INVITED AMATEUR RADIO TUTORIAL: Amateur Radio Observations and The Science of Midlatitude Sporadic E

Abstract: Amateurs may ask, “Why do we see Sporadic E like propagation in November and December, when many of the variables like UV radiation and solar exposure are at a minimum, unlike the very active sporadic-E summer months?” How are sporadic-E transatlantic VHF communications possible between North America and Europe? In his tutorial, Joe K1YOW will explain what Sporadic E is, how amateur operators use Sporadic E to enable long-distance VHF communications, current theories of Sporadic E formation, and how we might be able to better understand Es formation by examining amateur radio propagation logs. Joe’s studies of Sporadic E using amateur radio have been published both in QST (2017) and CQ Magazine (2020).

 

Bio: Joe Dzekevich, K1YOW, was first licensed in 1962 and currently holds an Amateur Extra Class license. He graduated from Northeastern University in 1977 with a B.S. in Industrial Technology and holds a M.B.A. from Clark University (1985). Joe is currently a retired Reliability Engineering Fellow who has worked for Bell Telephone Labs, Digital Equipment Corporation, Chipcom/3Com and Raytheon. Joe is also a senior member of the IEEE Reliability Society, where he held various offices in the local IEEE Boston Reliability Chapter and developed and taught many of the chapter’s courses. He is a member of NVARC (Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club), the ARRL, and HamSCI. He has always been interested in radio propagation, starting back in 1965 where he subscribed to the CRPL (Central Radio Prediction Lab) Ionospheric Predictions, where one used monthly CRPL prediction maps to chart predicted E-Layer and F-Layer radio paths.