8,2017-08-21 17:42:41,34,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7034.2,40m,W6SX,K,NA,CQ,5,2017-08-21 18:26:41,25,CW JO1YYP,JA,AS,7034.2,40m,W6SX,K,NA,CQ,5,2017-08-21 18:36:41,25,CW W7HR,K,NA,7016,40m,JH1HDT,JA,AS,CQ,5,2017-08-21 19:54:59,25,CW
Here is the analogous WSPRnet.org data for North America to east Asia.
17:00 K7POF (DM34sr) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040038 SNR=-28 Power=30 dBm 17:00 KF7O (CN84mw) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040034 SNR=-23 Power=30 dBm 17:00 N7SLN (CN84in) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040062 SNR=-26 Power=30 dBm 17:00 JA5NVN (PM74ec) KL7NN (BP40nm) 7.040012 SNR=-27 Power=43 dBm 17:06 N6NR (CN96pr) JA5NVN (PM74ec) 7.040173 SNR=-27 Power=33 dBm 17:06 WB7ROZ (CN86nw) JA5NVN (PM74ec) 7.040177 SNR=-19 Power=33 dBm 17:18 JA5NVN (PM74ec) KL7NN (BP40nm) 7.040011 SNR=-21 Power=43 dBm 17:18 JA5NVN (PM74ec) N6NR (CN96pr) 7.040181 SNR=-25 Power=37 dBm 17:18 JA5NVN (PM74ec) N7KSI (CN86mn) 7.040002 SNR=-27 Power=37 dBm 17:26 JA5NVN (PM74ec) N6NR (CN96pr) 7.040182 SNR=-24 Power=37 dBm 17:30 N6NR (CN96pr) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040036 SNR=-22 Power=30 dBm
Before this group of spots, the most recent previous ones had been more than an hour earlier.
2017-08-21 15:40 WB7ROZ (CN86nw) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040040 SNR=-27 Power=30 dBm 2017-08-21 15:54 JA5NVN (PM74ec) KL7NN (BP40nm) 7.040029 SNR=-25 Power=43 dBm
There were no more until almost 14 hours later.
2017-08-22 07:18 JA5NVN (PM74ec) AE7YQ (DM41kx) 7.040099 SNR=-27 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-22 07:20 K5DOA (CN87ro) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040036 SNR=-23 Power=30 dBm
To assess whether this is an unusual 40m band opening, first consider the WSPRnet.org data around this time period (16:50 to 17:59 UTC) over all other days of the entire summer. Spots involving North America and east Asia occurred on 13 other days. At most two stations in North America were listed on any single day. During the eclipse, there were seven.
That value of seven might be particularly important if the seven specific stations were regularly active on 40m WSPR around that time of day in August (but experienced propagation to east Asia only on the day of the eclipse). It turns out that that was not true. Four of the seven were active on 40m WSPR, around that time of day, only on the day of the eclipse. The other three were active on 40m WSPR, around that time of day, only for a few days during August (one was active on two other days in August; the others were each active on five other days in August).
Here is the data for the rest of the summer. The set of North American stations listed here happens to be disjoint with the set listed for the day of the eclipse. Also, the stations in this second set were, on average, active on 40m WSPR much more often than the stations in the first set. Thus, the data cannot be directly used to demonstrate that propagation during the eclipse was better. The data is also consistent with a hypothesis that propagation during the eclipse was worse. In other words, the regularly active stations did not experience propagation to east Asia on that day (only on other days). The value of seven may have been an artifact of increased WSPR interest and activity during the eclipse, possibly including activity by stations with much better antennas.
