Continuing the discussion from CQ 270 CW SSB Gang! - Cool Kids Sip from the Hour Glass? (Part 2) - #100 by VK3SQ.
Previous discussions:
Yesterday, I participated in the DARC VHF July Contest from DM/BM-380 using my 6-fold Oblong, which is very close to the double hourglass antenna with respect to gain and radiation profile. The weather was mixed but the scenery was wonderful.
10 DXCC and an ODX of > 700 km completed the picture.
Not too bad when you take into account that I was working only with 35 W out of my trusted FT-857.
73, Peter
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Yesterday I took part in the RSGB 2m Backpackers Contest from G/NP-028 with 5W from my FT817 and the hourglass antenna. All the European VHF contests were happening at the same time so there were plenty of stations on. I was very pleased to work a French station at 540km as well as several English stations over 300km. I also heard a PA and DL but they were too weak to work.
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WOW, 540 km with a single hourglass antenna and only 5 W, that is a great achievement! 
73, Peter
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Outstanding result Richard, well done. Any idea of propagation conditions, e.g. tropo or sporadic E?
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Not sure how I’d know. I think there was a ridge of high pressure so tropo seems likely. Looking at the logs already uploaded there was an opening to EA early in the day so that would be Es. The other station probably had a big yagi so would have been doing most of the work.
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It’s too short IMHO for Es. Could well be a bit of tropo or aircraft scatter. Now that AS is a viable mode and having experienced it on contests using nice software to show who/what/where & when, it explains all the contacts that come and go from when I was first licenced. Call CQ on 2m SSB, get a good strong reply from 400km away, start QSO only for contact to fade away and never come back.
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Good Tropo running the last few days here in IO72. I worked several EA8 & EA1 stations and at 21:25 utc last night worked CT9ACF 59 both ways SSB. 50w to a 7 ele Power beam here. CT9 a new DXCC for me on 144mhz. Secret is to call CQ on 300. Look at my QRZ Log before it scrolls down.
Don GW0PLP - IO72RC
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The French station was strong the whole time. Heard him repeatedly as I scanned up and down the band.
Could that be Es or is it definitely tropo? How can you tell?
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It really sounds like tropo to me. On 2m Es is typically in the 2,000km range, very strong but typically appearing suddenly, vanishing equally suddenly, and rarely lasts very long. Tropo in an anticyclonic setting tends to last for hours and is stronger at night, but you can also occasionally get a shorter tropo opening along a weather front.
Yes the WX high pressure & the Sea path from IO71 & IO72 to EA makes this possible every year both winter and summer. I also monitor the Beacons which are a very good indicator as well as DXmaps and the cluster & of course experience. CT9 was a first for me in 37 years on the band. Looking for CU,EA9 & D4 on 144 ssb/cw next.
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Assuming I have found the right locators distance between IO72RC & IM12JU is 2371.37 km
I am very new to 2m DX so just hearing a French voice was novel! I’m still learning so this is all very interesting.
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Nice portable equipment, Don. 
I have read many reports from activators who work portable throughout the year with 7 element or 2 x 5 element Yagi setups combined with PAs in the 100 to 200 W range. 500 to 900 km are common with such an equipment but passing the 1000 km mark does not happen every day and not too many have ever seen an ODX beyond the 2000 km mark.
I can only reiterate what I wrote:
Cheers, Peter
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You are right, Peter, a 2,000+km contact is enough to keep any 2m DXer warm and happy through many weeks of flat conditions!
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My best is 2013km G->EA9 on 2m Es
Not AS then. If there was a contest on the F station could have been running a wee bit of power and antenna gain so it wouldn’t need much “liftyness” for you to work him with QRP and a simple antenna at your end.
It’s really exciting the first time you hear some foreign DX on 2m. And 36 years after my first bit of 2m DX, it’s still exciting when you hear foreign DX on 2m 
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Yes, the French station was reasonably strong into IO82PE also - for most of the last hour or so. I saw your claimed score figures, nice work with the hourglass antenna.
Rob.
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Things should always be put into perspective, and the value of a result is strongly related to the efforts you need to invest to achieve it. I still remember a 2 m SSB QSO in September 2019 with F6DBI. I was sitting on DM/HE-427 scanning the 2 m band. On 144.322 MHz I stopped when I heard his CQ call. I answered with 51 & JO40WK, and he returned with 52 & IN88IJ. I could not believe it and asked him to confirm the locator. Again IN88IJ. WOW, 977 km with my 4 element Yagi and just 20 W. Needless to mention that we both took advantage of “elevated conditions”. Back at home I visited his QRZ.com page and realised, that he very obviously had done the heavy lifting with 400 W and his 14el Yagi.
Particularly this year, with the ongoing 2 m SOTA challenge, it cannot be overemphasized that it takes two to tango and that in most cases DX connections can only be established thanks to the investments made by the chasers. THANKS guys, this is highly appreciated!
73, Peter
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Richard, I suspect your French station to be F8KGU. It’s one of those professional amateur stations, no enhancement or aircraft needed.
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To play on a line by Crocodile Dundee…
“That’s not an antenna… pulls tarp away THAT’S an antenna!”
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interesting wording 