Hello and Congratulations ! I think it is indeed s. That is the beauty of
shortwave when everything works right. the signal can be reflected between
the earth and the ionosphere many times before its energy is simply absorbed
somewhere. Just because it was beamed to West Africa does not mean it can't
contiue around the earth many times, especially if it is strong enough and
the ionosphere is stable and coherent. Lately reception has been pretty
abysmal, so it is a treat when a signal comes in well wherever you live. I
have listened to Channel Africa in the past and they have had some pretty
nice music.
Another good african station you might hear well is Afrique Numero Une from
Moyabi, Gabon in West Africa speaking French. They have a good signal and
good music as well.
Enjoy listen
Maximus
"BCcubed" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
I listened to Channel Africa on 15.265mhz yesterday, February 12, 2004
from
1800 to 1954 UTC. The signal ended very abruptly, no fading on this one.
Passport lists the station as broadcasting from Meyerton. A glance at a
Brittanica Atlas shows Meyerton to be somewhere near Johannesberg South
Africa.
Passport also lists the intended area of broadcast as Central and West
Africa at 500KW. I was picking it up extremely clear with a radio shack
longwire clamped around my whip antenna. I have the antenna, approx 7 to
8
meters in length, approx 4 meters above the ground from a window to a tree
branch and facing in a northeastely direction. I reside just a few miles
southwest of Philadelphia, PA.
Is it possible that I was listening to a signal that is maybe 8 to 10
thousand
miles away? If anyone knows the exact distance could you share that
information?
I am relatively new to shortwave so this would be my first real long
catch.
My meter is digital on a Grundig Satellit 700 and is graded from 1 to 5.
I was
recieving a strong 4+. The signal was extremely clear. I unplugged the
RCA
jack from the antenna where it slips over my whip antenna and the signal
all
but disappeared. I could barely make it out over very low static, the
volume
dropped considerably.
After what seems like eons listening to static and fading signals it would
feel
very satisfying if this is the real McCoy.
Any comments are greatly appreciated.
Neil