4 ms·

I read lately that the Heaviside layer (Kennelly-Heaviside properly) of the atmosphere, composed of ionized gases, was used for years to bounce radio transmissi

I read lately that the Heaviside layer (Kennelly-Heaviside properly) of the atmosphere, composed of ionized gases, was used for years to bounce radio transmissions off of, allowing them to "skip" multiple times occasionally and travel thousands of miles. It was seasonal and unpredictable on a short term basis so using it seems to have been about equal parts luck, skill, and art. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennelly%E2%80%93Heaviside_layer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennelly%E2%80%93Heaviside_lay...

afturkrull 5y ago
> I read lately that the Heaviside layer .. was seasonal and unpredictable on a short term basis so using it seems to have been about equal parts luck, skill, and art. It was a lot more useful than that. Before the advent of satellites, shortwave radio was used extensively to commuicate with her Majesties far-flung colonies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service
Stratoscope 5y ago
Shortwave radio was great in its day. I used to spend many hours a day listening to international shortwave broadcasts, and talking with other amateur radio operators. One day about 20 years ago I was driving through San Jose and happened to tune in to North Korea radio on the shortwave receiver I had installed in my car, and heard this news gem: "Scientists are studying the brain of Respected Comrade Kim Jong-Il, because the Respected Comrade is capable of feats of mental power beyond the ability of ordinary human beings." Even today, shortwave is making a bit of a comeback thanks to High Frequency Trading: https://hackaday.com/2018/05/12/hft-on-hf-you-cant-beat-it-for-latency/ https://hackaday.com/2018/05/12/hft-on-hf-you-cant-beat-it-f... https://swling.com/blog/2018/05/mystery-traders-using-shortwave-to-cross-oceans-with-less-latency-than-any-fiber/ https://swling.com/blog/2018/05/mystery-traders-using-shortw...

afturkrull 5y ago

> I read lately that the Heaviside layer .. was seasonal and unpredictable on a short term basis so using it seems to have been about equal parts luck, skill, and art. It was a lot more useful than that. Before the advent of satellites, shortwave radio was used extensively to commuicate with her Majesties far-flung colonies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service

Stratoscope 5y ago

Shortwave radio was great in its day. I used to spend many hours a day listening to international shortwave broadcasts, and talking with other amateur radio operators. One day about 20 years ago I was driving through San Jose and happened to tune in to North Korea radio on the shortwave receiver I had installed in my car, and heard this news gem: "Scientists are studying the brain of Respected Comrade Kim Jong-Il, because the Respected Comrade is capable of feats of mental power beyond the ability of ordinary human beings." Even today, shortwave is making a bit of a comeback thanks to High Frequency Trading: https://hackaday.com/2018/05/12/hft-on-hf-you-cant-beat-it-for-latency/ https://hackaday.com/2018/05/12/hft-on-hf-you-cant-beat-it-f... https://swling.com/blog/2018/05/mystery-traders-using-shortwave-to-cross-oceans-with-less-latency-than-any-fiber/ https://swling.com/blog/2018/05/mystery-traders-using-shortw...