[BC] Snow.blizzard fading?

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

There are places in the US, and certainly in other countries as well, that do not seem to comply with normal radio propagation characteristics. They are called "radio quiet zones" and the government even takes advantage of these spots to site special radio receivers.

It is interesting that along highway 50 out of Grand Junction, Colorado going towards Nevada City, there are places where NOTHING can be heard on an automobile radio, neither AM nor FM! It is as though all signals from everywhere, ground-wave, sky-wave, and even tropospheric ducting all cancel out at these spots.

Suppose that you were at a location where ground-wave and sky-wave was just about to cancel out, but then a snowstorm provided the right amount of attenuation, reflection, or scattering to make the signal cancel. You would then correctly claim that the snowstorm caused fading. It is likely that this kind of phenomena is the effect you observe.

Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Dunsmoor" <mrfixit at min.midco.net>

> I have not heard of this particular phenomenon in that area before.
Playing the odds, I will assume this is along I-80
> near North Platte. ...
> I have experienced the fading phenomenon out farther,(129 Mi. at Ogallala)
which corresponds to our skywave
> "bounce" area.

    Some years ago, I was contacted by a guy in Nebraska who was engineering
for a station on 880. His internet search for information on ground radials
led him to me (someway). I gave him some ideas and methods, then never heard
back as to whether he still had troubles, moved on, or what.

Dave Dunsmoor