Posts Tagged ‘MF’
CLE197 Results
August 25th, 2015 | 
Author: 
It seems that our medium-frequency NDB CLE's (Co-ordinated Listening Event) go hand-in-hand with solar disturbances and wacky geomagnetic conditions. If you want to know when the next big geomagnetic upset will be, just check the date of the next CLE!Along with a half dozen M-flares and auroral-producing 'K' indexes of 5-6, most of North America was blanketed with severe thunderstorm activity, always typical of this time of the year. In spite of the poor conditions, several signals did manage to find their way into my log. Sunday night provided the best conditions, with far less thunderstorm activity and a slight improvement in propagation. Saturday night's lightning map looked like this:
 |
| courtesy: http://thunderstorm.vaisala.com/explorer.html |
 |
| courtesy: http://www.noaa.gov/ |
Loggings in RED where made on Friday night, GREEN on Saturday night and BLUE on Sunday night.
All stations were heard on the Perseus SDR while using my LF 'inverted-L' resonated at 300KHz.
LOG:
DD UTC kHz Call mi Location
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
22 06:00 240 BVS 48 Burlington, WA, USA
22 10:00 241 YLL 648 Lloydminster Municipal Apt, AB, CAN
22 12:30 242 ZT 223 Port Hardy, BC, CAN
22 10:00 242 XC 342 Cranbrook, BC, CAN
22 10:00 244 TH 1166 Thompson, MB, CAN
23 07:00 245 YZE 1890 Gore Bay, ON, CAN
22 12:00 245 HNS 865 Haines, ALS
24 09:00 245 FS 1311 ROKKY - Sioux Falls, SD, USA
22 10:00 245 CRR 821 Circle Town County Apt, MT, USA
24 05:00 245 CB 1528 Cambridge Bay, NU, CAN
23 12:00 245 AVQ 1298 Marana Regional Apt, AZ, USA
22 09:00 246 ZXJ 517 Y'Taylor' Fort St. John, BC, CAN
22 09:00 248 ZZP 486 Dead Tree - Queen Charlotte Is, BC, CAN
22 09:00 248 QL 471 Lethbridge, AB, CAN
22 09:00 248 QH 811 Watson Lake, YT, CAN
22 09:00 250 FO 1002 Flin Flon Municipal Apt, MB, CAN
22 12:30 250 2J 220 Grand Forks Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
22 09:00 251 YCD 32 Nanaimo, BC, CAN
22 09:00 251 PWD 850 Plentywood, MT, USA
22 12:30 251 OSE 1708 Oscarville - Bethel Apt, ALS
23 11:30 251 AM 1445 PANDE - Amarillo, TX, USA
24 08:00 253 GB 1324 'Garno' Marshall, MN, USA
22 09:00 254 ZYC 441 Calgary, AB, CAN
22 09:00 254 SM 891 Fort Smith, AB, CAN
24 11:30 256 TQK 1322 Scott City Municipal Apt, KS, USA
22 12:30 256 LSO 188 Kelso - Rocky Point - Kelso, WA, USA
22 12:00 256 EB 537 Namao - CFB Edmonton, AB, CAN
22 09:00 257 XE 757 Saskatoon, SK, CAN
24 09:00 257 SAZ 1329 Staples, MN, USA
22 09:00 257 LW 192 Kelowna - Wood Lake, BC, CAN
22 09:00 258 ZSJ 1324 Sandy Lake Apt, ON, CAN
23 08:00 420 FQ 1422 MONTZ - East Chain, MN, USA
24 09:00 428 POH 1433 Pocahontas Municipal Apt, IA, USA
22 12:00 429 BTS 1571 Wood River - Dillingham, ALS
24 09:00 434 SLB 1410 Storm Lake Municipal Apt, IA, USA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thankfully, by this time next month and into October, quieter nights and better propagation will prevail ... fall often produces the best propagation of the year and has always been my favorite time of the year, outdoors and at the dials.
Hunting For NDBs In CLE 197
 |
| 'ZSJ-258' Sandy Lake, ON |
A list of all of the North American targets in this range can be found in the RNA database, while targets for European DXers will be found here... specify the frequency range wanted and check 'show all results'.
An excellent target for this CLE is 'ZSJ', the Sandy Lake, Ontario NDB (258KHz) shown here. Its 500W signal and big antenna get out very well ... it has been heard in Europe as well as in Hawaii.
From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA) comes the following reminder:
Hi all,
Here are the final details for our 197th co-ordinated listening event this
weekend. First timer logs too? Yes, please!
