Posts Tagged ‘CLE’

CLE 210 Results


This past weekend's CLE saw typical summer conditions ... poor propagation and lots of lightning noise. The MF NDB band was noisy on all three nights, almost everywhere.



As usual, I put my Perseus SDR to work, recording the assigned frequency slots and came away with 24 catches, including some of the 630m experimental stations.

28 11:00 260.0 YSQ Atlin, BC, CAN
27 08:00 260.0 AP Sedalia, CO, USA
27 07:00 261.0 7J Forestburg, AB, CAN
27 09:00 263.0 OAY Norton Bay, ALS
27 08:00 266.0 VR Vancouver, BC, CAN
27 09:30 266.0 SL Turner, OR, USA
27 09:30 266.0 SAA Saratoga, WY, USA
27 09:30 266.0 ICK Annette Island, ALS
29 12:00 266.0 BZ Bozeman, MT, USA
27 09:30 268.0 ZWL Wollaston Lake, SK, CAN
27 12:00 269.0 ZW Teslin, YT, CAN
27 09:30 269.0 YK Castlegar, BC, CAN
27 09:30 269.0 UDE Delta Beach, MB, CAN
27 08:30 512.0 HMY Lexington, OK, USA
27 08:30 515.0 SAK Kalispell, MT, USA
27 08:30 515.0 CL Cresent Beach, WA, USA
27 08:00 521.0 INE Missoula, MT, USA
29 11:30 524.0 MNL Valdez, ALS
29 11:00 525.0 ICW Nenana, ALS
27 11:00 529.0 SQM Big Level Isl, ALS
27 07:30 473.8 WI2XJQ Edmonds, WA
27 07:30 475.0 VA7MM Coquitlam, BC
27 07:30 475.2 WG2XSV Vancouver, WA
27 07:30 477.6 VE7CNF Burnaby, BC
29 13:00 474.0 VE7BDQ Delta, BC

One nice surprise was the strong showing from Alaska towards dawn on night three. Not a peep was heard from the mainland Alaskans on the first two mornings and I was fully expecting to find the same thing on Monday morning but that was not the case.

The last time that this frequency range was covered was during CLE 191 in February, 2015 ... prime winter conditions. At that time I logged 42 beacons compared to 24 this time. The furthest one heard was 4023km away while this time the best was at 2873km. My average distance back then was 1670km compared with 1046km this time.

From Brian Keyte's (G3SIA) summary posted via the Yahoo ndblist Group, come these stats:


In last weekend's CLE we were listening for NDBs in the range
260 - 269.9 kHz and above 440 kHz, including several Amateur beacons.

Here are the combined results tables for listeners away from Europe,
attached as CLE210a5.xls. Soon they will also be available
from the CLE page http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm

19 Reporters
37 Radio Countries heard
83 different beacons heard
212 reports supplied

Most Heard NDBs:

Rprts kHz C/S Location Cou.
=============================================
9 512 HMY Lexington OK USA
9 260 AP Denver CO USA
9 521 INE Missoula MT USA

8 266 VR Vancouver Lulu Is. BC CAN

7 269 YK Castlegar Brilliant. BC CAN

6 515 SAK Kalispell Smith Lake MT USA

Missing NDBs? (not including Amateur beacons)

The following list shows NDBs with 6 or more loggings in
the similar event in Feb. 2015, but not reported this time.
They may have been withdrawn, changed frequency or ident,
be temporarily out of service or just be inaudible due to conditions.

Then Now kHz C/S Cou Location
=====================================
13 0 260 AVZ USA Terrell TX
11 0 260 BVQ USA Glasgow Beaver Creek. KY
6 0 260 GHJ USA Gastonia NC
9 0 261 2H CAN Lebel sur Quevillon QC
6 0 261 D6 CAN Fairmont Hot Springs BC
7 0 263 JDN USA Jordan MT
6 0 263 LB USA Angleton Lake Jackson TX
10 0 264 ZPB CAN Sachigo Lake ON
6 0 269 AR USA New Iberia LA
11 0 269 CII USA Choteau MT
6 0 269 PK USA Park Rapids MN

10 0 515 OS USA Columbus OH
6 0 521 GM USA Greenville SC
6 0 521 TO USA Topeka KS

Overall conditions should be much better by this time next month as September propagation can often be superb, as long as the lightning activity has died down. Over the past few seasons I have noticed that it seems to be hanging in a few weeks longer than in the past, hopefully not a long term trend but with all of the bizarre weather changes we are seeing, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

Hunting For NDB’s In CLE 210

'VR' - 266kHz


This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in the MF band from 260 - 269.9 kHz plus 440 - 1740 kHz.





