EV's Best Top Rated FM and HD Radio Antenna Guide & Reviews - Page 3

EscapeVelocity · 07-18-2009, 04:46 PM

This link is similar to the TVFool and FMFool....try it out.

AM FM Zip Code Based Signal Strengths

Here is another....with this one, you can also find unused frequencies on the FM Dial...hmmm!

Radio-Locator.com

Quote:

Welcome to Radio-Locator, the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the internet. We have links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world.

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Yes616 · 07-18-2009, 06:44 PM

Thanks Escape. Especially for that radio-locator link. It's pretty good and I have been doing my own little thing on and off thing running a 25 mW transmitter out of my basement so I can get everything I can get from my Yamaha audio / video receiver out to the back yard. The neighbors can hear my stuff too.

The range is about 0.1 miles.

I have a FM radio out by the backyard swimming pool and it's a great way to get Sirrius radio out there.

There is no mention about the frequency I use at my location though. 89.7 MHz seems to be the best here but that doesn't show up at zip code 12754.

Maybe they are seeing me but have no idea what to make of me. LOL

EscapeVelocity · 07-18-2009, 07:31 PM

Glad you liked it Yes!

Shively Labs makes pro transmitting antennas, filters, combiners, etc.

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EscapeVelocity · 07-18-2009, 07:34 PM

PCS-Electronics has some interesting stuff and info.

Piggie · 07-18-2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yes616

..... I have been doing my own little thing on and off thing running a 25 mW transmitter out of my basement .....

There is no mention about the frequency I use at my location though. 89.7 MHz seems to be the best here but that doesn't show up at zip code 12754.

Maybe they are seeing me but have no idea what to make of me. LOL

Be sure the alien cats know about your station. Actually they told me you could raise power by 6db be legal, because they need the power.

EscapeVelocity · 07-18-2009, 09:19 PM

Audio Basics complete year issues 1982-1994 available here. Great Stuff!

Audio Basics Complete Back Issue Set 1988 pdf.....discusses Parsec LS-4 on page 25.

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EscapeVelocity · 07-18-2009, 10:49 PM

FM & TV Propagation Curves Calculations - FCC

EscapeVelocity · 07-18-2009, 10:51 PM

Blurb on the internet...

Quote:

Long distance reception of FM broadcast signals occurs in many different ways. Here's a look at the main propagation modes:

Sporadic E-skip (Es)

This signal propagation mode occurs when a FM signal strikes a highly ionized patch of the E layer of the atmosphere and the signal is reflected back down to Earth. As a general rule, Es will reflect a signal 500-1,500 miles. On rare occasions, Es "clouds" will line up to provide a double hop, producing reception of stations 2,000-3,000 miles away.

Es can come in with rapid fades, and you'll often find 2 or more stations fighting it out for control of the frequency. Often you'll have stations in as strong as any of your local stations, with full stereo. The stations you receive via E-skip will generally come from the same area, but beware...Es clouds tend to move around. For example, DXing from the Midwest,you might have a cloud move so that your opening starts out in the northeast and winds up in Florida over the course of several hours.

The best way to keep tabs on Es is to check your open TV channels between channels 2 and 6. These channels will be the first to be affected by Es, as they are lower in frequency than FM, which falls between channels 6 and 7. As the activity of the Es cloud increases, so will the chances of the opening moving on up to FM

What causes Es? There are several schools of thought on the issue. The radiation level of the sun and the chemical makeup of the atmosphere directly affect it. And current research shows that the electrical activity surrounding thunderstorms may have the most profound effect of all.

Tropo (Tr)

Tho a much more stable mode of propagation, tropospheric bending/ducting (Tr), for the most part, lacks the distance characteristics of Es. Openings by Tr can run from 200 to 1,000 miles, and sometimes even beyond.

Tropo is directly related to weather, with the influence of a high pressure area required for it to happen. With a temperature inversion, with warm air meeting cold, a low level conduit forms in the tropospheric layer of the atmosphere that causes FM signals to travel hundreds of miles. It's most likely in the morning and evening, with September and October often the best months. It's not unusual for tropo conditions to last for several days over a wide area.

Meteor Scatter (Ms)

This mode of propagation is often the most frustrating, as the signals are so short-lived. It can affect the entire FM band, but it's best to park on an open frequency and see what happens. Ms usually will bring in signals in the 200-1,200 mile range. Most meteors that enter Earth's atmosphere burn up, leaving a visible trail. FM signals reflect off this trail, giving DXers usually anywhere from 1-10 seconds of audio. Obviously, it requires a lot of patience! During the big meteor showers, like the Perseids in August, you'll hear several signal bursts each minute.

Auroral Scatter (Au)

FM signals can actually reflect off the aurora borealis, with catches possible in the 300-800 mile range (and sometimes beyond). It's far more likely to be accessible to northern DXers. If you hear about a solar flare or increased solar activity, be on the lookout for Au. Signals by this mode tend to be slightly distorted.

EscapeVelocity · 07-19-2009, 09:15 AM

Here is a great site...

AudioTools.com

Its defunct company histories are great.

Piggie · 07-19-2009, 09:47 AM

Probably the weird propagation I have seen on VHF happened in 1989. The aurora was so strong you could actually see it here in North Florida. It was slightly visible as far south as Orlando. There was also a massive tropo opening that night. I was hearing 2 meter repeaters when I noticed it as far north as the Carolinas (146 MHz). Then I heard people taking about seeing the Aurora up there, I went outside and low and behold the northern half of my sky were blobs of color. Not the dancing fences you see but just like someone threw blobs of color on the sky.

I didn't have a 6m rig at the time but was talking to a guy I knew 25 east of me that was on the air talking up into Ohio and PA on tropo or something. The guys up north were hearing Canadians on Aurora skip (it has a weird echo sound). Then my buddy in Florida started hearing Candadians with that aurora sound, and exchanged call signs with several of them on 54 MHz.

But what is weird it was that one of the longest known Aurora openings? After all we could see the color blobs in Florida. Or was it tropo skip from Florida to the Ohio/Penn region then changed to Aurora for the rest of the trip into Canada?

We concluded it was not long Aurora skip. Because the stations in Ohio area didn't have the tell tale warble of Aurora skip, but the Canadian stations did. The guy in Florida that worked them recorded it and played it back to me over 146 MHz so I could hear it. Indeed it was most likely 2 part skip. And a LONGGGGGGGGGGG distance.

A few days later in the same tropo opening another guy I knew scored a contact from Florida to New Hampshire on 1296 MHz. Now that is a long long long skip for that band.

I have often said the hams need a 1 or 2 MHz of a band around 100 MHz or near the FM broadcast band.

Why? That band is at a frequency where you can experience just about every type of propagation. As the article above shows.


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