>The "high sunspot activity" theory does not explain why log submissions are
>down for the Sept. and Jan. VHF contests, as these are not "Es driven."
I'll amend this to say Es can and do occur during the Sept. VHF QSO Party
and the Jan. VHF Sweepstakes. The 2003 Jan. VHF SS had a nice Es opening
Sunday afternoon. Es are not common in these contests compared to June.
Other propagation modes such as tropo, meteor scatter and aurora are more
frequent. Auroral activity tends to peak around the equinoxes, so the Sept.
VHF QSO Party should benefit from high solar activity.
- Jon NØJK
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