Hi Jim, and all, there could be a problem with starting too early in the
morning on a predominantly North South path. If you look at the CT<>DCF39
plots, you will see that just after dawn there is indeed a quiet spot, but
it is quiet because the propagation is destroyed by early absorption. Brian
and Mike G3XDV found this during the tests last year, and finally made the
contact in the late morning.

It is difficult to judge, but I would suggest that the late morning is
probably best over-all choice for the daytime path, otherwise about an hour
after darkness in Spain. The problem with the darkness path is that there is
still a lot of 'static' crashes around. I was looking at a CCIR plot of
lightning frequency and there is little difference between Spain, Maritime
France and southern England in their plots.

The best daytime strength will be at noon on the path centre, disregarding
any flare effects. There has been quite a lot of geomagnetic activity
recently. This would normally lead to enhanced daytime conditions, but
during enhanced x-ray activity ( we had an X1.0 this morning, and background
levels are well above C1.0 ) the balance seems to depress signal levels
below the average, due to increased absorption.

Whatever you try, good luck, and I will be listening too.

Cheers de Alan G3NYK
[email protected]