2017-06-29 17:00 VE6JY (DO33or) RU0LL (PN53xt) 7.040103 SNR=-25 Power=40 dBm 2017-06-30 16:56 K6CCA (CM97ed) JH1HRJ (PM95pi) 7.040110 SNR=-12 Power=37 dBm 2017-06-30 16:56 NN6RF (CM87uw) JH1HRJ (PM95pi) 7.040110 SNR=-27 Power=37 dBm 2017-06-30 16:58 K6CCA (CM97ed) JA5NVN (PM74ec) 7.040174 SNR=-22 Power=33 dBm 2017-07-03 17:00 K7MHI (CN87wk) RU0LL (PN53xt) 7.040117 SNR=-15 Power=40 dBm 2017-07-03 17:20 K7MHI (CN87wk) RU0LL (PN53xt) 7.040118 SNR=-22 Power=40 dBm 2017-07-03 17:38 KB7GF (DN06) RU0LL (PN53xt) 7.040109 SNR=1 Power=40 dBm 2017-07-03 17:58 KB7GF (DN06) RU0LL (PN53xt) 7.040109 SNR=-21 Power=40 dBm 2017-07-07 17:00 K7MHI (CN87wk) BH4BTZ (PM01) 7.040105 SNR=-26 Power=33 dBm 2017-07-30 17:08 N6CVO (DM04vm) JA5NVN (PM74ec) 7.040182 SNR=-23 Power=33 dBm 2017-07-30 17:10 N6CVO (DM04vm) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040044 SNR=-25 Power=30 dBm 2017-07-30 17:20 N6CVO (DM04vm) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040045 SNR=-27 Power=30 dBm 2017-07-30 17:26 N6CVO (DM04vm) JA5NVN (PM74ec) 7.040183 SNR=-22 Power=33 dBm 2017-08-05 17:20 K7MHI (CN87wk) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040051 SNR=-26 Power=30 dBm 2017-08-09 17:20 VA7AEJ (DO00mf) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040038 SNR=-26 Power=30 dBm 2017-08-09 17:26 JA8INU (QN03qa) KP4MD (CM98iq) 7.040113 SNR=-30 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-10 17:02 JA5NVN (PM74ec) VA7AEJ (DO00mf) 7.040099 SNR=-25 Power=40 dBm 2017-08-12 17:06 W0QL (DM79) JA5NVN (PM74ec) 7.040181 SNR=-27 Power=33 dBm 2017-08-12 17:06 W0QL (DM79) JH1ARY (PM95wt) 7.040170 SNR=-27 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-13 16:58 VE6JY (DO33or) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040049 SNR=-22 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-13 17:10 VE6JY (DO33or) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040049 SNR=-24 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-13 17:22 VE6JY (DO33or) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040049 SNR=-25 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-13 17:32 VE6JY (DO33or) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040049 SNR=-26 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-15 16:52 NN6RF (CM87uw) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040047 SNR=-27 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-15 16:52 VE6JY (DO33or) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040049 SNR=-26 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-15 17:04 VE6JY (DO33or) JA9TTT (PM96of) 7.040049 SNR=-23 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-30 17:00 K5DOA (CN87ro) JG1EIQ (PM74ns) 7.040038 SNR=-28 Power=30 dBm
Instead, what seems important is that, on the day of the eclipse, the observed 40m propagation to east Asia occurred at 17:00 to 17:30, and did not occur at all during the hour before or the hours after. All of the North American stations that experienced this propagation were also active on 40m WSPR for much more than an hour before and after. In other words, within only the context of propagation on that one day, there was a short peak at an unusual time, and that unusual time was a very close match to the time of maximum obscuration.
The data from 40 FT8 seemed largely consistent. There was an apparent enhancement in the 40m path from Oregon to east Asia, but only within about 10 minutes of maximum obscuration.
