Hi LW ULR DXers on the list ... I was checking the LW band a couple mornings ago (around 2am local) with my PL-606, and thought I heard traces of audio on some channels. I've uploaded the audio clips here: http://www.mediafire.com/?kmm6adkwz0yyk - they range from about 30 seconds to about a minute and a half. From what I can tell, 162 kHz was the most likely to have some trace of something on it, but even that was very faint at best - HEADPHONES REQUIRED (!) along with a quiet listening environment. The others I thought I could hear something on them as well, but it's hard to tell, and I wouldn't be able to ID any station that was there. I had my radio sitting on a barbed wire fence, without which I would not have heard the signals at all. Here's a photo of the radio on the fence (taken early this year): https://picasaweb.google.com/118228966367965758611/TecsunPL606#5575071497405231394 and a barefoot vs. on-fence comparison of 404-MOG with the radio on the fence: http://www.mediafire.com/?xv0719a0vyri6xc - recorded around the same time. (I checked for MOG the other morning, and even on the fence it was only about as good as my barefoot reception in the linked recording. Interesting thing is that fence is the only place I've found around the house that enhances LW signals noticeably. The chain-link fences around other parts of the yard don't work, and using utility ground only desenses the radio from the mediumwave signals. (I am able to get 302 kHz GPS from Pt. Loma near San Diego about 16-18 miles west of me with the utility ground wire, though, as well as at about "15/22" or so barefoot.) One thing I was thinking ... is it possible that the audio I think I have on the LW channels could really be intermods from my local mediumwave stations? The fence is not a tuned antenna (and wasn't even designed to BE an antenna), and there are a few suspect strong MW signals. (Following MW readings are while on the fence, program is what was on at the time.) 760 KFMB was 88/25 running Doug McIntyre (brief check of TP frequency 774 revealed 49/00 and no audio), 910 KECR was 86/25 running Family Radio Bible Reading Fellowship, 1130 KSDO was 86/25 with Radio Nueva Vida, as well as several other stations over 70 dBu (including 1170 KCBQ at 81/25 but I don't know who was on at the time). So is there a chance I had traces of legitimate audio on some LW channels, or was I hearing MW intermods? Also for ultralight longwave DXing / awards / etc, what category would using the fence count as? It wasn't originally intended to function as an antenna, is not tunable, and would be nearly impossible to reorient to favor other directions (this one's north/south), so would that go in the basic category? ;) 73 and good DX, Stephen _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca
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