e-skip | The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Alan, who shares this Radio World piece which explores the fascinating world of long-distance FM reception via sporadic-E (E-skip), including rare double-hop events: Double-Hop Dreams and the Mystery of Long-Distance FM

A great read for anyone interested in the world of VHF propagation!

Alan also shared these resources:

Australian Bureau of Meteorology – Propagation Modes: Learn about various propagation mechanisms, including transequatorial propagation.
HeyWhatsthat.com Path Profiler: Calculate great-circle paths, view terrain profiles, and check Fresnel zones. Ideal for evaluating DX paths and terrain obstructions.
FCC FM Query: Look up FM station data, including transmitter location, ERP, and HAAT—helpful for assessing potential reception range, even for low-power stations.

Thanks, Alan!

(Source: Inverse)

Thanks to NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission to Mars, you may soon never need to fiddle with the tuning dial on a car radio again.

When we listen to songs on the radio, the sound travels via radio waves that are given out by a transmitter and then received by a receiver — in the case of a car, the car’s antenna is the receiver.

Radio waves travel in the form of electromagnetic radiation from one antenna to the other. The journey, however, isn’t always perfect.

Sometimes, there is a sudden spike in the amount of hot gas in the upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere which causes interference in radio communications. If you are tuned into a favorite station, that could result in static, or for one radio station to be replaced by another.

This phenomenon, known as sporadic E layer, is difficult to study on Earth because that part of the planet’s atmosphere is hard to reach with satellites. As a result, scientists can’t predict when they will occur — leaving us to fiddle with dials.

But thanks to MAVEN, a spacecraft traveling 300 million miles away from our planet, we could finally have the solution.

MAVEN detected sporadic E layer in Mars’ upper atmosphere, and scientists are hoping to be able to use the Red Planet as an off-Earth laboratory to study the phenomenon up close. Already, the data have provided new insights into the cause of radio static, which also affects communications with aircrafts and military radars.[…]