Starting at 1652 UTC, WU1ITU/7 decoded several east Asian stations (and also North American stations who were working each other). The east Asian stations seemed to be primarily trying to contact Europe (or west Asia or Africa). Two approaches were used to try to make QSOs: sending "CQ DX WU1ITU CN85" (on an apparently clear audio Tx frequency) or calling a specific east Asian station (again, transmitting with an audio TX frequency well away from the audio Tx frequencies of the east Asian stations). Although the east Asian stations had strong signals (the best was -1), no QSO was made until 1709 UTC (YC4CHP: this is a valid, active station that happens to not be listed in the qrz.com database). Keep in mind that maximum obscuration was 1718 UTC. This might mean that maximum obscuration was helpful in increasing the WU1ITU/7 signal strength in east Asia. The peak signal received from east Asia was 0 (JA4EVN at 1717 UTC). The last QSO was JA2VRZ at 1716 UTC. The last signal received from east Asia was JA4EVN at 1730 UTC. Unanswered CQs from WU1ITU/7 continued until 1740 UTC.
From the perspective of WU1ITU/7, there were no observed cases in which anyone else in North America made an FT8 QSO with anyone outside of North America during the above time periods; however, the full pskreporter.info data set was not checked. In other words, an eclipse-related band opening possibly provided QSOs only for WU1ITU/7. The "JA2VRZ KD6BZN DM04" calls at about 1756 UTC do not necessarily mean that JA2VRZ had been decoded that late in the day (i.e., possibly JA2VRZ was decoded about a half hour earlier, but KD6BZN happened to not transmit then).
Here is the subset of WU1ITU/7 observed FT8 activity, limited to only east Asia and the WU1ITU/7 transmissions.
165200 -12 1.7 1769 ~ YL3BF JA4EVN R-09 165230 -12 1.7 1768 ~ YL3BF JA4EVN 73 170821_165245 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA4EVN WU1ITU CN85 165300 -4 0.8 680 ~ OE1GAQ JR3UIC PM74 165300 -15 0.7 910 ~ IZ3VCN YC4CHP OI18 170821_165315 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA4EVN WU1ITU CN85 165330 -14 0.7 910 ~ IZ3VCN YC4CHP OI18 170821_165345 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA4EVN WU1ITU CN85 170821_165415 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165430 -14 0.3 1595 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC PM74 165430 -6 1.7 1669 ~ YO8RSL JA4EVN PM75 170821_165445 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165500 -6 1.7 1669 ~ YO8RSL JA4EVN PM75 170821_165515 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_165545 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165600 -16 0.2 681 ~ OE1GAQ YC4CHP OI18 165600 -5 1.7 1767 ~ UA3RLE JA4EVN PM75 170821_165615 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165630 -7 1.7 1668 ~ YO8RSL JA4EVN R-17 170821_165645 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_165715 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165700 -14 1.7 1669 ~ YO8RSL JA4EVN R-17 165700 -15 0.7 1850 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC PM74 170821_165745 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165800 -11 0.9 677 ~ OE1GAQ JH4ALY 73 165800 -10 1.7 820 ~ RA3AVY JA4EVN PM75 170821_165815 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165800 -9 0.2 1850 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC R-18 165830 -7 0.9 677 ~ OE1GAQ JH4ALY 73 165830 -10 1.7 820 ~ RA3AVY JA4EVN PM75 165830 -9 0.2 1850 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC R-18 170821_165845 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_165915 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 165900 -11 0.8 1850 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC R-18 165930 -9 0.2 1850 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC R-18 170821_165945 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170000 -1 1.7 581 ~ RN3YN JA4EVN PM75
The JA4EVN signal was -1 and yet nobody was answering CQs from Oregon!
