Jeff, what frequencies would most of the tv channels be on anyway?



Dan in Brantford, Ontario Canada.

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-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jeff Kenyon
Sent: 18-Jul-06 12:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: e-skip

Hi, has anyoen caught any E skip any place else? My nearest stations on TV
channel 3 are about 100 miles away.  one is in Grand Rapids, and another is
in Cleveland.  When I really heard a lot of activity on low band that was in
2001 and 2002 when we had such high sunspot activity.
	Lately with the heat spell here in Michigan  have been hearing a lot
of tropo.  TO check to see if there is an opening there I try the NOAA Wx
frequencies.  If there are lots of stations in at once it is usually a good
sign for these frequencies and below and sometimes above as far as 800 MHz!
	As for relay stations you also could try above 940 MHz.  As for
tropo openings if you try the WX band, dependign on what you hear you can
tell where the band will be opened to.  For instance last few days have
yeilded stations from Indiana and PA.





On Tue, 18 Jul 2006, Martin McCormick wrote:

> 	In North Central Oklahoma, there was an opening on Sunday July 16 
> that lasted for hours.  I don't have a transmitter for 6, but I do 
> have a receiver and was listening to 6 which sounded more like 20 
> because of the opening and the contest.  I also like to listen to TV 
> Channel 3 and the 30-50 MHZ VHF low band which still has activity in 
> it during openings.
>
> 	I live about 60 miles from Tulsa which has a Channel 2 so things 
> really have to be loud to overpower Tulsa's Channel 2 but there are no 
> normally-strong signals on Channel 3.  The nearest Channel 3's are all 
> over 100 miles from Stillwater and you can certainly hear them from 
> day to day, but any skip just rolls right in and completely takes 
> over.
>
> 	If you have a receiver that can do this, you should also
occasionally 
> tune between 72 and 76 MHZ.  This little band between TV Channels 4 
> and 5 is used for point-to-point wireless distribution systens owned 
> by paging companies which aren't terribly exciting, but there are 
> other uses such as remote broadcast cuing systems, remote receivers 
> which are part of larger radio systems, and augmentation devices used 
> to allow listeners in a public auditorium or classroom who have 
> hearing difficulties to wear headsets that let them directly hear the 
> output of the public address system.
>
> 	I live near the OSU campus and have heard a few such systems in 
> buildings near by as well as a similar system in a grade school that 
> relayed the teacher's voice as she patiently rode herd over her little 
> charges.
>
> 	I have also heard somebody's radio reading service somewhere when
the 
> 72-76 MHZ band was open, once.
>
> 	It was during the late 80's or early 90's and I could tell it was a 
> reading service but it faded out as usual before I could get a 
> positive ID.  I imagine it was using that band to distribute the RRS 
> signal to more than one FM transmitter in the area.  This is also a 
> European low-power ham band so if it is ever really open, you might 
> hear SSB or other emissions from Europe.  While you can't transmit on 
> that band, a few people have tried crossband by listening in the 
> 72-MHZ band and transmitting back on ten or six.
>
> 	Mostly, when we have skip, you will hear digital garbage from pagers

> but you will be able to tell the band is open.  Also, 75.0 MHZ is an 
> aeronautical beacon frequency and many airports use it, but there are 
> no ID's which means you will hear signals but can't tell where they 
> are.
>
> 	Our working group used to have voice pagers which were on the
158-MHZ 
> band but the distribution link was 72. something MHZ.
> I remember listening to our local paging transmitter and hearing 
> Sporadic E key it up from pagers hundreds of miles away.
>
> 	There are also radio-controlled model cars, boats and planes which 
> will sound like a steady AM buzz that kind of changes tone as the 
> operator guides the model around.  You are apt to hear those on a nice 
> day if there is a model airplane event near your house.  In all, that 
> band can be exciting to listen to if you are patient.  It has been 
> many months or even a year or so since I have heard anything 
> interesting there from
>
> Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK Systems Engineer OSU 
> Information Technology Department Network Operations Group
>