'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.

The lower frequency range covers one my very strong locals, 'VR' on 266 kHz. 'VR' is an outer marker approach to Vancouver International's 'two-sixes' and is located a few miles east of the main runways in a farmer's field. Although running just 50 watts, it is widely reported (as far east as North Carolina), probably due to the excellent soggy ground beneath its somewhat unusual delta-shaped loop.

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

Hello all,

Our end-of-August Co-ordinated Listening Event will soon be here.
We'll be hunting for normal beacons in two contrasting frequency ranges
and there is also the possibility of hearing several amateur beacons.
As always, first-time CLE logs will be extra welcome.

Days: Friday 26 August - Monday 29 August
Times: Start and end at midday, your local time
Frequencies: 260.0 - 269.9 kHz
plus: 440.0 - 1740.0 kHz

These are interesting frequencies, the same ones that we last used for
CLE191 in February 2015 when 45 of us joined in.

Many of us should be able to hear beacons in both ranges, though Europe
only has a handful in the '260s'. From 440 onwards, North America has a
few, mostly around 520 kHz, while Eastern Europe has several beacons
and some regular UNIDs. Some of the NDBs can also be found among
Europe's Medium Wave Broadcast Stations.

Many of us are within range of amateur beacons on frequencies mainly
around 474 - 478 kHz. We'll be listening for ANYTHING OPERATING IN
BEACON MODE, preferably with normal speed Morse.
(We ask operators who sometimes use QRSS, PSK, WSPR, etc.,
which need software to receive them, to PLEASE CHOOSE THE
SIMPLER MODE during the CLE so that we shall all be able to
receive them and make reports).

Please look out for my final details with advice about log-making, etc.
in a few days.

73
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------

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.

CLE 208 Results




This past weekend saw another of the monthly CLE listening challenges.






'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.

If you are interested in building a 630m system, doing some listening on the high end of the NDB band is a great way to evaluate your station's receiving performance.

The frequency range covered for CLE 208 was 400-419.9 KHz where a fair number of North American NDBs' can be found. Beacons at this end of the band also tend to propagate better than those at the lower end near 200KHz.

This weekend, typical summertime conditions prevailed, with extremely high levels of thunderstorm / lightning QRN ... propagation itself was not too bad for the middle of summer.

As usual, I set up my Perseus SDR for hourly two-minute captures of the allocated spectrum and spent a few hours going over the files during the day. I have yet to purchase and download the latest version of Perseus software but I understand that there are several improvements over the system I am using ... which is excellent for my present needs.

Here is my weekend CLE log:

02 10:00 400.0 QQ Comox, BC, CAN
02 06:30 400.0 FN Fort Collins, CO, USA
02 10:00 400.0 CKN Crookston, MN, USA
02 10:00 400.0 1L Fort MacKay, AB, CAN
02 08:30 401.0 YPO Peawanuck, ON, CAN
02 08:30 402.0 M3 Kindersley, SK, CAN
02 08:30 402.0 L4 Nipawin, SK, CAN
02 11:00 403.0 AZC Colorado City, AZ, USA
02 08:00 404.0 MOG Montegue, CA, USA
02 09:30 404.0 GCR Cordova, ALS
04 09:00 404.0 FNB Falls City, NE, USA
02 08:00 405.0 9G Sundre, AB, CAN
02 08:00 405.0 2K Camrose, AB, CAN
02 08:30 406.0 YLJ Meadow Lake, SK, CAN
02 10:30 407.0 ZHU St Hubert (Montreal), QC, CAN
03 10:30 407.0 CHD Chandler, AZ, USA
02 10:30 408.0 JDM Colby, KS, USA
02 08:30 408.0 Z7 Claresholm, AB, CAN
02 08:30 408.0 MW Moses Lake, WA, USA
02 08:30 410.0 GDV Glendive, MT, USA
02 10:30 411.0 ILI Iliamna Apt, ALS
02 09:00 413.0 YHD Dryden, ON, CAN
02 04:00 414.0 YZK Harper Ranch, BC, CAN
02 10:00 414.0 LYI Libby, MT, USA
02 10:30 414.0 IME Sitka, ALS
02 09:00 415.0 LO West Yellowstone, MT, USA
03 09:30 415.0 CBC Cayman Brac, CYM
04 08:30 419.0 RYS Detroit, MI, USA


