Topband: Moon and the Ionosphere : YO3FFF

[Carl K9LA]

Cris,

> One wonders if we will ever find a conclusive answer.

I agree - trying to separate out any effect of the moon from other 
variables will likely prove to be very difficult.

> If couple of us want to answer to the question than should set-up an 
> experiment! One or two beacons of high power (or about 100-200W) and 
> couple of reception points. The propagation path should be choose in 
> order to achieve a DX propagation in all direction of interest and 
> also a short direction just for having an imagine of the first 
> reflection (the distance should be beyond the ground wave action). 
> Also could be a good idea to record the beacon on a middle range to 
> see if some ducting could appear. This experiment should carry on for 
> at least one year to be relevant.

This could also be done with exisiting low frequency BC beacons that are 
there every day - for example, a W6 listening to an Asian beacon every 
day at the same time for a year as you suggested. To keep the experiment 
simple and controlled, I believe it is preferrable to have a path that 
stays away from the higher latitudes to minimize geomagnetic field 
effects (just another variable to contaminate the data you're after).

Carl K9LA