08 October 2016 – The reported transatlantic 2 meter contact between PY1MHZ in Brazil and V51PJ in Namibia turned out to be a false alarm, based on an incorrect interpretation of screen captures from the event!

Closer Look Reveals that Reported Transatlantic 2 Meter Contact Did Not Happen. Screen captures of the protocol software were supplied to document the contact, but the software’s lead developer, Joe Taylor, K1JT, noticed debugging information, indicating that a prototype version of the protocol was being used. On closer inspection, the indicator values showed that the decodes were probably based on call sign information being known in advance, as is common with scheduled contacts.

“There was no intention to deceive,” Taylor told ARRL. “It was a perfectly honest mistake. It’s unfortunate. Many of us wish the report of such a QSO could be true — but it’s not.”

read full article here

Bilateral Transatlantic 144 MHz QSO made !

Between 04 and 05 October 2016 a new record was set. PY1MHZ Marcos received in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil from locator GG87JC the 2 m signal of V51PJ  from locator JG82IE in Rosh Pinah, Namibia by using digital mode WSJT-X via Tropospheric ducting.

The distance between the two stations is 5987 km

Here the details of the records:
Frequency: 144.250MHz
Mode: WSJT-X – QRA64

Time and intensity:
04 OCT 2016 2038 UTC -37db at PY1MHZ

05 OCT 2016 0028 UTC  -36db at V51PJ

Rig setup:
PY1MHZ 2x12el Horizontal polarity, 400W,  Preamp 16db

V51PJ 2x13el Horizontal polarity, 1kW

Only thanks to the persistence and determination of these OM this historic achievement was possible.

We are all thankful to K1JT Joe Taylor that continuously provides to our community state of the art software.