Days: Friday 21 August to Monday 24 August
(that's a week earlier than usual)
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL TIME
Range: 240.0 - 259.9 kHz plus 420.0 - 439.9 kHz
(BOTH ranges are for ALL listeners)
Please log NDBs that you can positively identify in the ranges, plus any
UNIDs that you come across there.
Send your CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email and
not in an attachment, with CLE197 at the start of its title.
Show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The Date (or day 'dd') and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency (if you know it).
# The Call Ident.
Please show those main items FIRST on each line, then any optional details
such as Location, Offsets, Distance, etc.
If you send interim logs, do make sure that you also send a 'Final' log
containing all your loggings. As always, please make your log useful and
interesting to everyone by including your own location and brief details
of your receiver, aerial(s) and any recording equipment that you used.
I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 17:00 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your Final 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 26th August.
I hope to complete the combined results later on that day.
You can find CLE-related information from the CLE page,
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm , including access to the seeklists
that have been made for the event from REU/RNA/RWW.
(NB: To also see a MAP of the seeklist NDBs around you, just change
'List' to 'Map', select 'All Results' and uncheck 'Clustering')
Good 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).
Here are the final details for our 197th co-ordinated listening event this
weekend. First timer logs too? Yes, please!
Days: Friday 21 August to Monday 24 August
(that's a week earlier than usual)
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL TIME
Range: 240.0 - 259.9 kHz plus 420.0 - 439.9 kHz
(BOTH ranges are for ALL listeners)
Please log NDBs that you can positively identify in the ranges, plus any
UNIDs that you come across there.
Send your CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email and
not in an attachment, with CLE197 at the start of its title.
Show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The Date (or day 'dd') and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency (if you know it).
# The Call Ident.
Please show those main items FIRST on each line, then any optional details
such as Location, Offsets, Distance, etc.
If you send interim logs, do make sure that you also send a 'Final' log
containing all your loggings. As always, please make your log useful and
interesting to everyone by including your own location and brief details
of your receiver, aerial(s) and any recording equipment that you used.
I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 17:00 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your Final 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 26th August.
I hope to complete the combined results later on that day.
You can find CLE-related information from the CLE page,
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm , including access to the seeklists
that have been made for the event from REU/RNA/RWW.
(NB: To also see a MAP of the seeklist NDBs around you, just change
'List' to 'Map', select 'All Results' and uncheck 'Clustering')
Good 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.
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...do 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.
630m Trans-Pacific Path Alive
In spite of the recent high levels of geomagnetic disturbance (or maybe because of it), just as it did last year at this time, the path between North America and Australia has sprung to life once again. Last night saw the reception of both WH2XND (NI7J), in Phoenix and WG2XXM (K5DNL), near Oklahoma City, by VK2XGJ in New South Wales, Australia. Not to be left out, VK2DDI, also in NSW, copied WG2XXM as well. Some of K5DNL's 630m gear can be seen here.
 |
| courtesy: John Langridge (WG2XIQ / KB5NJD) |
The American beacons were operating in the WSPR mode, which has become very popular amongst 630m experimenters as well as those just interested in listening-in. WSPR is not a QSO mode but strictly a one-way 'beacon' mode. Although two stations may each spot each other, it is not considered to be a valid two-way QSO. A check of evening WSPR activity will often reveal dozens of stations actively spotting what they are hearing.
VK2DDI runs the Berry Mountain Grabber, providing other VK and ZL experimenters a handy way of checking their system progress or propagation conditions but during good T-P nights, it can be a good place for U.S. stations to watch for their signals as well.
If you have been doing any WSPR work on HF, you might be surprised at what you can hear down on 630m, even without a dedicated antenna for that band. Surprisingly good results can often be had with a non-resonant antenna as the signal to noise ratio can often be better even though signals may sound weaker. Give it a try and spot what you hear!
If you are interested in learning how to receive WSPR, here is a nice tutorial by ZS6SGM.
Should you be interested in knowing more about obtaining a Part 5 licence to transmit on 630m, John, KB5NJD / WG2XIQ, has a wonderful 630m resource page here, as well as more details about the recent down-under receptions. While there, be sure to check out his up-to-date 630m links page. He can be contacted via email or you can find him hanging-out most nights on the ON4KST kHz (2000-630m) chat page.
To keep on top of what is happening or who is on-the-air, most LF'ers rely on three sources:
- the RSGB LF Group reflector
- the Lowfer list
- the LWCA Message Board
Radio amateurs in Canada have had 630m as an amateur band since May of last year but unfortunately are not allowed to contact any of the experimental stations. Hopefully the U.S. will also obtain 630m as a ham band some time soon. In the meantime, a Part 5 licence for any U.S. amateurs would be a good way to be all set when that day eventually comes!
