Topband: VE6 spotlight condx last night

[Steve Babcock]

Last night at VE6WZ was an exceptional session for EU DX via the polar path.

61 EU entities made it into the log, some with exceptional signals. All signals were arriving via the “direct polar path” rather than the often “skew path” to the SE over SA. I was using diversity rx on the K3s-1000’ EU Beverage in left ear, 9 circle rx vertical array in right ear. TX- 90’ shunt fed tower.

Over the years on TB it has been very common for the “spotlight” to be shinning to the south and west…MT, AZ, OR and CA working the DX while I am on the sidelines with limited or no copy. It seems like last night was a strange reversal to this since most reports indicate muted conditions elsewhere. It really is remarkable how these openings can be so geographically selective.

Also of note was the extremely fast QSB on most signals. It was imperative to keep the exchanges short since often signals would fade to no copy within 30-40seconds. Doing a simple point-and-shoot on the RBN cluster alone can be misleading, since the QSB cycles were about 1-2 minutes sometimes. It becomes the “cat-and-mouse” game….waiting for the QSB to peak, and then pouncing quick.
Calling short CQs for an extended period is also important to allow callers a chance to catch a peak.

The solar wind is still hanging in below 350m/s so lets hope for continued propagation.

73, de steve ve6wz.