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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.

Friday's auroral condx courtesy of :OVATION

Well another CLE has come to pass with most listeners in North America reporting poor conditions ... other than those in the southern states.








As typically happens when hit with a serious geomagnetic event (why do they always coincide with our CLE's?), northernmost stations are affected worse than those further south. This disturbance was a strong and persistent solar wind, making the band very noisy. Signals in the Perseus SDR waterfall that looked as if they should be easy copy, were mushy and run together, making many idents uncopyable in the solar wind noise.

Welcome to CLE 212 couretsy of: OVATION

The east-west path, being reliant on quiet geomagnetic conditions, was totally absent, with no NDB's from Ontario making it into my log. Somewhat surprising was the rarely heard Galapagos Island NDB on 272 kHz ... heard widely throughout North American.

GLS - 272 Galapagos courtesy: Google Maps

As usual, my receiver for the CLE was the Perseus SDR along with my normal LF / MF inverted-L antenna, tuned to ~ 300kHz.


29 08:00 272.0    YLB         Lac La Biche, AB, CAN
29 11:00 272.0    XS             Prince George, BC, CAN
30 06:30 272.0    GLS         Galapagos, GAL
29 05:00 274.0    FR            Fort Resolution, NT, CAN
29 08:00 275.0    SF            Williston, ND, USA
29 07:00 275.0    HIN         Chadron,NE, USA
29 05:00 275.0    GEY        Greybull, WY, USA
29 06:00 275.0    AV           Winnipeg, MB, CAN
31 12:00 277.0    OT            Worthington, MN, USA
31 05:00 280.0    GYZ         Guernsey, WY, USA
31 13:00 281.0    CRN          Sparrevohn, ALS
30 13:30 283.0    DUT          Dutch Harbor, ALS
29 08:30 284.0    QD            The Pas, MB, CAN
29 13:00 284.0    FHR          Friday Harbor, WA, USA
29 08:00 287.0    ZWG         Winnipeg, MB, CAN
29 08:30 287.0    PE              Peace River, AB, CAN
29 08:30 290.0    YYF           Penticton, BC, CAN
30 08:00 290.0    QR             Regina, SK, CAN
30 08:00 292.0    ZET            Edmonton, AB, CAN
30 08:00 293.0    TOR          Torrington, WY, USA
29 08:00 293.0    MB             Sidney, BC, CAN
30 08:00 295.0    8C              Fairview, AB, CAN
29 08:30 296.0    LGD           La Grande, OR, USA
29 08:30 299.0    TV              Turner Valley, AB, CAN
30 10:00 302.0    QW             North Battleford, SK, CAN
29 08:30 304.0    FH              Mc Leod, AB, CAN
29 08:30 305.0    Z1               Three Hills, AB, CAN
29 08:30 305.0    ONO          Ontario, OR, USA
30 06:30 307.0    M5              Manning, AB, CAN
29 08:30 308.0    ZZD            Edmonton, AB, CAN
29 08:30 311.0    9Y               Pincher Creek, AB, CAN
29 08:30 312.0    UNT           Naramata, BC, CAN
29 08:30 317.0    VC              La Ronge, SK, CAN

The results from all participants can be found in a few days at the NDB List website, or if you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'art' of NDB DXing or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of helpful information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow and chat with other NDB chasers regarding antennas, techniques, unidentified signals and  nightly propagation ... and, if you are building a 630m station, listening for NDB's is a great way to determine your receive capability and if it needs improvement.

YPM-274 courtesy: ve3gop.com

Another NDB  CLE challenge is in store this coming weekend with CLE 212. This time the frequency range is 270 - 319.9 kHz bringing it into the DGPS band, although these signals should not be reported.



A good target for this range is 25W YPM in Pikangikum, Ontario, transmitting on 274 kHz. It is widely reported throughout North America, thanks to its large antenna system, pictured here. Look for it on 274.361 kHz with your receiver in 'CW' mode. Remember that most Canadian NDBs use a ~ 400Hz tone for modulation while the U.S. ones are usually ~1020Hz on both sidebands.

