Interesting 160 observations from the Pacific NW are:
Somewhere around 800 Zulu during the Stew, I did not really look but it was
around midnite local, the noise floor took an almost immediate raise of 10 to
15db from all directions. At the same time all my really directional antennas
seemed to lose most of their directionality which usually means that the
signals are arriving at very high angles. I use 6 ea 1000ft Beverages and an 8
element shortened vertical array with 8 directions selectable for RX. I have
heard this kind of noise increase before and I relate it directly to some kind
of noise/radiation/? arriving as a result of the sun. It sounds so similar to
the recordings of sun storm noise arrival that are routinely made on 21MHZ by
some researchers it is amazing. My friend N6TR also noticed the same thing
from his qth about 75 miles airline away. He said his RX sounded like an
airliner flying overhead. I was also able to hear some static crashes here from
the lightning in the mid continent area as seen on the lightning
maps but I think that was an entirely different effect on the band. The
lightning crashes were not strong enough to wipe out many signals here in
Central Oregon. Somewhere near the end of the contest the band returned to a
more normal condition here. There are so many things going on with signal
reception on top-band that it will remain a long time before we make any real
breakthroughs on figuring it out. Sometimes I think our signals going up to the
atmospheric reflective layers is a lot like shining a laser pointer on a sheet
of crumpled aluminum foil. You never know where the beam will go or what it
will look like when it gets there.
Best wishes for a good year to all on Top Band and thanks for the fun.
Lee K7TJR Oregon
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