Topband: Top-band Prop along grayline

[Bill Tippett]

Hi Tom,

At 08:22 AM 3/12/05, you wrote:

>I don't understand the sarcasm Bill!

         You mean your "used car salesman" comment?  :-)

>This morning I when I worked VK3ZL he was via NW path. It
>wasn't LP. Same when I work a JA via SW path.
>
>Had I worked him at my sunset in a generally east direction,
>it would have been LP. If it was a JA at my sunset, it would
>be worthy of being called longpath.
>
>When a W6 is working western Europe by a generally westerly
>path, it is certainly worthy of being called longpath.

         What about when they work A6?  This is not
a 180 degree path.  Looks like about 135 degrees to me.
(Received signal "SW" versus Great Circle bearing of 0).

http://users.vnet.net/btippett/a61aj.htm

And BTW, N7UA sent me a private E-mail and said
he would toss in his 4,632 80m long path QSO's along
with K6UA, W6KW and W6RJ.  I have little doubt that
the total of these 4 stations exceeds 20,000 combined
over the years.  There is some real good here about the
consistency and commonality of the LP bearing (~210
degrees) that cannot be ignored.  As Bob said, "The
propagation mode, whatever it is and wherever it goes,
is the same on 80 as 160."  Bob can say that with some
authority since I believe he has probably made more
160 LP QSO's than anyone on the West Coast by far.

>I may be mistaken, but the justification I hear used for
>calling a skew path longpath is a couple W1 stations started
>doing it. Why is that meaningful compared to a peer reviewed
>text or common sense?

         I must have missed that.  What I heard was some
W1's describing long path contacts to JA at their sunset.
They were listening SE and JA from there is about 340
degrees...again not 180 degrees but about 155.  Which
path were you talking about?

                                 73,  Bill  W4ZV