'CLE's' are 'Co-ordinated Listening Events', and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum ... but this time around, the range has been expanded.

From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA), via the Yahoo ndblist Group, comes the following reminder:

Hello all

The NDB List has really come back to life recently - you can see the effect
of the good recent propagation on the number of emails we have posted
to NDB List each month since last June:
Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct (so far)
197 279 404 663 768

Our 212th co-ordinated listening event is this weekend, covering a 50 kHz
frequency range - about three times wider than usual.

Days: Friday 28 October - Monday 31 October
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL time
Range: 270.0 - 319.9 kHz (NOT DGPS beacons)

We can expect very good propagation, but in part of the frequency range
it will be a bit of a challenge to tease out the NDB signals from among
the DGPS ones.
Any first-time CLE logs will be very welcome, as always.

Please log the normal NDBs you can identify that are listed in the range
(it includes 270 kHz but not 320 kHz).
Please send your CLE log to NDB List, if possible as a plain text email
and not in an attachment, with 'CLE212' at the start of its title.
Show on EVERY line of your log:

# The Date (e.g. '2016-10-28' or just '28', etc.)
# UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency if you know it.
# The Call Ident.

Those main items can be in any order within themselves, but BEFORE any
other optional details (Location, Distance, etc.) later in the same line.
Many of us in Europe will be changing our house clocks this weekend.
UTC time continues unchanged of course, but as we finish the CLE on
Monday at LOCAL midday we may win an extra hour's listening!

As always, give details in your log of your own location and the receiver,
aerial(s), etc. that you were using.
If you send any interim logs, please also send a Final (complete) one.

You can find anything else to help you, including seeklists for your part
of the World, from the CLE page, http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm

I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 18:00 UTC on Tuesday so that you can check that your CLE log has been found OK. Do make sure
that your log has arrived at the very latest by 09:00 UTC next Wednesday,
2nd November. I am hoping to make all the combined results on that day.

Enjoy your listening
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------

(Reminder: You could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating its location and owner - with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local or
remote, to obtain further loggings for the same CLE).


These listening events serve several purposes. They:

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the online database can be kept up-to-date

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range

• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations

• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working

• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co- ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

This past weekend's CLE saw noticeably improved conditions compared with the previous event.





With the fall DX season fast-approaching, the combination of diminishing thunderstorm activity and improved propagation provided some interesting catches. Friday night was the best with Saturday having a brief period of favorable prop, while no new stations were heard on Sunday night, the poorest.

It was particularly nice to hear strong signals from the eastern provinces on Friday, highlighted with an excellent signal from 'JT' (390 kHz) in Stephenville, Newfoundland. This long haul east-west propagation can only be found with quite geomagnetic conditions as was the case on Friday.


After examining the geomagnetic 'K' data for Saturday (25th), it's interesting to note that the four catches for that night all coincided exactly with the brief green bar (K= 0-3) centered on the hours around 0900 UTC (circled).

The following NDBs were heard using my Perseus SDR and 'inverted-L' resonated to ~ 300kHz:

