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THICKER, HAVING MORE ELECTRONS PER UNIT VOLUME.  THE EXTRA ELECTRONS IN THE
F LAYER BEND HIGHER FREQUENCIES BACK TO EARTH, ALLOWING LONG DISTANCE
CONTACTS.  THIS MAY SEEM POSITIVE, BUT WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE WHOLE
PICTURE, INCLUDING THE OTHER TWO LAYERS.  DAYTIME RADIO SIGNALS THE LOWEST
REGION OF THE IONOSPHERE IS THE D LAYER, AND ITS EFFECT ON RADIO WAVES IS
NOT VERY GOOD.  WHEN IT GETS THICKER, THE WAVES PASSING THROUGH TO THE E
AND F LAYERS BECOME WEAKER.  THIS LAYER HAS MORE NEUTRAL ATOMS THAN
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ELECTRONS.  AS A WAVE PASSES THROUGH IT, ELECTRONS ARE MOVED BACK AND FORTH
BY THE E FIELD OF THE WAVE.  THE ELECTRONS COLLIDE WITH THE NEUTRAL ATOMS
AND LOSE ENERGY.  THE MORE ELECTRONS THERE ARE, THE MORE LOSSY COLLISIONS
OCCUR, MAKING SIGNALS WEAKER.  THE D LAYER MAINLY GOES AWAY AT NIGHT, NO
LONGER WEAKENING THE LOW BAND SIGNALS.  DISTANT AM BROADCASTS AND 160 AND
80 METER SIGNALS GET STRONGER.  A SUNSPOT NUMBER SSN OF 100 MEANS THE
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