Satgen 532 Level Playing Field 2 by GM4IHJ (BID SGEN532) 1999-06-05 As discussed in Satgen531, satellite operating is usually easier at high latitude stations. But, "Radio Weather" in the shape of Aurora and Polar Arc crossing scintillation, are a fact of life at high latitudes on just those exciting orbits where the satellite is furthest east or west of ones station. However these disadvantages do not seriously detract from the advantages afforded to high latitude stations. Indeed for those operators interested in the physics of radio propagation, every day, every season and, every solar cycle at high latitude, offers a continuing series of interesting challenges. LONGITUDE - where you are located around the world with respect to an artificial line running from the North pole to the South pole via Greenwich England, has a very important effect on how you can use satellites. The satellite is following an orbit tracing out a plane in space against the background of the fixed starts . A plane which shifts position only very slowly with time. Whereas the earth inside the orbit plane is turning through a full circle every 24 hours. So that sometimes your station is favourably placed in range of a particular orbit, but at other times of day the satellite is passing overhead longitudes far to your east or west , out of range below your horizon. The greater the satellite altitude the greater the expanse of longitude it sees, and hence the greater the range of longitude either side of your station inside which you can access it. But if you live on the edge of a continent your operating potential will be very different from that of a station in the middle of a continent. Sometimes this edge location is an advantage as when in the case of Scotland , 3000 kms of Atlantic separate you from the USA and Canada, providing excellent communications free from interference from any intervening stations in the empty Atlantic. A situation which does not help a station located at longitudes further to the east in Europe who has far less access to USA in range terms ( too great a longitude gap), and worse stil has to compete with intervening Scottish stations who can put a far better signal into USA. The same advantage does not apply however to stations isolated on the ends of continents , such as South Africa or South America, where the very large longitude separation over empty water to the next continent severely limits communications opportunities. Equally restricting is a location on an isolated continent like Australia or New Zealand with little hope of very much other than local contacts via low altitude satellites, and no hope of long range contacts unless high altitude Molniya satellites become available . Though even VK and ZL are better placed than the widely separated islands spread across the wide range of longitudes stretching across the Pacific. Where they may have sun and sand, but not very much from satellites. So all things considered, it is no surprise that the first DXCC satellites was achieved by a station on the edge of the Atlantic in Eastern USA, with all the nations of Europe to aim at. While the first WAC satellite was achieved by a station further inland in USA and at a higher latitude.