Re: [IRCA] 3" FSL Tecsun PL-380 TP-DX for 3-31

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

--- Begin Message ---
Hi Gary,
Do you have multiple versions/sizes of the FSLs with you in Grayland?  I've 
observed, through posts and a little listening, that some of the small FSLs are 
similar in reception quality to the big guns.  I'm wondering if the RF Zoo in 
Puyallup, as well as a possible elevated suburban noise floor, contributes to 
leveling the playing field, so to speak.  (Also I'd guess it could contribute 
to certain FSLs being the maximum size for some radios to use, due to strong 
local stations like KHHO, KSUH, etc. overloading the front end.)
I'd like to see an FSL comparison in a rural area - like Grayland, for example. 
 (I was thinking Rockwork 4, but I suppose Grayland would work for now since 
you're there.)  Are there any significant differences in the rural area?Also, 
for reference, what is the strongest signal at Grayland on a stock (unmodded) 
Tecsun ULR or Traveler III?
Also, would it be possible to record a video on at least one day of a DX 
session, start to finish, and post it on YouTube? :)
73, Stephen 

On Thursday, March 31, 2016 8:58 PM, "d1028g...@comcast.net" 
 wrote:
 

 While I was still in Puyallup it was a great morning for the NHK big guns and 
1566-HLAZ but certainly lacking the variety of Asians showing up yesterday. 
Except for the usual regular 603-HLSA my results were almost identical to those 
reported by Bruce. A very late rally by the CRI stations on 1044, 1206 and 1323 
around 1345 provided a little variety but the band folded before they could 
come close to yesterday's levels. 
  
At my 1250 start time both 594 and 1566 had very good signals, and these were 
joined by 693, 747 and 774 during the predawn darkness. First daylight around 
1320 didn't change propagation much, except for 603-HLSA and 972-HLCA coming 
out of the noise to reach fair levels in and out. By the 1330 start of the NHK2 
Chinese lessons the signal from 747-JOIB was the strongest that it's ever been 
on these hot-rodded portables, and 594 and 693 weren't far behind.  603-HLSA 
reached a slightly stronger level than yesterday (fair) around 1340, and 
1575-VOA was also slightly improved, keeping steady fair audio during sunrise 
enhancement. The late mid-band CRI rally might have gone somewhere except for 
the band's general collapse at 1350, another example of Puyallup's lackluster 
propagation in comparison to ocean beach areas. That won't be a problem for the 
next 4 days, as a collection of hot-rodded PL-380's, FSL antennas and digital 
recorders is eager to hit the salt water beach next to the Walsh Motel in 
Grayland ($180 for 4 days, as long as you don't set up large external antennas 
or put ground stakes through water lines).   
747  JOIB   Sapporo, Japan   Very good level Chinese lesson start at 1330; 
strongest signal ever on these models 
https://app.box.com/s/0np2hpxk19uw2urh4u3yr5fo1se54wnz   
  
73 and Good DX, 
Gary DeBock (temporarily in Grayland, WA) 
Stand-alone 3" FSL Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight 
  
  
  
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Re: [IRCA] "Pest Control" FSL-Powered PL-380-- The Final Local Bites the Dust

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

--- Begin Message ---
Congratulations, Gary. :)  Any chance you could make a video of the nulling 
ability of the new setup sometime? :)
I have a video from about 5 years ago nulling my local 50kW pest, 1170-KCBQ, on 
the barefoot PL-606.  (Wow where has the time gone?  I find it hard to believe 
I've had that radio that long, and it wasn't the first DSP radio I had.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7fU5hIIuOY

Was the "tilting function" that you used similar to what I used in that video?
Also how is that FSL for keeping the beamwidth narrow?  At night can you select 
multiple stations on 1450 and have clean reception on each as if they were the 
only station on their frequency?
Also I was considering going to Seattle the end of March for a piano 
technician's conference, but a couple things have come up that may make it not 
happen.  (Early on when I was considering the trip, I was also exploring, at 
least in my mind, the idea of driving up & back from San Diego, seeing some 
friends along the way including in Oregon, and trying the Rockwork 4 site, but 
I think that would be a bit much to do. :))
73, Stephen 

On Sunday, January 24, 2016 9:08 AM, "d1028g...@comcast.net" 
 wrote:
 

 Hello All, 
  
A brief note to report that my overmodulated local pest, 1450-KSUH (1 kW at 2 
miles) has finally succumbed to the pest nulling capability of the new "Pest 
Control" PL-380. 
  
Increasing operator skill has allowed use of a "tilting function" when the pest 
is nulled, causing the station to be slapped with a moderate amount of noise. 
It isn't a perfect null, but it's definitely there. So, in this "NFC 
Championship" (nulling's final challenge), I'm ready to declare victory :-) 
  
73 and Good DX, 
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 
  
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Re: [IRCA] 3" Bar FSL Tecsun PL-380 Model-- "Heathkit-like" Construction Article

