MAY 1974
Hank Holbrook, 7211 Chestnut St., Chevy Chase, MD 20015; QSLed, GMT
6-14: 0104, KIK 982 37.30 Bonifay, FL (sheriff; also Car 73)
9-3: 1616, N4080J 122.8 ov Easton, MD (Flight Training, Inc.;
Cessna 150; single-engine, 2-seat)
1-1: 2031, KAB 216 37.10 Ames, IA (police, 100 watts)
2035, KAB 204 37.10 Keokuk, IA (police, 100 watts)
2049, KAI 795 37.10 Knoxville, IA (police)
2056, KAA 486 37.10 Sigourney, IA (sheriff)
2: 2004, KRZ 342 37.04 Truman, AR (police; 180 watts)
2011, KSK 922 37.04 Harrisburg, AR (sheriff; 180 watts)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, my loggings. Hallicrafters SX-62 with two 30' wires at 12' (nw-se
and ne-sw runs); all are F2 unless noted, * F2 backscatter; daily peak
F2 MUF noted for US and foreign if 30 MHz or more; 50-MHz loggings on
Swan 250 with 3-element CushCraft horizontal Yagi at 15'; GMT used
3-13: 1900, 37.00 Sp 22: 0520, KSJ 815 (Es) 3: 2040, 33.00 Sp
14: 1945, 37.00 Sp 2058, 37.62 4: 0102, KQD 313 (Es)
15: 1650, 35.28 Sp 23: 2000, 36.55 Sp 0146, L Beach (Es)
16: 2055, 50.02 Sp 24: 1700, 36.45 Sp 0440, KQC 877 (Es)
17: 1915, 37.00 Sp 25: 2110, 35.28 Sp 1937, 37.00
18: 2055, 37.00 Sp 26: 1745, 31.21 rtty 5: 1753, 37.00
2332, KLF 527 27: 0115, KIY 508 (Es) 6: 1810, 43.70
19: 1637, Los Ang (Es) 1643, Los Ang (Es) 7: 1955, 43.10
2300, 36.90 Sp 1713, L Beach (Es) 8: 1802, KMA 829 (Es)
20: 2233, KLF 527 1724, KMA 829 (Es) 1832, L Beach (Es)
2245, 42.30 1804, S Diego (Es) 1850, Los Ang (Es)
2343, KGP 720 1850, KME 438 (Es) 1918, KFJ 891 (Es)
21: 0112, KDN 407 (Es) 1905, KIN 645 (Es) 2330, 41.01
0115, KAQ 606 (Es) 1907, KIF 651 (Es) 9: 2127, 45.20
2030, US 31 + 2125, 35.28 Sp 10: 1838, 43.70
2105, 50.237 28: 0120, KLF 527 2212, KMA 829 *
2110, WB4NDT * 2030, 33.00 Sp 11: 2000, 45.90
2146, KLF 527 29: 1955, 31.26 Sp 2305, KMA 829 *
22: 0313, KMA 829 (Es) 30: 2135, 31.21 2325, KKI 445 *
0315, KFJ 891 (Es) 4-1: 1828, 35.28 Sp 12: 1945, 42.30
0446, KSC 645 (Es) 2032, KFL 943 (Es) (add: 4-2: 1920, 30+ Sp)
The night of the midwest tornadoes (Apr 3-4) very heavy 37-MHz activity
(mostly police and utility company crews) was in from the stricken area.
New ID's from some rather ancient loggings: (cst)
KQL 885, 33.--, Montville, CT (fire): 11-8-70: 0945; 17: 1135;
12-8: 1432; 3-15-72: 1029; 27: 1634; 10-22: 1419; 29: 1115
KRO 266, 33.78, Lacey Township, NJ (fire): 11-22-70: 1455
KDX 459, 33.50, Medway, MA (fire): 11-28-70: 1340
KSV 810, 33.08, Portland, OR (Emanuel Hospital): 3-15-72: 1224;
10-7: 1015; 10: 1520; 11-9: 1245; 18: 1320; 20: 1320. 21: 1154;
22: 1201; 24: 1240; 26: 1313; 27: 1229; 28: 1244; 2-2-73: 1413;
16: 1532; 20: 1700; 10-27: 1645; 11-4: 1645
KRS 250, 33.04, Martinez, CA (county): 12-29-72: 1305; 11-24-73: 1340
KDU 456, 33.08, Redwood City, CA (Mercy Ambulance): 12-29-72: 1330
KDZ 385, 33.08 Colma, CA (Mercy Ambulance): 12-29-72: 1330
More recently, a lot of h.f. harmonics have been logged, mostly unID.
