seasons and frequency bands.

[Dispatrick]

What frequency bands perform best in each season, in terms of distance?

 

[w2xq]

Since you are asking this in the scanner section, unlike HF propagation there is little to no seasonal effect so far as summer and winter is concerned. What can affect distances on UHF bands are typically weather-related events. The most obvious events are temperature inversions--significant temperature differences in air masses--that act as a "mirror" to extend the reception range. Look to the weather maps for a strong cold front moving through your area, pushing out a warm air mass. Such disparities are most often found in the spring and fall. Another factor is signal absorption, such as living in the woods; I get better reception during the winter after the leaves have fallen than during the summer when the trees are fully leafed.

Clearly there is more to the subject, and my answer scratches the surface. Look at other q&a's here and to the RR Wiki for more information.

HTH.

 

[bob550]

Is your question regarding HF (shortwave), or VHF/UHF/800 MHz (scanner) bands? HF reception can be affected by seasonal changes from atmospheric noise. VHF is fairly consistent throughout the year while 800 MHz signals can be attenuated by foliage during the growing months. Of course, some of these seasonal changes can vary depending on your location. That said, I've not determined that there's any variations in the effective distance that I can receive stations that would be attributable to seasonal changes. Your receiving range for most bands is governed more by your antennas and the sensitivity of your receivers, and maybe the sunspot cycle for HF.

 

[KB7MIB]

If you're asking about HF and lower, electrical activity is higher in the summer months in the Northern hemisphere, and can introduce more background noise on a signal, making weaker signals (lower power or more distant) more difficult to pick out. Listening fatigue can be more pronounced due to this.
However, your receiving range won't be affected much, if at all due to the seasons.

Sunspots follow a roughly 11 year cycle, and you can hear more distant stations more easily during the peak of the cycle than you can at the lowest point of the cycle.

If you are asking about VHF and up, as mentioned above, foliage in the Spring and Summer months can absorb signals in the 400 MHz and 700/800/900 MHz bands, somewhat reducing the signal strength of those stations, and making the signal weaker, possibly reducing the range at which you can hear more distant stations.

John
Peoria, AZ

 

[western_pa_radio]

On VHF I can certainly tell you that late summer early fall iswhen VHF range is at its very best. At least where I lived for 35 years in northern New England that was the way things worked.

 

[iMONITOR]

Leaves on trees can have a negative effect on 700-800MHz. Years ago when towers were few and far between, signals improved noticeably when the leaves fell.

 

[western_pa_radio]

I am receiving weather stations on vhf I usually don't get. This is probably a temperature inversion. I am also receiving a station on the aircraft band I think its also a weather channel but the signal is so weak I can't really tell.

 

[Ubbe]

I'm hidden behind mountains with leaf trees and there's a huge difference between summer and winter time on both VHF and UHF as probably radiowaves reflects and bounce off mountain sides more easily without leafs absorbing RF. Also pine trees get drained of water at winter that helps. During summer I get short time reception that more than doubles in range whenever an aircraft passes close enough that I can hear its engines.

/Ubbe

 

[western_pa_radio]

Yesterday morning around 5 AM I heard a police frequency I don't ever remember hearing before. About 60 miles away. Two counties away.