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Sunspots reach a gradual maximum every 11 years or so & this stimulates our ionosphere, which becomes highly ionized so that it acts as a 'mirror' reflector for terrestrial radio signals up to a maximum.
The next cycle, #25, max occurs July 2025.
So what else is new? It was a lot of fun during the last cycle & I heard a lot of interesting stuff that you usually can't hear: taxi dispatchers in Rio, Japanese hams after dark (early morning in Japan), rocket launchings at White Sands, Ft Hood Range Control, tanks doing training maneuvers, and a lot more.
I found it hard to believe that a small metal box called the SDRplay RSP2pro could do so much as a radio receiver & yet cost so little. See https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/getting-started-with-the-sdrplay-rsp2-and-sdruno
The little radio takes advantage of advanced digital technology that eliminates the need for large components like filters & transformers. It receives all modes (AM, FM, etc). Everything is controlled by the computer software called SDRuno.
The radio is controlled from your computer. The screen displays frequency information, a panoramic frequency display and a 'waterfall' spectrum analysis display. It will scan a section of spectrum defined by the frequency limits, & stop scanning for a programmed interval.
The wideband antenna that I'm visualizing would be a 90-foot long loop of low-loss coaxial cable hidden above the drop ceiling in my basement office area. I have the coax. This should work as 'skip' signals reflect off the ionosphere at steep downward angles.
See https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-017027
The next cycle, #25, max occurs July 2025.
So what else is new? It was a lot of fun during the last cycle & I heard a lot of interesting stuff that you usually can't hear: taxi dispatchers in Rio, Japanese hams after dark (early morning in Japan), rocket launchings at White Sands, Ft Hood Range Control, tanks doing training maneuvers, and a lot more.
I found it hard to believe that a small metal box called the SDRplay RSP2pro could do so much as a radio receiver & yet cost so little. See https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/getting-started-with-the-sdrplay-rsp2-and-sdruno
The little radio takes advantage of advanced digital technology that eliminates the need for large components like filters & transformers. It receives all modes (AM, FM, etc). Everything is controlled by the computer software called SDRuno.
The radio is controlled from your computer. The screen displays frequency information, a panoramic frequency display and a 'waterfall' spectrum analysis display. It will scan a section of spectrum defined by the frequency limits, & stop scanning for a programmed interval.
The wideband antenna that I'm visualizing would be a 90-foot long loop of low-loss coaxial cable hidden above the drop ceiling in my basement office area. I have the coax. This should work as 'skip' signals reflect off the ionosphere at steep downward angles.
See https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-017027
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