Report from Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Times / dates = UTC / 2009
e-mail = "markwa1...@aol.com"
[Connelly*rw-MA] = Rowley, MA, USA
(GC= 42.7436 N / 70.8367 W)
(salt-marsh: east end of Stackyard Road - Nelson Island, Parker River
NWR)
site-related info at 'http://home.comcast.net/~markwa1ion/rowley_ma.htm'
Receiver: Microtelecom Perseus operated with MSI Wind U100 netbook
Antenna: cardioid-pattern Micro-SuperLoop on car roof, square, 2 m per
side, with 9:1 transformer on east bottom corner to speaker wire to 2:1
transformer to W7IUV transfer amp, and 9:1 transformer on west corner
to speaker wire to 500 ohm null-adjust potentiometer. See
<http://home.comcast.net/~dx_lab/pictures/micro_superloop.htm> for a
similar antenna.
======================================================
*** TRANSATLANTIC DX ***
585 | SPAIN | RNE R.1, Madrid, JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with romantic
female vocal; poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
603 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0100 - // 774 with music, 5
short pips, 1 long pip, fanfare music, Radio Nacional de Espana ID and
news; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
621 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | RNE R.1 synchros, Santa Cruz de
Tenerife et al., JUL 16 0044 - // 1152 with man & woman in Spanish; to
good peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
639 | SPAIN | RNE R.1, La Coruna et al., JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with
romantic female vocal; poor to fair. [Connelly*rw-MA]
648 | SPAIN | RNE R.1, Badajoz et al., JUL 16 0044 - // 621 with woman
in Spanish; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
657 | SPAIN | RNE R.5, Madrid, JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with romantic
female vocal; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
666 | PORTUGAL | RDP Antena 1 synchros, JUL 16 0038 - // 720 with
Moorish or Middle Eastern influenced folk vocal; poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
684 | SPAIN | RNE R.1, Sevilla, JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with romantic
female vocal; poor to fair in WRKO slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
720 | PORTUGAL | RDP Antena 1 synchros, JUL 16 0038 - // 666 with
Moorish influenced female folk vocal; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
738 | SPAIN | RNE R.1, Barcelona, JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with romantic
female vocal; poor in CHCM slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
747 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0039 - // 621
with romantic female vocal; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
756 | GERMANY | Deutschlandfunk, Braunschweig & Ravensburg, JUL 16 0100
- German news by man; poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
765 | SWITZERLAND | RSR Option Musique, Sottens, JUL 16 0039 - French
vocal; poor. + JUL 16 0100 - Option Musique jingle, man & woman in
French; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
774 | SPAIN | RNE R.1 synchros, JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with romantic
female vocal; good. [Connelly*rw-MA]
792 | FRANCE | France Info, Limoges, JUL 16 0101 - // 945 & 1206 with
French news by woman; through WPRV slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
837 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0040 - man in
Spanish; mixing with France. + JUL 16 0100 - // 1143 with Cadena COPE
ID, news; good, over France. [Connelly*rw-MA]
837 | FRANCE | France Info, Nancy, JUL 16 0039 - // 945 with melancholy
female vocal; fair, mixed with COPE Spain. [Connelly*rw-MA]
855 | SPAIN | RNE R.1 synchros, JUL 16 0107 - // 1098 with man & woman
in Spanish; in WEEI slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
864 | FRANCE | France Bleu, Villebon-sur-Yvette, JUL 16 0101 - French
country male vocal; to good peak. + JUL 16 0106 - disco.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
873 | SPAIN | SER synchros, JUL 16 0038 - Spanish teletalk with man &
woman; fair. + JUL 16 0102 - // 1116 with fast Spanish news, phone
interview; good. [Connelly*rw-MA]
882 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0102 - // 837
with news by woman in Spanish mentioning Venezuela; mixed with UK.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
882 | UNITED KINGDOM | BBC R. Wales, Washford, JUL 16 0100 - "a report
from the BBC World Service at 1 o'clock GMT", into story about Space
Shuttle Endeavour lift-off; fair over COPE. [Connelly*rw-MA]
909 | UNITED KINGDOM | BBC R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0100 - "Five Live
News", talk about financial crisis; fair. + JUL 16 0107 - talk by US
(ABC network) correspondent about stocks going up but California
running out of money; good signal, better than adjacent 910.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
936 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0039 - // 621 with romantic
female vocal; poor. + JUL 16 0100 - vocal // 774 then pips and news;
poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
945 | FRANCE | France Info, Toulouse, JUL 16 0030 - bluesy vocal, then
woman in French; to fair peak. + JUL 16 0101 - French news by woman;
good. [Connelly*rw-MA]
954 | SPAIN | Onda Cero, Madrid, JUL 16 0102 - Spanish talk, teletalk;
fair. [Connelly*rw-MA]
972 | LIBYA | Libyan Jamahiriya BC, Sirte, JUL 16 0031 - bits of Arabic
female vocal through WZAN slop; good strength carrier but light audio,
apparent Germany under. [Connelly*rw-MA]
981 | ALGERIA | RTVA Chaine 2, Algiers, JUL 16 0034 - Arabic male vocal
& guitar; loud. [Connelly*rw-MA]
999 | SAUDI ARABIA (t) | BSKSA R. Quran, Tabuk, JUL 16 0106 - Arabic
chanting by man mixing with Spain, probably the Saudi (based on others'
receptions) though possibly Morocco. [Connelly*rw-MA]
999 | SPAIN | COPE, Madrid, JUL 16 0010 - woman in Spanish; well over
Arabic station. + JUL 16 0101 - // 873 with news by man & woman,
"buenas noches" greeting; to fair peak. Weak 1000 het (Brazil) on the
high side was less a problem than the IBOC blob on the low side, so USB
used. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1053 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0100 - Spanish news by woman; over
TalkSport UK. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1053 | UNITED KINGDOM | TalkSport synchros, JUL 16 0106 - "08717 double
2 double 3 double 4" phone number; mixing with Spain. + JUL 16 0116 -
talk about the IRA and Al Qaeda; fair. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1080 | SPAIN | SER synchros, JUL 16 0058 - // 1116 with Sinatra or
similar vocal; under WTIC. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1089 | UNITED KINGDOM | TalkSport synchros, JUL 16 0102 - talk about
disciplinary actions against players; fair over 1088 Angola het & WBAL
slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1098 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0031 - // 1152 with
country-influenced vocal; fair. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1107 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0034 - man & woman in Spanish;
best on LSB to dodge 1107.12 growl. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1116 | SPAIN | SER synchros, JUL 16 0100 - // 1179 with piano music,
pips, woman with ID "Cadena SER, Servicios Informativos", then news;
good, over slight WTAM IBOC. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1134 | CROATIA | Glas Hrvatske, Zadar, JUL 16 0002 - Croatian news;
increasing strength (pre-sunset reception). + JUL 16 0034 - Croatian
talk by man & woman; loud. + JUL 16 0057 - sad-sounding Slavic male
vocal; in dogfight with Spain. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1134 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0100 - Cadena COPE ID, news by
woman in Spanish; dominant. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1143 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0031 - fast Spanish talk by man &
woman; to fair peak. + JUL 16 0100 - // 1134 with time pips, musical
fanfare, Cadena COPE ID; fair, echoey. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1152 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0031 - // 1098 with
country-influenced vocal; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1179 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | SER synchros, JUL 16 0100 - // 1116
with piano music, pips, Cadena SER ID; through Cuba/WHAM slop.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1206 | FRANCE | France Info, Bordeaux, JUL 16 0030 - // 945 with jazzy
/ bluesy vocal; best on USB to dodge WKOX slop. + JUL 16 0100 - dreamy
instrumental, then top-of-hour fanfare music followed by news (woman in
French); good. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1215 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0029 - // 1143 with woman in
Spanish; dominant. + JUL 16 0101 - // 1134 with rapid-fire Spanish news
by woman; over UK. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1215 | UNITED KINGDOM | Absolute R. synchros, JUL 16 0102 - "Tainted
Love" by Soft Cell from '82; coming up over Spain. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1224 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, JUL 16 0101 - // 1215 with news by woman
in Spanish; over WPHT IBOC hash. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1242 | FRANCE | France Info, Marseille, JUL 16 0030 - // 1206 with
music, then woman in French; peaking over WBUR slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1296 | SPAIN | COPE, Valencia, JUL 16 0034 - slow Spanish talk by man
// 1143; poor. + JUL 16 0058 - vocal // 1143; poor to fair.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1305 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0035 - // 1152 with talk,
female vocal; to fair peak. + JUL 16 0058 - // 1107 with new-age type
instrumental; to good peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1314 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0058 - // 1305, 1107 with
