Re: [IRCA] Puyallup, WA Twisted Propagation for 3-23

[Bruce Portzer <bportzer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark

I well remember the LA logs of  the late 60's through early 80's. I 
personally logged about 40 Colombians, a half dozen Ecuadorians, several 
Peruvians, 3-4 Brazilians, and others during that period. All of this DX 
took place in the comfort of my own home.

Nowadays, even Cuba is a rare event.  I think the big difference is a 
more crowded band.  For example, the Managua station used to dominate 
750 during the evenings in  the 1970s.  Colombia would often be there 
after the Nicaraguan signed off, and Venezuela was also sometimes 
present.  Their only domestic competition  was WSB and KFQD.   Then, the 
clear channels were broken down in the 1980s.  Today, there's a Portland 
station dominating 750. If I null it, I can hear Montana, Saskatchewan, 
or Nevada The Latin Americans on 750 are now a fond but distant memory.

The situation is repeated on other formerly hot or moderately good 
frequencies.   I can remember when WBAP was my pest on 820; since the 
mid-80s I've had a 50kw local on 820 so WBAP is now the hot DX target on 
820.   660 was at one time wide open, but now has stations in WA, AZ, 
AB, and CA.  DXwise, we were hit quite hard when the FCC relaxed 
nighttime operation rules, especially at the low end of the dial.

One other factor for us - the great circle path from Seattle to Latin 
America is over land,  so to hear that part of the world we need to 
point our antennas at a few domestics.  From New England, you've got a 
mostly water path as far west as Colombia.  Plus, you can phase down or 
null much of the co-channel interference.

Another factor is distance.  Boston to Bogota is about 2600 miles.  
Seattle to Bogota is 4100 miles.

I hate to sound negative, but that's what we're up against in this part 
of the country.  I would love to receive Latin Americans again, but it 
would be a difficult endeavor.  TP's by comparison are easier and more 
predictable targets.

Bruce


On 3/23/2015 19:00, Mark Connelly via CIRCA wrote:

For the past week here on the East Coast we have been milking a rather productive auroral "cow" while the discourse from out west tends to be one gloomy lack-of-TP's posting after the next.

Is Latin America from out there - other than pest Mexicans / Cubans - a total non-starter?

I seem to remember '70s era logs of West Coast South America from West Coast North America.  Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and western Colombia had some representation.  Central America - admittedly aided by splits that aren't there anymore - was reported almost as much as from the midwest and east.

Even some reports of Brazil and eastern Caribbean region stations - DX more often associated with eastern US / Canada - wasn't completely off the table.

The Pacific Northwest (to some extent combined with CA, AZ, etc.) has more active DXers with more different bags of tricks - ultralights / FSL's, SDR's / QDFA and Wellbrook arrays, and so on - than the (at best) half dozen reasonably active DXers in New England, NY, and NJ.  Yet where are the Latin American logs?

Is it "all about the TP's - the TP's - no Latins" (to echo that massively overplayed "all about the bass" song)?

TA's of course are always a big interest around here.  During this aurora only a handful of stations (e.g. Algeria 549, Canaries 621, Mauritania 783, Sao Tome 1530) have reasonably beefy signals.  Boring, yes BUT South Americans are SCREAMING in as they had not done for months, so no one in the northeast is throwing up the hands or hanging up the headphones.

So as one who has only DX'ed from the West Coast for two weeks in 1991 (business trip to HP in Mountain View, CA), what's the deal on Latin America from the West Coast?  Certainly harder than from coastal NJ, MA, ME, PEI, NS, and NL (or even Scotland and Finland it would seem), but impossible?

There are a lot of big gun DXers in BC, WA, OR, etc. with serious and varied expertise, motivation, and technological power tools of all sorts at their disposal.  DXpeditions seem to be done more often out there - Grayland, Haida Gwaii, Rockworks, et al.

I have to wonder if there are times of the year when sunset or dawn greylines ever vector signals from Valparaiso, Chile or Lima, Peru into that area?  Those cities were certainly well represented when Richard Wood was DXing from Hawaii but, of course, those were shorter and easier routes to that part of the Pacific.

Would hearing those South Americans be easier from Alaska (away from the mainland US / Mexican rabble) better than from closer sites along the US West Coast, just as hearing Uruguay and Argentina is easier from Newfoundland than from the Carolinas - lower pest levels trumping longer path lengths?
 
Sometime I may go on the Topband list and posit the same questions regarding 160-m ham activity from the western US / Canada to South America.

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