NMG, US Coast Guard New Orleans, Afternoon Sign-On

Now THIS is a test pattern. It's the 1800 UTC daily sign-on of NMG, the US Coast Guard in New Orleans, LA. NMG broadcasts a full range of tropical weather products from the NOAA US Tropical Prediction center in four large blocks starting at 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC.

A checkered pattern like this can really show what's happening to a fax transmission. There's a little multipath on this one, but mostly we see ionospheric fading, and how different paths fade at different times.