At the risk of pissing off all my midwest and southern friends, I use
the term "east coast" in referring to an area of comparable propagation.
In my view, that area is everything east of the northeast-southwest line
from Cleveland to Dallas. Yes, the Texas gang has shorter EU openings than
New England, but the quality of those openings is not all that different.
Look at how well
the Texas gang can do into EU on 80 meters compared to stations like
W0AIH, despite the distance "advantage" that AIH "enjoys". Night after night
I listen on 3797 and I am convinced that the guys on my "east coast",
including SE Texas, have a 30 to 40 dB advantage to EU compared to here
in Colorado. Oh sure, K0RF and AA6TT/0 do okay to EU on 80, but
they ought to with 3 element rotatable yagis ! Yes, I know you guys in
western PA and Texas have a tough time competing with W1KM, etc.
on 80, but I doubt you are giving up 30 dB. On the higher bands,
with undisturbed condx, there is very little difference between
New England, Western PA., and Houston, except for the length of the openings.
Western PA is borderline "east coast". The scores from K3TUP and K3LR are very
impressive. If it was 300 miles farther south, it would certainly be
"east coast".
Basically, in my view, going south is more important than going east.
This will become particularly apparent as the sunspots continue to decline.
Steve, N2IC/0
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