The first (ever) 6M activity from Jan Mayen was in 1992 when I had an FT-767 (10W) and a HF deltaloop. Propagations during winter are poor outside the solar maximum, so the first contacts were made by JX3EX via Auroral-E who happened to be in the shack when SM3JGG & LA9ZV heard my keyer on 50079. JX3EX also worked many stations in North-Europe during the summer of 93.

In 94 I returned and this time I worked a few European stations via Auroral-E and Sporadic-E with the same setup.  (I was very busy on 144MHz with EME initials)

In December 2001, conditons were fantastic on the 24'th and 31'st.  I was at work during daytime. 'By accident' we happen to have a HF + 6M radio there ;-)  I got heavy pileups and S9++ signals to south Eu via F2.  What is better than double salary due to holidays and a big 6M pileup :))

February 2002 I finally got a 6 ele. yagi and a modified SB-220 running. 26 February 2002 I worked Southern Sahara and South Africa (11.000KM).  I also worked plenty N-Eu's via backscatter.  

Posting @ UKSMG: What a day! 6 new ones. Now at 66 dxcc's wkd.


• 1020Z ZB2EO
• 1100Z EH8BPX
• 1121Z S07V
• 1131Z LY2BH (F2 backscatter)
• 1149Z CT3FT
• 1211Z ZS6NK ~ 11000km (Maybe DXCC is within reach afterall?)
  
  Running 6 ele yagi and modified SB-220. Per JX7DFA February 26, 2002 at 19:08:21

The propagations were very interesting in the winter/spring of 2002. One day I had F2 mixed with raw aurora on many stations. Working southern Eu with heavy auroral buzz was something new for me on 6M!

The backscatter propagations were very good some of the days. It gave me bigger pileups than the direct F2 at times :)

The chart below shows the times I worked Eu on 6M in the summer of 2002. QSO's before 16Z are Sporadic-Es and after 19Z are Auroral-Es. The dateline is not evenly spaced, the longest continious bold lines shows the best propagation (like e.g. >400 ES QSOs - 5. July 2002)

If I had a better QTH on the island, I believe I could work DXCC from 71N in one solarcycle.  Unfortunately the takeoff is virtually nonexistent in 180 degrees.  I only worked OX and W to the west of me.  Both firsts were worked after 3 hour skiing to the west side of the island.  I never heard any signals from SA or Caribbean.  I could hear e.g. PY sometimes on 28MHz via Auroral-E linkup, but never on six.  The propagations to JA are also very difficult.  I worked JA on 28MHz, but the openings were much briefer than anyone south of me experienced.  I never heard JA or Pacific on six :(

I think it will take a dedicated 6M operation during solar maximum to improve much on my scores.  The normal Jan Mayen ham's do not have the dedication needed to go portable with gear for 6M. The next cycle should reveal some of the QSO possibillities from JX due to having JX7SIX on the air from a good location. In the summer of 2005, propagations to USA/VE from JX7SIX happened very frequently via Auroral-Es and even Sporadic-Es. In 2001/02 I observed AE propagations to JW5RIA while he was working stateside via 'F2'. The two kinds of propagation peaked at the same time. His 'F2' disappeared at the same time as I lost AE propagations to JW.

DX-Spots JX7DFA 2002

SSB - Auroral-Es [.mp3] by G0JHC

SSB - F2 [.mp3] by OE3MWS

AE May 1996	ES July 2000	F2 November 2001	ES 5 July 2002

THE STRANGEST HAMS YOU'LL FIND OWN AN RF BABY MONITOR, KNOW WHAT GRID SQUARE THEY ARE IN AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT IN THEIR LIVES, AND SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS LISTENING TO NOISE ON THE RADIO MADE BY DISTANT TV STATIONS. We call them 'Six Meter Ops'. (KH2D)