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 NDB list Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo NDB list Group 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.

Hunting For NDB’s In CLE 207

'LU' - 214 kHz Abbotsford, BC


This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in the LF band from 275 - 425 kHz. with a bit of a twist. 



'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 challenge has been expanded.



From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA), comes the following reminder:


Hello all,

Our special 'Channels Challenge' listening event is nearly here:

Days: Friday 27 May - Monday 30 May
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL time
Range: 275 kHz (or 325) - 425 kHz (see below)
Target: Try to log ANY ONE NDB in each channel

The main challenge is to try and log ONE NDB on each of the 151
channels in the range from 275 kHz up to 425 kHz inclusive.

The 'channel' means the NDB's NOMINAL (published) frequency
(it may not be quite where you heard the Morse ident).
An NDB on a 'half frequency' would be OK. E.g. 345.5 kHz would
count as OK for channel 345, etc. - show it in your log as 345.5 kHz.

Each NDB must be a 'normal' one - no DGPS, NAVTEX or amateur.
If you hear any UNIDs, please show them in a separate list.

So it means a highest possible target of 151 CLE loggings in all - that
will be VERY difficult to reach, probably impossible away from Europe.

If you don't have much time, or if you want to avoid those tough
frequencies shared with DGPS, you can try a reduced challenge of
325-425 kHz. That would give a possible total of 101 NDBs, still VERY
hard for most of us to achieve.

When we first tried this in CLE170 (end of May 2013) the average number
of channels heard was 83 for Europe listeners, and 41 for Rest of the World.

If you have extra time and want to make the challenge more interesting
you could hunt for NDBs which:

# give you the greatest number of DIFFERENT RADIO COUNTRIES heard.
See our Countries list at http://www.ndblist.info/beacons/countrylist.pdf
(Each State/Province in USA, CAN and AUS is a separate radio country)
# OR give the greatest TOTAL DISTANCE from you to all of the NDBs.
# OR include the greatest number of CHANNELS WITH MIDDAY LOGGINGS
i.e. heard within 2 hours of midday by your local winter clock time.

Send your 'Final' CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email
(not in an attachment) with CLE207 at the start of its title.
Please show on EVERY LINE of your log:

# The full date or day no. e.g. '2016-05-27' or '27'
and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency.
# The Call Ident.

Show those main items FIRST on every line, before other optional details
such as Location, Distance, Offsets, Cycle times, etc.

Always tell us your location and brief details of your receiver, aerial, etc.

I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 17:00 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List at the very latest
by 08:00 UTC on Wednesday 1 June.
I hope to complete making our combined results on that day.

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

TIPS!

Try the channels from 325 kHz first - if you start on the more difficult
lower frequencies it might dim your enthusiasm!

As always, you can find advice about CLEs generally and about this
special one by visiting our CLE page: http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm

This time you won't need a normal seeklist to help you. However,
from our CLE page you could quickly display details of the NDBs on
a particular channel using REU, RNA or RWW as appropriate to you.
Just enter e.g. 345 - 345.5 in the frequencies boxes and click 'Go'.
(REU shows, for example, that hearing an NDB from England on 287
would be a 'first' since 1990!)

If you wish you could use any one remote receiver (e.g. Twente) for
your loggings stating the 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.

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.

__._,_.___

CLE 206 Results

courtesy: http://www.solarham.net/

Propagation for last weekend's CLE activity was much better than anticipated. I had resigned myself to a weekend of poor propagation after reading gloomy reports of an impending coronal hole stream about to disturb the geomagnetic field once again. The image on the left came with storm warning alerts beginning on the 23rd, the first night of the CLE.