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

--- Begin Message ---
Hi Gary,
The version at the box link looked fine on my PC.  (I saw your post on the 
ultralightdx group mentioning something was jumbled.)  Also of course the 
mediafire version is good too on my end.  I'm running Chrome 47 on Windows 10 
Pro.  I haven't tested downloading & displaying in Libre Office 5.0.2.2 yet, 
and I can't print from here right now due to having network communication 
issues between my computer and the printer.  My dad's laptop running XP and MS 
Office does print, though, but I haven't tried reading the article from there 
using the much older browsers that are on that computer; nor have I tried on my 
laptop, which runs Lubuntu and Firefox now.  (I'm planning to put Windows 7 or 
10 Pro on it in hopefully a month or 3.)
I picked up an Eton Traveler III from Amazon recently for $38 + tax, and I just 
got it yesterday.  So far I'm liking it for the most part, it seems to 
definitely be an improvement over my previous ultralights, even though it 
doesn't have the 1 kHz filtering. :)  Also I got a Sangean SR-35 at Fry's for 
$20, and it seems like it could be promising, I need to do some more tests on 
it though.  A GPX R300B for $12 at Fry's does lack some sensitivity (for 
example 930-KHJ & 1340-KCLU which register about 17/05 on the Traveler III are 
right at the threshold on the GPX), but it seems to have near-DSP-like 
selectivity.  (It does seem to use a wide filter, though, possibly 6 kHz, since 
IBOC hash is still clearly heard 20 kHz off-channel, but I can get 1110-KDIS 
with little to no splash from 1130-KSDO.  Also there's no provision for 9 kHz 
or 1 kHz tuning.)  OTOH, a Naxa NR-921 for $10 is completely dead - even when 
using the SAT + utility pole (which badly overloads 760-KFMB at night on my 
properly-functioning Tecsuns), I still couldn't get any trace of KFMB at all on 
it, and FM is just as dead.
What do you think would be a good solution for a broken ferrite bar in a 
PL-398bt?  (Yes I know it's not a ULR.)  Would a small broadband FSL be good 
(so long as I can make it able to survive significant frequent drops cause I am 
a gigantic klutz), or would a 7.5" or 12" loopstick be more appropriate, or 
maybe even just replacing the stock loopstick internally with something 
slightly better that would still fit?  As it is now, it's about 70 dBµ or so 
less sensitive than if it had its stock antenna.
73, Stephen 

On Thursday, January 14, 2016 11:05 PM, "d1028g...@comcast.net" 
 wrote:
 

 Hello All, 
  
For those who want to experience breakthrough MW-DXing capability in a portable 
receiver, the all-new 3" Bar FSL Tecsun PL-380 model has been designed. With 
the triple advantage of superior FSL antenna sensitivity, razor-sharp DSP 
selectivity and a powerful audio amplifier, this hand-held model has been 
designed to outperform any stock portable on the planet in DXing capability. 
  
Featuring the first hard-wired FSL antenna to be used in a portable 
configuration, the PL-380's internal DSP chip (the Silicon Labs' Si4734) tunes 
the lightweight 3" Bar FSL antenna for maximum sensitivity throughout the MW 
band, freeing the DXer from the need to peak a variable capacitor. The FSL's 
cylindrical shape also provides the bonus function of superior nulling 
capability, as well as greatly improved Longwave performance relative to the 
stock model. 
  
Long-term technical friend Steve Ratzlaff has also built one of these little 
monsters, and has reported that there is "no comparison" between its DXing 
performance and that of either the stock PL-380 model or a 7.5" loopstick 
transplant PL-380 model. For those interested, a full "Heathkit-like" 
construction article (15 pages) with multiple Photoshop-enhanced assembly 
photos is posted at   
http://www.mediafire.com/view/w0gcek56f6aq7kr/3_Inch_FSL_Tecsun_PL.doc   For 
those who can build or obtain one of these breakthrough models (a photo is 
posted at https://app.box.com/s/bpv03wvwpjbicvytw9euicg1hellda3g  ) it should 
be pretty obvious that portable DXing capability is reaching unprecedented 
levels-- and that 2016 should be a very happy new year! 
  
73 and Good DX, 
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 
  
  
  
  
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Re: [IRCA] 3.7 Inch "Baby FSL" Receives S9+ TP-DX

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

--- Begin Message ---
That definitely sounds to me like a moderately significant improvement in 
signal, Gary, considering it was apparently blank without the nano-FSL or 
whatever you want to call it. :)  (Although on my S-rating system based on my 
perceptions of RST, I'd probably rate that signal as an "S4" - my "S9" is 
usually signals that show 88+ dBµ on the Tecsuns without any external antenna 
boost, and anything over S9 is 95+ dBµ.)
I wonder if there's a chance we may someday have a small and inexpensive enough 
FSL so that you could have it and the Sangean DT-400W or CC Pocket both 
contained in a $100 budget and a package the size of the Skywave or PL-380?  
(I'm thinking the radio would be mounted inside the FSL but with the 
buttons/display somehow still accessible, and instead of being round it'd be 
more rectangular (or oval), but would that not work?)
Also what about an FSL that, instead of being fairly wide relative to its 
diameter, is shaped more like the Select-A-Tenna (or oval) but smaller?
Also I was reading other comments on Yahoo and wondering ...
What's the difference in the various versions of the CC Skywave?
What would happen if you used a 330/46 connection to the radio, but made the 
main coil of the FSL with 1162/46?  (I'm guessing the tedious part would be 
individually soldering each strand of one type to the other, or would a single 
bulk-solder work?)
How does the direct-connected FSL compare with the built-in antenna on adjacent 
and off-channel RSSI, blocking, assuming you're using signals of comparable 
strength?  (Meaning a signal that indicates 89 dBµ on the FSL, and another that 
indicates 89 dBµ on the stock loopstick.)  Does the FSL have higher Q, and not 
block stations as much as the stock stick?
Also, Skywave vs Traveler 3 - which do you think I may potentially be happier 
with on AM and FM for the price?  Fry's has the Skywave here but they want $70 
for it and I think that's too much for that model.  I had one briefly but the 
display is terrible outdoors in bright light, also I had some other issues with 
it too.  (Some of my complaints with the PL-380 were improved, though.)
73, Stephen 

On Saturday, December 19, 2015 6:43 AM, "d1028g...@comcast.net" 
 wrote:
 

 Hello All, 
  
The new-design 3.7" FSL is one of several experimental models being tested in 
an effort to design low cost, high performing models for the MW-DXing 
community. The 3.7 inch FSL is of a very tiny size (a photo is posted at 
https://app.box.com/s/e8pv0rh2ydoeyu6rjqewjc8yq3dsd2kr  ), but it uses the 
highest sensitivity Litz wire available on the commercial market (1162/46). 
This is the same high-sensitivity Litz wire used in the monster FSL models on 
Oregon cliff DXpeditions. The 3.7" Baby FSL is designed to be constructed for 
under $100 in parts, but it packs a very powerful performance punch in its tiny 
size. 
  
