[IRCA] LW
R.France on 162 khz strong again tonight (0515Z). Nil other channels. Scott Michigan Sent from Samsung tablet ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] TP's for Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Listened from 1424-1529 utc. JOAK 594 was the only Japanese station with audio here this morning. 153 RUSSIA, Komosomolsk, Radio Rossii 1425 good signal with music. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 189 RUSSIA, Petropavlovsk, Radio Rossii 1428 good signal with music. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 279 RUSSIA, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Radio Rossii 1431 very weak signal with man in Russian. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 529 ALASKA, Level Island, 1432 very weak signal with weather forecast NW ewe. 01/07/2014 594 JAPAN, Tokyo, JOAK NHK1 1433 very weak signal with woman in Japanese. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 648 RUSSIA, Ussuriysk, VOR fair signal at 1502 with man in Asian language. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 783 UNKNOWN, 1435 very weak signal then faded out at 1440. Woman in Asian language. Heard last March 2013. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 972 REPUBLIC OF KOREA, Dangjin, HLCA KBS 1445 very weak signal with man in Korean, Moderate splatter. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 1557 TAIWAN, Kouhu, Music Interactive Network. 1524 weak signal with woman in Chinese. Followed by music. NW ewe 01/07/2014 1566 REPUBLIC OF KOREA, Cheju, HLAZ FEBC 1447 very weak signal with man in Chinese. Fair at 1527. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 1575 THAILAND, Rasom, VOA 1448 good signal with man in Asian language. NW ewe. 01/07/2014 Best regards, Dennis Vroom, Kalama, WA JRC NRD 545 NW ewe ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
Re: [IRCA] 160M listening antenna
How high are your dipoles Bob? Nick At 04:13 07-01-14, you wrote: Hi Karl Are you talking ham use or BCB use? I use a 160M dipole (2 of them) for BCB DXing and find they pick up less noise than regular LW's. I use the same antennas for 160M ham band use and find they work well and get out pretty good. And the best part they are cheap to make and easy to build. If he can stretch out an antenna about 260' long he's all set. Bob Young Millbury, Ma KB1OKL Message: 5 Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2014 16:20:30 -0800 (PST) From: Karl Zuk karl...@yahoo.com To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com Subject: [IRCA] 160 meter listening antenna Message-ID: 1389054030.3464.yahoomail...@web162405.mail.bf1.yahoo.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I have a friend who likes operating 160 meters (1800-2000 kHz) but can not hear as many stations as he would like to. He lives in a suburban house with about an acre of land situated in a rocky Northeastern environment. There is plenty of man-made noise. Can you suggest an antenna he could install and try for DXing purposes? To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
Re: [IRCA] 160 meter listening antenna
I'm going to sound like a broken record (ancient simile) here Karl, but check out Wellbrook (http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/); pricey, yes. Worth it, I tend to think so. First approach, ALA100. Don't worry about why it seems to work that way, but practically everyone who uses it finds it to be a low noise antenna. The ALA1530 takes up less real estate but, if your friend has space and no nearby transmitters, go for the bigger aperture ALA100 and build his own loop of wire. If there is someone in the area who could lend him the guts of the ALA100 (you make the loop, and provide the lead-in, they provide the electronics), then it could be useful for a try before buy, and a lash up delta loop doesn't take long to put into place Second approach: if he has areas of the country he'd rather not hear, look at the FLG100, and take advantage of the large unidirectional loop, which by itself can be a very worthwhile antenna. You can use that amplifier arrangement with a Flag, Pennant, Kaz or what have you, and the amplification (I think) drowns out the inevitable noise pickup on the coax lead-in that drags down the signal on these low output antennas. Not as quiet as the ALA100 perhaps, but I am really finding mine useful on overseas MW and LW while nulling domestic interference. best wishes, Nick At 00:20 07-01-14, you wrote: I have a friend who likes operating 160 meters (1800-2000 kHz) but can not hear as many stations as he would like to. He lives in a suburban house with about an acre of land situated in a rocky Northeastern environment. There is plenty of man-made noise. Can you suggest an antenna he could install and try for DXing purposes? What do you think? Thanks, Karl Zuk N2KZ near NYC ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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 ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] Puyallup, WA Ultralight TP's for 1-7