As I usually do, I retuned my inverted - 'L' close to the CLE frequency range and set up my Perseus SDR to make overnight recordings every hour.



I capture two-minute files on the hour and during the best propagation times (usually from midnight to dawn), every half hour as well. The next day I review the files, tuning through the band to see what has been captured overnight. As you might imagine, this can take some time but it allows me to take advantage of any propagation peaks that I might have missed had I been listening in real time for just an hour or two. It also allows me to get a good night's sleep!

Conditions were noisy, on all three nights, with lightning activity over the western states ... but for the most part had cleared up nicely after midnight. The last night (Sunday) saw the best overall propagation, even with a K index of 2. A very nice, but short-lived opening towards the east, brought an additional 18 more catches that had not been heard on the first two evenings, along with some nice NDB signals from Ontario.

23 07:30 198.0    DIW     Dixon, NC, USA
23 07:00 200.0    YJ         Victoria, BC, CAN
23 07:00 200.0    UAB     Anahim Lake, BC, CAN
23 07:00 200.0    5M        Sparwood, BC, CAN
23 07:00 201.0    ZWN    Winnipeg, MB, CAN
25 09:30 201.0    YKX      Kirkland Lake, ON, CAN
25 09:00 201.0    GL         La Grande Riviere, QC, CAN
23 10:00 203.0    ZKI       Kitimat, BC, CAN
23 10:00 203.0    YBL       Campbell River, BC, CAN
25 11:30 203.0    TCY       Tracy, CA, USA
25 09:30 203.0    AB         Aberdeen, SD, USA
23 10:00 204.0    ZQR       Regina, SK, CAN
23 10:00 205.0    COR       Corcoran, CA, USA
25 09:00 206.0    XBE        Bearskin Lake, ON, CAN
24 12:00 206.0    SOW      Show Low, AZ, USA
25 09:00 206.0    IIB          Independence, IA, USA
23 10:00 206.0    EF          Castlegar, BC, CAN
24 05:00 207.0    YNE       Norway House, MB, CAN
23 04:00 207.0    PY          Fort Chipewyan, AB, CAN
25 07:30 208.0    YSK       Sanikiluaq, NU, CAN
25 10:00 209.0    ITR        Burlington, CO, USA
23 07:00 209.0    IB          Atikokan, ON, CAN
23 12:00 209.0    CYT      Yakataga, ALS
23 06:00 211.0    HDG      Gooding, ID, USA
23 06:00 212.0    YGX       Gillam, MB, CAN
25 09:00 212.0    MPZ       Mount Pleasant, IA, USA
23 12:00 212.0    CGL        Juneau, ALS
23 06:00 214.0    LU          Abbotsford, BC, CAN
23 10:00 215.0    ZAB       Edmonton (Intl Apt), AB, CAN
25 09:00 215.0    AT         Watertown, SD, USA
25 08:30 216.0    YFA       Fort Albany, ON, CAN
23 07:30 216.0    GRF        Fort Lewis, WA, USA
23 07:30 216.0    CLB        Wilmington, NC, USA
23 12:00 217.0    EC           Enoch, UT, USA
24 07:30 218.0    RL           Red Lake, ON, CAN
23 12:00 218.0    PR          Prince Rupert, BC, CAN
23 07:00 219.0    ZRS        Regina, SK, CAN
23 07:00 221.0    QU         Grande Prairie, AB, CAN
23 07:00 221.0    9A          Hanna, AB, CAN
23 07:00 222.0    WY         Wrigley, NT, CAN
25 09:00 223.0    YYW       Armstrong, ON, CAN
23 07:00 223.0    YKA        Kamloops, BC, CAN
23 12:00 223.0    AFE         Kake Apt, ALS
25 09:00 224.0    MO          Moosonee, ON, CAN
23 07:30 224.0    DN          Dauphin, MB, CAN
23 07:00 225.0    X5           Vegreville, AB, CAN
23 12:00 225.0    LWG       Corvallis, OR, USA
25 09:00 227.0    YAC        Cat Lake, ON, CAN
25 11:00 227.0    MHM      Minchumina, ALS
23 07:30 227.0    CG           Castlegar, BC, CAN
23 07:30 227.0    9X           Brooks, AB, CAN
23 12:00 229.0    AKW      Klawock, ALS
23 09:30 230.0    YD           Smithers, BC, CAN
23 09:30 230.0    VG           Vermilion, AB, CAN
23 09:30 230.0    BI            Bismarck, ND, USA
25 09:00 233.0    QN          Nakina, ON, CAN
23 07:30 233.0    OKS        Oshkosh, NE, USA
23 09:00 233.0    BR          Brandon, MB, CAN
23 12:00 233.0    ALJ        Hinchinbrook Island, ALS
24 07:00 236.0    ZHT       Winnipeg IAP, MB, CAN
23 07:00 236.0    YZA       Ashcroft, BC, CAN
25 09:30 236.0    JB           Whitehorse, YT, CAN
24 07:30 236.0    FOR        Forsyth, MT, USA
23 10:00 238.0    MPA       Nampa, ID, USA
23 05:00 239.0    OJ           High Level, AB, CAN
25 10:30 239.0    BBB        Benson, MN, USA

courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps/
One of the signals I did not expect to hear at this time of the year was MHM, Minchumina, Alaska, on 227kHz. This one is only heard once or twice per season, and propagation to Alaska has to be much better than normal for MHM to be heard.


Hopefully you can jump in for next month's CLE activity. The CLE 206 listening results for all North American listeners and those outside of Europe can be found here.

Hunting For NDB’s In CLE 206


This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in the LF band from 190 - 239.9 kHz.

'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.

One nice catch to try for is 'LU' on 214 kHz shown on the left. The 'LU' NDB is in a breathtaking location, high on a mountain meadow at the foot of the North Cascade mountain range. In spite of the towering mountain peaks to the east and to the south, 'LU' is well heard, being reported as far east as Massachusetts and as far west as Hawaii.
The antenna is a 100' top-loaded vertical with, presumably, an extensive ground system as this is a very large site. The transmitter is a 500 watt Nautel. 'LU' is about 20 miles north-east of the Abbotsford Int'l Airport, Vancouver's alternate.

From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA), comes the following reminder:

Our 206th Co-ordinated Listening Event is next weekend.

Do join in if you can. First-time CLE logs will also be very welcome.

Days: Fri. 22 - Mon. 25 April, Midday-Midday, your local time
Frequencies: NDBs from 190 - 239.9 kHz
PLUS: Normal NDBs on 'half-way' frequencies nnn.5 kHz
(from 190.5 - 999.5 kHz)

Both halves are for everyone to try.

Away from Europe many of the frequencies below 240 kHz are busy with
NDBs. In Europe there are very few there, but some DX ones might be heard from North America and maybe from a few other places.

The normal NDBs (not DGPS) which have carriers on the 'half-way'
frequencies (e.g. 284.5 DY, 333.5 VOG, 370.5 LB, 390.5 ITR, 433.5 HEN)
are scattered across Europe but there are very few of them elsewhere.
'Hot spots' are ENG and ITA.
These half-frequencies give comfortable QRM-free listening and probably
some good catches as a result.
America has only one or two (e.g. 381.5 SJX) but East and West coasters
might hear some DX ones.

We last used these 'rules' for CLE190 in January 2015.

Please send your CLE log to the List in a plain text email if possible
(not in an attachment) with 'CLE206' at the start of its title.
Show on each log line:

# The date (e.g. 2016-04-22, etc., or just 22) 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.
If you send interim logs, please also send a 'Final' (complete) log.

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.

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.

CLE 204 Results




With a very quiet sun for the entire week, this past weekend's CLE proved to have much better conditions than normally experienced.


Conditions were 'good' but not 'great'. Really 'great' nights are few and far between but with the rapidly declining solar cycle, we should see more and more of these over the next few winters.

Most listeners around the world reported good conditions, with the nod going to Friday night as being the best. I thought that all three nights were good, but heard nothing new on night number three.

