Weather and scanner reception

[cstockmyer]

Does the weather have any effect the reception of scanners? Basically what I am asking is will I get the same reception on a clear and sunny day, as I would in the middle of a rain or snow storm..does that make sense?

 

[ka3jjz]

Maybe, Maybe not. It depends on many factors. We have a whole section devoted to this topic in the Propagation section of the wiki, but before you dive into that, read the bottom of this article - very informative reading...

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

73s Mike

 

[cstockmyer]

Maybe, Maybe not. It depends on many factors. We have a whole section devoted to this topic in the Propagation section of the wiki, but before you dive into that, read the bottom of this article - very informative reading...

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

73s Mike

Interesting, Thanks Sir!

 

[fredg]

I know for me it does. I have been doing some observing as to my recieving abilities based on the pressure. I use this site to watch the pressure trends:

http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KEMP.html

I have confirmed that when then pressure is 29.3-29.6 some stations will go deaf. However when the pressure is 30.1 or better they are clear enough to recieve.

When there is high pressure you get temperature inversion in the troposphere. This affects the refractive ability of that layer and it is able to reflect lower angle signals over a longer distance. This effect is enhanced as the sun goes down as well. I can clearly recieve some stations at 20:00 at night (in winter) that are nearly deaf at 13:00 hours in the afternoon.

Nothing new here people have been observing this with VHF/UHF TV signals for years, but I thought it was interesting that I could track it with my scanner.

 

[scannergoduk]

weather and scanner reception

ive found with my scanner that if the weather is good the i have resonably good signals but even in bad weather i have had good signals but in bad weather you can get alot of interference on many of the bands
it all depends on the sunspots and the skip etc etc
but most of the time on how good a antenna and scanner you have
hope this helps as well

 

[iMONITOR]

I find the 800MHz band works better in Winter. But I think it has more to do with the leaves falling off the trees than it does temperature.

 

[LEH]

GENERALLY speaking the following rules TEND to apply. Now there are numerous other variables that can impact the situation. These are GENERALIZATIONS.

The lower the frequency, the better the chance weather will cause interference, especially electrical storms. This includes atmospherics. The tropospheric map link does work. On a good troposhpric day a couple of months ago, I was able to receive NYFD Bronx dispatch nearly 300 miles away.

AM is more suseptible to weather (and other types of) interference than is FM. Those who listen to aviation (commercial or MIL air) know what I am saying.

To provide an example of some of this, consider broadcast AM radio. Low frequency, AM with lots of static in electrical storms, lots of skip (I'm old enough to remember WLS clear channel 890 KHz broadcasting 50,000 watts of pop music and hearing it in GA). Broadcast FM, higher frequency, FM is more line of sight, less skip, less interference.

 

[KB9NLL]

I know for me it does. I have been doing some observing as to my recieving abilities based on the pressure. I use this site to watch the pressure trends:

http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KEMP.html

I have confirmed that when then pressure is 29.3-29.6 some stations will go deaf. However when the pressure is 30.1 or better they are clear enough to recieve.

When there is high pressure you get temperature inversion in the troposphere. This affects the refractive ability of that layer and it is able to reflect lower angle signals over a longer distance. This effect is enhanced as the sun goes down as well. I can clearly recieve some stations at 20:00 at night (in winter) that are nearly deaf at 13:00 hours in the afternoon.

Nothing new here people have been observing this with VHF/UHF TV signals for years, but I thought it was interesting that I could track it with my scanner.

Wow, I got some bad info then. I was told by a wise amateur years ago that it was the opposite of what you said. Not that I ever checked it out or anything anyway. I just kind of listen to the scanner whenever I feel like it. But I'll check that site out anyway.

Also early morning I usually get skip like 4am +&- (or after midnight to 9ish?). It's the temp. inversion thing that someone else mentioned. It was also in the wiki.

 

[n2mdk]

Generally in the spring and fall when it's warm during the day and then cools down at night you get tropoducting where VHF and UHF signals travel much further than they would normally. I often tell the story of the night before Hurricane Andrew hit and the bands on the East Coast were wide open. I was able to work a repeater in GA from my Apt in Queens NYC granted I was running a bit of power on 2M about 175W but it's still the best "DX" I ever had on the radio. I also remember another time I was on vacation in Nova Scotia and was at Peggy's Cove right along the Atlantic coast, I was able to work a repeater on Long Island only using my FT-470 and the Maldol telescopic dual band whip.

 

[W4KRR]

My observation here in south Florida is that as a cold front is about to pass, or shortly after it has passed, scanner reception seems to increase. I hear things clearly that normally come in scratchy, or not at all.

 

[fredg]

I think cold fronts usually are with dry weather and dry weather means high pressure which confims my observations....