HA0DU wrote:
>The antipodes for USA - the Indian Ocean - has 21 countries, while the
>antipodes for EU - the Pacific - has 54 countries. For some reason, very
>few Pacific expeditions make it to Europe on 160, while most Indian
>Ocean expeditions report hundreds (but at least dozens) of US QSOs on
>this band.
Hi Steve!
Your logic is correct but I have to disagree with you on the
"antipodes" part. When I was in Colorado, I was about 200 km from the
exact antipode for FT5ZB. He was only running 80 watts to a 15 m high
inverted-L, but I heard him very regularly and often with a very good
signal. Signals from exact antipodes are usually very good due to a
focusing effect.
Rather than "antipodes", I think what you really mean is the
area blocked by the northern auroral zone. For most of us in the USA,
this is Central Asia(*), and yes there are far fewer countries there than
in the Pacific.
On 80 meters, long path is the way around this blockage area.
On 160, long path is still possible, but it takes a VERY good TX and RX
system as well as a knowledgeable operator at both ends of the path.
Unfortunately, this is beyond the capability of most DXpeditions. The
newer RX antennas (EWE, Pennant, Titanex, etc) will hopefully improve
this situation for the future.
73, Bill W4ZV
(*) This area varies by location in NA. For the West, it is Zones 17/21;
for the Midwest, it is Zones 22/23/26; for the East it is Zones 23/24/26.
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