It is a scientific fact recently discovered, that the earth's magnetic field
is steadilly weakening. They think it is because the polarity of the field
is changing: they call it a "reversal". Be that as it may, it is my feeling
that it is real and causing shortwave reception to degrade because the
ionosphere is affected by the magnetic field.

I used to think that the magnetic field was quite uniform, unmoving and
static but scientists have found that is not the case at all. Bottom line is
that charged particles react to magnetic fields. The reflective layer is a
layer of particles of the atmosphere that results from solar radiation of
many forms stripping electrons off the particles.

Think of the layer of charged particles as a mirror. If the mirror is in a
quiet stream, light reflecting off the mirror will be uniform. If the stream
is ruffled or full of eddies and the bottom is full of rocks, the light will
be disturbed by the stream and not uniform at all. If the light in the
analogy is the radio energy (radio waves if you like), then any ruffling or
movement in the layer is going to ruffle the signal too, so it may fade in
and out or be fluttery or full of static and so on. If the magnetic field of
the earth is moving and changing a lot in different ways in different
places, a lot of radio energy is either being lost into space or absorbed.
It is a bit like two people holding a big sheet of aluminum foil between
them and moving it around in the sun. If the foil is held still, the stream
of reflected light is quiet and steady, but if the foil is moving around in
a stiff wind, the light will go all over the place, not necessarilly into
the viewer's eyes.

This may be just temporary, or it may be a long term effect, but one thing
is certain, the environment in which we live is affected by physical forces
in continual flux. If the "reversal" occurs in our lifetime, it may get very
interesting. The same magnetic field on which we have come to rely for
communications also protects the planet from harmful radiation such as
x-rays and ultraviolet light. That means if the field diminishes or
disappears, so will our protection from radiation. You can find a lot on the
internet about the subject of pole reversals if you want to study the
subject.

~~~~~ God gives peace not war +
wrote in message
oups.com...


Found a link to a picture..describes Propagation by frequecy; etc..


http://www.ips.gov.au/Main.php?CatID...ospheric%20Map

- My question is:
WHY has propagation been so Fu*k*d up.. during the last year?? ??