The Fast Track to Understanding Ham Radio Propagation

 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.