NOAA skip

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Haley

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Not sure if this should go in the Weather forum or not. I am getting some good distance on the NOAA freq. this morning in central Iowa. I am (with a handheld, and stock antenna), getting them from over 120 miles away. Anybody else like to log NOAA stations? Or I am the only nut that does this? I have actually been doing it for about 15 years. (Trains and Weather) Mike
 

fineshot1

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It should be ok to post that here as long as your discussing it the way you are.

I dont log them but do use them as a means of telling whether the bands are open.
 

Haley

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I actually use them to check for openings also. So far today, since the last post, I have one coming in from about 155-160 miles away. Right now I am using my IC-R2 with a BNC connector and an old pro-51 antenna. The R2 always seemed to be quite sensitive in the VHF-high bands. Mike
 

mbstone99

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NOAA Skip

Haley said:
Not sure if this should go in the Weather forum or not. I am getting some good distance on the NOAA freq. this morning in central Iowa. I am (with a handheld, and stock antenna), getting them from over 120 miles away. Anybody else like to log NOAA stations? Or I am the only nut that does this? I have actually been doing it for about 15 years. (Trains and Weather) Mike

I do check the NOAA stations from time to time to see if skip is coming in and I do log them when the skip is coming in. The furthest one I have heard is from over 225 miles away down in southern Texas. There are a bunch of skip logs on my web page if you want to check it out.

Matt
 

Haley

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Matt, very nice site! Well put together, easy to use , and lots of good info. Mike



Jim, I thought I had found every weather site, but that is a very good one! Its bookmarked , and put in my favorites. Thanks, Mike
 

xpawel15x

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I press the WX button on my scanners to see how many weather channels I can receive. Yesterday I was able to receive 4 with just a handheld antenna. There was some tropo in my area. I usually do this to check how good reception will be for the day. :)
 

Haley

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Thanks for all the info guys, lots of good stuff! The maps are really nice. I was looking at my logs from the Summer 0f 2001 (a good DX year ----for me), and came across these NOAA stations that I logged. These were all done with a 92B and an R2 with stock antennas. These were all done from central Iowa. South Shore (SD)WXM-41, Wilmar (MN)WXK-44 , KXI-48 Newton (IL.), WXK-91 Topeka (KS), WXL45 Coulmbia (MO). I think my best has been KZZ78 --Ashland, WI. in May of 2003. I need to run the mileages sometime, just too see which is the furthest! Thanks again for all the replies, Mike
 
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mbstone99

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NOAA Skip

Haley said:
Matt, very nice site! Well put together, easy to use , and lots of good info. Mike



Jim, I thought I had found every weather site, but that is a very good one! Its bookmarked , and put in my favorites. Thanks, Mike

Thanks!

Matt
 

burningman_77

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good thread

I have always listened to NOAA radio, but didn't realize that it was this important! Loved the poster that shows the sites. I live near Detroit, MI and can usually pick up weather reports in French from Canada on my stock BR330t. Must find out where this is coming from...
 

burningman_77

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sorry still a newb...

Looking the the list that that nightwatch gave me, I discovered that the frequency I'm picking up is probably from McGregor, Ontario, which is about 25 mi. from my location. Which is wayyy far away from Quebec. After listening for a while longer it turns out that the report was in both English and French. I guess if you live in a bi-lingual country you have to do your weather reports in both languagess... Booo- I thought I had a gem here... The thing that really bothered me though is that there was no mention of the station call sign, (VAZ 533 for Windsor on the list), or city identification. Also, it says that the transmitter outputs on the VHF band and the display on my scanner says FM, are all NOAA reports also in VHF?
 

KF4ZTO

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All NOAA reports are on VHF-FM, the seven "standard" US frequencies, and Canada has 3 other ones for 10 total. (they also use the US frequencies)

The Canadian weather channels are
161.6500 (also Marine Channel 21B)
161.7750 (also Marine Channel 83B)
and
163.2750.

Most Canadian weather stations use the US frequencies, however.
 

oldranger

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Distant Weather Stations

In times past when used to monitor the WX Band regularly, I have heard WX stations from the Caribbean.It was usally be in the summer months.
 

Viking1

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Right before the storms came through the southeast the other night I was hearing WX stations from Jax, Macon GA, Valdosta Ga, Charleston Sc, Aiken Sc, Atlanta Ga, and Knox Tn on a handheld radio from Greenville SC!!
 

oldranger

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Viking1 said:
Right before the storms came through the southeast the other night I was hearing WX stations from Jax, Macon GA, Valdosta Ga, Charleston Sc, Aiken Sc, Atlanta Ga, and Knox Tn on a handheld radio from Greenville SC!!
Viking1:
Good capture!
I've heard a lot of VHF skip just prior to major weather disturbances.
VHF skip picks up just prior and during a large meteor shower.There are a lot of them in December.

The oldranger
 
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