‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM JUNE 2014  QST  PAGE 88‰
STATIONS.  HEARING NO OTHER SIGNALS UNTIL 1949Z, I HEARD A LOUD SIGNAL ON
50R102 MHZ.  IT WAS CARLOS, OA1F A SHARP CW OPERATOR, IN FI03 NEW GRID FOR
ME ON CW.  I WAS THE SECOND US STATION TO WORK HIM, AFTER THAT, I POSTED
HIM ON THE LOGGER AND HE RAN A BIG PILEUP FOR OVER AN HOUR, WORKING ALL
OVER THE US.  DURING THAT TIME I ALSO COPIED OA4TT/B FH16 ON 50R077 VERY
LOUD FOR ABOUT THE SAME LENGTH OF TIME.  ON BACKSCATTER I HEARD MANY US
SIGNALS.  I WAS WATCHING 50R110 WHERE VP

OCCURRED APRIL 4 WITH TWO LZ STATIONS GOING IN FREDS LOG.  THE LZ STATIONS
HAD S 9 SIGNALS AND MANY STATIONS FROM THE SURROUNDING COUNTRIES WERE
LISTENING FOR ME WHEN THE OPENING QUIT AT 1035Z HAVING ONLY BEEN OPEN FOR 5
MINUTES.  THESE ARE PERHAPS THE FIRST TRANSPOLAR LONG PATH TPL CONTACTS
GOING WEST FROM HAWAII TO EUROPE SINCE 2002, IN SOLAR CYCLE 23.  LAST
MONTHS COLUMN DISCUSSED KH7Y AND KH6SXS TPL CONTACTS TO THE MIDDLE EAST,
WHICH TOOK PLACE THE LAST WEEK OF FEBRUARY.  THE LONG PATH WENT SOUTHEAST
OF HAWAII AND THE CONTACTS TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 1800 2100Z.  KH7Y ALSO WORKED
COSTAS, SV1DH, ON FEBRUARY 28 AT 1841Z FOR THE FIRST EUROPE HAWAII TPL
CONTACT OF SOLAR CYCLE 24 GOING EAST.  THE MARCH EUROPEAN LONG PATH WENT
SOUTH AND WEST FROM HAWAII AND USUALLY TOOK PLACE AROUND 1030 1200Z.  JIM,
K6MIO/KH6, NOTED THE TYPICAL HAWAIIAN TO EUROPE TPL OPENING OCCURS NEAR THE
SOLAR CYCLE MAXIMUM ON AN EVENING TEP IS ALREADY IN EVIDENCE OVER THE USUAL
PATHS KH6 VK4, BUT THE TEP IS GENERALLY SPORADIC AND NOT PARTICULARLY
INTENSE OR WIDESPREAD.  QUITE STRONG BACKSCATTER COMING FROM HEADINGS OF
ABOUT 195 IS VERY COMMON, SUGGESTING LOTS OF IONIZATION AND TILTED LAYERS.

THE WORLD ABOVE 50 MHZ JON JONES, N0JK, N0JK ARRL.  ORG  LIGHTNING STRIKES
AGAIN ON 6 METERS  ON MARCH 30, I WAS OPERATING AS N0JK/KH6 IN OAHU AND WAS
CALLING JS6RGQ AROUND 1050Z.  ANOTHER SIGNAL ROSE UP OUT OF THE NOISE AND
CALLED ME.  IT WAS BERT, S57RR.  SIGNALS CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AND 559
REPORTS WERE EXCHANGED.  A FEW MINUTES LATER ART, KH6SX, WORKED BERT AND
BRUNO, IS0GQX.  THE OPENING LASTED ABOUT HALF AN HOUR.  BERT, S57RR, SENT
ME THE FOLLOWING E MAIL HELLO JON, IT WAS GREAT YOU WERE THE FIRST SIGNAL
VIA LP, WHICH I HEARD IN THIS SOLAR CYCLE.  MANY CONGRATULATIONS AND I AM
DELIGHTED.  I COULD NOT FIND YOUR QTH LOCATOR, THANKS FOR BL01.  I JUST PUT
IT ON MARCH 20 A NEW ANTENNA SYSTEM WITH 4 x 5 ELEMENT LOOP FED ANTENNA
LFA, WHICH IM STILL TRYING, HOWEVER I HAVE SEEN IT IS GOOD.  TAKE CARE AND
GOOD ACTIVITY YET.  BERT, S57RR  THE NEXT NIGHT, SIGNALS WERE STRONGER.
FRED, KH7Y, REPORTED I WORKED 19 STATIONS IN I, IS, 9A, AND S57.  SIGNALS
WERE STRONG AT TIMES WITH TRANSEQUATORIAL PROPAGATION TEP FLUTTER.  AT THE
SAME TIME AS THE LONG PATH OPENING, WE HAD KH9, V73, FK8 BEACONS BEING
RECEIVED PLUS THE 49R75 MHZ BY TV WAS VERY STRONG.  KH6SX AND N0JK/KH6 ALSO
MADE CONTACTS.  THE OPENING LASTED ABOUT 50 MINUTES, STARTING ABOUT 1032Z,
WHICH IS 1232 HST HERE.  THE BAND OPENED AGAIN ON APRIL 2 STARTING AT
0957Z.  FRED WORKED S57, I5, IK0, I4, 9A, AND IK8.  THE LAST OPENING
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