Same here in the USA…virtually no ES propagation this summer so far. I was counting on summer ES for 10M, but so far very very wimpy season, with only a few short skip contacts on 10 and 6 meters.
Pete
WA7JTM
W7A
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It was the same in 2004, IIRC, but was great in the late season, so there is still hope!
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I’m no expert on propagation but from my understanding of Sporadic E, apart from random occurrences at any time of year, the more-frequent events are approx. +/-3 weeks of the summer solstice (June in northern hemisphere, December in southern hemisphere). So, for us northerners (in the global sense), can we expect better in the next 6 weeks?
BTW: I thought Es was mainly a VHF effect. Is it less marked on 6m and even less on 10m?
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The effect on VHF is most noticeable viz. working into North Africa on 2m etc. But you can see the effect on lower bands too especially 12/10m. When you see short skip on such bands it’s indicative of SpE. If you continue to observe then if the skip distance shortens it means the E layer ionisation is increasing and the MUF is rising. So you listen for short contacts on 10m G-DL say and then you hear G-PA so you go and listen to 6m. There you have G-S5 QSOs and as it shortens you hear G-DL, G-PA you switch to 4m and so on until you work EA9 on 2m which still makes me smile.
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I have to go back to 29/05/2005 at 1807z when I worked EA9IB on 2m SSB from IO94of…
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Yes, Es on 2m is the prize that you drop everything else for! Its strange, but on 2m you can sense it coming, the band sounds peculiar, noisy, then barely audible signals appear that suddenly bursts into S9 signals from (usually) the Meditteraneum area. Then the band goes mad…! Well, that’s how it used to be in the days when 2m was always busy… 
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Sporadic E will work well down into the HF bands sometimes : I suspect it depends on the crossover point between the E layer refraction and D layer absorbption.
Summer “short skip” on 20M (for example southern G into GM) is probably Sporadic E,
Rick
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Its certainly working on 12 and 10m right now!
PS 10 is a wierd band! Right now (0950) I am hearing strong GM and GI stations calling a DL that I cannot hear! OTOH I have worked into CT, SP and 9A so a widespread opening.
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Widespread sporadic E just now up and beyond the 4m band. I am seeing FT8 sigs from HB9 OE F PA EA E7 on 70154.
73 Phil G4OBK
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I’m hearing strong 10m Es on S and SE headings, the 10m band is open but no SOTA trade yet!
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Yesterday, June 3rd, the only stations I worked on 10 Meters were locals or ES skip contacts. Zero F2 on 10 Meters here in Arizona yesterday. Worked stations on Ten Meters as close as Northern California, Texas, Missouri, Nevada, etc.
Without the ES openings my log would have been very empty yesterday.
Pete
WA7JTM
W7A
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Hi Pete,
Yes the F2 3000 km MUF has not been up to 28 MHz for over 10 day in Europe. So at the moment its Sporadic E or ground wave for 10m contacts.
73 Ed DD5LP.
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Not strictly true Ed. Last night at 22:20z I worked VK3FS on the 10m band using long path FT8. Over 23000 KM so not sporadic e! Plenty of DX on 6m and 4m today, including China on 6m. Its been very good indeed with HB9 SOTA Ops coming into the UK on 10m as well for some extra points in the Challenge.
73 Phil G4OBK
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That is a sweet result, Mario!
Since the WPX things have been very slow on 10 CW/FM/SSB here.
But I did get called by two VKs on CW two days ago, and worked a third on 12 meters.
Interesting to get some close in QSOs with OR and WA over which we normally skip over.
So frustrating to have such high sunspot activity and such inconsistent/poor propagation on 10.
Most of my Challenge QSOs have been with locals the last few weeks.
73, David N6AN
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Not single hop Es, but at the height of the season signals get passed from reflection to reflection. 23,000km would be a lot of reflections but I guess it could happen!
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At 22:20 on 4/6/2024 at Dourbes the 3000km F2 frequency was 19.2 MHz
Of course, values are spot values so it is “possible” that for a very short period of time, the MUF may have been higher or that you got some very long skip of say 5000 km/hop (longer skip, higher MUF) which while possible would have been very lucky and both antennas would have a very low take-off angle.
If looking for HB (and other) contacts - this coming weekend could produce a few distant contacts
June 8th and 9th SOTA Explosion in Europe - Notices / Events - SOTA Reflector
73 Ed.
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Hi Ed
The professional ionosondes around the world don’t appear to take account of anomolous propagation such as Es, TEP and aurora and the like. So when F2 propagation up to 35 MHZ or even higher is available in the southern hemisphere through south America and the Pacific to VK/ZL in the late evenings, its possible to couple into it from EU using Es or TEP propagation.
73 Phil G4OBK
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As you say when different types of propagation coincide, longer distances are possible. This is an area of propagation where Ionosondes only help a little and they are unfortunately getting less and less and as they get old they fail and are not being repaired. Chilton and Fairford in the UK are dead in the water at the moment (hopefully one will come back on-line).
I hope that some day with better technologies amateur radio based Ionosondes might possibly take over.
73 Ed.
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You watch how HF comms gets a boost now $ENEMY has got an alleged killer satellite in orbit.
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Yes, I thought they did only ‘vertical sounding’, an HF radar, so not even using the common-or-garden lower-angle skywave paths that we routinely use.
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