Topband: Condx 160m in EU last night

[ws6x.ars at gmail.com]

Even after 35+ years of doing the Topband dance, I am still "surprised" at how selective propagation can seem to be. Yes, I know all about S/N on each end of the path, etc., etc. But when Andy speaks of working 40 NA, I am surprised. During that same timeframe here in rural VA, I heard ONLY 1 EU station. With deep, rapid QSB, G3PQA was peaking S9, well above my noise floor.
I've seen this play out over and over in intriguing ways. There have been a few times when the pair of G3s were spotted, but I had zero copy on YRO, yet Q5 copy on PQA.
Another example is DL8LAS (sorry Andy). While he seems to be working the world with ease, there have been so many times when all of EU was boiling in, but no copy on Andy. Occasionally the opposite is true. A JA, VK or EU station is coming in beautifully, but I can't work them to save my life.
After two major downsizings since the move to VA in 2014, I suppose any sane person would have (should have?) relegated TB to a fond memory. However, it is these surprise moments that keep me intently glued to the radio, sifting through the noise and static.
To all you TB-ers who have managed to pull my signal out of the noise... Thank you! 
Jim - WS6X

-----Original Message-----
From: Topband <topband-bounces+ws6x.ars=gmail.com at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Andree DL8LAS via Topband
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2022 2:18 AM
To: topband reflector <topband at contesting.com>
Subject: Topband: Condx 160m in EU last night

I had a very nice 160m band evening/ night. First I worked Dietmar HS0ZFV with a really good signal by my first call. Than I called CQ and had a nice US pileup. Occasionally worked Kim HL5IVL after his CQ. Than I went back to my frequence and worked a lot of DX. I am happy to found some new calls in my log. At the end I had 40 QSO's only with NA.Really a surprise after month of bad condx on topband.
73 Andy DL8LAS