• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Is tropo better in morning and evening than mid day

M

Mid West Clubber

Guest
When at myrtle beach I was easily able to get stations from up to 200 miles away with a clear signal, but like clockwork they were there every morning till about noon, and then got really week until about 6or 7 PM,, is this making sense. late nights were reliable for tropo too,, one day I woke up at like 3 AM, and i was getting CHR station BOB 93.3 from New Bern N.C at 220 miles away,, sounding like it was next door. Signal stayed clear and reliable till about 11 pm the next day, and reappeared about 7 PM the next night.
 
This is the normal trend for tropo. Put simply, the temperature inversions generally form as cooling occurs in the evening, and strengthen through the morning until daytime heating occurs. In my (limited) experience, I've noticed the peak is around sunrise.

This can vary - last week with the long-haul tropo here, the tropo didn't begin until the early morning (4-5 AM) hours, and lasted a few hours through sunrise. Also, I've seen reports of trans-gulf tropo in coastal areas through the midday and afternoon hours, generally during the stronger tropo events.
 
Generally, mid-day is the worst....but in 2006 from the FL Keys, freak Tropo from PR & Dominican Republic came in, beginning with Mega 95.1 whose reception lasted 20 min. 1000 miles or so! Began around 2 pm!

cd
 
Yes, in most cases of tropo, that is the pattern. The high sun often raises the temperature at all levels and you may lose the duct for a while. However, as pointed out above, there are plenty of exceptions to this. I'll give another. Quite a few times, I've experienced ducting that brings FM signals from western Michigan (Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, etc.) into Chicago's N and NW suburbs. Those signals travel from their home markets, across more than 60 miles of Lake Michigan, then over a few more miles of land to get here. The tropospheric ducts which enable them to make that journey are formed over the lake - and are associated with the difference between the lake temperature and that of the air above. During the spring, the lake is cold and the overlying air is warm - but lower layers are cooled by the lake. The inversion is actually strongest during the afternoon hours. So, I've noticed tropo that is at its best around 2 or 3 pm and which fades by 6 pm.

In other words, unlike what happens when AM signals bounce off layers in the ionosphere at night, there's no hard and fast rule about tropo. Though it's most common early in the morning and later at night (when relative humidity is highest), there are plenty of exceptions to this and the reason for the phenomena has less to do with whether there's daylight and more to do with specific atmospheric conditions.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom