[CQ-Contest] Scandanvian propagation question

[Courtney Judd]

I can answer this one for sure... I am located west central Alabama 
(32.4/-87.6 ... EM62ef) and working Scandinavia on 10 meters my late 
afternoon their darkness was part of my contest game plan. There would 
always be 20 or more to work... easy points/mults! Then there was the 
very early morning 0900 opening long path to JA/far east over South 
Africa and noon openings to VU2. One Sunday afternoon I could pick out a 
very faint Q7 calling me.... finally swung the top antenna straight 
south over Antarctica  and there was 8Q7 calling me! I sure do miss my 
10 mtr stack... 7/7/7/7... the tornadoes that swept thru Alabama in 2011 
took it down.... 73's Cort K4WI

K9MA wrote on 1/30/2022 8:03 PM:
> I don't know the exact propagation mechanism, but this path from far 
> northern EU to the northern US is very often open. We may experience 
> it more often here in the north-central US, because our geomagnetic 
> latitude is close to that of southern Scandinavia, and at least 10 
> degrees higher than our geographic latitude. The openings happen in 
> the winter, long after the band has gone dead to the rest of EU. It 
> even happens on 10 meters in high sunspot years.
>
> I don't know how much further south it extends in NA. May Jukka can 
> tell us.
>
> 73,
> Scott K9MA
>
>
>
> On 1/30/2022 2:43 PM, Jukka Klemola wrote:
>> John,
>> You ask for wisdom "does anyone know of the propagation mechanism to
>> explain this"
>>
>> Simple answer is, living here in Scandivnavia, been on the bands from
>> 1982, all I can tell is the Queen Aurora shakes her skirt so every now
>> and then there is some dust or glitter that opens up the path.
>>
>> It is 'rather typical' the path is there, but it is more typical the
>> areas at each end are small.
>> That is, the opening must be from an area to an area there are
>> stations and then the stations must be on.
>>
>> Then the most difficult part:
>> At least one of the stations must call CQ so the other has the rare
>> opportunity to answer the CQing station.
>>
>> The enigma in this is how often there are stations calling CQ to a
>> completely empty band?
>> Well .. sometimes the rag-chewers reveal the opening.
>>
>> Against many possible odds, we do encounter these openings every now 
>> and then.
>>
>> Typical Old Timer answer at local clubs here is that this propagation
>> happens only during contests. This propagation does not exist outside
>> countest hours.
>>
>> Reckon that is not the whole truth. There is more to it.
>>
>> We can analyze SFI, solar wind parameters, K or A figures ...
>> Yeap. You guessed right.
>>
>>
>> 73,
>> Jukka OH6LI
>>
>>
>> su 30. tammik. 2022 klo 22.28 John Geiger (af5cc2 at gmail.com) kirjoitti:
>>> Something I have noticed during the ARRL DX contest, and other winter
>>> contests, as well as during casual DXing, maybe a LA/SM/OH contester 
>>> will
>>> have a better explanation for this:
>>>
>>> This past Friday I worked a SM3 on 15m FT8 at 5:15pm local time 
>>> (2315 UTC),
>>> well past the time that the path to Europe on 15 had closed.  This 
>>> isn't
>>> the first time I have had this occur.  Over the past few years I have
>>> witnessed this before, stations from LA/SM/OH coming through on 15 
>>> and 17
>>> meters mid to late afternoon, several hours after the path to Europe 
>>> had
>>> closed for that band.  They haven't been coming in the whole time 
>>> since the
>>> disappearance of the rest of Europe, it is like a new path opens up 
>>> several
>>> hours later, but only to these regions.  These areas in Europe will 
>>> have
>>> been in darkness for several hours as well, dropping the MUF below 
>>> 15 and
>>> 17 meters, but there they are.
>>>
>>> This is a winter phenomena I am discussing.  I am very familiar with 
>>> Europe
>>> coming in later at night on 15 and 17 during the summer months, 
>>> especially
>>> during higher sunspot numbers.
>>>
>>> So does anyone know of the propagation mechanism to explain this-why 
>>> this
>>> one part of Europe comes in several hours after the path to the rest of
>>> Europe has closed-and when it is well into darkness at their QTH?  I am
>>> guessing it might have something to do with their location in the 
>>> Auroral
>>> Zone and some sort of Aurora to F2 hookup, but that is just a guess.
>>>
>>> 73 John AF5CC
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