I wish I could recall some of the remote receivers and transceivers
connected to the internet.  Before IRLP and echolink it was very
interesting to check out these stations for activity in their home areas
from remote locations.  

For that matter is the VOA remote receiver network still operational?  I
used to use this to listen to their signal in Europe.  These receivers
captured 30 second snapshots of VOA programs in various cities and
frequencies.  I would love to do the same to monitor my local NPR
network and the sub carrier signal translated through various parts of
same.  



-----
BRETT WINCHESTER
[log in to unmask] 
208-639-8386
###


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Martin McCormick
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 2:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: band opening on 10 meters

Gery Gaubert writes:
> Not sure if this is a trend, or a freek thing but where I live in 
> Louisiana for the past 2 days 10 meters has been open.  I didn't get 
> up the nerve to talk but I did hear some k3 and n9 calls.  Not sure 
> where that is though.  I plan to have a listen tomorrow when I get in 
> from work to see if it is open again.

	It is a freekish trend during the months of May through Early
August, peaking in June around the Solstice.  It is called Sporadic E.

	Nobody knows precisely what causes it but it is a very intensely
ionized cloud of air at about 60 miles above the Earth's surface.  That
puts it above weather as we know it but below the F and F2 layers of the
Ioni sphere which are responsible for world-wide short wave radio
communications.

	The Earth's atmosphere is divided in to layers based upon what
usually happens at various altitudes.  We live in the A layer which
touches the ground.  I am not sure which altitudes denote the B, C, and
D layers, but the D layer is the first one that effects radio due to
Solar radiation.  The D layer is kind of the rain at the picknick in
that it absorbs low-frequency radio when the Sun is shining.  At night,
the D layer melts away which is why AM broadcasting and 160-meter
signals travel much farther at night or during Solar eclipses.  The E
layer helps reflect AM radio signals at night and, occasionally, it
becomes extremely ionized and that's when ten and six meters start to
get interesting.

	Most of the E skip you will hear will be during the day,
especially during mid morning and mid afternoon to early evening.  It
can, however, happen in the middle of the night or any other time for
that matter.

	You will hear band openings on ten, six and even two during the
Summer and then, about August first, it will all die away.

	There is a second Sporadic E season around Christmas but it is
usually a pale echo of the Summer E season.  The openings will normally
not be as strong and won't last for as many hours, but they certainly
can be good.  Enjoy.

	In another 4 or 5 years, the Sun spots will multiply again and
ten will be full of signals all day long.  Those signals will be being
propagated via the F2 layer.  For now, one must patiently listen for
Sporadic E and strike when the iron is hot.  If you have a receiver with
a squelch, put it on just about any of the ten-meter FM frequencies and
then go about your business.  Suddenly, signals will start to flood in
and you will know the bands are open and the fun is starting.  Usually,
it all fades out in a couple of hours and we are back to cosmic hiss and
receiver noise.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK Systems Engineer OSU Information
Technology Department Network Operations Group