Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Cape Perpetua) Ultralight TP's and DU's for 8-19

[d1028gary@xxxxxxx]

Hi Derek,

The 4 days spent at the Cape Perpetua cliff last week provided the wackiest and wildest DU-DXing sessions that I've ever experienced in six years of TP-chasing. Every morning had a new propagation twist to it-- almost like the Cliff was never going to let you discover its propagation secrets. Wish that you could have been there!

73, Gary 
  


-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Vincent <eargazimm@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, Aug 20, 2013 9:12 pm
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Cape Perpetua) Ultralight TP's and DU's for 8-19


Gary's reports always amaze me... Now I'm cliff top waiting : ) 

And yes it's very dark : ) just stepped out to water the grounds

Thanks

DerekVmedia@xxxxxxx

ChannelDerek.carbonmade.com

On Aug 20, 2013, at 7:23 PM, Nick Hall-Patch <nhp@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Yours are really valid points Mark.  Inland definitely can mean considerably 
poorer signal strengths, and I would not be surprised if my "usual" sunrise 
enhancements on TP signals are due to high arrival angles of the incoming wave 
front (see my QEX article of some years ago for that very hypothesis).
> 
> I certainly didn't expect anything like Gary's signal levels, but, as Gary 
pointed out, Dennis, who is considerably further inland than I also heard a 
couple of Asiatics quite well, and I heard practically nothing, even carriers.   
In this case, it may have been that the farther north path to my location from 
Asia had some attenuation on it that didn't affect the more southerly paths, 
though conditions were not particularly auroral.   Generally this summer, Dennis 
and I have heard similar Asiatics on any given morning, on the rare mornings  
that Asiatics were to be heard, though he does better on the longwave Russians, 
and indeed on MW Asians  as fall approaches.
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts.   Propagation continues to be mysterious!
> 
> best wishes,
> 
> Nick
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 21:34 20-08-13, you wrote:
> 
>> <<
>> It's hard to believe that we were listening on the same planet Gary,
>> let alone the same coast, though admittedly, I'm quite a way from the
>> open Pacific here.   As I said yesterday, that morning was pretty
>> much the biggest stinker this summer here.
>> 
>> 
>> best wishes,
>> 
>> 
>> Nick
>> >>
>> 
>> 
>> My home locations have always been a fairly easy commute to TA-capable shore 
sites:
>> e.g.
>> Arlington, MA: 7 miles (11 km) to Revere Beach
>> Sudbury, MA: 20 miles (32 km) to Boston waterfront
>> Billerica, MA: 15 miles (24 km) to Salem / Marblehead
>> South Yarmouth, MA: 12 miles (19 km) to Chatham / Orleans
>> 
>> 
>> These are air distances for typical 50-75 degree Euro bearings.  Road 
distances to DXpedition sites are typically a bit more if only because the shore 
is heavily developed and only offers certain areas useful for DXing from the 
car.  In my present case (S. Yarmouth), because of the contour of the shore, the 
drive to a usable site is actually shorter than the 50-75 degree bearing air 
distance house-to-shore.
>> 
>> 
>> In all cases, the differences between home sites and the coastal DXpedition 
sites are HUGE.  Some stations were routinely 30-40 dB stronger at the Granite 
Pier site in Rockport, MA versus less than an hour's drive away at Billerica.  
The 1544 (later 1550) Algerian clandestine station was one station which 
consistently exhibited this whopping difference.  Long term comparisons were 
easy to make since I could use the same in-car receiver and rooftop antenna.
>> 
>> 
>> East Coast inland versus shore differences are greatest in pre-sunset initial 
fade-ups and during aurora.  The thinking is that the lower the arrival angle of 
the incoming station, the more difference near-field ground conductivity makes.  
There are numerous stations that cannot be heard at home sites on big antennas 
yet can be heard from time to time on a 2m by 2m car-roof loop at nearby beach 
sites.
>> 
>> 
>> If a station arrives at a higher angle, the location characteristics are less 
critical and your inland signal may only be 15 to 20 dB degraded from what is 
noted at the shore.  Old 1314 Norway during prime high latitude conditions (in 
mid/late evening) fell into this category.  Sunrise at the European transmitter 
end could contribute to a higher incoming angle at the USA receiving end because 
an ionospheric tilt may contribute to fewer skip hops being required.
>> 
>> 
>> On groundwave, as with low-angle skip, the differences are huge. V-Soft shows 
660 WFAN (NYC) running 6.24 mV/m at Falmouth, MA 02543 (shore) and 0.45 mV/m at 
South Dennis, MA 02660 (about 15 miles / 24 km inland for 255 degree bearing 
towards station).  In decibels, this equates to a 23 dB drop - and that's for a 
LOW-band station.  A high-band station would show an even greater overland 
signal deterioration.  The V-Soft groundwave variations don't look too different 
from what is routinely observed with low-angle long-haul DX skip.
>> 
>> 
>> Mark Connelly, WA1ION
>> South Yarmouth, MA
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