170000 -19 0.2 668 ~ OE1GAQ YC4CHP OI18 170821_170015 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170000 -9 0.2 1850 ~ ZR1ADI JR3UIC R-18 170030 -5 1.7 581 ~ RN3YN JA4EVN PM75 170030 -16 0.7 668 ~ OE1GAQ YC4CHP OI18 170821_170045 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_170115 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU CN85 170821_170145 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU CN85 170200 -3 0.8 489 ~ RN3YN JA4EVN PM75 170821_170215 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170230 -6 0.8 490 ~ RN3YN JA4EVN PM75 170821_170245 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170300 -15 0.2 668 ~ OE1GAQ YC4CHP OI18 170821_170315 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA4EVN WU1ITU CN85 170330 -14 0.2 668 ~ OE1GAQ YC4CHP OI18 170821_170345 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA4EVN WU1ITU CN85 170821_170415 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_170445 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_170515 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_170545 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU CN85 170821_170615 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU CN85 170821_170645 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_170715 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170730 -7 0.5 1109 ~ UK8LCK KH7C BL11 170745 -4 0.8 1964 ~ UA3RLE JA4EVN RRR 170800 -5 0.5 1109 ~ UK8LCK KH7C BL11 170800 -12 1.0 1727 ~ YL3BF JH4ALY PM54 170815 -15 0.2 581 ~ DL3AMI YC4CHP OI18 170815 -4 0.8 1962 ~ UA3RLE JA4EVN 73 170821_170830 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170845 -3 0.8 669 ~ DL3AMI JA4EVN PM75 170821_170900 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170915 -4 0.8 669 ~ DL3AMI JA4EVN PM75 170821_170930 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85
Finally, YC4CHP called!
170945 -14 0.7 1839 ~ WU1ITU YC4CHP OI18 170945 -5 0.8 669 ~ DL3AMI JA4EVN PM75 170821_171000 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU -14 171015 -12 1.1 1839 ~ WU1ITU YC4CHP R-13 170821_171030 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU RRR 171045 -14 0.8 1839 ~ WU1ITU YC4CHP 73 171045 -10 0.8 668 ~ DL3AMI JA4EVN R-13 170821_171100 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: YC4CHP WU1ITU 73 171115 -4 0.8 666 ~ DL3AMI JA4EVN 73 170821_171130 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 171145 -10 0.9 1839 ~ WU1ITU JH4ALY PM54 171145 -12 0.7 488 ~ RN3YN JA2VRZ PM85 171145 -3 0.8 577 ~ RN3YN JA4EVN PM75 170821_171200 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JH4ALY WU1ITU -10 171215 -3 0.9 1839 ~ WU1ITU JH4ALY PM54 171215 -3 0.8 576 ~ RN3YN JA4EVN R-13 170821_171230 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JH4ALY WU1ITU -03 171245 -2 1.0 1839 ~ WU1ITU JH4ALY R-13 170821_171300 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JH4ALY WU1ITU RRR 171315 -4 1.0 1839 ~ WU1ITU JH4ALY 73 171315 -3 0.8 1241 ~ R2WAF JA4EVN PM75 171315 -10 0.3 1440 ~ KH7C VE7AHT CN89 170821_171330 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JH4ALY WU1ITU 73 171345 -1 0.8 1241 ~ R2WAF JA4EVN PM75 170821_171400 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 171415 -1 0.8 1239 ~ R2WAF JA4EVN R-12 170821_171430 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 171445 -2 0.7 668 ~ DL3AMI JA2VRZ PM85 171445 0 0.8 1237 ~ R2WAF JA4EVN 73 170821_171500 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85
JA2VRZ had been calling a DL, but then they changed their mind.
171515 -1 0.7 1842 ~ WU1ITU JA2VRZ PM85 171515 0 0.8 1080 ~ YL2NX JA4EVN -08 171515 -3 0.9 2096 ~ LX1JX JH4ALY PM54 170821_171530 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA2VRZ WU1ITU -01 171545 -6 0.7 1027 ~ UA9CC JA2VRZ PM85 171545 -6 0.8 1078 ~ YL2NX JA4EVN RRR 171545 -9 1.0 2096 ~ LX1JX JH4ALY R-18 170821_171600 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA2VRZ WU1ITU -01 171615 -2 0.7 1842 ~ WU1ITU JA2VRZ R-06 171615 -3 0.8 1077 ~ YL2NX JA4EVN 73 171615 -7 0.7 1503 ~ IK4ISR YC4CHP OI18 170821_171630 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA2VRZ WU1ITU RRR 171615 -3 1.0 2096 ~ LX1JX JH4ALY R-18 171645 -4 0.2 1842 ~ WU1ITU JA2VRZ 73 171645 -1 0.8 1029 ~ UA9CC JA4EVN PM75 170821_171700 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: JA2VRZ WU1ITU 73 171645 -1 1.0 2097 ~ LX1JX JH4ALY 73 171715 0 0.8 1150 ~ UA9CC JA4EVN PM75 170821_171730 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 171745 0 0.8 1150 ~ UA9CC JA4EVN PM75
The FT8 data then continued after returning from other bands and modes.
