tommyknocker wrote in message ...
Mark Zenier wrote:

In article , tommyknocker wrote:
I had my radio and antenna in a "dead spot". It was a convenient spot,
but it diminished my reception. Moving both antenna and radio fixed the
problem, for the most part. Now can anyone tell me why 19m is dead? I
can barely hear South Korea on 15575 (9560 booms in) and I can't hear
Australia at all on 15515, so much so that I'm wondering if Passport has
the freq wrong (wouldn't be the first time) I could hear them earlier on
21740 then weaker but there on 17795.

I've written off 15515 (and pretty much all of 15 MHz) as a "it's
that time of the year" condition. It was coming in a bit at 06:00
or thereabouts last night here, but it's often gone and only 13630 is
working until the 9580/9590 pair comes online at 08:00. If you want
to try 15515, also try 15240 and 15160. They run two tracks on
weekends for sports and there's usually one of each of the Grandstand
program and the main schedule. 15415 is also Radio Aus., but its
aimed more to the west (I think it's targeted at Asia).

Australia heard here in Sacramento on 15515 around 0159 sign on. Signal
quality was intelligible at first but got progressively worse, leading
me to turn the radio off at 0215. Not sure of interference was manmade
or natural. I also heard 15160 at 0400 last night with a listenable
signal. I haven't had any luck with 13630 or any of Oz's sub-15Mhz freqs
(9660, 12080). In the morning their 49m and 41m freqs come in, but with
a lot of interference. It's probably related to the fact that it's
summer down under.

Sometimes here on the West Coast, in the middle of the night, the only
english language signal you can get is RNZI. When there's bad space
weather, even the bible thumpers in the lower bands go away.

A lot of the bible thumpers operate outside the accepted band limits.
WWCR (I think) even has a spot in the 3Mhz range, even though they're
not supposed to be there. I guess the FCC is too busy chasing indecency
on TV and talk radio to care about a few SW broadcasters who are out of
band. The bible thumpers also operate on lower freqs, meaning that
they're subsceptible to bad space weather and in summer to the
thunderstorm QRN that's down there.

Everyone needs to understand that reception can vary widely from day
to day, from day to night, and from band to band. Some times of day
and on some days, 15 MHz is great here on the West Coast US, and other
times it stinks. Same with every other band. I have been hearing
Australia like they're in my bedroom late nights on good old 9,580
khz, all the way to morning when other freqs take over the lead spot.
Some days, Sri Lanka and Thailand and Papua-New Guinea (Port Moresby)
and Botswana come in loud and clear - others they do not, but maybe to
be replaced by many Brazilians and etc.

There are two ways to conduct listening. One is determine when and
where by keeping careful track of various propagation conditions and
station schedules using printed and internet resources. The other is
by catch-as-catch-can, using basic knowledge about "the higher the
sun, the higher the frequency." Either one will deliver some results.

It's true, right now reception is not its all-time best. There is
also the 11-year solar cycle that plays a significant role in altering
propagation, and we're shortly about to hit the "deep null" - or most
mediocre reception. There are still good days, but they are fewer.
Patience will be rewarded, though, when the cycle goes on the upswing
again in 3 or 4 years.

Best to you,
Bruce Jensen