Plotting terrain between two GPS coordinates

Could have been knife-edge diffraction off one of the mountains or even very short Sporadic E.

 

I also suggested a form of NVIS but they all poo poo'd it.

 

Well, the range might suggest that, but theory indicates that NVIS effectiveness decreases with frequency above 8Mhz, and that the probability of success at 30Mhz is near zero. The typical CB antenna is designed to produce a low-angle of radiation, rather than the high-angle of NVIS. NVIS works well down at 80 meters though from a fixed station. It's almost impossible to construct a truly effective NVIS antenna for mobile use on 40 or 80.

 

Yes that's what they keep saying but because of his location and the geological make up of the area, it is possible that there is something of a vertical bounce happening even with the D layer absorption.

 

Could be. After 55 years at this stuff I'm still convinced it's actually all magic anyway. :

 

Yeah it is.

You do any 6M work?

 

No, that's one band I've never used. We had a local TV station on Ch2 in the analog days, so it wasn't worth the risk of messing up the whole neighborhood. I'm primarily a CW DX'er (306 countries confirmed to date) on the HF bands. Was a Morse op in the Navy, thus the screen name.