AmateurRadio.com

OO-391kHz - Oshawa, Ontario courtesy: VE3GOP

This coming weekend will see another monthly CLE challenge. This time the hunting grounds will be 385.0 - 399.9 kHz.

 


For those unfamiliar with this monthly activity, a 'CLE' is a 'Co-ordinated Listening Event', as NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.

A wonderful challenge for listeners in North America is to hear little OO - 391kHz, located in Oshawa, Ontario. It puts out only 7 1/2 watts but has been logged on both coasts as well as in Europe! Listen for its USB CW identifier (with your receiver in the CW mode) on 391.396 and its LSB ID on 390.595 kHz.

MF propagation this past week has been good and signals in this frequency range should be propagating well if things stay undisturbed for the weekend. As usual however, a large coronal hole has returned to its monthly CLE position and its weekend effects are still unknown.

When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020Hz tone approximately.

For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmits on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier is tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident can be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone is actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone is 1054 Hz.

Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.

Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.

All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.


From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, come details via the The NDB List Group:


Hello all,

Our 240th Coordinated Listening Event is less than a week away.
We can now forget all about pyramids and relax with a straightforward
event.   Whether you are a keen propagation watcher or just a
take-what-comes listener, please join in.

    Days:    Friday 25 January - Monday 28 January
    Times:   Start and end at midday, your LOCAL TIME
    Range:   385.0 - 399.9 kHz

Please log all the NDBs you can identify that are listed in that range
(it includes 385 kHz but not 400 kHz) plus any UNIDs you find there.
We last used this frequency range for CLE224 in October 2017.


Please send your final log to the List (no attachments and ideally
in a plain text email) with ‘FINAL CLE240’ in its title.
Show on each line:

    #   The Date (e.g.  '2019-01-26' etc.  or just '26' )
    #   The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
    #   kHz  - the nominal published frequency, if known.
    #   The Call Ident.

Please show those main items FIRST.  Other optional details such
as Location and Distance go LATER in the same line.
As always, of course, tell us your own location and brief details
of the equipment that you were using during the Event.

We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 18:00 UTC
on Tuesday so that you can check that your log has been found OK.

The combined results should then be completed within a day or two.

You can soon find full details about current and past CLEs from the CLE page
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm  It includes access to CLE240 seeklists
for your part of the World, prepared from the previous loggings in Rxx.

Good listening - enjoy the CLE.
      Brian and Joachim
---------------------------------------------------------------
From:      Brian Keyte G3SIA      ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location:  Surrey,  SE England     (CLE coordinator)
---------------------------------------------------------------

  (If you would like to listen remotely  you could use any one remote
  receiver for your loggings, stating its location and owner and with their
  permission if required.  A remote listener may NOT also use another
  receiver, local or remote, to make further loggings for the same CLE)


These listening events serve several purposes. They:


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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W7OS - Radio Club of Tacoma working the CX

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A summary of the Fall 2018 CX and soapbox comments, along with some wonderful vintage-station eye candy, may be found here.

For complete details of the upcoming event, see the web site announcement here.

If you've never entered the Classic Exchange, why not give it a try this year as it truly is a case of 'the more the merrier' ... and eastern operators, make sure to keep the porch light on for those out west!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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