Hello All, The Asian signals here this morning were pretty bizarre, and quite a bit different than Dennis' version. The usual big guns on 594, 972 and 1566 were lacking in strength, while a couple of second-tier Chinese TP's were unusually strong from 1420-1500. A presumed 936-Anhui even faded in at 1440 for its strongest signal of the season here, while most of the TP big guns were down in the noise. The session started off in a strange way at 1420, with most of the Asians limited to lackluster carriers, but with 738-BEL2 standing out with fair audio (with its usual Chinese male-hosted call in talk program). 738 had the best Asian signal on the entire band from 1420-1435, when another unlikely Chinese station (the presumed 936-Anhui) rose up with a fair to good signal to take over the top spot. Other Chinese on 639, 756, 918, 927 and 981 stayed at the carrier level during 936-Anhui's fade in, and the usual NHK big guns on 594, 693, 747, 774 and 828 were little better. Even 972-HLCA (usually the top Asian performer here) was having trouble staying in audio from 1420-1500. Around 1445 the overachieving 936-Anhui settled down to a sedate level, and 738-BEL2 came back to have the best Asian audio on the band (fair). This was matched by 648-VOR around 1450, with apparent English (British-accented) in the CISL splatter. All of this happened during the predawn darkness before! 1510, and since sunrise enhancement was pretty much of a fizzler this morning, all the Asian signals all slid downhill after around 1515. By 1535 the bizarre session had wrapped up, without the usual high-band boost to 1566, 1575 or 1593. 936 Anhui, China (Presumed) Fair to good signal briefly at 1440 with interval music and female Chinese speech; best TP signal of the morning (first time ever) http://www.mediafire.com/listen/1y2ywgtrlcgld9d/936-Anhui-1440z010714PL380.MP3 73 and Good DX, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 7.5 loopstick Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight + 12 Medium Wave FSL antenna ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] Fwd: Masset loggings
Walt Salmaniw has had no success posting this, so we'll see if I can manage it. *DXpedition to Masset 26 Dec 2013 to 3 January, 2014* by Walter Salmaniw I have just spent the above period at my DX cottage near Masset, BC on the remote islands off of the north-west coast of British Columbia on Canadas west coast. Conditions, for the most part were not particularly good, with a total absence, almost of any TA activity. There were a couple of good mornings for TP activity, especially the morning of December 30th, and to a lesser extent January 1, 2014. With conditions not up to par, I did venture much more than normal into the shortwave, especially tropical bands for some pretty good DX. With the near absence of any local noise, there were many stations heard that would never be possible in an urban environment, such as my home in Victoria, BC. The weather was particularly mild, and often quite nice with blue skies and starry nights occasionally being seen. The average temperatures were in the 7 to 9 degree C range. This compares to other years where I have experienced 15 to 20 deg C temperatures, during the same period of time! The normal would be in the 5 to + 3 deg C. No complaints from me, especially since I took part in the local polar bear swim on January 1st! One advantage of sub-standard conditions is that it allows for other activities, such as erecting different antennae, or making repairs. I erected 4 antennae for this DXpedition. My stalwart is always the NW BOG, about 700 long and aimed about 300 deg, perfect for Asia. It was my go to antenna for almost all of my serious TP DX. My reference antenna, and quickest to erect is a double large diameter loop aimed NE/SW ALA 100LN, an excellent antenna for all frequencies from LW to the top of the MW band. I cannot recommend this antenna highly enough. Nick Hall-Patch gave me an Eavesdropper antenna a few years ago, and on my second day, I erected it about 40 feet high between a couple of evergreens near my cottage. In the past, I would climb these trees to attach the supports, and this would have taken many hours (and place myself at risk), but this time, I used the antenna sling-shot device which I purchased a few years ago on eBay, but have never used. Such simplicity! It worked the first time for both trees, and within minutes, the antenna was exactly where it was supposed to be! The results of this antenna in almost all cases were inferior to the ALA 100LN, and next to useless for anything but the SW broadcast bands (after all, it is a trap dipole). How technology has changed! I dont even know if this antenna is still commercially available. To fill out the other antennae, I resurrected a previous favourite, a mini-Beverage which runs along the property line, due north. I was hoping for more TA activity, which never really materialized, although in many circumstances, it was a good performer for the LW band, and for some Alaskans (for instance KBRW 680 Barrow often was heard with this antenna, and absent