Topband: FT5XO and 5Z4DZ last night

[W2RU - Bud Hippisley]

At 11:56 2005-03-28, N1BUG wrote:

> FT5XO was already 
>solid copy at 2240 when I got in the shack.  There was the 
>typical well defined peak around my SS time.  I have been 
>seeing that all along.  What is unusual is what happened 
>after that....This is also the first time I have seen a 
>significant/usable peak as their SR approached.  I 
>calculate their sunrise as 0135.

Here in upstate NY I've not found my sunset peak to be of much use during many nights of listening to the FT5.  In Maine Paul may not have seen a significant peak just before their sunrise two nights ago but I did, thus allowing me to get a solid QSO with them.  (BTW, my copy of W6EL MiniProp shows their sunrise on 3/28 to be 0142Z.)  

>  They worked many NA but 
>more northerly stations were doing best -- either due to 
>lower QRN, better propagation, or both.

What I observed last night, in particular, was the clear advantage of being located where the North American sunset coincided with the approaching FT5 sunrise (i.e., a true grayline path).  Specifically, the gang in the midwest was obviously hearing the DXpedition much better than I was, just prior to FT5 sunrise.  At, and after, FT5 sunrise, they came up substantially here.  If any of those midwestern stations were using directional receive antennas, I'd love to hear what direction worked best for them.  I'm betting it wasn't SE.

Bud, W2RU