I've been operating from Bonaire in CQWW CW for the past 8 years and I can
assure you that propagation can be vastly different from the ABC islands then
the northern Caribbean islands, which I have also operated from. I notice this
mostly on the lower bands. I can remember at least a few times on 160 meters
that I've felt like I was maybe in EU and not the Caribbean. I would hear
stations further north working US stations that I couldn't even hear. From VP5,
C6A, KP2 etc.. it's a chip shot and you can work US stations using modest
antennas on 160 and 80 meters. The advantage we do have in the northern part of
SA is sometimes those northern Caribbean stations are too close to the US to
work the same parts of the US that we do on 15 and 10 meters.
Being in the southern part of SA will be a big advantage on 15 and 10 meters
in the coming years as the sunspots decline and the openings are shorter
further north.
BTW the ABC islands are no more than 50 miles from the northern coast of SA and
that's why they are considered to be part of SA.
Jeff
KU8E and PJ4A contest team.
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