172600 -2 0.8 1753 ~ UK8LCK JA4EVN 73 172615 -7 0.7 759 ~ DC8RA JA2VRZ PM85 170821_172630 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 172645 -8 0.7 759 ~ DC8RA JA2VRZ PM85 170821_172700 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 172715 -9 0.7 1915 ~ UR3LC JA2VRZ PM85 170821_172730 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_172800 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 170821_172830 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 172845 -15 1.0 527 ~ DL3AMI JH4ALY PM54 170821_172900 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 170821_172930 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 170821_173000 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 173015 -18 0.8 1868 ~ F1ABL JA4EVN PM75 170821_173030 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 173045 -14 0.8 1868 ~ F1ABL JA4EVN PM75
That was apparently all!
170821_173100 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ JA WU1ITU CN85 170821_173130 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173200 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173230 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173300 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173330 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173400 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173430 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173500 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173530 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173600 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173630 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173700 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173730 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173800 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173830 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173900 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_173930 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_174000 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 170821_174030 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85
40 FT8 was also checked later, and this QSO attempt was decoded.
175530 -1 0.7 1508 ~ JA2VRZ KD6BZN DM04 175730 -17 0.7 1598 ~ JA2VRZ KD6BZN DM04
About 30 minutes before maximum obscuration, there was a VK QSO on 40 FT8. It is unclear whether this is related to the eclipse, or simply a propagation path that would be entirely normal at that time of day in August.
164915 -15 0.3 1343 ~ CQ VK3BL QF22 164945 -17 0.8 1343 ~ CQ VK3BL QF22 170821_165000 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: VK3BL WU1ITU CN85 165015 -10 0.8 1344 ~ CQ VK3BL QF22 170821_165030 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: VK3BL WU1ITU CN85 165045 -12 0.3 1343 ~ WU1ITU VK3BL -11 170821_165100 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: VK3BL WU1ITU R-12 165115 -11 0.3 1343 ~ WU1ITU VK3BL RRR 170821_165130 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: VK3BL WU1ITU 73 165145 -16 0.3 1343 ~ WU1ITU VK3BL 73
At about 1630 UTC, qualitative observations suggested that propagation from Oregon to Europe (and west Asia) on 20 meters began to decline. There is no further analysis here. Possibly the MUF was dropping as the time became closer to maximum obscuration at 1718 UTC. Here are some of the signals copied on 20 meters.
170821_152415 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 152430 -5 0.7 1208 ~ WU1ITU RA3AL KO85 170821_152515 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: RA3AL WU1ITU -04 152530 -1 0.8 1209 ~ WU1ITU RA3AL R-10 170821_152545 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: RA3AL WU1ITU RRR 152600 -2 0.8 1210 ~ WU1ITU RA3AL 73 170821_152615 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: RA3AL WU1ITU 73
153100 -15 0.9 1209 ~ CQ VU2IT MJ88 170821_153245 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: VU2IT WU1ITU CN85 153300 -9 0.5 1208 ~ WU1ITU VU2IT -11 170821_153315 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: VU2IT WU1ITU R-09 153330 -8 1.0 1208 ~ WU1ITU VU2IT RRR 170821_153345 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: VU2IT WU1ITU 73 153400 -7 0.5 1208 ~ WU1ITU VU2IT 73
161345 -3 0.6 1995 ~ CQ UA9FDN LO88 170821_161630 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: UA9FDN WU1ITU CN85 161745 -4 0.6 1997 ~ WU1ITU UA9FDN -09 170821_161800 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: UA9FDN WU1ITU R-04
170821_162700 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: CQ DX WU1ITU CN85 162715 -10 0.2 1133 ~ WU1ITU DF3CB JN58 170821_162730 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: DF3CB WU1ITU -10
It seemed difficult to complete QSOs with Europe on 20 FT8, possibly because of high QRM within Europe. The longest-distance QSO on 20 FT8 was VU2IT.
