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11 meter is very quiet?

New here. Just registered minutes ago. Looked for a forum because I wanted to see if others had experienced a slow down in DX lately. I thought maybe something was wrong with my set-up since I haven't heard DX for days, while a few weeks ago it was going strong daily. Sounds like others are, indeed noticing the same thing. I recently fabricated a ground plane for my A99 and have only made one contact since. So, I was kinda wondering. Looking forward to better conditions to give it a fair test. I have high hopes since my already great SWR improved with ground plane added. 1:1 across all 40 channels! An amazing yet unexpected surprise! Also looking forward to learning more from those of you who are much more experienced than I am. I toyed around with CB when I was a kid but only recently got back into it. So, still pretty much a newbie!
Welcome aboard and DX was as dead as it comes today, All day. And even local traffic was dead. I did get 1 Radio Check on 19 AM but that was it. Don't get discouraged it will come back.
 
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Thanks for that. Never knew about that before. Still learning! So, is that to say that the best opportunities are between stations which are both near the grey line at the same time?
Yes, you can get enhanced propagation during grayline as the sun reaches across.
It often goes long out into the Pacific from here in the evening, Hawaiian islands and Australia.
As conditions improve this will only get better.

73
Jeff
 
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New here. Just registered minutes ago. Looked for a forum because I wanted to see if others had experienced a slow down in DX lately. I thought maybe something was wrong with my set-up since I haven't heard DX for days, while a few weeks ago it was going strong daily. Sounds like others are, indeed noticing the same thing. I recently fabricated a ground plane for my A99 and have only made one contact since. So, I was kinda wondering. Looking forward to better conditions to give it a fair test. I have high hopes since my already great SWR improved with ground plane added. 1:1 across all 40 channels! An amazing yet unexpected surprise! Also looking forward to learning more from those of you who are much more experienced than I am. I toyed around with CB when I was a kid but only recently got back into it. So, still pretty much a newbie!
Welcome! We have been spoiled with the DX, I had been talking to the same guys in Texas for quite a while. And now nothing. But it's ok, because the lul gives us an opportunity to fix or put up a new antenna etc. that would be so hard to do if the DX was really rolling. I am currently making a few changes to my station, moving things around and changing things up. Hopefully I will be ready when the DX rolls again. We have been having a lot of luck making contacts with members here on channel 16 LSB, usually on the weekends. There is another thread here about it, hope to talk to you on the air.

Chris
 
Greyline is how I got my first ham contact ever in 2008, 10meter ssb to Brazil. Was using a Magnum Omegaforce S45 and an Antron 99 with GPK.
 
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Greyline is how I got my first ham contact ever in 2008, 10meter ssb to Brazil. Was using a Magnum Omegaforce S45 and an Antron 99 with GPK.
Ah, so someone else with a ground plane on an A99! May I ask if you used it without GPK before with it? Was there a noticable difference? I recently added my ground plane but the DX slowed down before I got to really try it out properly. Thanks
 
I don't think I ever had one without the GPK. It hasn't been up on the roof in several years, I need to get back up on the roof and install a few more antennas. I have the A99, a G5RV Lite, 2 dual band 2m/70cm and a 1.25m antenna to get installed. I really need a tower, though. I'd like to get vertical separation on those dual banders.
 
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Ok. Thanks. I just thought I'd ask. I'm curious to see what it will do for me when the DX comes back. I've had decent success without GPK, but all of my contacts are starting to form a "ring" on my map. East Coast, West coast, Gulf Coast, one in Canada about the same distance. Just wondering if GPK will get me some contacts outside of the usual distance I've gotten up till now. 73's!
 
In theory, it should lower the takeoff angle of your signal, so you should get better distance. I also plan to setup a dipole antenna close enough to the ground so that it'll work with NVIS.
 
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That's kinda what I am hoping, based on what I have read. I can't wait to see! Time will tell, I guess. I just hope it doesn't cause my skip to entirely miss the US! Yeah I would like to make contacts farther out, but it would be a bummer if I lost the ability to talk where I have been able to so far.
 
North / south
It doesn't have to be strictly north/south. In fact the grayline only runs truly north/south around the equinoxes. Grayline propagation works very well when two stations are located very near the terminator as it is called.......the region between daylight and dark. I have worked into South Africa on 80m many times from here in Nova Scotia which is about 135 degrees bearing.......pretty much southeast for me. Even managed a couple contacts that were nearly two full hours after his local sunrise.......around 2am for me.
 
It doesn't have to be strictly north/south. In fact the grayline only runs truly north/south around the equinoxes. Grayline propagation works very well when two stations are located very near the terminator as it is called.......the region between daylight and dark. I have worked into South Africa on 80m many times from here in Nova Scotia which is about 135 degrees bearing.......pretty much southeast for me. Even managed a couple contacts that were nearly two full hours after his local sunrise.......around 2am for me.
Again nitpicking.north/south. Ne/sw. Nw/se same thing! Approximately north/south along the greyline terminator. There aint no east to west. Greyline= north/ south
 
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Again nitpicking.north/south. Ne/sw. Nw/se same thing! Approximately north/south along the greyline terminator. There aint no east to west. Greyline= north/ south


My point was that true north/south propagation occurs with TE....or Trans-Equatorial propagation, and really does run pretty much due north and south. Gray line can happen between any two stations located on what is called the terminator......which is the band of twilight around the Earth. Gray line has happened from near the antipodes quite often and that is definitely not a simple north/south path. In the link below contacts are possible between eastern Brazil and Japan via gray line or even eastern Brazil and New Zealand......definately not N/S.


greyline-europes.jpg


http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/qsl-propa5.htm
 
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