new-age instrumental music; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1359 | SPAIN | RNE, Arganda del Rey, JUL 16 0106 - Spanish talk; poor.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1413 | SPAIN | RNE R.5 synchros, JUL 16 0106 - // 774 with segment of
instrumental music, man & woman in Spanish; to fair peak, some WVAE
IBOC (less at Rowley than at Granite Pier however). [Connelly*rw-MA]
1422 | ALGERIA | RTA, Algiers, JUL 16 0019 - man in French; to fair
peak. + JUL 16 0106 - pop Arabic-Afropop vocal; initially over Germany.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1422 | GERMANY | Deutschlandfunk, Heusweiler, JUL 16 0108 - relaxing
piano music; to good peak, coming up over Algeria. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1431 | DJIBOUTI | R. Sawa, Arta, JUL 16 0032 - Arabic vocal with
strings & percussion; peaking over WXKS slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1521 | SAUDI ARABIA | BSKSA, Duba, JUL 16 0022 - newstalk / discussion
with man in Arabic; huge signal when most other TA's were wimpy. + JUL
16 0107 - Koranic male chant; monster-loud. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1557 | FRANCE | France Info, Fontbonne, JUL 16 0029 - // 1206 with
female blues-rock vocal; in WQEW slop. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1575 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | R. Farda, Al Dhabiya, JUL 16 0107 - slow
Mideast male vocal; to fair peak. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1575 | unID | JUL 16 0030 - audio seemed more likely to be Spain than
UAE; trashed by WQEW IBOC. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1584 | CEUTA | RadiOle, JUL 16 0026 - Spanish group pop male vocal with
guitar and keyboard; fair over SER. [Connelly*rw-MA]
*** PAN-AMERICAN DX ***
555 | ST. KITTS & NEVIS | R. ZIZ, Basseterre, JUL 16 0038 - religious
talk by man, then gospel music; through WGAN slop. + JUL 16 0114 - soca
vocal; fair. [Connelly*rw-MA]
640 | GUADELOUPE | R. Guadeloupe, Pointe-a-Pitre, JUL 16 0059 - French
talk, then female vocal; under CBN. [Connelly*rw-MA]
640 | VENEZUELA | YVQO, Union R., Puerto La Cruz, JUL 16 0039 - Spanish
talk mentioning "en Puerto La Cruz"; noted during CBN fade.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
670 | CUBA | CMQ, R. Rebelde, Arroyo Arenas, JUL 16 0114 - // 710 with
a few seconds of music, then man in Spanish; slightly over jumble.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
700 | BRAZIL | ZYK686, R. Eldorado AM, Sao Paulo, JUL 16 0039 - usual
reverberated Portuguese; poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
710 | CUBA | R. Rebelde synchros, JUL 16 0114 - // 670 with music, then
Spanish talk; under WOR. [Connelly*rw-MA]
750 | VENEZUELA | YVKS, RCR, Caracas, JUL 16 0101 - mentions of
businesses and phone numbers in Caracas; over CBGY. [Connelly*rw-MA]
760 | BRAZIL | ZYH588, R. Uirapuru, Fortaleza, JUL 16 0039 - Portuguese
talk by woman; slightly under WCHP. + JUL 16 0116 - man in Portuguese;
mixed with WJR. [Connelly*rw-MA]
760 | COLOMBIA | HJAJ, RCN, Barranquilla, JUL 16 0101 - Radio Suceso
RCN ID; over others. [Connelly*rw-MA]
770 | COLOMBIA | HJJX, RCN, Bogota, JUL 16 0101 - // 760 with Radio
Suceso RCN ID; mixed with WABC and second Spanish speaker.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
819.522 | unID | JUL 16 0039 - weak het against 820 St. Kitts and 819
(presumed) Egypt. [Connelly*rw-MA]
820 | ST. KITTS & NEVIS | Trinity Broadcast Network / R. Paradise,
Charlestown, JUL 16 0039 - preaching; fair. [Connelly*rw-MA]
870 | CUBA | R. Reloj, JUL 16 0100 - Reloj program with on-the-minute
"RR" beeps, on-the-second clock ticks; mixed with CFSX/WLVP.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
890.11 | unID | JUL 16 0057 - low growl against WAMG. [Connelly*rw-MA]
910 | VENEZUELA | YVRQ, RQ-910, Caracas, JUL 16 0040 - Spanish talk
with "AM Center" slogan; dominant. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1000 | BRAZIL | ZYK522, R. Record, Sao Paulo, JUL 16 0100 - Portuguese
shouting; poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1000.118 | unID | JUL 16 0114 - low growl against 1000 Brazil.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1110 | VENEZUELA | YVQT, R. Carupano, Carupano, JUL 16 0101 - "En
Venezuela, Carupano"; through WBT. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1160 | BERMUDA | VSB3, Hamilton, JUL 16 0000 - 5 short pips then longer
one, BBC news by woman; in jumble with WSKW & others. + JUL 16 0034 -
BBC documentary, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (2001 Space Odyssey theme)
inserted between items; occasionally over WSKW. + JUL 16 0106 - BBC
talk about the 40th anniversary of the moon landing; mixed with WSKW.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1180 | CUBA | R. Rebelde (CMBT Villa Maria and others), JUL 16 0058 -
woman in Spanish talking about Cuban subjects, weird electronic
sounders inserted between items; mixed with WHAM. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1190.338 | COLOMBIA | HJCT, L. V. de la Costa, Barranquilla, JUL 16
0114 - bits of xylophone music, Spanish talk; poor. [Connelly*rw-MA]
1210.22 | unID | JUL 16 0058 - weak low growl against VOAR/WPHT.