With help from Glenn Hauser some of them are being resolved -
3-7-74: 2000z, BBC 30.52 Ascension Island (relay)
VHF UTILITY DX MAY 1974 KAQ 606 35.58 Denver, CO KMA 829 35.58 San Diego, CA KDN 407 35.22 Col Springs, CO KME 438 35.22 Orange, CA KFJ 891 35 + Columbus, OH KQC 877 35 + Cincinnati, KFL 943 35.58 Las Vegas, NM ** KQD 313 35.50 Dayton, OH KGP 720 33.70 Petersham, MA-f KSC 645 35.58 Chicago, IL KIF 651 35.58 Fort Lauderdale, FL KSJ 815 35.22 Fort Wayne, IN KIN 645 43.22 Miami, FL WB4NDT 50.1 Ft Lauderdale, FL-a KIY 508 35.22 Orlando, FL * - 35.58 Long Beach, CA * KKI 445 35.58 Houston, TX - 35.38 Los Angeles, CA-mp KLF 527 35.22 Honolulu, HI ** - 35.46 San Diego, CA-mp a-amateur; f-fire; mp-mobile phone; rest are tone pagers, except * voice and ** tone messages, voice ID. 4-8 logging of Los Angeles on 35.46 channel also, 3-27: 1733, KMD 934 42.34 El Centro, CA (state police) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following table was last run in the May 1973 column, & is a con- densed version of previously run ones (Aug 1970 and July of 1971, 1972) From it various relations of Es skip distances and MUF's can be arrived at. These are the M-factors for a non-tilted Es patch at 105 km using the 'Secant Law'. 1400: 1.000 1000: 1.062 600: 1.380 200: 3.087 1300: 1.004 900: 1.105 500: 1.566 150: 3.681 1200: 1.015 800: 1.166 400: 1.849 100: 4.423 1100: 1.033 700: 1.254 300: 2.304 50: 5.207 To use this, suppose you have 40-MHz skip down to 600 miles, then the 1420-mile skip (the maximum for the height assumed here) should be 40 x 1.38 = 55.2 MHz. Recall that the Es must be near the path midpoint, so getting short skip in the 30-50 MHz range will not always give you TV skip. By plotting the above on graph paper, intermediate distance can be interpolated for. From this minimum skip distances for frequencies below the MUF can be found. Additional explanations and data (same as noted in May 1973) for those interested are available for an s.a.s.e. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the first part of April solar levels reached up to their highest since early last fall. However, the lack of any strong geomagnetic disturbances limited the ionospheric effects. The over-50 MHz MUF's of March 16 and 21 came with a lot less on the sun and were very unexpected. There is some apparent debate as to the current phase of the sunspot cycle, i.e., has it reached minimum yet or what. Previous predictions have the minimum projected in the late summer of 1975. Based on my own observations of the latter stages of Cycle 19 (1962-1964) this seems still reasonable. In looking to the next Cycle (Cycle 21) and it s level, the important consideration is just how fast it climbs out of the minimum. Cycle 20 (min. fall 1964) did not develop much life until 1966 (even though the first Cycle 20 spots were on in August of 1962!) and the maximum it reached was far below that of the prior peak (1957-8). With all this in mind, the coming fall F2 season is likely to be the poorest since 1964. Thus, any F2 DX loggings in 30-50 MHz will be rare specimens for most of the US. In the meantime, the early signs of Es indicate a rather healthy season for VHF DX propagation. 73,
WA5IYX