many thanks!

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Martin G. McCormick
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2014 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 50 - 52 MHZ vs. 53 - 54 MHZ Portions of the 6M Band

	Another propagation indicator to tell you if the band is open still
exists but it is hard to tell for how much longer. If your receiver can tune
above 54 MHZ, listen for Mexican TV signals.

	For those who are new or who have never listened to analog TV on
anything other than a TV audio receiver or television set, there are a
couple of things to know. Analog TV sound is FM and is basically like
picking up an FM radio broadcast signal. The video carrier is AM and is
always 4.5 MHZ below the audio carrier.

	If you have a SSB or CW receiver, you may hear a carrier at 55.24,
55.25 or 55.26 MHZ. Many cable systems still carry an analog TV signal on
Channel 2 so you may hear a carrier in your area that leaks out of the
cable. This signal will be steady and hopefully very weak. Skip signals from
Mexican TV will fade in and out like any skip signals. If you listen in AM
mode, the video carrier will have a roughly 60-HZ buzz that varies from
second to second as the picture changes. Other than knowing that something
is there, it's not very exciting listening.

	If you want to hear the sound, you need an FM receiver that can
decode broadcast-width audio. If Mexican TV is coming in, the audio will be
in Spanish and you might hear multiple stations at once. They will usually
fade in and out and one will override all the others.

	Trying to tell where the transmissions are coming from is hard even
if you speak really good Spanish. I don't but I can usually understand
station ID's. The problem is that most are networks out of Mexico City that
are simply being retransmitted for local populations but I have heard enough
to tell that a lot of what you hear comes from just South of the United
States.
Sometimes there will be a local station break, etc, and one can figure out
an educated guess.

	The main thing this tells you is that if Mexico is coming in on
Channel 2, 6 meters should be open and I have heard a few XE stations. I
have also heard full-quieting TV audio and not so much as a beacon on 6.

	Anyway, Mexico is also in the process of going digital for TV, just
not as fast as we did so even these signals will, one day, go dark.

	Channel 2 TV is allocated all over Latin America, however, so it
will probably be many years until there is nothing there.

73 Martin WB5AGZ