[IRCA] Dead band conditions last night in Indiana. Au?

[midcapemarc@xxxxxxxxxxx (Marc DeLorenzo)]

Dave,

Your observations are quite typical of Auroral conditions at an inland location.  Basically, no skywave is received until about 2 hours after local sunset.  However, I have to disagree with one part of your post, in which you quoted two other DXers:

 " Two people mentioned a "blackout" on the AM band, where only local stations would come in and even they would be weak even during the day ..."

It has been my observation over many years that daytime groundwave reception is NOT affected by Auroral conditions.  Daytime groundwave is the same during Auroral conditions as during periods of solar quiet.

73,

Marc DeLorenzo
South Dennis, MA
http://hometown.aol.com/midcapemarc/myhomepage/profile.html


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS" <DAVID.HASCALL@xxxxxxxx>
> Over on the IRCA list, there were lots of discussions about groundwave
> propagation and what the Solar figures mean.  Finally the discussion
> turned to what would happen if the K and A numbers went off of the
> scale.  Two people mentioned a "blackout" on the AM band, where only
> local stations would come in and even they would be weak even during the
> day (like they were on reduced nighttime power).
> 
> Last night was not a blackout in the truest sense but I listened on
> every radio that I had at hand and I thought that every last one was
> broken!  At 2030 EDT (just after LSS) the clears from 1000-1200 KHz
> only had two stations, local WFNI and a super weak WTAM.  Normally every
> channel would have SOMETHING (signals and or IBOC).  900-1000 KHz had a
> weak 980-OH WONE at about 100 miles and the local on 950.  No Chicago
> stations at all (890, 720 nor 670) and WCBS at about 10 percent of its
> normal strength, easily the furthest signal.  Even the SRF-59, on which
> the regional channels normally sound like graveyard channels, those
> bands were eerily quiet.  There was some lightning crashes but other
> than those and a few locals, it was an odd kind of quiet.  Had it not
> been raining and foggy, I bet that I could have seen aurora, low in the
> sky, even this far South.  I did not check FM or TV for Au cx.
> 
> Finally by 2230 the conditions improved w/ Reloj loud on 570 and most of
> the NYC stations were loud and clear.  Even then Chicago and WCCO were
> only weakly in.  For a switch, WGR and WABC were three times as strong
> as WBBM, though WBBM is less than 200 miles away.  WGR was one of the
> loudest on the dial.
> 
> 73,
> Dave in Indy

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