Jon, you're only about 300 miles NE of me, and things weren't that good here. I did hear KH2/N2NL via the LP here, but he was tough copy with deep QSB. I kept switching between north and south, but he was consistently stronger from the south. I did work VK3IO, but he was not great copy and, again, QSB was deep.
I briefly heard XU7ACY via SP, but it was only for a short period. I continued to listen for quite some time, but he never became copyable. OTOH, there were many calling and working him from the NE and SE. Similarly, I briefly heard DU1IST, but not a peep from BU2AQ or DU1/JJ5GMJ. OTOH, the signals from Europe around 0400-0600Z were the loudest I've heard all season. There were many real S8 sigs, especially from DL-land. OM2XW was a real S9 here at times, and the band sounded like 20M until about 0600Z. Let's hope that the weekend brings more Asian activity during these good conditions. Now, I have a good reason to stay up all night on Saturday. :-) 73, Joe K2XX On 12/30/2011 8:08 AM, Jon Zaimes AA1K wrote: > The December Doldrums are officially over. > > For the second day we had good long path/skewed path conditions in the > pre-dawn hours. > > This morning's excitement started with VK3IO (579) calling in at 1018z > and VK3ZL (599!) at 1037z. Often when the VK's are this loud it's a sign > the band will be poor to the tougher paths in Asia and the Pacific, so I > didn't get my hopes up. > > But then KH2/N2NL came through nicely on the direct path at 1100z. > > And a few minutes later, Hiro, DU1/JJ5GMJ, showed up on 1811.5 and was > being heard in New England. And I could copy him here in Delaware! DU > has been a long, hard chase for me, having heard my first (a US station > portable there) around 1980 when I was in Connecticut. I heard a few > others over the years, including a 5-year pursuit of DU9/N0NM, who I > heard many, many times with no QSO. And I've heard DU1IST both in our > morning and LP in the evening the past two years. > > But unlike some of the others, Hiro manages to hear stations quite well. > And his 300 watts and inverted L put out a good signal. I was fortunate > to get him in the log at 1110z (no. 314) and numerous others also had > success. Thanks Hiro for your persistence! > > About this time BU2AQ also started coming through, peaking due south > though later shifting sometimes to SSW. I was copying him up till 1200z. > No prize for me today but Allison did work several East Coast stations. > > DU1IST also started CQ'ing, and while his signal was stronger than > Hiro's, he has difficulty hearing and no QSO's were observed though he > had many callers from the USA East Coast. > > Peter, XU7ACY, has had a strong signal here on the long path the past > two days, and he gave many a new one today. > > Ross, 9M2AX, also was coming through again today but had some trouble > with local thunderstorms there. > > In other years with these long and skewed path openings, as sunrise > approached the Asian signals often would shift around to the short path. > But that hasn't happened this week. > > 73/Jon AA1K > Felton, Delaware > www.aa1k.us > _______________________________________________ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4712 - Release Date: 12/30/11 > _______________________________________________ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