LF / MF – Time To File
The FCC is now officially inviting comment on its proposal to establish two new amateur bands ... the 2200m LF band (135.7kHz - 137.8kHz) and the 630m MF band (472 - 479kHz).
The detailed proposal was published in the Federal Registry on July 2, thus establishing the comment deadline as August 31st and a deadline of September 30th for 'comments on the comments'.
It is proposed that the Amateur Radio service would be 'secondary users' of this slice of the spectrum. Secondary users must not cause interference to the Primary users and also be willing to accept interference from the Primary users as conditions of operating. In reality, the only primary use of these bands in North America is for hydro distribution control (PLC) signals. Over several years of maximum ERP amateur experimental work, both here in Canada as well as in the U.S.A., there has been no documented interference to these signals nor have the well-shielded PLC signals been a problem for amateurs ... it seems that co-existence is readily attainable.
Whether you have operated on these bands or not (but especially if you have), I would urge you to file a comment expressing your opinions on any of the critical concerns (antenna height, power etc.) expressed by the FCC. All of these were listed in a previous three-part blog, starting here.
If you think that you might like to operate or experiment on either of these bands in the future, then just tell them that as well ... the more interest from the amateur radio world shown, the better.
For those of you that might think that this part of the spectrum has little to offer the amateur, I can assure you that such is not the case. Coast-to-coast propagation has been demonstrated on numerous occasions (on both bands). Both bands offer wide opportunities for experimental work dealing with antennas, modes and propagation as well as providing an abundance of homebrewing opportunities for builders.
Comments may be filed, identified by ET Docket No 15-99 (proceeding number), via the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). As well, you can read all of the comments that have been filed here.
U.S. amateurs have been waiting long enough (since 2007) for an opportunity to use these bands ... let's show the FCC that we really want them by filing your comments before August 31st!
CLE 195 Results
Propagation conditions co-operated for the recent CLE weekend but the weather did not. The high level of lightning activity resulted in some stations hearing just a fraction of what they usually hear in the 270 - 319KHz region. Although most of the lightning was a few states / provinces to my east, the results here were the same, with noise levels receding by ~18db when sunrise arrived over the lightning-affected regions.
It seems that almost everybody logged 500-watter YQ-305 in Churchill, Manitoba except me as this monster eluded me all weekend ... yet little 25-watter, YPM, in Pikangikum, Ontario made it through in fine form ... very odd.
The following stations were logged, all on the first night of the three-evening affair, with no new catches being added after night one:
20 07:00 272 XS 343 Prince George, BC, CAN
20 08:00 274 YPM 1299 Pikangikum Apt, ON, CAN
20 10:00 274 FR 928 Fort Resolution, NT, CAN
20 08:00 275 GEY 779 Greybull, WY, USA
20 11:00 278 1U 521 Masset Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
20 11:00 281 CRN 1510 Cairn Mtn - Sparrevohn LRRS, ALS
20 11:00 283 DUT 1867 Dutch Harbor - Unalaska Apt, ALS
20 09:00 284 QD 1014 The Pas Municipal Apt, MB, CAN
20 11:00 284 FHR 26 Friday Harbor Apt, WA, USA
20 09:00 286 EKS 600 Ennis - Big Sky Apt, MT, USA
20 10:00 287 PE 560 Peace River, AB, CAN
20 10:00 290 YYF 171 Penticton, BC, CAN
20 10:00 292 ZET 518 Devon - Edmonton IAP, AB, CAN
20 10:00 293 MB 18 Mill Bay - Sidney, BC, CAN
20 10:00 295 8C 537 Fairview Municipal Apt, AB, CAN
20 11:00 296 LGD 349 La Grande, OR, USA
20 09:00 299 TV 417 Turner Valley, AB, CAN
20 10:00 302 QW 705 North Battleford, SK, CAN
20 10:00 304 FH 485 Mc Leod (Whitecourt), AB, CAN
20 09:00 305 Z1 484 Three Hills, AB, CAN
20 11:00 305 ONO 448 Ontario Municipal Apt, OR, USA
20 10:00 307 M5 605 Manning, AB, CAN
20 10:00 308 ZZD 515 Calmar (Edmonton Intl Apt), AB, CAN
20 10:00 311 9Y 421 Pincher Creek, AB, CAN
20 11:00 312 UNT 173 Naramata, BC, CAN
20 10:00 317 VC 873 La Ronge, SK, CAN
CLE organizer, Brain Keyte, made the following comments in his CLE summary:
Most listeners seemed to be more affected by the natural QRN than by DGPS Stations' QRM.
Europe seemed to be relatively lucky with less static interference, especially for those able to pick their listening times.
Most listeners seemed to be more affected by the natural QRN than by DGPS Stations' QRM.
