N4SU wrote:
>For Dave, N7RK: I wonder if K7WX and the XZ1N gang know
>that the optimum path from the U.S. East coast to that part of the
>world at East Coast sunrise is not the direct short path? During
>November every year, for as long as I can remember, the optimum
>sunrise path on 40, 80 and 160 has been via a "skewed' path S.W.
>from N.C. This is about 90 degrees from the short path which is N.W.
>from N.C. This is not news for long time East coast DXers but may be
>news to the XZ gang if they have not experienced this East coast
>phenomenon.
>
>I worked XZ1N on 40M via the true long path S.E. from N.C. at sunset
>on Nov. 17 and via the above mentioned "skewed" path on 30M S.W.
>from N.C. at sunrise on Nov. 18. I hope the East caost famine has been
>due to the poor propagation conditions but after reading the reports
>from EU and JA and considering the very low Solar A and K numbers
>I am beginning to wonder if the XZ gang know about the skewed path.
>I bet it is S.E. from XZ. (?) From all indications the XZ gang are doing
>a fantastic job except to Zones 4 and 5. Congrats to VE1ZZ and a very
>few others! We right coasters will continue to listen hard but I have
>a feeling the time is getting short.
There are two different SE Asia paths at East Coast sunset. I've
worked 9V1XQ and heard VK9CR on the "true" long path at about 150 degrees.
I've worked 9M2AX and VK9XY and heard XZ1N on the "skewed" path over Europe.
I have no idea why or what causes the two distinct paths but Beverages
don't lie about signal azimuths! All of these stations are geographically
close so something causes the two distinctly different modes. From my
experience, the skewed path over Europe is much more common on 160, but
the signal strengths are much stronger via the true SE long path.
There are also probably two different paths at East Coast sunrise,
but I haven't been here long enough to experience it yet. In late October
1985, VU4GDG was worked by N4KG and a multitude of others in the morning
and the path was to the Northwest (direct most likely). From Colorado, I
worked JJ1VKL/4S7 via morning long path (210 degrees) in late December and
then worked him again via skewed short path (315 degrees) in early March.
There are a lot of things we don't understand about long and
skewed path propagation and that's what makes 160 so interesting. It is
also why you need a full complement of Beverages to really know what is
going on. Even if the guys at XZ1N had the opportunity to put up some
Beverages, the real trick would be to know in which directions to point
them. Most likely, they have worked the West Coast directly (NE), the East
Coast skewed via EU (NW) on 160 and true long path (SW) on 80. Directions
in () are my guess at approximate bearings from XZ.
For future expeditions, I hope people will begin to consider
160 receive capabilities just as much as transmit. The EWE antennas are
a compromise but they actually would be fairly easy to use on an expedition
and are MUCH better than nothing. Congratulations to all who were able to
work them and to the XZ1N guys for persevering to dig those weak signals
out of the noise. Any of us who have experienced trying to hear anything
weak on 160 with only transmit antennas knows what they are going through!
73, Bill W4ZV
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