After completion of the first test model this morning the antenna was tested 
out in the reception of 1566-HLAZ at 1507, and received this Japanese service 
signal at an S9+ level on the CC Skywave (as shown in the photo linked above). 
Without the FSL antenna boost the Ultralight radio had no reception of HLAZ at 
all. 
  
  https://app.box.com/s/8e2c7wuiw8tldq3ov9f3etqrw0jdzjxw 
  
73 and Good DX, 
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 
7.5" loopstick CC Skywave Ultralight + 
3.7 inch "Baby FSL" 
  
  
  
  
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Re: [IRCA] CC Radio SW

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
And someone just snapped up #2 apparently, I was about to buy one. :( Any 
suggestions on where I can find a similar or better price-performance radio 
under $100?  AM is most important to me, especially selectivity next to locals. 
 For example I'd like to be able to hear  10 µV/m signals 10 kHz away from 
5000+ mV/m local signals, without any splatter and without the muddy audio that 
you get when using a 2 kHz or similarly narrow filter.  Better yet if it's the 
size of the CC Pocket or something like that. :) 


 On Thursday, July 9, 2015 1:33 PM, Paul B. Walker, Jr. 
walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com wrote:
   

 Only 1 left.. who just bought one?:)

Paul



On Thu, Jul 9, 2015 at 1:08 PM, Paul B. Walker, Jr. 
walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com wrote:

 C Crane has 2 refurbished CC Radio SW's on sale. Normally $139.95, on sale
 for $79.95.

 I have one of these radios and haven't tested the SW yet, but the audio is
 great and the AM section is hot!


 http://www.ccrane.com/Shortwave-Radios/Refurbished-CCRadio-SW-AMFM-Shortwave-Radio

 Just thought y'all would wanna know!

 Paul



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Re: [IRCA] steel wire fence in Venice, CA (near Los Angeles)

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
Usually I just put my radio on the fence and it boosts reception strength 
significantly.  Unfortunately it'd be untuned, so local stations would likely 
overload the receiver, negating most of the advantage and masking the weaker 
signals that otherwise would be heard.
73, Stephen 


 On Monday, May 11, 2015 3:52 PM, Aaron Kreider aa...@campusactivism.org 
wrote:
   

 I didn't have my radio with me at the time, but there is a steel wire 
fence on a bike path in Venice CA which is around 1000 feet.

Could this work as a pre-made beverage?

Can you tap a beverage with a simple coil around it, or what is the best 
approach?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Venice,+Los+Angeles,+CA/@33.9651082,-118.4505142,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c2bac03052685d:0x8f1101b40d5c8d3c

Aaron
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Re: [IRCA] steel wire fence in Venice, CA (near Los Angeles)

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
I should clarify (in case there's any confusion) that I mean metal fences in 
general, like chain-link fences or other wire fences.  I haven't been to or 
tried that specific fence.  It also works for utility pole ground wires, 
although in those cases you also have the noise from the powerlines to deal 
with.  I've found even that can vary, too.  


 On Monday, May 11, 2015 3:52 PM, Aaron Kreider aa...@campusactivism.org 
wrote:
   

 I didn't have my radio with me at the time, but there is a steel wire 
fence on a bike path in Venice CA which is around 1000 feet.

Could this work as a pre-made beverage?

Can you tap a beverage with a simple coil around it, or what is the best 
approach?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Venice,+Los+Angeles,+CA/@33.9651082,-118.4505142,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c2bac03052685d:0x8f1101b40d5c8d3c

Aaron
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Re: [IRCA] Ultralight Radio DXing Takes Off in Japan

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
Hi Gary  Nick,
I'm thinking this hair color thing could belie one's age, maybe? :)  I wasn't 
even born (for at least another decade plus) when Gary was in high school (or 
in the service, if I remember right that he served).  I just had my 34th 
birthday this past Wednesday, yet I believe I have a fair bit more gray, as 
this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpUGKb3VjSg - would show, than 
Gary has. :)  (My father, who was in college around when Gary was in high 
school, was mostly gray by his late 30s / early 40s, I think.)
Maybe my early gray has come about from spending a little too much time where 
the signals aren't so weak? :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX5qmaRjXpw
Referencing that first video, am I the only one who has audio pumping issues 
even on somewhat moderately strong local stations (like 910-KECR in my case)?  
I'm suspecting it could be because they (as well as 620-XESS and I think 
1030-XESDD) could be overmodulating their signal, causing the S/N ratio to 
pinch off, so to speak.
Also what type of inexpensive more-compact antenna should I build that would 
get the same gain as that setup, but without the QRN from the powerlines and 
higher-Q tuning for urban areas?  (For example, to hear with the internal 
loopstick the same signal that I heard on 760-KFMB in the 1st video, I have to 
be at the spot in the 2nd video, which was shot at night when KFMB was 
operating at higher power.)  An FSL would be way too expensive (unless I could 
build one AND buy a new SRF-T615 for under the $100 ultralight qualifications 
price limit), but would one of the PVC loops work, or would the 100° summer 
heat here destroy the PVC?
73, Stephen 


 On Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:26 AM, d1028g...@comcast.net 
d1028g...@comcast.net wrote:
   

 
Hi Nick, 
  
Thanks for your generous comments on the Japanese adaptation of the 
supercharged Tecsun PL-380 model. 
  
