To: <topband@contesting.com>
> Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 02:28:08 -0500 (EST)
> From: k6se@juno.com (Earl W Cunningham)
> But, maybe my logical conclusion isn't good enough to accept in these
> days of scientific knowledge, hi.
Common sense and logic go a long way Earl. It's too bad when good
old fashioned common sense gets displaced by junk science.
> Just consider that "skew" (scatter) paths, which are predominantly south
> of the direct path (north if you're in the southern hemisphere), are not
> subject to the high absorption associated with the high latitudes,
> therefore the "skew" path may often be the better path. When both direct
> and "skew" paths are open, you'll hear an echo!
I certainly agree with you Earl. It's common knowledge that
"signals" are bent and refracted rather than reflected or piped along
like water through a straight conduit.
If the path where refraction occurs happens to be "bent" or
distorted, the path will certainly be skewed.
Even the VK's shift paths commonly here from NW to W, VS6DO did it
for years from NW to SW, and the JA's sometimes come in almost north
and other times almost west. YB0ARA has been SW although usually
NW, and that elusive 3Y0 was often both SE and NE at the same time
with different fading rates and signal lifetimes on both paths.
Any reported known "path length" or "path mode" is just a guess,
since determining the answer is beyond the scope of hands-on
measurements. In this case a "guess" is the best we can do.
73, Tom W8JI
w8ji.tom@MCIONE.com
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