[Lowfer] Excellent LF Propagation

[James M. Walker]

Well said,
and accurate as well. The "Signals are not propagating" syndrome
is formed when the "Band is doing weird things", I have found things to be 
quiet
on various bands, and called CQ to have someone come back and say
"I thought the band was dead!!" My reply was no everyone seems to be 
listening
which is not the same thing at all.

Having beacon stations running full time is a great indicator, more folks 
should use them
no matter the band.
FWIW

Gotta go, got to copy the Sunday SSB net on 510 Kc.
Jim
WB2FCN


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andy - KU4XR" <ku4xr at yahoo.com>
To: "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European,& UK) and MedFer bands" 
<lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 7:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Lowfer] Excellent LF Propagation


>
> --- On Sun, 3/29/09, Warren Ziegler <wd2xgj at gmail.com> wrote:
>> The LF band is in some of the best shape I've ever seen!
>
> Or probably will again for years to come !! We are at a Solar Minima
> right now. Cycle 23 has been one of the longest on record, with one
> of the longest low periods recently recorded. " Propagation " is the
> most common term radio Ops. use to describe " the moving of an
> electrical radio wave thru free space. " In reference to free space only,
> propagation, if you will; is directly related to Solar activity, or the
> lack there-of, and its effect on the layers of the Ionesphere. We all
> understand that. Next: It's pretty common knowledge that whatever is
> happening on the higher HF bands is the Inverse on the lower bands.
> Even as a CB-er in the 70's ( and a 14 year old kid ), I learned that
> the " skip " follows the sun. I didn't understand it, I just knew it
> did. Europe in the morning, States in midday, Australia in the evening.
> The longer the day - summer, the longer the skip would stay in. The 
> shorter the day - winter, the skip dropped out earlier.
> Now; my opionated point: Every frequency range depends on a particular
> layer of the ionesphere to move that signal from one point to another.
> Common Knowledge again; lower layers, closer in point A to B, Higher
> layers, farther out point A to B.
> I must say that we are experiencing some very extraordinary Propagation.
> My made up analogy, ( correct or incorrect ), We like to talk about
> capacitors alot, Well the Sun is the power source, the ionesphere is
> one plate of the capacitor, the Earth, the other. Darkness is the
> switch that turns on, or off the power source. This giant capacitor is
> charged, and discharged in 24 hour cycles. During the charging process,
> each layer receives its potential, then passes it on to the next layer,
> until maximum charge can be had. Think about it, longer charge times,
> ie: summer, more potential, and inverse for the winter. Each frequency
> that is dependent on a particular layer to move the signal, will be
> directly affected by the amount of charge that layer received. The
> discharge period ( night time ), darkness turns off the switch to the
> power source, and the ionespheric layers start to discharge. Again,
> during the process all dependent frequencies are affected. The process
> continues until minumum potential is reached ( discharged ).
> My nutshell summary: Our signals are still going out there, however
> they are being affected by the current Solar activity, and its effect
> on the ionesphere. My final note is this: Radiated signal strength,
> and I do mean Power Output from the antenna; WILL !! make all the
> difference in the world. Definitely 100 watts will in most circumstances
> propagate easier than 1 watt. PLUS ::: add to radiated output strength,
> the manmade, or natures noise factor at the receiving end, that can also
> make the difference in getting that signal or not for a given XMTR
> output level. This fall into the catagory of what Andy Melia termed as,
> " comfortable listening ". Add the extra power, overcome the noise,
> and there's the signal now, bringing about Bills reference to actual
> uV/m at point B. But to say it again; It's all relative to the current
> Solar activity, and its effect on the layers of the ionesphere.
> If I remember correct; I believe that HAARP tried an experiment awhile
> back in which they tried to generate artificial propagation, by
> bombarding the Ionesphere with Super power RF ( 3 Megawatts ?? ), in
> hopes of temporarily charging the ionesphere and generate the temporary
> propagation period. I just seem to remember seeing something about that
> on the net somewhere. I'm not referring to the Moon bounce experiment.
>
> To all those who have read this far, thanks for reading my 2 cents worth.
>
> 73 :::
>
>
> Andy - KU4XR - EM75xr - Friendsville, TN.
> LOWfer Beacon " XR " @ 184.322 KHz ( QRSS-60 )
> Coordinates:  N:  35* 43' 54" - W:  84* 3' 16"
> http://www.myspace.com/beaconxr
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Lowfer mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/lowfer
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Lowfer at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>
>