[OKDXA] Speaking Of Propagation...

[AC5UP]

A few days before the ice storm I got my quick & dirty all-band RX wire
back in shape. It's essentially a terminated loop using available
supports and isn't textbook anything. Relies on the premise that if you
put enough wire in the air it will probably pick up something and loops
work best if the enclosed area is as large as possible.

In any case, been hearing WWV on all freq's at night for the past couple
of days, including 20 MHz, and even WWVH on 5, 10 and 15 MHz. Not bad
for a junk antenna and on the AM BCB it's very good for stations to the
north. The big four in Chicago are no problem, the CBC station in
Winnipeg on 990 kHz is Q-5 most nights, and the really spooky one is
KSTP in Minneapolis on 1500 kHz.

What? You say Minneapolis isn't that hard? Yeah... You're right... But
I'm hearing it starting around 3:15 in the afternoon. About two hours
before sunset. That's the spooky part. Best guess is that near the
solstice the D layer doesn't exactly get as squished as it does in the
summer so it bounces back faster than 'normal', but if so, why have the
upper bands been so good as well?

Happy Solstice, tonight is the longest night of the solar year and if
you want to get in touch with your inner Druid be sure to light a
fire... Helps the sun come back. ;)