S2S - Distance records

[GW2HFR]

@YU1WC

For me, the greatest thrill is not the DX contact, but the fact that with my litttle rig, tuner and antenna, all homebrew, I am being heard at all, anywhere, no matter how far.

That said perfectly !

Jonathan

[G4OBK]

@DD5LP

Wouldn’t a GM - ZL contact be further? Still waiting for my first ZL SOTA conta
73 Ed

@2E0YYY

You would have though so Ed.

If we're talking short path, I suspect Rob G7LAS and myself, may have a reasonable claim for the longest SOTA contact achieved, working Bryan ZL3XDJ, a distance of 11795 miles (18982Km) from G/CE-004 Bardon Hill last year.

73 Mike
2E0YYY

Yes, Mike very good. But not QRP and not S2S I believe… or am I wrong?

73 de Phil

[G4OBK]

PS

DX wise Mike you have beaten me using QRO if that what you used.

MY QRO QSO was with ZL2IFB Gary (Fixed DX Station) in Loc RF80HL.

I was on Suzleklamspitze OE/TI-628 LOc JN57pk on 20m CW (23/07/12 1528z) short path distance is 11524 miles (18545 Km). FT-857 running 30 watts to an inverted vee dipole.

73 Phil

[G6TUH]

This may be a stupid question…if you are using a vertical antenna or a dipole how do you know that you are working LP or SP? With a beam easy to figure out…
Night night
Mike

[G0PEB]

Hi everyone,
Just my input into the debate.
On the 20/04/2013 , I worked Andrew VK2UH in QF45LD at 07:03 UTC from St Boniface Down SE-008, using my newly built MTR 2. This was my first qso on this rig, and Andrew also answered my first CQ call. It was powered from a PP3 battery, the antenna was a 1/4 wave vertical, with 4 elevated radials. I estimate no more than 2 Watts output at 9v.

Distance was approx 10,592 miles Short Path … or 14,264 Long path ?

I must state, this was not a S2S.

73
Rob G0PEB

[MM0FMF]

@G6TUH

f you are using a vertical antenna or a dipole how do you know that you are working LP or SP

By using your knowledge of physics and propagation. Some places are such that the LP and SP are very unlikely to both work at the same time unless conditions are really special. So you can assume using a prediction program that if it says LP no SP yes, then a QSO was SP.

When you get both the sound is amazing. CW can be unreadable due to echos and reverberation effects.

[2E0YYY]

@G4OBK

PS

DX wise Mike you have beaten me using QRO if that what you used.

MY QRO QSO was with ZL2IFB Gary (Fixed DX Station) in Loc RF80HL.

I was on Suzleklamspitze OE/TI-628 LOc JN57pk on 20m CW (23/07/12 1528z) short path distance is 11524 miles (18545 Km). FT-857 running 30 watts to an inverted vee dipole.

73 Phil

My s2s logs are about 9 months behind, Phil. However, according to what’s in the Database, my longest s2s contact, is with Matt VK1MA//P2 a distance of 17164Km,10665 miles. Working from GW/NW-041, Y Golfa, with the Antron-99 and about 40 watts. Possibly the longest s2s would be VK/GM?

73 Mike

[VK3AFW]

Tom,

It’s meaningless to use the short path distance if the contact was long path.

If you only have the short path distance then the long path distance is approx 40,075 km - short path km.

73
Ron

[VK1MBE]

G’Day John,
That QSO is probably my best aswell, just having a quick look. Have no Scottish S2S’s unfortunately so I reckon that must be the best so far.

I was using about 40 watts from an FT-875 and most likely a vertical dipole with elevated radials as inspired by discussions with another Andrew, VK1DA.

Regards
Andrew VK1MBE

[VK3AFW]

Hi Andrew,

Commendable though they are no VK1,2,3,4 or ZL contact into G land is comparable to VK6 to OE on the long path. However if you were to work long path into Western USA then you might beat it. You need to get up early to work this.

73
Ron.

[DD5LP]

I wonder whether the distance shown in the S2S log is short path or long path (I’m guessing the former).

~ 16300 Km seems to be short path and ~ 23700 Km is long path.

My longest EU-VK S2S may have been while I was still in VK in 2013 - however all my EU-VK contacts have been Long Path, so the entries with a lower number shown in the S2S chart may in fact be further as they were long path and the closer the station is to me short path, the further the signal has to go long path.

So it could be that a (long path) contact from DL to ZL will be shorter than a DL to VK, I think. Certainly if the VK is a VK5 or VK6. I’d still like to manage to get a DL-ZL S2S however! I looks like ANZAC day April 25th. might be the day to try for one!

73 Ed DD5LP/VK2JI.
Update: of all the long distance S2S listed, I suspect the only QRP to QRP contacts may have been one of those with Rod VK2LAX and the one with Peter VK3PF, the other VK stations were running 25W or more.

[VK6NU]

I just checked my contact that Ron mentioned it was with OE9HRV/P on OE/VB-509 JN47VM.
I was on Mt Randall VK6/SW-039 OF87CQ It would have been a Long Path contact Voacap Online shows long path distance of 26,299 kms or 16,342 miles.

73

John VK6NU

PS, Just edited the post as I had my Grid loc wrong,

[MM0FMF]

@DD5LP

I wonder whether the distance shown in the S2S log is short path or long path

Read the earlier posts.

[M0OAT]

My best VHF s2s with FM is 224km Slieve Meelbeg to Lords Seat qso was with GM4COX using a handheld and vertical antenna made out of RG174.

[VK3AFW]

Andy said “When you get both the sound is amazing. CW can be unreadable due to echos and reverberation effect”.

Yes when both paths are really wide open you can get two and three circumnavigations by the signal before it goes below the noise floor. 0.4 ms per rev.

73
Ron

[VK3PF]

Ed,

Our contact on 2014/04/20 was QRP from my end: FT-817 barefoot.

Regards,

Peter VK3PF

[DD5LP]

Hi Peter and thanks.

Lets hope we get the chance again later this year.

73 Ed.