Maybe there is hope for Solar Minimum and HF propagation?
Shall we take up a donation for CubeSats ;)
CubeSats carrying ionized gas could create radio-reflecting plasma. This would occur in the ionosphere, which becomes denser at night.
Bouncing signals between ground and ionosphere can improve range
A fleet of tiny satellites could one day be used to detonate plasma bombs in Earth’s upper atmosphere to improve the range of radio communications.
The US Air Force has granted contracts to three research teams to develop the technology needed to do this, with hopes that CubeSats could carry massive amounts of ionized gas to the ionosphere to create radio-reflecting plasma.
The ionosphere begins roughly 40 miles above the surface and becomes denser with charged particles at night, allowing signals to travel much farther.
Read more here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3753417/The-Air-Force-reveals-radical-plan-bomb-sky-improve-radio-reception.html
By CHEYENNE MACDONALD FOR DAILYMAIL
Hmmm I wonder if this would make DX contests kind of unchallenging….
Probably make a radio beacon that will attract the Borg to ravish earth.
If the government succeeds in making the HF bands permanently predictable and usable 24 hours a day, it will only be a matter of time until the HF frequencies are sold out to commercial broadcast networks. Ham radio as we know it would disappear.
That’s all we need, the gov’t messing with propagation. They’ll figure a way to start taxing us for usage.
Somehow it seems like an awful lot of energy and cost is going to have to go into this to have even a slight effect. I doubt it will be practical long term or effective over a wide area either