WA5IYX
San Antonio, TX


April 17, 1979     2010-2044 z


re: South American Ch A2  F2  reception


-had antenna nw still as CA Ch 2 Es in less than 30 minutes prior
 and noticed the weird fade-in of another signal (very poor video
 with low contrast, only the    outlines of the highest-contrast
 items at first); a short time later it looked as though a horizontal
 resolution test pattern was being run (i.e., sets of vertical bars
 of differeing size and spacing) (it later turned out that it was
 multi-path ghosting of the horizontal blanking period, the "side"
 frame of the video)

-as the video improved it was realized it was a Latin American
 soap opera, still thought to be Es from Mexico at this point the
 audio was turned up ... no audio.

-turned antenna s.e. and signal rose (though not as much as expected)
 and it finally got thru to me what was going on ... F2 from South
 America.

 (50-MHz had been exhibiting good F2 backscatter since 1930z or so
 and direct F2 signals there had come from a maritime-mobile at
 87w 7s as well as Ecuador and Colombia, but things there didn't
 look that super - like the March 8, 1970 magnetic storm that last
 brought in any Ch 2 F2 (that time with audio but 4 or 5 stations))

-Ch 2 signal had very slow fading but the multi-path ghosting and
 smearing made the many high contrast Spanish words that showed up
 on video impossible to read; guess MUF into 57-58 MHz range but
 never even a trace of audio

-around  2040z a definite fade trend set-in with the signal literally
 dissolving around 2044z

-all the while this information was being announced on 28.885 MHz
 to see if anyone else was getting this, but apparently the information
 fell largely on unappreciative ears

-best analogy to the ghosting here is what is      noticed with local
 UHF Ch 41 when the antenna is moved away enabling many multi-path
 signals to appear

-the TV is normally not run during the F2 periods  as the 40-45 MHz
 unshielded i.f. radiates badly into my nearby SX-62, so perhaps
 other instances of this may have been missed recently (if not for
 the earlier Es the set would never had been on at that time).


 73, Pat
     WA5IYX


-p.s., obviously I'd like to hear about others who noticed this
       event (or similar ones at other times)


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Page created: December 3, 1998
Last modified: January 25, 2002