Long after maximum obscuration in Oregon, there were some QSO attempts from WU1ITU/7 to the U.S. east coast on 40 FT8. This was the longest-distance QSO.
180745 -13 0.8 1764 ~ CQ K1KA FN42 170821_180800 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: K1KA WU1ITU CN85 180815 -13 0.8 1767 ~ WU1ITU K1KA -11 170821_180830 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: K1KA WU1ITU R-13 180845 -13 0.8 1768 ~ WU1ITU K1KA RRR 170821_180900 Transmitting 7.074 MHz FT8: K1KA WU1ITU 73 180915 -6 0.8 1768 ~ WU1ITU K1KA 73
There were several transmissions from WU1ITU/7 on 80 CW and 80 FT8 near maximum obscuration. However, no DX reports were found on the RBN or pskreporter.info. The maximum distance on 80 meters was about 1100 km. The maximum distance on 160 meters was about 15 km.
There was also a brief operation from WU1ITU/4 in Georgia, near the time of maximum obscuration in Georgia. The location was about 100 miles southwest of the path of totality. Transmissions were on 40 CW and FT8 toward Europe with about 7500 watts (i.e., 7.5 kW) EIRP and an average antenna height one wavelength above ground. Specifically, the activity was on CW for the 15 minutes before maximum obscuration, and then switched to FT8 for 30 minutes. The RBN reception report that came closest to Europe was from VE1AWP. In other words, it is usually not possible to reach Europe from Georgia in August at 2 to 3 PM local time, and the existence of the eclipse did not change that fact.
Incidentally, there was some 40m propagation between Europe and the North America east coast (farther north) during the eclipse. The valid RBN reports might be only these three for EA5DY.
W1NT,K,NA,7030.5,40m,EA5DY,EA,EU,CQ,13,2017-08-21 18:30:37,29,CW N2RJ,K,NA,7030.5,40m,EA5DY,EA,EU,CQ,17,2017-08-21 18:32:24,28,CW VE1AWP,VE,NA,7030,40m,EA5DY,EA,EU,CQ,11,2017-08-21 18:38:17,31,CW
Here is the analogous WSPRnet.org data for Europe to the North America east coast.
18:30 CG9NC (FN75cm) M0HUI (IO91pi) 7.040107 SNR=-23 Power=37 dBm 19:16 W2JTM (FN31) PA8AD (JO32iu) 7.040015 SNR=-23 Power=37 dBm
This does not appear to be an unusual band opening. There are often 40m WSPRnet.org spots of Europe from North America around this time of day in August. (On average, it happens about once every three days.) Here are some examples.
2017-08-18 18:46 WA9WTK (FN42fk) DC1RJJ (JN57st) 7.040005 SNR=-20 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-23 18:04 WO3T (FN00vk) G0AJZ (IO94lo) 7.039994 SNR=-27 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-23 18:40 K9AN (EN50wc) M0RTP (IO91pk) 7.040099 SNR=-23 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-30 18:06 AI4RY (EM72go) ON7JK (JO11xd) 7.040099 SNR=-26 Power=37 dBm 2017-08-31 18:56 VE3YX (FN16fd) M0OTL (IO81wi) 7.040001 SNR=-26 Power=37 dBm