[Lowfer] Good Propagation ??

[Alan Melia]

Hi all, having stirred it all up and had some fun :-)) there are possibly a
few "features" about present conditions that could be valid.

One is that my local domestic noise has increased at LF and MF a great deal
even in the last 6 or 7 years. Much os this is poorly designed domestic
electrical and entertainment equipment. This must have some effect on the
subjective feel of the bands.

It is also possible that at night max range signals are not degraded as much
as short range signals. the reason is that on relatively short paths (say
less than 1000km ~700miles) the signals enteres the E-region at a larger
angle and penetrates further as a result (most of the D-region goes at
night). Now the E-region is ionised from many sources and is a 24 hour
"layer" however I suspect (and I have no support) that in a very quiet
period (Kp<2) there is not enough ionisation to keep up the electron
density. That is it does benefit somewhat from coronal-hole particles. If
the ionisation were to drop slightly in a quiet periond then it is possible
that the E-layer might leak signal to space.

Another aspect is that in a very quiet period the higher order modes (2 hop
etc) are less attenuated that in active periods and thus react more
vigourously in multipath fades. However, what goes down can go up again and
occasionally you should hit the jackpot with a 6dB enhancement when the
paths add in phase.

Last do the beacon keepers regularly check they strength about a mile or so
out?? It is very easy of a year or two to lose some ERP to corrosion and
drift. I guess this is answered by the fact that well there are a number
which are being occasionally refurbished so big changes should show up in
the averages. I started my investigation of LF propagation by carefully
reading many pages of Mike Mideke's lowfer column and was as frustrated as
he seemed to be that there were few actual measurements being logged. on a
regular basis, despite a very wide and well populated network of listeners.

Keep on listening !! You know its good for you.

Best wishes and thanks for all the "Reports"