Don C. Maier
Don C. Maier | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Reviving J. H. Nelson's planetary theory of radio propagation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering, radio propagation |
Don C. Maier is a retired electrical engineer and radio amateur known for compiling and re-examining John H. Nelson's claim that planetary configurations correlate with shortwave radio propagation. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Maier authored "Effects of Planetary Positions on Transatlantic Radio Propagation: A Fifty-Year-Old Discovery Re-Visited," a compilation and reassessment of the work of radio engineer J. H. Nelson, published in Infinite Energy magazine (Vol. 5, Issue 30, 2000) and also circulated through the amateur-radio site eHam.net. Maier reported having met Nelson roughly fifty years earlier and having been given a copy of Nelson's 1951 RCA Review article.
Nelson had claimed that days of degraded shortwave propagation tended to coincide with heliocentric planetary separations of 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees (and, secondarily, 60 and 120 degrees). Maier revived interest in this idea and suggested it merited further study by radio amateurs. The proposed planetary influence on radio propagation has not been supported by mainstream analyses, which have generally found no reliable correlation.