   And those Japanese DXers, X, Y, Z -san, seem by 
virtue of their hair color, a little, ah, younger 
than the DXer genus in North America, hi.    
  
Yes, when I told the Japanese DXers that I was a high school student in Japan 
from 1967-69, they sent me back an email saying that they were only babies at 
that time. I estimate that they are in their mid 40's-- and they seem to have 
enough enthusiasm to inspire even younger Japanese to join the DXing party :-) 
  
73, Gary 
  
  
   
  
   
- Original Message -

From: Nick Hall-Patch n...@ieee.org 
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:07:53 AM 
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Ultralight Radio DXing Takes Off in Japan 

That must be a proud moment in your technical 
career Gary.   It's always good to see your 
innovations striking a chord somewhere else altogether.   Congratulations. 

And those Japanese DXers, X, Y, Z -san, seem by 
virtue of their hair color, a little, ah, younger 
than the DXer genus in North America, hi.   Good 
to see that the Japanese tradition of DX and 
eating / drinking continues. (although I 
understand that some of the Scandinavians are pretty good at that also) 

best wishes, 

Nick 


At 05:35 29-04-15, you wrote: 
Hello All, Â  Although most of us associate 
Japan with the export of Ultralight radios like 
the Sony SRF-T615, SRF-M37WÂ and SRF-39FP, there 
has recently been a North American export which 
has caught on like wildfire in Japan-- 
Ultralight radio DXing. Â  Based on the export 
of two 7.5 loopstick Tecsun PL-380 models and 
two 7.5 loopstick CC Skywave models to several 
Japanese DXers in the Tokyo area (Hiroyuki 
Okamura, Satoshi Miyauchi and Shinya Hasegawa), 
the popularity of chasing DX with these modified 
DSP Ultralights has started a boom similar to 
what we experienced here in North America in 
early 2008. Other Japanese DXers have seen 
these modified radios, and like here in North 
America, the demand for them is far greater than 
the supply. The interest in having a local 
version was so great that a group of Japanese 
DXers commissioned a local engineer to design a 
home-grown substitute, based on the PL-380 
Supercharging article (described in the Japanese 
Yahoo blog posted at 
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/sawapon308/13192201.html 
  ) The Japanese DXers who have already received 
their modified Ultralights have posted some 
excellent You Tube videos with them, such as the 
amazingly strong reception of 1134-AIR (India) 
near Tokyo, Japan on a modified PL-380Â (at 
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68iKwz3gLFw  
) and 666-DZRH (Philippines,, at 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg8ZdbKitcI Â ). 
  Recently Japan Customs passed the smoke 
test by successfully allowing the import of a 
5 FSL antenna into the country. Satoshi 
Miyauchi recorded this very strong MP3 of 
630-4QN (ABC in Townsville, Australia) received 
near Tokyo on his 7.5 loopstick C.Crane Skywave 
and 5 FSL 
antenna 

Re: [IRCA] IRCA Convention West

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
Oh, and maybe I should consider a challenge of attempting a TP DX session at 
Columbia Park in the morning, especially near the southwest corner?  Or am I 
the only one who would dare attempt it?  (Maybe a FSL might help, instead of my 
SAT.)
I've been planning for about a month or two now to go by there and test 
selectivity on some portable radios I have, but so far haven't been able to.  
This past 2nd Sunday I didn't get enough sleep the night before and was busy 
all day (I would have been available before 10am), and I was wanting to go to 
the RDMAs tomorrow (hadn't bought tickets yet cause I wasn't going to know 
until tomorrow noon or later if I'd be able to go; would have stopped by 
Columbia Park earlier in the day on the way) but there's no tickets available 
unless I want to be scalped.

Speaking of selectivity, I've noticed something on IBOC stations on radios with 
relatively wide selectivity.  I'm wanting to do more experiments to confirm, 
but on some of my non-DSP radios, I hear the analog splatter pretty far beyond 
where I hear the IBOC hiss on strong stations.  Hmm 


 On Friday, April 24, 2015 5:21 PM, Scott Fybush sc...@fybush.com wrote:
   

 On 4/24/2015 4:01 PM, Mike Sanburn wrote:
 I want to take an informal poll and ask of the people on this list,
 who is planning on attending the IRCA West Convention in Torrance
 this September? I know it is still early but so far we have received
 no registrations or reservations which makes a host very nervous. 73
 Ms

And while we're at it, it would be helpful to me to have some heads-up 
on who from IRCA is planning to be at the joint Fort Wayne convention, 
July 10-12...

s
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Re: [IRCA] IRCA Convention West

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
I'm not sure yet, I might like to go though as long as it isn't too expensive. 
:)  Depending on what's going on, I may consider coming up just for one day, 
idk yet if I want to spend $ on a motel, and if I do it'd be offsite so I could 
hopefully get it for under $45/night.  Also another possible factor in my 
coming, I'd love to meet some DXers who are outside KNX's 0.25mV/m-10% skywave 
contour.  I guess it'd be the wrong time of the year to buy a tower site 
calendar, but maybe I could see some FSL antennas and hot-rodded ultralights? 
:)  Sorry Scott but I don't plan on going to a convention this year that would 
benefit from flying there.  (I'm not afraid of planes, just don't want to spend 
the $ and I'm already tentatively thinking of going to another trade (piano 
technicians guild) convention in Denver in summer but haven't decided yet.)
73, Stephen 


 On Friday, April 24, 2015 5:21 PM, Scott Fybush sc...@fybush.com wrote:
   

 On 4/24/2015 4:01 PM, Mike Sanburn wrote:
 I want to take an informal poll and ask of the people on this list,
 who is planning on attending the IRCA West Convention in Torrance
 this September? I know it is still early but so far we have received
 no registrations or reservations which makes a host very nervous. 73
 Ms

And while we're at it, it would be helpful to me to have some heads-up 
on who from IRCA is planning to be at the joint Fort Wayne convention, 
July 10-12...

s
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[IRCA] PR-D15 AM Bandscands in AZ PL-606 + Eton T3 by KUAZ Sunrise 3-30

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
Hi all...
This past weekend I was participating in a friend's wedding near Tucson, AZ, 
with my parents.  I had a little free time a couple days to do a little radio 
stuff, so I recorded a few videos. :)
First, an AM bandscan near Vail, AZ, on the Sangean PR-D15 around 3pm MST on 
the 29th:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vTn3VaCJgo

Next, a PR-D15 AM scan in Gila Bend, AZ, on the 30th around 2pm MST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH_kOzFSb4o

Also, I knew that being in Tucson would be a great opportunity to demonstrate 
what happens when DSP radios are desensed by a strong signal.  KUAZ, on 1550 
kHz, is licensed for 50 kW non-directional daytime only, into an almost 
5/8-wave antenna.  So, I was able to take a few radios by their transmitter 
site this past Monday morning (the 30th), and record video  audio of what 
happens on the Tecsun PL-606 and Eton Traveler III to a semi-local signal when 
KUAZ powers up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PmDZNgVe1w
I wasn't quite able to set it up exactly how I wanted, but you should get the 
basic idea.  One second, you hear 1490-KFFN's signal fairly well (it would have 
been better if I'd positioned the radio right), the next section it's 
completely gone.  Unfortunately I was unable to add other radios (like the 
PR-D15, CC Pocket, Sony SRF-59) to the demonstration due to recording equipment 
limits, and the PL-606 drowned out my attempt to use the Zoom H2n's stereo 
recording mid-side mikes to also include the PL-380.  Also I wanted to do the 
demonstration at sunset, but scheduling conflicts prevented it both evenings I 
was there (the 28th and 29th).
Does anyone have recommendations on portable ultralight radios that don't 
suffer from that issue, and have the selectivity of DSP radios with the 
internal noise immunity and sensitivity of the newer ones like the Traveler III 
and the (not yet tested/purchased by me) CC Skywave?  A vertical form factor 
would be preferred so I can slip it in my pocket while doing other activities, 
although horizontal would be okay if it has a decent belt clip like the Sony 
SRF-M37W (which fails on selectivity).
73, Stephen
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Re: [IRCA] KNX IBOC off

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
I was just up in L.A. for a couple days, and was a bit surprised (but of course 
pleasantly so) to hear 1070's IBOC off. :)
Come to think of it, though, I forgot to check the bandwidth of their signal, 
to see if they've opened it up.  They did sound better than IBOC would have 
made them, so maybe they do have it opened beyond +/- 6k?
I was also going to try to get a recording of KDIS's daily switch (they go from 
wideband analog AM at night, but unfortunately not stereo as confirmed with my 
SRF-42, to IBOC in the daytime), but I fear the recording may not have come out 
well.  (This is mostly because I cut it too close getting everything ready by 
the switch time.  I was recording during the switch, but. :( ) 

 On Friday, December 19, 2014 11:56 PM, Mike Sanburn 
mikesanb...@hotmail.com wrote:
   

 I've heard that from a couple sources tonight. Let's hope it is permanent. I'm 
sitting on 1340 right now listening to the stew of stations. 73. Mike

Sent from my iPod

 On Dec 19, 2014, at 11:51 PM, Martin Foltz martinfo...@cox.net wrote:
 
 KNX-1070 has their IBOC off right now, 11:50 PM PST 12/19/2014.
 
 Martin Foltz
 Mission Viejo CA
 
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Re: [IRCA] XEUT-1630

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---

The two named early on in this thread are locals for me, with XEPE being 
slightly stronger than XEUT.  Their sites are about 15 or so miles south of me.
Before XEUT signed on, I remember hearing KCJJ (i think that's their call?) 
from Iowa.  Some time ago when XEPE was off during a blackout, I heard the 
Brownsville, TX station, and on 1630 the Wyoming station was heard then as well.

73, Stephen



--
On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 10:02 AM PST Barry McLarnon wrote:

On 12/14/2014 01:35 AM, Dennis Gibson wrote:
 Is XEUT the only Mexican station in the expanded band?

Fred Cantu lists a total of five.  See 
http://www.mexicoradiotv.com/frec_am_1400-1700.htm

Barry

-- Barry McLarnon  Ottawa, ON

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Re: [IRCA] November 8-10 Grayland DXpedition Report

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
I enjoyed reading your report as usual, Gary. :)
Something I've been thinking about re: your reception reports...Signals that 
pegged the meter at 25 dB S/N ...
I'd like to see some distinction if possible (especially on future reports) 
between stations that merely flash 25 dB briefly once or a few times during the 
session when you're in the +/- 1 kHz BW setting, versus stations that have it 
solidly pegged at 25 dB S/N even in the +/- 6 kHz BW setting, or something like 
that. :)
Also, while the giant FSLs are interesting, I'm also interested in learning 
more about smaller affordable FSLs.  I'm especially interested in ones such 
that the FSL *AND* ULR combined fit within the 20 cubic inches and $100 cost of 
ULR definitions. :)  Also what about using ultra-short rods to build an FSL 
around the perimeter of a hollowed-out ULR, for example taking the shell of a 
DT-400W, putting an SRF-59's guts in it and putting an FSL around its 
perimeter?  At what point, when going ultra-small/cheap with an FSL, is it 
better to just use a comparable-size/price ferrite bar or a simple air-core 
loop or something like that?
73, StephenEl Cajon, CA (haven't really done any TP DXing this fall, but based 
on your reports from Puyallup, I guess I haven't missed out on much.) 

