Groundwave Reception

[Schroedingers Cat]

I was up by Boyne Highlands back in the mid 1980s and couldn't hear anything except groundwave. Not even WWL or Central America or the Caribbean. I could actually hear groundwave from WTAC 600 from Flint, now WSNL, that night, before WCHT was using it's PSSA with 134 watts. No Radio Moscow on 600 either. Also got quite a few that same year from 40 miles away in SE Michigan at night that were usually buried in interference. Of course, the Class IVs/Class C's were all there nearly alone, except where two groundwaves were present on one channel, like WQBH and WSAM.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Couple of questions for David here ......

You've spent lots of time in South America. Had you ever noticed Auroral conditions affecting signals from places like Panama, Colombia and Venezuela?
(And I'd conclude that if one were to venture detectably south of the Equator on that continent that the SOUTHERN Lights would affect reception, in an inverse direction, no? If so, perhaps a huge simultaneous display of both the Aurora Australis AND the Aurora Borealis would result in some incredible conditions -- perhaps approaching what OP Mario had inquired).

Question 2:
Aside from Brazil, what other countries in SA speak Portuguese?
Reason I ask is that I heard what I thought was a Spanish-speaking station on 1600 one night, and brought a tape of it into the station where I worked, along with a fellow who did a Spanish hour -- Reyes Burgos. Ray listened for a while, played it back, played it back again, and told me it wasn't Spanish. It was Portuguese.

* * * * * * *

No Aurora last night in these parts. Loud as heck on the car radio into town was Plattsburgh NY on 960, with many mentions of the Boston Celtics Network and '98.5'. That last threw me off until I realized that '98.5' was WBZ-FM. So WEAV was merely simulcasting the Boston flagship.
Also, they may have forgotten to change to the nighttime pattern, hi

 

[davideduardo]

You've spent lots of time in South America. Had you ever noticed Auroral conditions affecting signals from places like Panama, Colombia and Venezuela?

Generally, I have never heard of Auroral conditions within the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn. While auroras in the far Northern or Southern Hemispheres might affect communication to and from those zones, I never noticed auroral conditions. The only place I lived in that zone where I had the ability to judge conditions was Ecuador, where I had a loop and an HQ 180 and occasional use of a 100 meter vertical antenna, too. But in that case, I was right on the Equator and, while I noticed good and bad DX nights, I never could relate them to auroral activities.

Aside from Brazil, what other countries in SA speak Portuguese?

None. However, the Papiamento of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, which is a mix of Spanish, English and Dutch, can be a confusing tongue. As is the Hindi spoken in Suriname.

 

[semoochie]

Generally, I have never heard of Auroral conditions within the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn. While auroras in the far Northern or Southern Hemispheres might affect communication to and from those zones, I never noticed auroral conditions. The only place I lived in that zone where I had the ability to judge conditions was Ecuador, where I had a loop and an HQ 180 and occasional use of a 100 meter vertical antenna, too. But in that case, I was right on the Equator and, while I noticed good and bad DX nights, I never could relate them to auroral activities.



None. However, the Papiamento of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, which is a mix of Spanish, English and Dutch, can be a confusing tongue. As is the Hindi spoken in Suriname.

I always thought that Surinam was the former name of Dutch Guiana but it appears that the names at least were interchangeable, if not now. The "e" was apparently added in 1978.