Topband: Unusual Conditions Part II

[Herb Schoenbohm]

After jumping into the huge pile-up with FO0AAA last night and
exchanging 599 on 1828.5 I continued to listen for a while before
heading off to bed.  It seems that a larger percentage of DX-ers were
calling than past such "rare" operations.  At a few minutes before 1200
GMT (about two hours after sunrise) I went into the ham shack to turn
off the rig and a very strong 599 HC8N was stringing JA's on 1828.5.   I
have heard this condition before but not as late in the morning. The
static that propagates in during the darkness hours up to 40 db over 9
seems always to dissipate at sunrise.  Why not the signals as well.
This scenario exists at sunrise:  Enhanced propagation for a few minutes
frequently and reduction in QRN always except for local storms as well
as a chance to work great distances with lower power than normal.  Yet
what happens 1 and 2 hours after this enhancement?  At 1200Z we are
under full daytime conditions and there is no gray line or anything like
that to illuminate. The distance to HC8 from KV4 is well over 2000
miles.  Could it be that trans equatorial paths are more immune to the
solar effect than closer polar paths?  I will need to listen more often
because in the tropics having zero QRN and DX coming in 599 is very
rare.

Herb KV4FZ


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