Opening on 18 MHz (2017.08.29, 12:40)

I heard a station from Russia (Asia) and England (Europe). I tried to call the Russian station, but he didn't heard me at all. He barely heard the station from England, but they didn't make the QSO (contact).

I am a licensed ham radio operator. Today I turned on my transceiver (Yaesu FT-450D).
I heard a station (R9YU) (Andrey from Biysk, Russia) (Asia) on 18.150 MHz a little bit after midday.
I still hear him. His signal is between 52-55. The distance between his station and my station is 4520 km.
I tried to call him and he didn't heard me at all. But no wonder. My antenna is designed for 7 MHz.
I am using the FT-450D's built-in antenna tuner to be able to use it on 18 MHz and other bands.
The antenna is working on 18 MHz with poor performance.
I also heard M0MQV (Nigel from Wakefield, England) (Europe) on the same frequency. He called the Russian station. His signal on my side was around 52.
Andrey heard his callsign partly, but the contact was not made. Looks like the propagation was not good enough at that moment. The distance between his station and mine is 1694 km.

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