               24 06:30 385.0 WL Williams Lake, BC, CAN
               24 13:00 385.0 OCC Yakutat, ALS
               24 10:00 385.0 MR Pacific Grove, CA, USA
               24 13:00 385.0 EHM Cape Newenham, ALS
               24 08:30 386.0 SYF St. Francis, KS, USA
               24 06:30 386.0 HAU Helena, MT, USA
               24 06:00 386.0 4N Oxford House, MB, CAN
               24 06:30 388.0 MM Fort Mc Murray, AB, CAN
               24 09:30 388.0 JW Pigeon, AB, CAN
               24 06:30 388.0 GLY Clinton, MO, USA
               24 06:30 389.0 YWB Kelowna, BC, CAN
               24 08:00 389.0 TW Twin Falls, ID, USA
               25 08:30 389.0 EN Kenosha, WI, USA
               24 06:00 389.0 CSB Cambridge, NE,USA
               24 06:30 390.0 JT Stephenville, NL, CAN
               24 06:00 390.0 HBT Sand Point, ALS
               24 06:00 390.0 AES Northway, ALS
               24 06:30 391.0 TK Telkwa, BC, CAN
               24 13:00 391.0 EEF Sisters Island, ALS
               24 06:00 391.0 DDP Dorado, PTR
               24 06:30 391.0 4W Kelsey, MB, CAN
               24 08:30 392.0 ZFN Tulita, NT, CAN
               24 06:00 392.0 PNA Wenz, WY, USA
               24 06:30 392.0 ML Charlevoix, QC, CAN
               25 08:30 392.0 FMZ Fairmont, NE, USA
               25 08:30 392.0 BAJ Sterling, CO, USA
               24 06:00 392.0 AGZ Wagner, SD, USA
               25 09:30 393.0 TOG Togiak, ALS
               24 08:30 393.0 2M Opapimiskan Lake,ON, CAN
               24 13:00 394.0 RWO Kodiak, ALS
               24 08:30 394.0 DQ Dawson Creek, BC, CAN
               24 08:30 395.0 YL Lynn Lake, MB, CAN
               24 06:00 395.0 ULS Ulysses, KS, USA
               24 08:30 395.0 L7 Estevan, SK, CAN
               24 08:30 396.0 YPH Inukjuak, QC, CAN
               24 13:00 396.0 CMJ Ketchikan, ALS
               24 08:30 397.0 ZSS Saskatoon, SK, CAN
               24 08:00 397.0 SB San Bernardino, CA, USA
               24 08:00 397.0 CIR Cairo, IL, USA
               24 08:30 398.0 YOD Cold Lake, AB, CAN
               24 08:30 398.0 3D Cumberland House, SK, CAN
               24 08:30 399.0 ZHD Dryden, ON, CAN
               24 13:00 399.0 SRI St George, ALS

The results from all participants can be found at the NDB List website, or if you are a member of the ndblist Group, results have also been e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'art' of NDB DXing or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of helpful information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow and chat with other NDB chasers regarding antennas, techniques, unidentified signals and  nightly propagation.

'OO'- - 391 kHz Oshawa, ON

This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in the 15 kHz slice from 385.0 - 399.9 kHz.





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 nice challenge in this one is to hear the Oshawa, Ontario NDB, 'OO' on 391 kHz. This one runs at just 7 1/2 watts output and gets out amazingly well having been logged here last year. It has even been heard in Europe!

From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, comes the usual 'heads-up':

Hi all,

Our 211th Listening Event is only a few days away.
The Northern Hemisphere summertime storms have subsided, the equinox
will have passed when the CLE starts and we can all hope for some good
reception conditions.
Whether you are a keen propagation watcher or just a take-what-comes
listener (like me), please join in.

Days: Friday 23 September - Monday 26 September
Times: Start and end at midday LOCAL TIME
Range: 385.0 - 399.9 kHz

Please log all the NDBs you can identify that are listed in the range
(it includes 385 kHz but not 400 kHz) plus any UNIDs that you find there.
We last used this frequency range for CLE194 in May 2014.

Please send your CLE log to the List in a plain text email if possible
(not in an attachment) with 'CLE211' at the start of its title.
Show on each log line:

# The date (e.g. 2016-09-24, etc., or just 24) and UTC.
(the date changes at 00:00 UTC)
# kHz (the nominal published frequency, if known)
# The Call Ident.

Show those main items FIRST - other optional details such as Location
and Distance go LATER in the same line.

As always, tell us your own location and brief details of the equipment
that you were using during the weekend.

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

(If you wish you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating the location and owner - 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).
  
73 

Brian


These listening events serve several purposes. They:

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the online database can be kept up-to-date

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range

• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations

• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working

• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

Good hunting!