or mixed with other domestics on the others). The length was about 450, with the last 150 running along the beach and buried in the sand to anchor the antenna. At high tide (and they were very high during this visit), it would be totally submerged, and usually buried by a few inches of sand, and often displaced by the currents. At low tides, I would repair the antenna, and place it on top of the sand, in line with the rest of the antenna. On at least one occasion, someone kindly gathered up the beach antenna into a ball, which took me a few minutes to untangle! An advantage of my cottage, especially this time of the year, is that virtually no one is around, so the antenna tangle surprised me! For the future, I brought up my newly purchased from eBay 4 antenna Wellbrook array, which should be fun to try out for its 360 degree capabilities. In the winter, I have to contend with a lot of domestic splatter from the lower 48 states and Canada. Next time! Before I start into the loggings section, I should mention the adventure of just getting here. We flew on Pacific Coastal Airlines from Vancouver aboard their very small 9 or 10 seat Beech 1900C twin engine aircraft. These are fine for very short haul flights, but not so for longer flights, like to Masset. Normally these are about 2 hours (and usually using a much larger Saab 340 aircraft). The flight was fine until just before touch down, when it was noted that the airport in Masset was enveloped in a very thick blanket of fog. The pilots attempted to land three times, twice from the south, and once from the north, but each time we could not see the airport in time to land. We finally diverted to Sandspit, where conditions were marginally better, after 3 hours in a tiny airplane (and no bathroom!!). I was happy to see the ground. Some negotiations followed for transport to Masset, and thankfully, a van was
[IRCA] WWV Solar Report
:Product: Geophysical Alert Message wwv.txt :Issued: 2014 Jan 07 1810 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # # Geophysical Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 06 January follow. Solar flux 204 and estimated planetary A-index 4. The estimated planetary K-index at 1800 UTC on 07 January was 3. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Solar radiation storms reaching the S1 level occurred. Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G1 level are likely. Solar radiation storms reaching the S1 level are expected. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are expected. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Trends -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Date 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 UTC 0300 0600 0900 1200 1500 1800 2100 0300 0600 0900 1200 1500 1800 SFlx 218 218 218 218 218 218 204 204 204 204 204 204 204 204 A-in 44444454444444 K-in 01101122120113 Current Solar information available at http://www.am-dx.com/wwv.htm ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] WWV Solar Report
:Product: Geophysical Alert Message wwv.txt :Issued: 2014 Jan 08 0005 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # # Geophysical Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 07 January follow. Solar flux 237 and estimated planetary A-index 8. The estimated planetary K-index at UTC on 08 January was 3. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been strong. Solar radiation storms reaching the S2 level occurred. Radio blackouts reaching the R3 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be moderate. Solar radiation storms reaching the S2 level are expected. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are expected. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Trends -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Date 06 06 06 06 06 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 07 08 UTC 0900 1200 1500 1800 2100 0300 0600 0900 1200 1500 1800 2100 SFlx 218 218 218 218 204 204 204 204 204 204 204 204 237 237 A-in 44445444444478 K-in 10112212011333 Current Solar information available at http://www.am-dx.com/wwv.htm ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] TP 7 Jan, Victoria version
Not a great morning, not least because finger problems meant there was no recording until 1450UT, about the time I started listening, and everything had pretty much died by 1530UT...no sunrise enhancement. pretty darn good audio (all of it understandable by a native speaker, at least briefly): not today Reasonable audio at times during the period (much of it understandable by a native speaker, though often battling w/splash or noise): also MIA not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise could be understood by a native speaker: 747 JOIB man in JJ briefly at 1457UT Burbles in the splatter and noise (if lucky, language might be guessed at by cadence of talk, or parallel established by changes in talk or music) : 1575 assumed VoA, man mumbling 1508UT Strongish het, no or near imaginaryaudio (either undermodulated or ravaged by splatter): 603 648 828 864 1017 1044 1269 1323 1503 1566 best wishes, Nick ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] Alberta TP/DU for 7 Jan 2014
