Topband: JA openning to the Carribean on 160

[Herb Schoenbohm <herbs@vitelcom.net>]

On Saturday morning I checked for DX on 160 and the band sounded really 
strange and then just before sunrise there they were, oodles of JA's 
sounding like East Coast W's all a conservative 579.  I worked on 1824.5:

JA8ISU
JH7ATR
JH8SRH
JA1JRK
JA7NI
JA7VSB

I almost made it with JH0BBE but the key clicks from a JA operating from 
HI8 made further qso's impossible as the sun was already up.  The irony 
of this propagation is that the signals were equal on the W Beverage and 
the SW Beverage for the most part.  I was amazed at the equal level of 
most signals from JA.  None were ESP as in the past.  Later on Saturday 
night this was followed by a super opening to Europe where in many 
eastern Europeans were worked.  DF2PY, Wolf was peaking 20 dbs over 9 
when he called me.  This morning I tried again but heard nothing from JA 
but got a 599 from KH6AT. 

I have never heard anything like this before.  The signals from JA 
sounded like they were n some sort of a ducting mode.  I know this is 
not scientific analysis but only my many years of listening experience 
to DX signals on 160 that these signals did not appear to be normally 
propagated over traditional great circle paths  any comments?


73

Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ

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