[Connelly*rw-MA]
1220 | BRAZIL | ZYJ258, R. Globo, Rio de Janeiro, JUL 16 0102 - raygun
noises and excited Portuguese talk; mixed with WHKW and others. + JUL
16 0107 - Globo sports promo with web address and "goooooal!" shout;
mixed with domestics. [Connelly*rw-MA]
*** COMMENTS **
On Wednesday (15 JUL) after work, I brought the 'mobile DX shack' to
the Rowley, MA salt-marsh site to try out a few antenna ideas and scoop
up some sunset-period DX scans on the Perseus + netbook combo.
It should have occurred to me to bring some insect repellent. The "no
see 'ems" (midges / gnats) at the site were particularly aggressive and
numerous, so I tried to minimize time outside the car. Thanks to all
the recent rain, tall grass had grown along the edges of the dirt
parking area, actually consuming a couple of the spaces. Between the
bugs and weeds, I was reminded of the phrase in a Talking Heads song:
"If this is paradise, I need a lawnmower."
I did get to try a phased vertical set-up (spacing 30 m / 100 ft.) to
see how broadband the null could be, but with the arrangement used, the
cardioid null in a given direction (towards NYC in this case) only held
up over about 200 kHz. A null on 660 had effectivity at 570, 710, and
770, but was starting to tail off by 880 and was basically not there by
1010, 1050, and 1130. For nulls at those other frequencies,
adjustments to level balance, phase / delay, or both were required. I
think I can do better if I re-engineer the phaser set-up or use two
balanced antennas (a la Wellbrook, Lankford, etc.) instead.
So, for now, the rooftop Micro-SuperLoop still comes out the
car-DXpedition leader in broadbandedness of null. I do want to extend
the horizontal size of that to something like 3 or 4 m (keeping the
vertical dimension 2 m) by the time of the BADX "Clams" get-together at
Granite Pier on 30 JUL. Since a 3 m to 4 m long base board will not
fit in the car as a single piece, it will have to be two wooden boards
with a joiner piece in the middle. Wingnuts will be used for attach /
detach, just as presently on the angle brackets attached to the two
vertical end boards.
The horizontal to vertical ratio of something in the 1.5:1 to 2:1 range
should provide superior back-end nulling with front-to-back coming in
around 25-30 dB, or about 10 dB better than what I get now with the 2 m
by 2 m Micro-SuperLoop.
As typical in early / mid summer, DX started off slowly just a bit
before sunset. It was clearly the western Mediterranean, northwest
Africa, and Canary Islands zone that had the early jump. Besides that
area, the Saudi on 1521 got massive while the sun was still above the
horizon. It was the overall loudest TA by a wide margin. No surprise
there. As it got darker, northern European signals, especially UK,
started getting into the mix. BBC 909 was especially good. For some
reason WAEI - 910 ME wasn't noted. Have they changed power or pattern
(or gone dark) ? 910 was basically a weak YVRQ / WLAT mix: weaker than
909 !
Latin Americans were coming in too, though not as abundantly as on the
previous two shore outings.
The MSI Wind U100 netbook still had two hours of battery life per its
status indicator after about two hours of non-stop Perseus DXing that
included periods of live use without capture as well as 6 spectrum
capture sessions of about 4 minutes each. This is excellent, far
better battery life than on a larger laptop used previously. I don't
think I have to worry about external laptop power for these 2 to 3 hour
DX sessions, though a spare charged-up battery for the netbook wouldn't
be a bad idea.
The car DC adaptor I made for the Perseus worked fine. It is somewhat
based on a Guy Atkins design (link:
http://perseus-sdr.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html) except that it
has a 7808 regulator to get the car DC down to 8 volts ahead of the
BA50JC5T (5 volt) regulator. This way heat dissipation is spread over
two regulators so the box doesn't get quite as hot.
---[Start Commercial]---------------------
Order your WRTH 2009:
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009
---[End Commercial]-----------------------
________________________________________
Hard-Core-DX mailing list
Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
_______________________________________________
THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed
and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License
published by Michael Stutz at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
