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CONFIRM A SPORADIC E TO TEP LINK TO SOUTH AMERICA.  ON APRIL 19,
3D2AG WORKED K6QXY AT 2029 UTC.  IN THE MORNING ON APRIL 22, LARRY
LAMBERT, N0LL, OPERATED PORTABLE FROM EM08 FOR THE LYRID METEOR
SHOWER.  LARRY HAD 28 MSK144 CONTACTS AND FOUR ON FT8, DESPITE
HAVING TROUBLE GETTING HIS RADIO TO KEY.  ES TO TEP PROPAGATION
PICKED UP DURING THE LAST WEEK OF APRIL.  ON APRIL 24, GARY, K9RX,
DECODED D2UY TWICE.  ON APRIL 26, K3FR WORKED CE2SV FF47, CE3SX, AND
CE3SOC FF46 WITH HIS MO THE WORLD ABOVE 50 MHZ THE IMPORTANCE OF
SPORADIC E DURING SOLAR CYCLE PEAKS SPORADIC E IS AN IMPORTANT
PROPAGATION MODE ON 6 METERS, EVEN WITH F LAYER MAGIC AT A STRONG
SOLAR CYCLE PEAK.  FOR THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS, YOU CAN WORK SUMMER
DX WITH MULTI HOP SPORADIC E, AND ES CAN LINK TO F REGION
PROPAGATION.  FRANK DONOVAN, W3LPL, DISCUSSES THIS IN EXPERIENCE THE
WONDERS OF SOLAR CYCLE 25S SOLAR MAXIMUM IN THE MAY 2023 ISSUE OF
QST.  MOST F REGION PROPAGATION ON 50 MHZ TAKES PLACE CLOSER TO THE
GEOMAGNETIC EQUATOR, EVEN WITH HIGH SOLAR FLUX.  IN NORTH AMERICA,
THIS TYPICALLY LIMITS TEP NORTH TO THE GULF COAST STATES AND
SOUTHWEST TO THE DESERT.  THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF TEP IS OFTEN
FARTHER SOUTH, AROUND HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TOO FAR AWAY
FOR MOST OF THE CONTINENTAL US AND CANADA TO REACH, UNLESS THERE IS
A GEOMAGNETIC STORM.  SPORADIC E CAN ALIGN WITH TEP SOME TYPICAL
EXAMPLES ARE WHEN SPORADIC E FROM THE MIDWEST STATES LINK TO TEP
TOWARD SOUTH AMERICA, OR WHEN ES LINKS TO THE SOUTH ATLANTIC AND
SOUTH PACIFIC.  THESE INSTANCES ARE MOST COMMON FOR NORTH AMERICA
DURING EARLY MAY.  THE BEST TIMES OF DAY FOR ES LINKS TO SOUTH
AMERICA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC ARE THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.
AS SPORADIC E OCCURS MUCH LESS FREQUENTLY DURING THE FALL AND WINTER
MONTHS IN NORTH AMERICA, TEP LINKS ARE ALSO RARER.  IN HIS ARTICLE,
FRANK NOTED ES LINKS FROM THE EAST COAST TO THE NORTHERN EQUATORIAL
TEP CREST OVER WEST AFRICA AND ON TO CENTRAL AFRICA AND THE INDIAN
OCEAN.  THE CLASSIC DECEMBER MAGIC NEW ZEALAND OPENINGS ARE THOUGHT
TO BE DUE TO ES LINKS FROM NORTH AMERICA AND NEW ZEALAND TO THE TEP
ZONE OVER THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC OCEAN.  GEOMAGNETIC STORM AND AURORA
ON APRIL 23 A STRONG CORONAL MASS EJECTION IMPACT OCCURRED AT 1737
UTC ON APRIL 23 AND SPARKED A SEVERE G4 CLASS GEOMAGNETIC STORM WITH
AN 8 KP.  VISUAL EFFECTS OF THE AURORA WERE SEEN AS FAR SOUTH AS SAN
DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.  THE FIRST AURORA RADIO SPOTS APPEARED AT AROUND
1930 UTC WHEN THE BZ WENT SOUTH.  I WAS PORTABLE WHEN I COPIED
AURORA ACTIVITY ON 6 METERS AT 1950 UTC WITH BEACONS K0KP/B EN36 AND
K9APW/B EN53.  ABOUT 20 MINUTES LATER, LIVE SIGNALS APPEARED IN THE
6 METER CW BAND, INCLUDING A LOUD N0TB EN34.  I SAW STRONG SIGNALS
ON FT8, BUT THEY WERE WIDE AND NOT DECODABLE.  K2DRH EN41 MANAGED TO
WORK KD9VV EN71 ON AURORA WITH MSK144.  CW AND SSB WERE THE PRIMARY
MODES FOR WORKING THE AURORA DUE TO THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF THE
SIGNALS.  SOME STATIONS, INCLUDING N0LL, K2DRH, AND WW1L,
SUCCESSFULLY MADE AURORA CONTACTS ON 6 METERS WITH THE NEW Q65 30C
MODE.
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