[CQ-Contest] {CQ-Contest] CQ WW DX SSB Midwest vs East Coast

[jimk8mr at aol.com]

It's more than just those 60 QSOs before the band opens to Philadelphia, at least on SSB: the early bird gets the frequency. By the time the sun comes up enough in Ohio to think about working EU, the east coast has filled up all the frequencies (that already weren't taken by the big EU stations).
CW is not so bad, as one can keep QSYing up the band until one finds a frequency up amongst the digital guys.


73  -  Jim   K8MR


-----Original Message-----
From: Barry W2UP <w2up.co at gmail.com>
To: john at kk9a.com
Cc: CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Mon, Nov 8, 2021 9:08 pm
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] {CQ-Contest] CQ WW DX SSB Midwest vs East Coast

You guys are missing the most important point: the duration of the opening
to Europe.  That's where QSO points come from, because there's virtually an
endless supply of Europeans to work.
Start with the high bands.  Sunset in Europe is a constant for US ops.
However sunRISE is the key.  Here are some examples of sunrise times for
Nov 25:
Jonesport, ME 1140Z
Philadelphia, PA 1157Z
Pittsburgh, PA 1218Z (near LR)
Chicago, IL 1252Z

Let's assume the band opens at sunrise and a decent station is making 3
QSOs/minute with EU.  Jonesport has already made 60 QSOs as the band is
just opening in Phila.  And so on.  And of course, the opening is also
stronger and deeper for the shorter paths.  The EU high band opening closes
at the same time for everyone, as darkness crosses the EU continent.

Then there are the low bands.  Sunset is earlier in Jonesport, so
40/80/160m opening is longer because everyone loses EU at the same time as
the sun rises across EU.

Barry W2UP



On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 6:25 PM <john at kk9a.com> wrote:

> I have operated many DX contests from Illinois and I there is a huge
> difference between east coast and midwest propagation. Beside the mileage
> difference east coast stations have their first skip over the Atlantic
> ocean
> which I believe offers some enhancement. We referred to the Midwest as the
> black hole for a reason. W9JA moved from Wisconsin to Virginia and then
> incredibly Paul started winning contests. You're lucky to be in New
> Brunswick, it may be the ideal location for the ARRL DX contest.
>
> John KK9A
>
>
> Mike Smith VE9AA wrote:
>
> He's only 618 miles SE of you and as the crow flies to EU (great circle
> path)
> he might only have you by 100-200 miles (roughly)
> to the Center of EU (and there's more to CQWW than just EU) so it's
> probably
> just that he's the better/quicker op.  Nothing more.
>
> I don't think there is very much of any of this "East Coast/Midwest" stuff
> going on here at all.
>