 On Sunday, November 30, 2014 10:33 PM, d1028g...@comcast.net 
d1028g...@comcast.net wrote:
   

 Hello All, 
  
For those interested, a full article describing the 3-day Grayland Ultralight 
DXpedition conducted with the new 17 FSL antenna on Veterans Day weekend has 
been uploaded at 
http://www.mediafire.com/view/k7boymq62q2p5v1/November_2014_Grayland_Ultralight_DXpedition.doc
  , and will shortly be uploaded to the Yahoo Ultralightdx file site.  
  
Describing the rare chance to take oversized items like the 17 FSL antenna and 
the 30 loopstick Sony ICF-2010 model to the ocean coast, the article includes 
multiple photos of the TP-DXing setup at the end of Grayland Beach Road, along 
with MP3 links for 39 Asian DX recordings made at the site. Thanks very much to 
Phil Bytheway for already posting summary articles of the DXpedition to the 
club bulletins-- this full DXpedition article was something that I had not 
planned to write, but suddenly decided was more interesting to complete than 
chasing wispy TP audio during dreary sunrise DXing sessions at my landlocked 
home location :-) 
  
73 and Good DX, 
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
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Re: [IRCA] 1390 WSPO Charleston, SC DX Test imminent

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---

Good work, Patrick.

So far I've heard nothing of the test here near San Diego, CA.  I'm just using 
a SRF-M37W and Select-A-Tenna, and also having XEKT  KLTX practically in my 
back yard doesn't help. (I also got a late start  didn't start listening til 
about 15 past.)
I was hoping I'd at least hear sweep tones, but one of my two SS pests is 
sometimes playing effects that sound a bit like rapid sweeps, like 6 or 8 per 
second for a couple seconds a couple times.

73, Stephen



--
On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 9:27 PM PST Patrick Martin wrote:

Sweep tones at 0001.30 followed by short bursts of tones. Then another set of 
sweep tones at 0019.15. Nothing else noted so far from the test as far as I 
can tell, but 1390 is an interesting frequency tonight with a UC Gospel, two 
SS, a station playing old Christmas music with Bing Crosby and Jimmy Durante. 

Drake R8
1500' Eastern Beverage

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager

 Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 00:22:48 -0500
 From: radion...@earthlink.net
 To: irca@hard-core-dx.com; a...@nrcdxas.org; nrcdxn...@gmail.com
 Subject: Re: [IRCA] 1390 WSPO Charleston, SC DX Test imminent
 
 Sweep tones at 0012, and Price is Right theme at 0015-16. Not able to get a 
 code ID. CBS Sports Network talk and a music station strong here
 
 Bob Antoniuk N2SU
 Clifton NJ
 Sony 2010 barefoot
 
 -Original Message-
 From: Brandon Jordan swl.tn@gmail.com
 Sent: Nov 10, 2014 12:11 AM
 To: irca@hard-core-dx.com irca@hard-core-dx.com, a...@nrcdxas.org 
 a...@nrcdxas.org, a...@yahoogroups.com, d...@yahoogroups.com 
 d...@yahoogroups.com, Fred Vobbe fvo...@realoldiesradio.com, 
 nrcdxn...@gmail.com
 Subject: Re: [IRCA] 1390 WSPO Charleston, SC DX Test imminent
 
 Audible here in western TN under/equal presumed WHMA Anniston with
 code/tones/phone signal, Price is Right theme.
 
 On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 5:50 PM, Brandon Jordan swl.tn@gmail.com wrote:
 
  1390 WSPO Engineer has confirmed tonight's DX Test is a go!
 
  *1390 WSPO Charleston, SC DX Test*
 
  *Time/Date:* 0500-0600 UTC, November 10, 2014
   EST: Midnight - 1 AM, November 10, 2014
   CST: 11 PM - Midnight, November 9, 2014
   MST: 10 - 11 PM, November 9, 2014
   PST: 9 - 10 PM, November 9, 2014
 
  *Mode of Operation:* 5 kW, daytime NDA non-directional pattern. The test
  will consist of distinctive audio clips, morse code and sweep tones.
 
  *QSL Information:* The station has requested that the IRCA/NRC DX Test
  team handle reception reports for this DX Test. All reception reports must
  include verifiable details.  Snail mail reports with return postage for a
  paper QSL should be mailed to:
 
  IRCA/NRC DX Test Committee
  WSPO DX Test
  c/o Brandon Jordan
  PO Box 338
  Rossville, TN 38066
 
  Email reports for an eQSL, recordings and comments can be submitted to
  amdxtests[at]gmail[dot]com.
 
  *Credits:* Many thanks to JD Stephens of Hampton Cove, AL for arranging
  the test, Paul Walker, Jr. of Redding, CA for audio engineering assistance
  and WSPO Engineer Bruce Roberts, KI4YST, for making this test possible!
 
  73,
  Brandon Jordan
  IRCA/NRC DX Test Committee
 
 
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Re: [IRCA] KFWB 980 LA is moving to CBS Sports Radio

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
Patrick, KFWB has been a talk station for at least a few years now.  KNX is the 
only all-news station in SoCal and has been for the last few years or more.


On Monday, August 18, 2014 12:47 PM, Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net wrote:
 


I just heard this morning that long time All News station KFWB 980 LA is moving 
to CBS Sports Radio on Sept 1st. I am sad to hear this as the station has been 
an icon in LA News Radio for a long time. Bob and I interviewed their news 
director and CE years ago for an article in RW. But I guess KNX will now own 
the market in all news.

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager                           
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Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Rockwork 4) Ultralight DU's for 7-16

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

, though.


I've noticed on your cliff loggings you almost never have stations on signals 
ending in 0, like 540, 630, 720, 810, etc.  Is that because the FSL + cliff 
combo isn't directional enough to null the domestics?

