The maximum distance that may often be traversed in one hop using the E area is 1,200 miles along the surface of the Earth. The portion of the ionosphere between 90 and 150 kilometers above the surface of the Earth is referred to as the E area or Kennelly-Heaviside layer. This layer has the ability to reflect medium-frequency radio signals, especially at night when the solar wind is pulling the ionosphere farther from the Earth. The time of year and the amount of sunspot activity also have an impact on how far the E layer can send messages.
Simply transmit a connect message on the station's designated frequency to make contact with a gateway station for the digital messaging system.
The automatic creation of dots and dashes for CW operation is the function of an electronic keyer.
Short-range MF or HF propagation at steep elevation angles is known as near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) propagation.
Low power transmitting is known as QRP operation. Many people favor this style of operation because it calls for extraordinary accuracy and skill. QRP denotes a transmitter output power of no more than 5 watts for Morse code and no more than 10 watts for voice transmission. Most QRP communication takes place on HF and in Morse code.
The Q signal "QRN" is used as a question and stands for "noise from natural sources."
The 26- to 28-day cycle of HF propagation conditions is caused by the spinning of the Sun's surface layers around its axis.
