OTHER POSSIBLE JA PATHS

    After reading a copy of my article published in the May 2002 edition of the UKSMG publication Six News on the subject of skew path DX, K2RTH sent me an email listing some other possible paths to Japan from the East Coast. To his knowledge no contacts have yet been made using them on 6 meters, but Bruce has experienced them on the low bands. They are certainly worth examining.

    The first path suggested is one over the north pole, but to the East. It would likely exist during the early morning local time for U.S. stations, and at dusk or during early evening darkness in Japan. Such a path would of course be tangental, involving a scatter point probably somewhere over Siberia. It could coincide with, or follow, a Europe to JA opening along the same route. Es involvement may be necessary, but it could also materialize with the assistance of early morning F2 in the United States or predawn spread F. Similarly good conditions would have to exist on the Japanese end of the path. In any event, I would expect Northern New England & Canadian stations to have a distinct advange in utilizing the path over stations farther to the south, though hams in the TEP zone might also find it useful. Undoubtedly, higher gain and high power stations would be the most likely to have success.

    Obviously, other areas of Asia could also be reached over such a path, though Japan currently offers the greatest chance for success due to the large number of well-equipped and dedicated 6 meter operators resident there. Korea might even be easier to work on this route. Of course, even a glance at the map reveals that a true circum-polar opening would also likely involve an almost perfect great circle path opening from the Eastern United States into central China, and maybe as far as Southeast Asia. Perhaps over time, a greater number of well-equipped, vigilant stations will appear in those areas, leading to a greater combined effort to conquer the polar abyss.

    The other possible route suggested involves a path at local evening for U.S. stations to the Southwest over the south pole. This route would also require a bit of skew to be successful, as the actual path would send signals directly on the route to Java and Burma. In order to reach the TEP zone, most U.S. stations would need an Es link, or be fortunate enough to experience a very late evening/night time F2 opening into Central or South America. Any variety of scatter paths or multipathing could lead to success with such an opening, though I would imagine that the most likely scenario would involve a sharp skew near the center portion of the path.

    The advent of loggers and chatrooms should certainly make it easier to make "instant" schedules in which to test out these types of possibilities with 6 meter operators in other parts of the world when conditions are right. Otherwise, the only way to eliminate or prove such paths are possible is to make noise. Like it or not, experimenting requires calling, and on a frequency monitored world-wide such as 50.110. Exercise discretion, share it with others, but don't be afraid to try it occassionally when conditions indicate an opening and no one appears to be aware of it.
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© David H. Craig 2002