Dear Doug: please see comment below...

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J. Mc Laughlin; Michigan U.S.A.
Home:
"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
...
J. Mc Laughlin wrote:


snip

The place with the worst propagation path from here is VU4.

Agreed. (not sure where in 8-land you are but I'm probably not much
more than 1000km from your QTH) When the VU4 was on a bit over a year
ago, I heard them an entire once, and again not strong enough to work.
I hear there's going to be an Indian national amateur radio convention
on VU4 later this year & operations will be permitted. Hopefully
propagation will cooperate!

I am located well out in the country in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. (A
troll because I am below The Bridge.) The nearest large city is Flint.

I had the same experience with the last VU4 group (December 2004). I heard
them well enough to be almost certain of call signs about twice for a few
tens of seconds. I have a quiet location - well, most of the time, P-noise
can be a major problem - and one can take to the bank that they (VU4) were
weak.
I was invited to give a paper in April, but I am not in shape to do such
a thing in person. Several other members of my department are also radio
amateurs, but they too are not able to go. In this modern age, I will
present electronically. We all hope that those who attend with licenses and
antennas will be effective with the path our way right through the magnetic
pole. Have you heard of a group with a track-record that proposes to
attend?

73 Mac N8TT

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Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com