BBC report shows the impact of a sea path on Medium Wave signals

There has been a very interesting discussion on the Medium Wave Circle forum over the last few days about what kind of distances can be achieved over sea paths during daylight hours. Someone posted an interesting link to some tests that were done by the BBC back in 1936.

The BBC engineers used a 1kw transmitter at Start Point on a headland on the south coast of Devon to calculate the limit of acceptable signal strength which is shown above (extrapolated to a 100kw power level). They used a frequency around 1053kHz which has a wavelength of about 284 metres.

You'll notice how the signal struggles to penetrate inland yet can be easily heard along the south coast. As you can see, the signal strength at Hastings which is 307 kms / 191 miles to the east was the same as at Exeter which was over a land path and only 55 kms / 34 miles distant.

It really does show just how well ground wave signals on the Medium Wave band travel over sea water paths.

The BBC report can be seen HERE

Links...
1) Additional information about Start Point on the MB21 website HERE