[CQ-Contest] Re: Strange 10M Long Paths

[John Warren]

Mauri I4JMY wrote:

|Last Friday and during the arrl 10m, some Long-path qso took place
|repetitively from here to VR2 (13z) and JA (10z).
|Under my past experience on 10 meters, I remember it was possible
|from here to work VK/ZL around 22/24z (with high SFI) if beaming
|long-path, but it never happened any time of the day with JA or Asia.
|More peculiar, about 10 meter is that I never experienced paths were
|the most of the distance is through areas in darkness.
|It occurred to me it could have been not a real long-path but some
|strange scattering, unfortunately I couldn't ask the correspondant
|if they did beam long path too.
|
|Did anyone else experienced something similar in the last days ?
|In the past ?
|Is there anyone who has or knows some theory about ?

Mauri,

>From here in Central Texas, when the SFI is high we experience two separate
long-paths on 10M.

The first we share with the U.S. east coast. When we beam SE just after our
dawn, we get JA, VR2, BY, etc. I know the east coast has already had this
path during this cycle, but so far as I know we have not yet in Texas.

The second long path we share with the U.S. west coast. We beam SW late at
night from 10.30pm to 1am local, and get the Indian Ocean, Europe, Africa,
the Middle East and Central Asia. I haven't seen anybody Stateside report
this path yet this cycle.

Both paths can go through long distances in darkness. For example, in 1990
I worked KH6 beaming due east at 3am local their time. I'm told the
explanation is that the F2 layer becomes very intense and takes many hours
after sunset to decay at times of high SFI.

Here's to great long-path contesting and dxing this cycle!

73, John, NT5C.



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