Amateur Radio - working on WAS - Worked All States … only 2 left! (48 States Confirmed)

Thanks for W0MRZ who was nice enough to come up on 3710 Khz, 75 Meters, this morning - in IA which is The State of Iowa …

I got another state for www.eqsl.cc eWAS - Worked All States. After this I only need UT - Utah and ND - North Dakota.

I also have 68 countries confirmed for contacts on Amateur Radio on the H.F. bands. Some contacts are on Digital Modes such as RTTY (Radio Teletype) and PSK31 …and the rest are on S.S.B. - Single Side Band … a form of A.M. Modulation with the AM Carrier and One Sideband supressed. I have awards in between for 31 and 51 countries … and I will eventually get the next eDX Award for 75 countries worked.

No, I don’t get any money for this But it’s certainly good for my geography knowledge - to say nothing for the Electronics and Radio knowledge that goes with the Ham Radio hobby. There is a certain satisfaction in having made 2-way radio contact, without any public or commercial communications infrastructure involve, with these numbers of locations in the U.S.A. and around the World.

Ionospheric propagation

(Practical Antenna Handbook Fourth Edition - Joseph J. Carr - 2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies)

Now let’s turn your attention to the phenomenon of skip communications. Ionospheric propagation is responsible for the ability to do intercontinental broadcasting and communications. Long-distance radio transmission is carried out on the highfrequency (HF) bands (3 to 30 MHz), also called the shortwave bands. These frequencies are used because of the phenomenon called skip. Under this type of propagation, the earth’s ionosphere acts as though it is a “radio mirror.” Although the actual phenomenon is based on refraction (not reflection, as is frequently believed), the appearance to the casual observer is that shortwave and low-VHF radio signals are reflected from the ionosphere. The actual situation is a little different. The key lies in the fact that this radio mirror is produced by ionization of the upper atmosphere. The upper portion of the atmosphere is called the ionosphere because it tends to be easily ionized by solar and cosmic radiation phenomena. 

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73 de KA4UDX,

Alan Spicer

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