Band Openings

[CryptoJoe]

Anyone listen to ham frequencies? Last night there was a pretty good opening on 2 meters (146mhz). On hot days, in the morning and evening, VHF signals tend to really propagate. Even if you aren’t listening to the hams, VHF signals from government systems aren’t immune to ducting. You probably won’t pick up much more with the standard antenna in your car or house, but with a good external antenna, a low squelch setting, and the right atmospheric conditions, you could be pulling in signals from 200 miles away. I was talking to Dover De. last night from Frederick Md. on 25 watts with a great signal both ways.

 

[ka3jjz]

There was a very active thread of folks that were chasing tropo and weather related skip on VHF here, but it seems to have vanished...so I'll mention the forecast page again. While actually geared toward TV/FM DXers, it's just as useful for folks chasing skip on 2, 432 or other V/UHF bands. There are links about 2/3 of the way down that will take you to descriptions of what actually causes skip in these ranges...

William Hepburn's Tropospheric Prediction page

73s Mike