[SADXA] 160 meter prop this AM

[Wes Stewart]

As some of you know I've migrated to 160-meters to chase my 9th DXCC band, after 
never really working the band much in my 48 years of hamming.

I continue to plan for a better antenna but things don't happen as fast as they 
did a few years ago, hence my antenna is just an inverted-vee with apex at 45 
feet and the ends at about six feet above ground.  Of course, everybody "knows" 
that this antenna radiates best straight up and working DX is essentially 
impossible.  Nevertheless, not knowing any better, I thought to do a little 
search and pounce in the CQ WW CW contest on 160.

So far in a casual effort between last night and this morning, I worked 20 
stations;18 of them DX, 13 different entities, three of them new.  However, the 
remarkable thing that I want to comment on was the propagation this morning. I 
believe that it's agreed among top band ops that there is a definite signal peak 
to the west at local sunrise and to the east at local sunset.  I definitely 
agree with the first, but haven't really experienced the latter.

Today, DX Atlas says sunrise was at 1403Z.  Just before that (1357Z) I managed a 
QSO with some difficulty with BA4TB for a new one.  A few minutes later he was 
579.  I worked four JAs between 1405 and 1418, all with good signals.  I had 
worked JA3YBK earlier at 1225Z but I listened to him call CQ until 1445Z, 43 
minutes after sunrise.  KH6J was still Q5 at 1452Z, 50 minutes after sunrise.  
There was a Washington station, whose call escapes me, still audible at 1455Z, 
nearly an hour past sunrise.  As I said, remarkable.

Wes, N7WS