Radar echoes from the daytime lower F region near the magnetic equator, so-called 150-km echoes, have been puzzling researchers for decades. Neither the mechanisms that generate the enhanced backscatter at very high frequencies (typically 30–50 MHz), the sharp lower cutoff height, the intricate layering with multiple echo layers separated by narrow gaps, nor the modulation of the echoes by short-period gravity waves is well understood. Here we focus on the diurnal variation of the echo layers specifically, certain wide gaps in the vertical structure—which apparently descend in the morning, reach their lowest altitude near local noon, and ascend in the afternoon, sometimes described as necklace structure based on the appearance of the layers in range-time-intensity diagrams. Analyzing high-resolution data obtained with the Jicamarca radar between 2005 and 2017, spanning more than one ...