Exceptional VHF reception this weekend

[Dellquay13]

Sailing this weekend in the Milford Haven, we clearly heard some really distant stations. We often hear Rosslare and Falmouth CG, but on Saturday amongst some very distant stations we listened to Solent CG arranging medical support for a Woman casualty in a rib, Dublin and Minehead CG, both sides of a conversation ships bridge to harbour control at Cork, and Valentia CG announcing the local navigational warnings, all on an antenna on an 8m mast with no clear view of the open sea inside the Haven.
Anyone else hear any long distance voices?

 

[Seven Spades]

Yes we were in the Solent and could hear not only Cherbourg but also the Irish coastguard.

 

[trevbouy]

Atmospheric temperature inversion creates a layer that VHF/UHF can travel long distances. Radio Amateurs use this to make contacts.
Back in the analogue days the TV made announcements about disruption to TV reception.

 

[wonkywinch]

Search the forum for "ducting". Discussed fairly regularly.

 

[Roberto]

Sailing this weekend in the Milford Haven, we clearly heard some really distant stations. We often hear Rosslare and Falmouth CG, but on Saturday amongst some very distant stations we listened to Solent CG arranging medical support for a Woman casualty in a rib, Dublin and Minehead CG, both sides of a conversation ships bridge to harbour control at Cork, and Valentia CG announcing the local navigational warnings, all on an antenna on an 8m mast with no clear view of the open sea inside the Haven.
Anyone else hear any long distance voices?

Spanish Coruña/Finisterre stations can sometimes be heard from south Brittany, that is 300ish miles.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Rather annoying - at one point we were getting Guernsey, Cherbourg, Rosslare, Falmouth and Milford Haven!

 

[mjcoon]

Search the forum for "ducting". Discussed fairly regularly.

Won't you just get lots about Eberspächers? ;-)

 

[harvey38]

Anyone asking for a radio check?

 

[Frogmogman]

Spanish Coruña/Finisterre stations can sometimes be heard from south Brittany, that is 300ish miles.

So you can hear Finisterre in Finistère ?

 

[Sianna]

we heard Dover coastguard most of yesterday afternoon in the solent.

 

[Dellquay13]

Rather annoying - at one point we were getting Guernsey, Cherbourg, Rosslare, Falmouth and Milford Haven!

I was listening out for Milford VTS announcing the ongoing departure of the huge LNG tanker and they were getting overspoken by distant CGs on dual watch, even with the squelch screwed down

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I sail from Valencia and can hear all corners of the med most days. The Moroccans can be. rather annoying.

 

[KevO]

From Falmouth bay on Sat afternoon we were picking up the CG in Rosslare, Milford Haven, Oostende, Dover, Humber, Guernsey, Jersey and a raft of French stations - all as clear as a bell. At one point I’m pretty sure we had Lisbon although a little intermittent.

 

[wonkywinch]

You can see the European propagation forecasts for VHF on this website - https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_eur.html

The south/southwest coast of the UK was particularly strong over the weekend.

 

[Roberto]

So you can hear Finisterre in Finistère ?

Together with Land's end a lot of Finis Terrae it seems, ancient people arrived there and either walked back or went into the unknown sea

Just arrived to the boat right now, vhf on I just heard Santander weather bulletin and an all ship call from an Irish station.

 

[Frogmogman]

Together with Land's end a lot of Finis Terrae it seems, ancient people arrived there and either walked back or went into the unknown sea

Just arrived to the boat right now, vhf on I just heard Santander weather bulletin and an all ship call from an Irish station.

Some don’t even get beyond the World’s End distillery in the kings road….

 

[Frogmogman]

You can see the European propagation forecasts for VHF on this website - https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_eur.html

The south/southwest coast of the UK was particularly strong over the weekend.

View attachment 165313

Thanks for posting that. I never cease to be amazed by the data that pops up on the web.

 

[Roberto]

AIS signals received during the same period

 

[mm42]

AIS signals received during the same period


View attachment 166525

AIS runs on VHF frequencies so when VHF R/T is being ducted over a long distance AIS will be similarly affected.

 

[Mataji]

VHF can be very strange. I used to regularly drive along the A66 between Penrith and Keswick. There was a stretch along there where I would always lose all FM reception. One day I got there, radio 4 went silent as usual, and after a few minutes a French radio station appeared, quite faint but clear enough. Stayed on for a few minutes before silence returned.