Hello all,
I listened to Channel Africa on 15.265mhz yesterday, February 12, 2004
from
1800 to 1954 UTC. The signal ended very abruptly, no fading on this one.
Passport lists the station as broadcasting from Meyerton. A glance at a
Brittanica Atlas shows Meyerton to be somewhere near Johannesberg South
Africa.
Passport also lists the intended area of broadcast as Central and West
Africa at 500KW. I was picking it up extremely clear with a radio shack
longwire clamped around my whip antenna. I have the antenna, approx 7 to
8
meters in length, approx 4 meters above the ground from a window to a tree
branch and facing in a northeastely direction. I reside just a few miles
southwest of Philadelphia, PA.
Is it possible that I was listening to a signal that is maybe 8 to 10
thousand
miles away? If anyone knows the exact distance could you share that
information?
I am relatively new to shortwave so this would be my first real long
catch.
My meter is digital on a Grundig Satellit 700 and is graded from 1 to 5.
I was
recieving a strong 4+. The signal was extremely clear. I unplugged the
RCA
jack from the antenna where it slips over my whip antenna and the signal
all
but disappeared. I could barely make it out over very low static, the
volume
dropped considerably.
After what seems like eons listening to static and fading signals it would
feel
very satisfying if this is the real McCoy.
Any comments are greatly appreciated.
Neil
I don't think there is much doubt as to what you heard - good
catch. Hearing a signal from halfway around the world is not uncommon
in shortwave. A lot of factors figure in: Your radio, your antenna,
and it's setup, time of day (by frequency) and what is loosely called
"prop", or propagation conditions, which is affected by everything from
the sunspot cycle to earthbound weather and ground conditions.
When things click just right, it's not uncommon to hear a station
from as far away from you as it can get on this planet to come in like a
suburban AM station.
Does it happen more often with a top-notch receiver and antenna setup?
Yes, but not as much more frequently as you might think. Can anything
make it happen more frequently? Yes! MORE FREQUENT LISTENING!
Putting in the time, regardless of your receiver/antenna setup is what
stretches your list of great catches. That list will grow faster with
the top end gear, sure, but it's by no means impossible with a more
modest setup.
As long as I've been listening (a long time, indeed), it still makes
me marvel
when I consider that, based on the directionality of the transmitter I
am hearing,
I am hearing a signal that traveled to me from over the North Pole. It
shouldn't - radio waves don't care what direction they are traveling,
and one route is as good as another - but that's part of the "romance"
of the hobby.
The Old Guy
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