"The DX'ers Best Friend", Paul Walker did it again, arranging for a DX test from the rare state of New Hampshire. This is perhaps the 8th or 9th test that Paul had either personally conducted or played a key role in arranging during the past three seasons. And it looks like he may even pull off another one from hard to hear South Carolina soon. (Stay tuned for details)
Paul, thank you doesn't cover it. WWNH currently does not have a "record holder" for it's best DX...one of the loggings below can now claim that record. Visit Bill Hale's great Graveyard DX Achievement web site for details: http://www.nrcdxas.org/GYDXA/ Here are the results: WWNH actually performed an last minute DX test on September 30th, prior to the announced test in October. A few lucky DX'ers were up late and on the e-mail lists (it pays to be connected to the Internet) and snagged this "mini-test". Rene Tetro of Landsdale, PA heard the test "loud and clear". Other "probable" loggings included Russ Johnson and Bert New of Watkinsville, GA. Joe Miller of Troy, MI heard some tones, but not enough to claim reception. Ditto for Bill Harms. Willis in Old Fort, TN also heard brief bits of code and sweeps, but his local, WBAC in Cleveland, TN made reception very difficult. The Main Event on November 5th saw mixed geomagnetic conditions, and receptions reflected it. First to report success was Wade Smith of New Brunswick who copied sweep tones, Morse code, and TV show themes. John Sgrulletta of Mahopac, NY pulled out the sweeps and code as well. Barry McLarnon of Ottawa, Ontario returned to his winning ways, logging yet another test. What is his secret? Peter Jernakoff sent in a nice MP3 of his recording from Delaware, and Jeff Falconer submitted a detailed written log of details from the test, confirming his reception from Clinton, Ontario. Michael Diers used a Watkins-Johnson HF-1000 (nice rig!) and a Kiwa loop to pull in the test from Huntingon Station, NY. While Brent Taylor needed only a Sony 2010 and the Radio Shack loop to pull this one in from Doaktown, NB in Canada. Ron Musco used the Drake R8B and a set of longwires to log WWNH, noting that the sweep tones made all the difference in Poquonock, CT. A Drake R8 and some attic mounted wires helped Jim Chenard of Blairstown, NJ add this one to his log, and yet another Drake R8 owner, Brett Saylor found success in Central, PA. (Maybe Drake's are the secret weapon?) Saul Chernos used his trusty car radio in downtown Toronto to pull in some "faint sweep tones", so maybe the magic isn't in the rig afterall. Dave Hochfelder heard sweep tones and the theme from "Jeopardy" in Highland Park, NJ, and another success story came in from Michael Procop who logged the test in Bedford, Ohio using a Kenwood R600 and a homebrew loop antenna. A Quantum Loop and a Drake R8B were the tools de jour for Phil Greenspan in Marshfield, MA, and he gives them credit for his logging of the test. Vermont got into the act with another successful test logging from Steve Howe in St. Albans. He's been hearing them all this season! Another superstar DX'er, Mark Connelly noted the sweep tones during the test. WWNH is a daytime regular for him, but hard to hear at night. Dave Pyatt used the rock solid NRC 545 receiver along with a 40" homebrew box loop to snag a new one from his shack in Burlington, Ontario. Nice catch, Dave! We have also heard reports of possible receptions from California and even Australia, but we've haven't yet received the recordings to verify these. I haven't calculated the distances for these receptions, but the one that is furthest away should automatically qualify for the NRC Graveyard DX Achivement listing on Bill Hale's web site. There is currently no record holder for WWNH. Visit his site to see how to submit your logging: http://www.nrcdxas.org/GYDXA/ Paul Walker's "relief operator" failed to show up on time, forcing Paul to stop the test early at around 12:40AM EST. Paul had to be back on the board at 6AM, so he really had no choice. Some folks tuned in late to try for the test, and missed any chance of hearing it because of this situation. Lesson learned: Get em while they're hot! :) Many found that this New England state will remain out of their logs for a bit longer, trying but failing to log the test. These included Les Rayburn of Helena, AL who dug through almost four hours of recordings without a trace, Doug Smith of Nashville, and even Neil Kazaross came up short too, making the bitter medicine easier to swallow. If Doug and Neil didn't hear it then conditions must have been bad! James Niven usually has good ears in Moody, Texas, but was lone star blue after this test. Bill Dvorak of Madison, WI had to taste defeat, as did Randy Stewart of Battlefield, MO. Propagation to Southern states was also poor, with Chris Johnson of South Carolina failing to hear this one, and the some Yankees joined their Rebel brother's misery, like Jim Renfrew of Byron, NY who reported, "no love from NH." Mike Brooker of Tronto, NH also had no love, and joining him in disappointment was Martin Foltz of Mission Viejo, CA, proving again that conditions must have been poor when all-stars like these fail to log new ones. SOAPBOX WWNH Sweep Tones coming through loud and clear in SE PA. -Rene Tetro, Landsdale, PA I've been after this one for years! -Ron Musco, Poquonock, CT The channel was pretty jammed and this was faint through the jumble. Sweep tone make it out much better than the Morse Code. -Jim Chenard, Blairstown, NJ Kind of handicapped here. I have a local on 1340 that I could null, but the null is in the wrong direction, so I had really no shot at this one, though I did try for it. -Randy Stewart, Battlefield, MO A shame ... had just gone to the radio for a post-midnight DX session. This would explain why I heard nothing the final 2 hours of the test. Thanx for your efforts just the same. -J.D. Stephens, KY In general 1340 was "mush" about 50% of the time, a country station calling itself "God's Country" about 40% of the time, somebody running the New England Patriots - Indianapolis Colts game about 8% of the time, and snippets of the WWNH test the other 2%. On a non-auroral night WWNH's groundwave simply cannot compete with the blob of skip signals. It is too close (about 40 miles) to present any serious skywave signal of its own. -Mark Connelly, Billerica, MA 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://arizona.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com
