Does anyone know when Radio skip will begin this year? Allan.
Unless you can predict Ionospheric disturbances its not predictable when it happens.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation
Ok. I thought so. I knew it has to start sometime.
Thanks.
BNSFrailfan:
A magazine called “Monitoring Times” may be a good source for determining when
the VHF Railroad bands are best for DXing. They have a new section in their periodical that is specifically written for people scanning the railroads. Their magazine is also available on-line in downloadable format.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
David
I get radio skip pretty much all year, with a few short breaks. It’s been quite good in the past few weeks in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, with the wild weather.
Ian
If that’s what I hear on a regular CB radio all effing day it’s the most annoying thing out there.
VHF/UHF skips are often caused by local surface weather effects, such as an inversion layer…a warmer layer of air sitting on top of a cooler layer, such as those that caused the big smog issues in the LA basin.
I once heard a VHF repeater in the NYC area on a local Norfolk repeater, on the 2-meter ham bands, which is slightly lower frequency than the RR freqs.[:D][8D]
So, strange weather may be a signal that strange propagation is happening!
Thanks Mike. Now if I can only understand it. Allan.
You are correct about that. Even my Hand held picks up the noise. It seem to only do it when the sun is up. Allan.
Yeah, I actually have gotten a FM radio station from Tulsa, Oklahoma on my car radio here in Chicago a few times. Ironically there are a few FM stations based in Chicago that don’t always come in!
Mike
From my experience, skip is mostly limited to the lower ranges of VHF. I’ve heard it on 46 mhz and below. While skip is certainly possible above that range, the inversion/weather angle is more likely. And never underestimate the distance a signal can carry. We are at the eastern end of Lake Ontario and frequently have interference issues with fire departments in the western part of the state.
As for CB skip, back when I was active in that hobby, I’d often hear the same people almost every day - I was in OKC and they were in CA. It’s usually worse during the day, but can occur at night - I once heard a conversation in southern Michigan (again from OKC) that was as clear as any local CBer would have been…
I’ve seen skip in the TV low band (2-6) powerfull enough to overpower the local station. And that’s from 800 miles away!!! On a SMATV system I built up in Modoc KCBS 2 out of LA (800 miles away) would overpower KOTI 2 out of Klamath Falls (90 miles away). It would happen a couple times a year for a couple hours each day for 2-3 days. Years later I was head-end tech for Century cable in LA and had just tho oppisite problem, KOTI would overpower KCBS. Of course Century had the $$$ to cure the problem and we got a studio link.
And Larry is right, Skip is mostly a low frequency thing generaly not seen above the lower part of the FM band. Inversion layers are more likly the cause of extended ranges.