Matt,

I hinted at this but I will say it again.  The time of day or night makes a 
big difference, which you probably already knew, but even under these poor 
band conditions, some bands close down at night right now including 20 
through 10 but often, just because you can't hear anyone, doesn't mean the 
band isn't open to somewhere.  Especially on the lower bands, time of day 
makes a huge difference and some areas of the world can't be worked unless 
you work them at their sunrise and sunset or your sunrise or sunset.  Then, 
of course, there is the propagation we call Long Path.  It especially works, 
LP that is, on 80 and 40 and 20 meters but it isn't reliable right now due 
to poor sun activity and solar flares.  I hate to call it poor because, if 
the sun took a mind to, it could rip a huge solar flare that could do earth 
a lot of damage but it is, of course, the sun that normally creates the best 
bounce off the ionosphere.

Phil.
K0NX