H40AA was weak on 80 here, working east coast when qsy'd to 1826.5
at 1000z. Nil heard here until about 1030 when I heard him work N6RO
on a peak. Signal then very weak with qsb, that frustrating situation
where you can hear the dx on a peak, give a call and then he is gone
and you cant tell if he came back to you or not. Finally, there was a
5 minute peak when he had changed qsx to 1833 and he came back to my
first call on that freq at 1055. He must have been copying better at
his end.
I see that the magnetic dip angle at H40 is about 20 degrees. Other
things being equal, theory says that a horizontal antenna would be
best for them for east-west paths. For N/S, the ideal would be the
correct phase of circular polarization. In view of our VK friends who
report that horizontal works better than vertical for them where the
dip angle is much lower than for us Northern Hem. types, the H40 gang
might try a horizontal polarization antenna on 160. It might be
better than their vertical at times.
Rod VE7FPT
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