Europe seemed to be relatively lucky with less static interference, especially for those able to pick their listening times.
We covered the same frequencies back in March last year. Surprisingly, Europe's reception statistics showed very little difference. The rest of the world had the more normal summertime problems, perhaps also a bigger loss of active NDBs, and some of their overall reception statistics (number of NDBs heard and total distance) were 50% lower.
The highest 'rest of the world' NDBs count, unsurprisingly, was achieved by Edgar 'down under'. It must be quite hard for many of us who are 'up over' and trying to keep cool, to imagine his mid-winter conditions!
CLE196 will be over the weekend of 24-27 July.
I fancy some 472kHz WSPR!
It is ages since I was active on 472kHz, so I might fire up the FT817 and transverter to see if anyone can spot my 5mW ERP or I can spot others. I shall use the earth-electrode “antenna” and go QRT on 6m to free up the FT817.
It is summertime, so noise levels will be higher, making my weak signal harder to copy than in the winter. It will take me about 5 minutes to swap bands and reset everything. The FT817 has to be set to 500mW and split mode so I receive directly on the 472kHz band but TX on the 80m band into the transverter.
If you copy me on 472kHz WSPR please report it.
UPDATE 2009z: Well, that was a good start! I just switched to MF and received 2 spots by G8HUH in IO81mg (250km) in daylight. I shall now leave 474.2kHz WSPR running overnight to see what else happens. With 5mW (maybe less) ERP I am quite happy with his -26/-27dB S/N reports.
UPDATE 2126z: So far G8HUH (250km) has spotted me 10 times this evening. I have spotted no-one and no-one else has spotted me, as yet.
Hunting For NDBs in CLE195
 |
| 'YPM' - 274kHz courtesy: Alex - VE3GOP |
A list of all of the North American targets in this range can be found in the RNA database, while targets for European DXers will be found here... specify the frequency range wanted and check 'show all results'.
An excellent target for this CLE is 'YPM' in Pikangikum, Ontario, on 274kHz. Its 25 watts and big antenna are heard well throughout North America
From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA) comes the following reminder:
Hi all.
Have you tried one of our Co-ordinated Listening Events yet?
CLEs are NOT contests - they allow us to share the same listening
challenge and in the process to learn more about our great hobby.
Short logs or long ones, everyone who enjoys taking part is a winner!
Since early in 2001 over 250 different NDB List members have taken
part in a CLE for the first time - and over four in every five came back
for more.
Fourteen members have come back over 100 times, 44 over 50 times.
Our 195th Co-ordinated Listening Event, coming in a few days, will be
rather a challenge (we like those, don't we?)!
Days: Friday 19 June - Monday 22 June (a week early)
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL time
Range: 270.0 - 319.9 kHz (NOT DGPS beacons)
Yes - it does include most of the DGPS frequencies, but it is 50 kHz wide,
about three times more than usual. We shall be listening only for the
'NORMAL' NDBs.
We last searched for NDBs on these frequencies in CLE180 (March 2014).
We shall all have at least one end of the range for some comfortable
listening, but the main challenge will be to find the Morse signals among
all the DGPS noises. REU and RNA show that, since the start of last year,
about 270 and 200 normal NDBs respectively have been reported there.
There are several to be heard by our members 'down under' as well.
Please look out for the 'Final Details', which as usual will follow about
two days before the start.
73
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------
These listening events serve several purposes. They:
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...do 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.
Have you tried one of our Co-ordinated Listening Events yet?
CLEs are NOT contests - they allow us to share the same listening
challenge and in the process to learn more about our great hobby.
Short logs or long ones, everyone who enjoys taking part is a winner!
Since early in 2001 over 250 different NDB List members have taken
part in a CLE for the first time - and over four in every five came back
for more.
Fourteen members have come back over 100 times, 44 over 50 times.
Our 195th Co-ordinated Listening Event, coming in a few days, will be
rather a challenge (we like those, don't we?)!
Days: Friday 19 June - Monday 22 June (a week early)
Times: Start and end at midday, your LOCAL time
Range: 270.0 - 319.9 kHz (NOT DGPS beacons)
Yes - it does include most of the DGPS frequencies, but it is 50 kHz wide,
about three times more than usual. We shall be listening only for the
'NORMAL' NDBs.
We last searched for NDBs on these frequencies in CLE180 (March 2014).
We shall all have at least one end of the range for some comfortable
listening, but the main challenge will be to find the Morse signals among
all the DGPS noises. REU and RNA show that, since the start of last year,
about 270 and 200 normal NDBs respectively have been reported there.
There are several to be heard by our members 'down under' as well.
Please look out for the 'Final Details', which as usual will follow about
two days before the start.
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.
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...do 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.
