Last night just before going to bed, I checked RBN and noticed that my VE6WZ
skimmer spotted G3YRO on 1827 at 0513z. I thought it may have been a “rouge”
spot (sometimes RBN spots get through when domestic callers reply using the DX
call), so I didn't bother to check the radio. Just before turning out the
lights I checked the iPad one more time and saw my skimmer spotted Roger again
at 0523.
I was at the radio by about 0530 and had good copy on Roger's CQ. By the time
the amp had warmed up, he had faded down substantially, and although I did call
a few times we had no QSO.
The sun had blown away the propagation in the UK by this time. My experience
has shown that if my RBN skimmer can decode any DX on 160m, then they will
usually be **very** solid copy on the Beverages using the real radio. My
skimmer spots decoded only represent a small fraction of workable DX at VE6WZ.
After a few CQ’s down band, I did get a call from EA6SX, but local (an XE
caller) scuttled the QSO.
The band is still alive, and the moral of the story is I regret not being at
the radio last night. The trans-polar EU “season" is not over yet although it
will not be long before common darkness will end.
73, de steve ve6wz.
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