Long path in the twilight zone is really amazing. As we head towards another peak in the sunspot cycle, paths like that will be even better and more frequent. Jim W6LG describes his lifelong use of the Twilight Zone.
Thanks Jim for a truly enjoyable and informative presentation !! Best of 73 from Lawrence (VA7LTX) and Jeanette (VA7JTX) in Richmond BC Canada
Propagation is a fascinating art as well as science, and sometimes the results can be amazing. Early morning in Minnesota I once caught a solid contact to Marion Island (ZS8). That was on my low slung dipole with 100W and I expect was grey line short path. It is fascinating to find the "edges" of propagation, such as in the morning when European stations suddenly begin to rise in volume. And for some odd reason I rarely have trouble getting into Slovenia and Croatia while the rest of the continent may be in silence. But experiments with operators who rotated their antennas show that I don't have the punch for a long path QSO. The closest was at the peak of the cycles when I'd work into the Indian Ocean. Given the distance to that area the long and short paths are about the same.
The Greyline with its possibel multiskips between the layers is always good for a surprise. It depends on the propagation too, but the confusing natural construction and decomposition of the layers in the atmosphere is the key. And for a long time it wasnt really to explain what happens above our heads, after NASA found with the project MAVEN the answer at Mars. NASAs video:
Bye Stu. But wait! Maybe these guys are trying for the Elser-Mathes Cup. See https://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This Month in QST/June2016/Schoenfeld.pdf
Conditions a little different for ZL, I have often got on the 'EchoLink' repeaters in South Africa and told them to turn their beams south. Always made contact when the grey line was favorable. It then would encourage others in southern Africa to do the same.