Topband: Long Delayed Echos?

[vy2mgy at sympatico.ca]

First off, in 30+ years on HF I have never once heard an LDE, let alone recorded one. And this LDE isn't on 160 BUT I know now they exist. Also one caveat before I continue - while I have both the recording and data buried in the closet, they are not right in front of me as I type this so my seconds may be off by a couple but the rest is bang on. 

 

last Dec I was in the RAC Winter contest on 20M CW at around 1530z ( I also have the exact time here somewhere but its not important at this point ) anyway I had just bought a digital recorder the previous month and was recording all of the contests I was in and this was one of them. Months later when I finally had time to listen to the recording I found there was about 15 - 20 seconds of my call + "RAC" and "TEST" also on the recording between my transmissions. The reason I never picked up on it during the contest was because I was really tired at the time and because it was s-o-o-o low in pitch - almost out of my passband -  that I disregarded it initially as just another station setting up shop close by and didn't even try to copy it as I was listening for Europe at the time and it was so low in frequency relative to me that there was no tone, just a "zzsst" instead of a dit or dah. And as it lasted only 10 - 15 seconds I forgot about it until I listened to it again very closely months later. The time between TX and LDE was, I believe , 24 seconds = 7,200,000 km. While I have absolutely no idea what happened to, or where, for 15 seconds, my signal went, and then returned so out of phase, I do know that I am now very open to LDE's!!

 

I'll take ideas, concerns, questions, or even flames....

 

73

Brian

VE3MGY


 
> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:22:45 -0700
> From: raoulcoetzee at yahoo.com
> To: k1uo at uninet.net; topband at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: Topband: Long Delayed Echos?
> 
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> ________________________________
> Larry said:
> 
> Sri the delay was about 7 seconds...not 15. I listened to this station for 
> about 15 minutes.
> 
> 73 Larry K1UO 
> 
> 
> I know nothing about how this but maybe it bounced back from an approaching 
> solar wind storm?
> lets see: 7 seconds to get the signal there and back would place the "reflecting 
> storm" at a distance of 7/2 seconds away from us that would mean a distance of 
> 300 000km/sec x 3.5 sec = 1 050 000 km.
> The solar wind speed now is about 400km per second, not sure what it was when 
> the LDE was observed,
> but if it was 400 km per second, and the storm hit the earth 30 minutes later, 
> it would mean that the front of the storm was
> about 400 x 60 x30 kilometers away, that would place it at the start of the 
> LDE's at about 720 000 Km.
> The error is 1050 000 - 720 000= 33 000 km, now maybe with the correct solar 
> speed and accurate distance calculations, based on accurate observing, it seems 
> possible, or not?Maybe the signal is not reflected from the front itself but 
> from somewhere deeper in the aproaching storm?
> 
> Now, lets wait for the flames from our very wise members!
> Kind regards,
> Raoul, ZS1REC
> 
> 
> 
> 
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