Michael Burnette

The Fast Track to Understanding Ham Radio Propagation Michael Burnette

Award-winning ham radio author Michael Burnette, AF7KB, takes you on a journey through every form of radio wave propagation, from ground waves to propagation in outer space.


If you've thought "propagation is a lot like the weather -- you can talk about it, but there's nothing you can do about it" -- think again! For each form of propagation, you'll learn the best ham radio practices to increase your chances of "making the hop", whether that's across town or across the globe.


* Ground Wave Propagation


* Earth-Ionosphere Waveguide Propagation


* Line-of-sight Propagation (It's almost never line of sight!)


* Terrestrial ScatterPropagation


* The Fresnel Zone


* Knife Edge Diffraction


* Tropospheric Scatter


* Tropospheric Ducting


* Tropospheric Bending


* "Normal" Troposhperic Ducting


* Elevated Tropospheric Ducting


* Other Forms of Tropospheric Propagation


* Ionosphere Basics


* The Anatomy of The Ionosphere


* How the Ionosphere Bends our Signals


* Ionospheric Absorption


* What Frequency Should I Choose?


* Space Weather and the Ionosphere


* Sunspots and Sunspot Numbers


* The Solar Flux Index


* Solar Flares and Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances


* Coronal Mass Ejections


* Geomagnetic Storms


* Space Weather Terms


* Types of Ionospheric Propagation


* Getting Started in (Smart) High Frequency DX


* Meteor Propagation


* How the Pros Use Meteor Scatter


* Working Meteor Scatter


* Auroral Propagation


* Space Propagation


* Satellites


* Moon Bounce*How we Figured out This Ionosphere Stuff


Each topic is fully explained in the conversational, plain-language style of the Fast Track ham license books, with a maximum of illustrations and a minimum of impenetrable math formulas.