WM5R:
>This opening happens every year in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest
It's quite common and I've observed it since
1976 from Colorado, Washington (at W7XR) and here
in NC. It normally happens during mid to late
afternoon local time. It's actually more unusual
when it doesn't happen on at least one day of a
contest. I was checking 10 a few days before the
CQ WW SSB this year and had a very nice QSO with
OH6KN. Typically the opening is to any area that
touches the auroral oval, including Zones 40, 14 (GM),
15, 16 (UA1O, P and Z), 17 (UA9X and K) and 18 (UA0B).
One of the key ingredients is a fair amount of Auroral
activity (Ap was ~22 this Sunday).
One of the more unusual openings was in the
1980 ARRL DX CW from Colorado. The Ap index
was ~40 on 16 February 80 and I worked ~10 stations
in UA4/9/0 and UL7 (now UN) between 0522 and 0719z,
beaming directly over the North Pole. This opening
was possibly more related to typical VHF openings.
73, Bill W4ZV
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