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As usual, the wonderful LF and MF conditions experienced during the week went into the dumper as the CLE weekend arrived.




Looking back, most of this can be blamed on our monthly (~28 days) repetitive schedule which nicely matches the rotation of the Sun. It seems that the same large coronal hole stream that whacked us during CLE 212, is the same one that showed up for CLE 213 right on schedule. Perhaps we need to shift our schedule by a week in case it wants to hang around for yet another rotation.

Conditions were not as bleak as I make them sound but they were a far cry from those enjoyed earlier in the week. The skip seemed fairly long on all three nights, but most signals were on the runty side, with only a few making strong appearances here on the left coast.

As shown below, conditions were quite 'flat' for the entire weekend and propagation did not vary much in quality other than favoring slightly different regions each night. Interestingly, 'YLH - 247' in Landsdowne House, Ontario, whose antenna was pictured on my last blog, was not heard at all on both Friday or Saturday but had a booming signal on Sunday night.

         Date 27 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 29
         UTC 0900 1200 1500 1800 2100 0000 0300 0600
         SFlx 81 81 81 81 83 83 83 83 83 83 83 83 85 85
         A-in 12 12 12 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 8
         K-in 3 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 3

My usual procedure with the Perseus SDR is to record the CLE segments of the band for two minutes, every hour and every half-hour, from shortly after sunset to local sunrise. It then requires several hours of carefully going through the recordings to see what CLE signals were recorded ... sometimes spending up to an hour on one frequency only, sorting out what was coming through.

I have also found that the classic blue-screen waterfall does not yield the best contrast for finding weak signals ... the 'photo-negative' screen shown above is far superior, with signals in black appearing on a white background.


26 02:00 240.0 BVS Burlington, WA, USA
26 03:00 241.0 YGT Igloolik, NU, CAN
27 03:00 242.0 ZT Port Hardy, BC, CAN
26 03:00 242.0 XC Cranbrook, BC, CAN
27 08:00 242.0 MMI Athens, TN, USA
26 07:30 242.0 EL El Paso, TX, USA
27 06:30 244.0 TH Thompson, MB, CAN
27 06:30 245.0 YZE Gore Bay, ON, CAN
28 15:00 245.0 HNS Haines, ALS
27 06:30 245.0 CRR Circle, MT, USA
27 06:00 245.0 CB Cambridge Bay, NU, CAN
27 09:30 245.0 AVQ Marana, AZ, USA
27 04:00 246.0 ZXJ Fort St. John, BC, CAN
27 09:00 247.0 YLH Lansdowne House, ON, CAN
27 08:00 248.0 ZZP Queen Charlotte Is, BC, CAN
27 08:00 248.0 QL Lethbridge, AB, CAN
27 08:00 248.0 QH Watson Lake, YT, CAN
27 07:30 248.0 PQF Mesquite, TX, USA
27 06:30 248.0 GLA Gulkana, ALS
27 08:00 248.0 FRT Fairmont, SC, USA
27 08:00 250.0 FO Flin Flon Municipal, MB, CAN
27 08:00 250.0 2J Grand Forks, BC, CAN
27 08:00 251.0 YCD Nanaimo, BC, CAN
27 15:00 251.0 OSE Bethel Apt, ALS
28 08:00 251.0 JZY Macomb, IL, USA
27 06:30 251.0 BR Brainerd, MN, USA
27 08:00 251.0 AM Amarillo, TX, USA
27 10:00 253.0 GB Marshall, MN, USA
27 08:00 254.0 ZYC Calgary, AB, CAN
27 08:00 254.0 SM Fort Smith, AB, CAN
27 04:00 254.0 EV Inuvik, NT, CAN
27 04:00 256.0 LSO Kelso, WA, USA
27 14:00 256.0 EB Edmonton, AB, CAN
27 14:00 257.0 XE Saskatoon, SK, CAN
27 05:00 257.0 SQT Melbourne, FL, USA
27 07:00 257.0 SAZ Staples, MN, USA
27 08:30 257.0 PEA Pella, IA, USA
27 07:00 257.0 MB Saginaw, MI, USA
27 14:00 257.0 LW Kelowna, BC, CAN
27 12:00 257.0 HCY Cowley, WY, USA
27 08:00 258.0 ZSJ Sandy Lake, ON, CAN
27 06:30 420.0 V7BE2 XOC, XUU
27 08:00 420.0 PK Olathe, KS, USA
27 08:00 420.0 FQ East Chain, MN, USA
27 04:00 421.0 VLY McKenney, TX, USA
27 08:30 422.0 EA Kearney, NE, USA
27 06:30 424.0 RVJ Reidsville, GA, USA
27 06:00 425.0 PFL Fort Sill, OK, USA
27 06:00 426.0 FTP Fort Payne, AL, USA
27 08:00 426.0 EN Council Bluffs, NE, USA
27 07:30 428.0 POH Pocahontas, IA, USA
27 07:00 432.0 IZN Lincolnton, NC, USA

The logging at 0630Z of 'V7BE2' is a large drill ship, the "Deepwater Thalassa", located near the center of the Gulf of Mexico.