It's funny, it's kind of similar to walkie talkie transmissions in the summer. They can get tunneled through the troposphere and suddenly you are talking to people you never expected to contact.
A couple summers ago I was out in my yard, called out randomly on my little 5W handheld, and the signal went just over 8 miles through flat, forested city neighborhoods into the back end of a guy's directional antenna on his house. We had a good laugh at that. I've run tests in the neighborhood and I'm usually lucky to get out a single mile.
During the same season I also like that I can pick up Indian music from an FM radio station 150+ miles south of me (KSJO), using a small pocket radio. Searching around for those signals is also kind of like fishing.
Anyway. I think it's pretty neat how different seasonal conditions change the dynamics of a hobby interest or a science.
It's funny, it's kind of similar to walkie talkie transmissions in the summer. They can get tunneled through the troposphere and suddenly you are talking to people you never expected to contact.
A couple summers ago I was out in my yard, called out randomly on my little 5W handheld, and the signal went just over 8 miles through flat, forested city neighborhoods into the back end of a guy's directional antenna on his house. We had a good laugh at that. I've run tests in the neighborhood and I'm usually lucky to get out a single mile.
During the same season I also like that I can pick up Indian music from an FM radio station 150+ miles south of me (KSJO), using a small pocket radio. Searching around for those signals is also kind of like fishing.
Anyway. I think it's pretty neat how different seasonal conditions change the dynamics of a hobby interest or a science.