Radio Reception - Things Can Only Get Better

We write this on a wet Sunday afternoon with nothing on the horizon but the deadline.

Nearly as dead as the radio. An AOR it may be, but it has been dragged down to the level of the competition by SID.

A Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance has killed radio propagation and the BBC World Service has, bless them, apologised for it. Sure, I can check its sensitivity and small-signal handling on what signals remain or try lower frequencies - but this SID is a big SID, so I shall leave the radio for later.

Looking for inspiration, I pick up an old logbook from the early eighties. The BBC are using 25650 to Africa and RSA reply on 25790. The one I remember well was VOA on an unbelievable 26040kHz. Up here, all on its own, no attempt was made to limit bandwidth from Greenville.

Hearing Willis Conover playing Jazz Classics in near-FM quality was what radio was all about. Sadly, both Willis and that exceptional 11 Metre outlet are no longer. But will we hear that sort of thing again?

Perhaps. All the physical evidence suggests we have started the long climb into Sunspot Cycle 24 and soon broadcasters could consider using 11 Metres again. In fact, all the congestion on the lower bands the AR7030 was designed to deal with, will get better as the broadcasters "spread out" to the higher bands.

So, here's to the future - and if you are a Transmission Planner, let us know how high you are going to go. On a wet Sunday at AOR, we are ready for the challenge.