5 ms·

Well the northeast mountains have a ton of iron in the rocks is my theory. It makes it almost line of sight for signal. I use to live in Connecticut and it was

Well the northeast mountains have a ton of iron in the rocks is my theory. It makes it almost line of sight for signal. I use to live in Connecticut and it was HORRIBLE. Living in PA it is so much better. When I travel through to my In-laws in WV we get no internet signal for about 2.5 hours. That has to be due to the low population in Western Maryland.

whatshisface 8y ago
Iron ore is neither conducive nor magnetic.
- hexane360 8y ago
  Well, magnetite (Fe3O4) is, but you're right that its a silly theory to use to explain poor signal. For one, signal would have to be able to penetrate a decent amount underground in the first place, which it can't.
- baldfat 8y ago
  Yes and since it isn't conductive it causes for weak radio signal. Source - My Dad is an old HAM Radio operator.
  - irq 8y ago
    Ham is not capitalized. It’s not an initialism or an acronym.
    - techsupporter 8y ago
      For some OFs (old farts), HAM is written as all uppercase because of the (apocryphal) story of the a station being operated under the "HAM" call sign by Albert Hyman, Bob Almy, and Peggie Murray that came to stand for all of "ham radio" because they made an impassioned plea against a bill in Congress that would have revoked the frequency allocations for all of amateur radio and given them over to the military. Further, since call signs are always written in uppercase (WRR-FM, KIRO-AM, KBTC-TV), some hams are apt to write the name of the hobby as HAM out of habit/solidarity. So while you're technically right that "ham" is more of "ham-fisted" or "what a ham" variety, you're not following the internal culture.
      - irq 8y ago
        This is false. Sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20090527172642/http://w1af.harvard.edu/hamorigin.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090527172642/http://w1af.harva... https://www.rcarc.org/presentations/Ham_Radio_History.pdf https://www.rcarc.org/presentations/Ham_Radio_History.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio#False_etymologies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio#False_e...
        techsupporter 8y ago
        I know that the story about Hyman and company is false. That’s why I put the word “apocryphal” in there, which means “erroneous or fictitious.” But people still write HAM in all uppercase because of the legend, false or not.
PaulHoule 8y ago
Many of the hilly areas in the Eastern US are plains that have been dissected by water and ice. Where I live in upstate NY, the hilltops are all around 2000 feet and are flanked by valleys such that at best a hilltop has a line of site for the adjacent valleys. Last summer I found I could get about 3Mbps down from an AT&T tower that was two valleys away that was using 700 Mhz spectrum -- with a directional antenna. In some of the more rural areas, the hilltops are roadless so any attempt to put in wireless infrastructure isn't just a matter of running wires for power and data, but actually building roads.
maxerickson 8y ago
It's probably the different type of terrain more than the composition. It isn't like cellular signals blast through most earth surface materials (or even just vegetation).

whatshisface 8y ago

Iron ore is neither conducive nor magnetic.

hexane360 8y ago
Well, magnetite (Fe3O4) is, but you're right that its a silly theory to use to explain poor signal. For one, signal would have to be able to penetrate a decent amount underground in the first place, which it can't.
baldfat 8y ago
Yes and since it isn't conductive it causes for weak radio signal. Source - My Dad is an old HAM Radio operator.
- irq 8y ago
  Ham is not capitalized. It’s not an initialism or an acronym.
  - techsupporter 8y ago
    For some OFs (old farts), HAM is written as all uppercase because of the (apocryphal) story of the a station being operated under the "HAM" call sign by Albert Hyman, Bob Almy, and Peggie Murray that came to stand for all of "ham radio" because they made an impassioned plea against a bill in Congress that would have revoked the frequency allocations for all of amateur radio and given them over to the military. Further, since call signs are always written in uppercase (WRR-FM, KIRO-AM, KBTC-TV), some hams are apt to write the name of the hobby as HAM out of habit/solidarity. So while you're technically right that "ham" is more of "ham-fisted" or "what a ham" variety, you're not following the internal culture.
    - irq 8y ago
      This is false. Sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20090527172642/http://w1af.harvard.edu/hamorigin.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090527172642/http://w1af.harva... https://www.rcarc.org/presentations/Ham_Radio_History.pdf https://www.rcarc.org/presentations/Ham_Radio_History.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio#False_etymologies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio#False_e...
      - techsupporter 8y ago
        I know that the story about Hyman and company is false. That’s why I put the word “apocryphal” in there, which means “erroneous or fictitious.” But people still write HAM in all uppercase because of the legend, false or not.

PaulHoule 8y ago

Many of the hilly areas in the Eastern US are plains that have been dissected by water and ice. Where I live in upstate NY, the hilltops are all around 2000 feet and are flanked by valleys such that at best a hilltop has a line of site for the adjacent valleys. Last summer I found I could get about 3Mbps down from an AT&T tower that was two valleys away that was using 700 Mhz spectrum -- with a directional antenna. In some of the more rural areas, the hilltops are roadless so any attempt to put in wireless infrastructure isn't just a matter of running wires for power and data, but actually building roads.

maxerickson 8y ago

It's probably the different type of terrain more than the composition. It isn't like cellular signals blast through most earth surface materials (or even just vegetation).