Without skew, the long path from N7DD to A45XR would reach a south
latitude of 80.4 degrees. The terminator at that point is at about 72
degrees south, so on direct long path at that point the sun would be
about 8 degrees above the horizon. This is equivalent to you QSOing a DX
station 32 minutes before/after your sunset/sunrise, which is not too out
of the ordinary on 160m.
It has been shown that gray line ducting occurs along the terminator, so
the path could easily be slightly skewed due to this effect.
The fact remains that N7DD had to use his SW Beverage to hear A45XR.
That alone proves that the signal was not being propagated via short
path. It would be impossible to hear the signal off of the back of that
antenna!
73, de Earl, K6SE
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