The dearth of signals on the upper band yesterday extended to the remainder of the band today, with no TP audio at all, for the first time in 2014. A number of reasonable carriers on the regular TP channels, but that was as good as it got today. 73, Nigel Pimblett Dunmore ,Alberta ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] TP DX in Seattle on Dec 7
It was kind of a weird morning for TPs today. There were carriers where I haven't had them lately, and a few had audio. Conversely, some of the usual powerhouses were weak or missing in action while others did reasonably well. Most of the activity took place before 1430, with no real TP action at sunrise . Good - Mostly understandable by a native speaker for a very brief period 972HLCA, conversation in Korean 1208 Fair - Bits of it understandable for brief periods 774JOUB, English lessons 1243 981CNR1, woman interviewing man 1318 1017CRI, man woman in Korean 1319 1053Jammer 1337 1575VOA, Ending Asian language program, then English ID 1329, another English ID 1330, then VOA jingle and woman in Asian language Poor - Recognizable program content 639CNR1, Chinese talk 1414 675weak talk 1409 747Weak talk, inflections consistent with NHK weather reports 1304 783bits of talk 1405 1411, CC-like inflections 891Male talk 1408, not sure if JJ or KK 936Weak talk, CC-like inflections 1411 Bruce in Seattle Winradio Excalibur with Wellbrook K9AY ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
Re: [IRCA] TP DX in Seattle on Jan 7
Resending with the correct date in the subject :) On 1/7/2014 20:50, Bruce Portzer wrote: It was kind of a weird morning for TPs today. There were carriers where I haven't had them lately, and a few had audio. Conversely, some of the usual powerhouses were weak or missing in action while others did reasonably well. Most of the activity took place before 1430, with no real TP action at sunrise . Good - Mostly understandable by a native speaker for a very brief period 972HLCA, conversation in Korean 1208 Fair - Bits of it understandable for brief periods 774JOUB, English lessons 1243 981CNR1, woman interviewing man 1318 1017CRI, man woman in Korean 1319 1053Jammer 1337 1575VOA, Ending Asian language program, then English ID 1329, another English ID 1330, then VOA jingle and woman in Asian language Poor - Recognizable program content 639CNR1, Chinese talk 1414 675weak talk 1409 747Weak talk, inflections consistent with NHK weather reports 1304 783bits of talk 1405 1411, CC-like inflections 891Male talk 1408, not sure if JJ or KK 936Weak talk, CC-like inflections 1411 Bruce in Seattle Winradio Excalibur with Wellbrook K9AY ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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 ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] PAL off-line?
Just went to look at the www.radioheritage.net/pal.asp and got the following error message: No mapping between account names and security IDs was done.Huhhh? I know that there have been funding issues, but hopefully a temporary issue. My last PAL dates from April 2013.73,Walt ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
Re: [IRCA] PAL off-line?
Works fine for me. Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2014 04:52:59 + From: Walter Salmaniw can...@gmail.com To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com Subject: [IRCA] PAL off-line? Just went to look at the www.radioheritage.net/pal.asp and got the following error message: No mapping between account names and security IDs was done.Huhhh? I know that there have been funding issues, but hopefully a temporary issue. My last PAL dates from April 2013.73,Walt Sent from my iPad ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
Re: [IRCA] PAL off-line?
Thanks, Dennis. Yes, it's back now. Sorry for the blip! Walt On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 5:41 AM, Dennis Gibson wb6...@yahoo.com wrote: Works fine for me. Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2014 04:52:59 + From: Walter Salmaniw can...@gmail.com To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com Subject: [IRCA] PAL off-line? Just went to look at the www.radioheritage.net/pal.asp and got the following error message: No mapping between account names and security IDs was done.Huhhh? I know that there have been funding issues, but hopefully a temporary issue. My last PAL dates from April 2013.73,Walt Sent from my iPad ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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 ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
[IRCA] WBIG 1280 Aurora IL - day power?
Sounds like WBIG 1280 Aurora did not switch to night power pattern. Decent signal into Joliet tonight with Fox Sports. Usually they are buried in the mush. Night pattern has a null towards west side of Joliet. If you need them now's your chance. Tom Jasinski Joliet, IL ___ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.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
