15m Propagation - what's that all about?

15m is a band full of surprises.  I think most of my most unexpected and unusual QSOs have occurred on that band.

Today was no exception.  Sending some FT8 CQs into the void, I was surprised to see my signal hitting South Africa at up to -5dB SNR/2500Hz.  This resulted in a successful QSO.

Even more odd was that, with the exception of a single Argentinian station, none of the many other monitors were receiving me.

But!  Just a few minutes later, the situation was very different, with an EA8 station hearing me at up to plus 18dB! 

All most interesting - and probably down to Es.