Excellent post, Grant, key points of which were driven home to me by O(T 
Topbander NI6T not long after I moved to NorCal from Chicago.
It's not the miles, it's the path.
73, Jim K9YC
On 9/25/2022 7:25 AM, Grant Saviers wrote:
 My perspective as originally a "1" in Boston and now residing near 
Seattle, is the nickname "suffering sevens" is well applied to my 
friends here in the Pacific Northwest.
 Simply, for the PNW, distance isn't that meaningful - it's path that 
matters (and latitude).  What was easy in Boston at 42N is very hard in 
Seattle at 48N re EU on both 80 and 160.  The path is mostly over land 
or ice and usually thru or around the edge of the aurora zone.  Arrival 
angles for 80 peak at less than 10*.  OTOH, JA's- yawn.  Almost exactly 
the same 4790 miles either way, Seattle to Tokyo or London.
 So when you hear a "suffering seven" in EU, reach out.  We also get a 
chuckle when "the band is open" messages get posted from EU and what we 
hear is only noise.
 I did get TB DXCC, all from PNW since 2018, so am not complaining. Just 
want some more ;) .
Grant KZ1W
  
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