73, Stephen Airy


On Thursday, July 17, 2014 12:10 AM, Gary DeBock via IRCA 
irca@hard-core-dx.com wrote:
 




Hello All,

It was a pleasure to welcome noted DXpeditioner Chuck Hutton to the humble 
Highway 101 turnoff this morning-- possibly for the psychological assurance 
that somebody else was also fanatical enough to chase DX on the side of an 
ocean side cliff on busy Highway 101 at 0400 local time (actually, Bill was 
there before me, at around 0300, to set up his small flag antenna). So with the 
reassurance that both of us were indeed halfway normal, we proceeded to chase 
Kiwi DX in both an Apples and Oranges setup (Perseus SDR + Flag antenna, and 
PL-380 Ultralight Radio + FSL antenna).

Fortunately Chuck encountered the same New Zealand-slanted propagation that I 
have been experiencing for the past 3 days (which happens often at Rockwork 4, 
but which is particularly intense this week). We both DXed independently, so 
the report below contains only the Ultralight + FSL highlights of the session. 
Once again it was primarily an all-Kiwi session, with S/N pegging signals from 
531-PI, 567-RNZ and 657-Southern Star. At the 1115 UTC start time New Zealand 
stations were already on the warpath, with 531-PI leading the charge at an S-9 
level. Signals continued to improve until the peak sunrise enhancement from 
1230-1300, including the strongest signals ever received from 567-RNZ and 
657-Southern Star. Despite multiple searches the Australians seemed to be back 
in hibernation, with the intense Kiwis totally shutting them out on all the low 
band frequencies. Around 1256 UTC a fairly decent carrier finally showed up on 
576, and I figured that the
 Aussie big gun 2RN was finally making its first appearance this week. When 
tuning in, however, I heard a fairly weak station with a solemn DU voice 
reading something (or maybe preaching), backed up by a two-tone organ-- with 
apparent mentions of the Lord at :54 and :57 into the MP3 recording. Because 
this format doesn't sound at all like the Aussie big gun 2RN, it makes me 
wonder whether the intense Kiwi propagation delivered a very rare New Zealand 
station apparently never before heard on the west coast-- the 2.5 kW The Word/ 
Bible Radio in Hamilton. The only Aussie to make it through the twisted 
propagation was the Brisbane big gun 1116-4BC, which somehow managed to deliver 
a vibrant signal around 1247. Chuck and I wrapped up DXing around 1330, and 
plan to hit the Rockwork 4 cliff again very early on Thursday morning.

531 PI   Auckland, NZ  (5 kW)   Another day, another thunderous PI recording-- 
so what else is new?
              
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/er60cl7pivjaj02/531-PI-1217z071614PL380.MP3

567  RNZ  Wellington, NZ  (50 kW)   Monster signal from the Kiwi big gun 
pegging the PL-380 S/N with news at 1302;
              this was the strongest signal it's managed during any of the 
ocean cliff DXpeditions
              
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/ei3fcu7fmpm7bs2/567-RNZ-1302z071614PL380.MP3

576  UnID-DU   Weak DU English speech with apparent religious format-- possibly 
the 2.5 kW New Zealand station?
              (headphones required) 
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/glgibkqqw67x72w/576-UnID-DU-1256z071614PL380.MP3

603  Radio Waatea   Auckland, NZ (5 kW)   The standard late-night Maori male 
announcer showing up on 585-603-765
              
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/ikesbfefho6h1yl/603-R.Waatea-1234z071614PL380.MP3

657  Southern Star  Wellington, NZ  (50/ 10 kW)  Huge signal at 1224 with 
Christian hymns and female DU speech
              
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/y51tg4z4m9g22zb/657-SouthernStar-1224z071614PL380.MP3

783  Access Radio  Wellington, NZ  (10 kW)   Temporarily vibrant with pop music 
at 1311
              
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/kx3l6fk73d7sfb2/783-AccessRadio-1311z071614PL380.MP3

1116  4BC   Brisbane, Australia  (17kW/ 6.3 kW)   The sole Aussie signal 
managing to get through Kiwi-slanted propagation
              this morning, with vibrant speech around 1251
              
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/xsxewoew3ah7rou/1116-4BC-1251z071614PL380.MP3

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Cannon Beach, OR)
DXing at the Rockwork 4 ocean side cliff on Highway 101
(Tillamook Co., OR) 
http://www.mediafire.com/view/2jtmctq7as7448o/Rockwork-Sites-003.jpg
7.5 loopstick Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight +
New 15 DXpedition FSL antenna  
http://www.mediafire.com/view/7bkbc9rzg2koq2k/15inchDXFSL-014.jpg



  


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Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff Booby Prize

[Stephen Airy via IRCA]

---BeginMessage---
Haha nice one, Gary :)

Reminds me of a few times I've been fooled on my DSP portables. :)

For one, several times I thought I could hear weak talking on 1560 in the 
daytime, with the aid of the SAT.  I thought for a while I had KNZR from 
Bakersfield here in the east county San Diego area!  Turns out, though, that it 
was a spur transmitted by 1700 XEPE!
Another one was hearing threshold-level music on 660, making me think I had 
KTNN in the daytime, at a distance of nearly 500 miles.  Lo and behold, it was 
yet another spur from a Mexican, with 540 XESURF being the guilty party.
On my local Family Radio affiliate 910 KECR, I heard another talk station under 
it in the daytime.  I was wondering what on earth am I hearing midday on 910?  
San Francisco and Phoenix shouldn't be making it here.  Turns out it's 1170 
KCBQ, which shares the same transmitter site.
Also, I was doing some experimenting once, inductively coupling to the utility 
groundwire out front with the SAT tuned to my strongest local station, 760 
KFMB, at night.  Of course it was overloading severely, with 760 reading 98/25 
and having just brief blips of audio, nothing intelligible, and 1520 in the 
upper 70s / low 80s or so.  I tuned to 750 and heard music.  At first I thought 
I had KHWG from Fallon, NV, and was temporarily excited about the halfway 
decent selectivity.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be an image from the 
aforementioned 910 KECR.

