[Lowfer] 630m overnight

[JD via Lowfer]

Had WG2XIQ and WG2XJM consistently the first half of the night, then 
WG2XKA joined in beginning at 0416 UTC.  WE2XGR/3 began showing up at 
0538 with partial message (grid only at first, the decodes of which 
apparently were not accepted by the database) and then with call sign 
 from 0614 onward.  I don't know how long that situation continued, as I 
slept through my alarm to get up and recharge the computer battery.  
Everything came to a halt after the 0652 time slot!

Once I awoke and remedied the situation around 1015 UTC, only XIQ was 
coming in.  Eventually a path opened to the northwest and WH2XGP 
appeared for three decodes, in the 1046, 1054, and 1110 slots.

During that time, the QRN levels were falling dramatically, from S5 
with excursions +/- 2 units, to an average under S2 and infrequent 
excursions to S5.  This resulted in reported SNR for XIQ as good as +4 
dB at 1104, and some 0 dB readings thereafter.  As soon as the sun 
peeped over the horizon, though, the actual signal level dropped off, 
too, resulting in reported SNR around -11 by the time transmissions 
stopped...fairly typical of the daytime path between us when things are 
relatively quiet.

The band of noise just above XIQ also faded into view as the QRN 
decreased, and a batch of faint lines returned that I noticed for the 
first time yesterday.  They encompass the entire WSPR band and beyond, 
and are spaced at roughly 10 Hz intervals.  Very prominent on Argo 
(though not strong enough to cause problems) and faintly visible on the 
WSPR waterfall.  Wonder if anyone else is seeing those?

John