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October 1967 Popular Electronics
Table of Contents
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from
Popular Electronics,
published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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Sporadic E skip is an upper atmosphere phenomenon whereby the "E" layer is ionized to
where certain radio frequency (RF) wavelengths are refracted to the degree that
they are bent back down towards the earth's surface rather than exiting into space. It
facilitates long distance (DX) communications to areas not normally available otherwise. Amateur radio operators (Hams) have exploited sporadic E skip for
nearly as long as there has been Ham operators - even before anyone knew for certain
that the upper atmosphere could be ionized. Thus far there is no concrete correlation
between sunspot activity and sporadic E propagation, although sunspots definitely
have other profound effects on propagation when highly energetic electrons released
from the sun's photoshpere interact with molecules in the ionosphere. Strategic transmission and reception with
directional antennas can result in amazing contact distances. During episodes of
strong Sporadic E
activity, FM radio stations, VHF television channels, and CB radio transmission are heard
from hundreds of miles away.
Squires Sanders CB Ad
 CB'ers ...
Skip Is Legal On The Ham Bands ...
in fact, Amateur Radio is based on the intelligent use of natural phenomena to achieve
distant communications with relatively low power. Increased sun-spot activity in the
next couple of years will bring tremendous propagation opportunities - like worldwide
contacts on ten meters ... tropospheric bending (predictable from an ordinary weather
map) brings exciting surprises on two meters ... Sporadic E skip gets you miles and miles
and miles with little power on six meters ... and more! And that is not all that you
have going for you ... there are no time restrictions ... less crowding ... more frequency
bands ... more legal power ... and greater satisfaction because your knowledge of propagation
permits you to plan your contacts. It is all out in the open ... you can give the man
your right name and your call without getting a pink ticket for a chaser.
You can get into ham radio easily and quickly (our buck says it will take you only
30 days ... 45 max.). The technical requirements for a Novice license are simple. The
test can be administered by a qualified licensee in your own neighborhood. Available
licensing book - lets lay it all out on a silver platter for you. SURE, we know about
the code test, but man, five words - 25 characters - a MINUTE ... that's less than a
minute's worth of notes in a dreamy waltz!
Start it off with a Squires-Sanders 22'er (two-way voice privileges on two meters
for Novices) ... for sixty days we will throw in a free license manual and a code learning
record. If you want to go all out, apply for the Technician License ... a little more
complex technical test (you can do it) and the same easy five word code exam ... permits
privileges on other bands - like 6 meter two-way voice.
22'er - 20 watts of high quality two meter AM phone transceiver ... only $249.95.
66'er - 22 watts of same for six meters ... same free manual and record ... same price.
OK, OK ... so your only interest in highy intelligible local communications for your
personal business ... your truck .... your boat ... your car ... then go buy the 23'er
all transistor 23 channel 5 watt CB transceiver for a modest $235.00 or the 5 channel
S5S for $185.00. But, please, just talk to momma ... or the office ... or call H.E.L.
P.
Squires-Sanders
See your distributor or write today for details. Squires-Sanders , Inc., Box 319 A
, Millington, New Jersey, 07946
Posted November 9, 2018
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