[Lowfer] Propagation

[John Andrews]

Lewis,

The loran stations' power is constant 24/7. I think you answered your own
question, though, by saying that your noise levels are quietest during the
day. Same here. Some of the Loran lines will disappear in the static crashes
at night. Same thing holds true for Lowfer signals!

Yes, the propagation at night will have fading, so those lines may come and
go. On signals that are close enough to be heard in the daytime, you may get
some high angle ionospheric reflections that add and subtract from the
surface signal. So a steady daytime signal may definitely fade at night.
Plus with Loran, you are getting those lines from more than one transmitter
site, further complicating the issue.

The quieter daytimes come from two things. First, thunderstorms are more
common in the afternoon and evening hours. Second, a lot of that nighttime
noise is arriving by skywave, just like the signals you'd prefer to
see/hear. Daytime skywave propagation at LF is low to non-existent, except
possibly in the dead of winter.

John A.