Miniprop
Encyclopedia
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
application written by Sheldon Shallon (W6EL), Miniprop is used to predict the probability of a high frequency (HF)
High frequency
High frequency radio frequencies are between 3 and 30 MHz. Also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decameters . Frequencies immediately below HF are denoted Medium-frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Very high frequency...
radio signal path between two points on the Earth's surface. For example, if an amateur radio operator or a shipboard marine radio operator with an HF radio wanted to estimate which frequencies might reach a shore-based station, she could enter data into the program. The software would estimate the best frequencies for the operator to use based on mathematical models.
To run a prediction
The two points on Earth may be specified by typing latitude and longitude or by searching through a set of pre-defined cities and geographic areas provided with the program.To run a prediction, the solar flux index is also needed. This number is found on radio broadcasts of National Institute of Standards and Technology radio station WWV
WWV
WWV is the call sign of the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology's HF radio station in Fort Collins, Colorado. WWV continuously transmits official U.S. Government frequency and time signals on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz...
at eighteen minutes past the hour, every hour. There is a relationship between the Sun's solar flare activity and the reflective properties of the Earth's atmosphere at HF frequencies. This number describes that relationship.