Topband: Topband Propagation

[EP Swynar]

Good Morning All,

Well, as of to-day I've finally decided to stop trying to find ANY corelation(s) between conditions on 160-meters, and the WWV propagation forecasts.

This morning's report would have been enough to normally force me back into the proverbial sack: the solar flux was in the low 80's, the A & K indices were both well away from zero, and --- worst of all --- the announcer stated that a geomagnetic / solar storm was in progress at the first level of severity...

So what awaited me after hearing all this seemingly "bad news"...? I worked VK3ZL and VK6HD at signal levels very rarely experienced at this end, and copied an LU5 and HC5 station with near "...like local" signal strengths!

I may well be a S-L-O-W learner, alright, but I do believe it's FINALLY beginning to sink in: the key to success on 1.8-MHz is to simply BE THERE, no matter what. I hear AA1K, W4ZV, W8JI, and a host of others doing just that, day in & day out...and from what I've been able to hear, the technique certainly continues to be a successful one for each & every one of them...!

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