Wait for sun spot max, you'll get lots of sporadic e, I've heard
transmissions from england & ireland on the vhf low band!



When's the next sun spot max?

We are at the very bottom of the solar sunspot cycle right now.
Long distance HF radio communications should improve steadily for the next
four years or so. You can check on the current solar conditions he
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/
Keep in mind that most of the frequency bands found on a typical scanner are
too high to be greatly affected by the solar cycle.