A surprise catch, with a good signal, was 'BRA -379' in Asheville, North Carolina. It's classified as an 'H-class' NDB and is an outer marker locator. I believe the H-class indicates a 400W transmitter and with the large vertical antenna, seems to get out very well.

courtesy: http://www.bing.com/maps
Even more surprising was 'SPH-375' located in Springhill, Louisiana. It is an LOM ndb, being co-located with the runway's ILS outer marker. The beacon appears to be using the classic "T' as seen here and is likely in the 25 watt range.

courtesy: http://www.bing.com/maps
As I mentioned earlier, I was rather dreading this CLE since my local blowtorch pest signal (AP-378) was smack in the middle of the CLE's frequency range. 'AP' is located 6/10ths of a mile from me, just down the shoreline and has a huge signal here.

Fortunately, Perseus has an extremely effective 'notch' filter, and this, along with putting 'AP' in my LF loop's null, allowed me to hear two other NDB's beneath it ... 'ZFA' (Faro, Yukon) and 'UX' (Hall Beach, Nunavut).

The following 44 stations were heard on the Perseus SDR while using either the LF loop or my inverted 'L', tuned to 370 kHz.

27 06:00 370.0 YBV Berens River, MB, CAN
27 06:00 370.0 PAI Whiteman, CA, USA
27 06:00 371.0 YK Yakima, WA, USA
27 11:00 371.0 UK Laughlin, CA, USA
27 06:00 371.0 PUR Marshall, MO, USA
27 06:00 371.0 ITU Great Falls, MT, USA
27 05:00 371.0 GW Kuujjuarapik, QC, CAN
27 06:00 372.0 ZPA Prince Albert, SK, CAN
27 08:00 372.0 YCO Kugluktuk, NU, CAN
27 05:00 373.0 MF Table Rock, OR, USA
27 06:00 374.0 LV Livermore, CA, USA
28 09:00 374.0 HY Hays, KS, USA
27 05:00 374.0 EX Kelowna, BC, CAN
27 08:00 374.0 EE Forada, MN, USA
28 09:30 375.0 SPH Springhill, LA, USA
27 05:00 375.0 FS Fort Simpson, NT, CAN
27 07:00 375.0 CP Casper, WY, USA
27 08:00 375.0 BM Balmoral, MB, CAN
27 08:00 375.0 BD Moose Jaw, SK, CAN
27 08:30 376.0 ZIN Matthew Town, BAH
27 07:00 376.0 YAG Fort Frances, ON, CAN
27 05:00 376.0 PVQ Deadhorse, ALS
27 07:00 376.0 LC Columbus, OH, USA
27 09:00 377.0 EHA Elkhart, KS, USA
27 08:00 377.0 BUB Burwell, NE, USA
27 08:00 378.0 ZFA Faro, YT, CAN
27 05:00 378.0 UX Hall Beach, NU, CAN
27 07:00 378.0 OT North Bend, OR, USA
27 05:00 378.0 AP Mayne Island, BC, CAN
27 08:00 379.0 ZEG Edmonton, AB, CAN
28 11:00 379.0 IWW Kenai, ALS
27 07:00 379.0 DL Duluth, MN, USA
27 08:00 379.0 BRA Asheville, NC, USA
27 10:00 380.0 OEL Oakley, KS, USA
27 08:00 380.0 GC Gillette, WY, USA
27 05:00 380.0 BBD Brady, TX, USA
27 08:00 381.5 SJX St James, MI, USA
27 10:00 382.0 YPW Powell River, BC, CAN
27 10:00 382.0 YE Fort Nelson, BC, CAN
27 06:00 382.0 SP Springfield, IL, USA
27 08:00 382.0 JNR Unalakleet, ALS
27 08:00 382.0 AW Marysville, WA, USA
27 10:00 383.0 PI Pocatello, ID, USA
27 07:00 383.0 CNP Chappell, NE, USA
27 10:00 384.0 3F Ile-a-la-crosse, SK, CAN

The listening results for all North American listeners and those outside of Europe can be found here.
 

Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter

 
We never share your e-mail address.


Do you like to write?
Interesting project to share?
Helpful tips and ideas for other hams?

Submit an article and we will review it for publication on AmateurRadio.com!

Have a ham radio product or service?
Consider advertising on our site.

Are you a reporter covering ham radio?
Find ham radio experts for your story.

How to Set Up a Ham Radio Blog
Get started in less than 15 minutes!


  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor




Sign up for our free
Amateur Radio Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address: