Head's up - strong radio aurora starting (1945 GMT)

Strong auroral radio signals staring again, as per last night, but
mostly cloudy this time in Plymouth, so little chance to see anything.

Andy.
--
Andy Smith

Andy wrote:

Strong auroral radio signals staring again, as per last night, but
mostly cloudy this time in Plymouth, so little chance to see anything.

Andy.

What does it sound like? Is it more crackly or is there a pattern? And
on which waveband - LW?

Curious.

Kay

What does it sound like? Is it more crackly or is there a pattern? And
on which waveband - LW?

Curious.

Kay

You usually listen to the carrier frequency of a distant European TV
station somewhere between 48 and 77 MHz. Normally you would hear
sporadic E signals during the summer days, which just sound like tones
and whistles, and occasional meteor reflections which are pings or
rapidly descending tones. Auroral signals suffer from fast changing
Doppler effects which rapidly alter the frequency of the tone. Depending
how bad it is, the signal can sound like shash or noise, or just a very
wobbly tone. Looking at the spectrum plot I just posted should give you
an idea of what I mean.

Andy.
--
Andy Smith

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:54:32 +0000, Andy wrote:

Strong auroral radio signals staring again, as per last night, but
mostly cloudy this time in Plymouth, so little chance to see anything.

Andy.


Some of the weather sat images show a possible clearer patch coming
through from the south west (probably more wish full thinking)! Andy,
let us know if it starts to clear your way!! see:
http://meteosat.e-technik.uni-ulm.de...&D.x=96&D.y=29

Some of the weather sat images show a possible clearer patch coming
through from the south west (probably more wish full thinking)! Andy,
let us know if it starts to clear your way!! see:

Thanks David. Sky is clear in Plymouth now - hints of another burst
starting again. In fact, huge Doppler this time - signal 200Hz wide,
though not too strong yet. Going out to look now!

Andy.
--
Andy Smith

Andy wrote:


What does it sound like? Is it more crackly or is there a pattern? And
on which waveband - LW?

Curious.

Kay

You usually listen to the carrier frequency of a distant European TV
station somewhere between 48 and 77 MHz. Normally you would hear
sporadic E signals during the summer days, which just sound like tones
and whistles, and occasional meteor reflections which are pings or
rapidly descending tones. Auroral signals suffer from fast changing
Doppler effects which rapidly alter the frequency of the tone. Depending
how bad it is, the signal can sound like shash or noise, or just a very
wobbly tone. Looking at the spectrum plot I just posted should give you
an idea of what I mean.

Andy.

Yes I get the idea. Listening to it sends shivers down your spine and
brings on a huge grin. Thanks.

Kay