[VHFcontesting] AU - How near for VHF prop ?

[N1BUG]

Hi Charles,

That is an interesting question which I can not answer. I 
hope someone else can.

However, I can tell you that a significant amount of aurora 
is completely "missed" in North America. I was not 
listening last night, but over the past few months there 
have been several occasions when W1XR/b was in quite strong 
on aurora and there was ZERO QSO activity taking place.

Perhaps this is related to [what I perceive as] a general 
decrease in routine VHF weak signal activity in the 
northeast. A decade or so ago, very few auroras were 
completely missed as there were several stations on every 
night CQing, lurking, waiting... and if the K index was 4 
or above they spent a lot of time CQ'ing with antennas 
pointed north in hope of catching a bit of aurora. It seems 
these days unless it is an unusually intense aurora, no one 
notices (or cares?). I don't know for sure what factors 
contribute to this, but I do know for certain many auroras 
capable of supporting 144 MHz contacts go by without any 
activity.

Not that I should talk about decreased activity! I've become 
scarce on the bands myself, except for contests and MAJOR 
propagation events!

73,
Paul N1BUG




On Wednesday 20 October 2004 12:44 pm, 
Charles.Morrison at apcc.com wrote:
> Aurora range question:
>
> The noaa.gov site states
>  " ( Keep in mind that aurora can still be viewed when
> it's position is 4 to 5 degrees of latitude away from the
> viewer,
>             although it will appear [at ] about 20
> degrees above the horizon.)"
>
> Q: >>>>How far away from the visual Aurora can VHF QSOs
> be made ?<<<< By degrees or miles/km.
>
>
>
>       According to the link on the N1BUG page, there was
> some aurora down to about 59degrees latitude last night.
> But, no spots were found for NA VHF QSOs.
>
>
> Charles Morrison
>
> Amateur Radio callsign: N1RR
>
> http://www.apc.com