Also, my DSP portables' internally-generated squeals, hets, etc, have fooled me 
a few times too.  I heard one on 1107 mixing with 1110 KDIS, thinking I had a 
TA around sunset one late afternoon.  When I checked at a different time of 
day, though, when TA/TP signals should not reach here, I still heard the het, 
revealing it was internally generated. :(  What do you do when DXing barefoot 
to step around those internal hets that happen to be on the same frequency as 
TP/TA targets?

73, Stephen
On Thursday, May 1, 2014 1:32 AM, Gary DeBock via IRCA irca@hard-core-dx.com 
wrote:
 




Hello All,

Sometimes DXing failures are so funny that they are almost as memorable as 
DXing successes.

Three weeks ago on the Rockwork 4 ocean side cliff I had decided to seek 
elusive South Pacific DX by setting up at the highly exposed Highway 101 
location at 0800 UTC (0100 local time), in the face of a freezing overnight 
wind chill. I was convinced that such a bizarre strategy was the key to more DU 
loggings, and was prepared to pay the price in stiff fingers, toes and other 
appendages.

It seemed like the strategy would pay immediate dividends on the very first 
frequency (531 kHz), as not only the New Zealand 5 kW Samoan language station 
531-PI was received around 0836 UTC with female voice conversation (for the 
second time during the DXpedition), but also an apparent exotic co-channel 
along with it  
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/3iy924gcvacw1yi/531-PI-0836z041114SWP.MP3

DU co-channels with 531-PI are almost always the eastern Australian 5 kW 
stations, but no Aussie stations had shown up with any strength during the 
entire DXpedition. Besides, this co-channel had very heavily accented English-- 
unlike anything that had previously shown up on 531. Maybe the elusive 531-More 
FM in Alexandra? Its strength was weak, so it took quite a while staying on the 
frequency (fighting the punishing wind chill the whole time) until 531-PI 
slowly faded down enough to make sense of the co-channel's speech  
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/6xcni9k3t8avrsa/530-UnID-TIS-0838z041114SWP.MP3

After hearing this bizarre English weather report multiple times I knew that I 
had been duped-- this wasn't an exotic DU at all, but some local Oregon TIS 
station on 530 kHz-- using a heavily accented announcer just to throw off an 
overly optimistic DU DXer fighting a severe wind chill at 0138 local time on a 
highly exposed Oregon ocean side cliff! Tuning the frequency down to 530 kHz 
(at 36 seconds into the MP3 recording, above) confirmed the fiasco.

It wasn't very funny at the time, but now it seems pretty hilarious.

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)

    




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Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Rockwork 4) Ultralight TP's for 4-9

[Stephen Airy]

Haha Guy I love that adaption of the 153 fish account :)  Maybe the fish were 
responsible for swallowing up your DX, then were instructed, like in the story 
of Jonah, to spit the DX out on the cliff in time for Gary to be there? ;)

Gary, I'm curious as to how strong those signals really were :)  Was there any 
background noise on the signals, or was it local-grade, sounding as strong  
clear as KSUH, KHHO, etc. are back in Puyallup?
I see you left your Edirol R09 at home, so I guess I'll have to wait to hear 
them?  Or did you not have ANY recording device?  I do hope you have a camera, 
though - even the one on your smartphone (if you have one) might work for 
recording a catch over the speaker, except for maybe the weak signals that 
don't ever rise above 0 dB S/N.

Also while you're there, would it be possible to record (and later post after 
you're home) a midday bandscan video with the FSL and PL-380 (or whatever DSP 
Tecsun you have with you), preferably set to display signal?  I'd like to know 
what it can hear with the saltwater path.  Any chance that you'd hear anything 
as far south as L.A. in the daytime?

And, if you have a totally barefoot (stock loopstick, no 7.5 mod) PL-380 or 
whatever with you, I'd love to see a comparison video of sensitivity on some 
frequencies between stock and the 12 FSL, preferably picking frequencies that 
on the stock PL-380 have at least 1-2 dB S/N or higher. :)  I'm curious how 
much gain it gives, preferably in dBu.  The S/N display is limited to a 25 dB 
scale, but with the signal strength, combining the Select-A-Tenna with a 
utility groundwire I've indicated better than 50 dB gain as long as I'm not 
near strong stations.  One example was taking my semi-local 1550 XEBG from 
about 29-30 to about 86-87 dBµ or so.  I also think it's possible to have even 
more gain if I'm not near strong locals, one of which is an 81-dBµ-barefoot 
1170 KCBQ.  A couple times I was at my setup, but nulling 1550 with the radio.  
I quickly flipped it to max signal pickup (faster than its AGC could react), 
heard it distort the audio like it
 was overloading it for a split second, and happened to time it right so it 
flashed 98 dBµ, before settling back down to the upper 70s / low 80s or so.  
(That would be a near-70 dB gain.)  I'm wondering if the FSL would blow my 
setup away? :)  (I know it would on price.)

Also, while I know you're not in the right place to test it right now, how deep 
are the nulls on the FSL?  For example, do you remember if, from your home in 
Puyallup, you could completely null out KSUH on 1450 or KHHO on 850?

73 and may you have even better DX the rest of your trip!
-Stephen


On Wednesday, April 9, 2014 4:34 PM, Guy Atkins d...@guyatkins.com wrote:
 
Amazing, Gary! One day after I return from Rockworks with little to show
for it, I'm reading that you found  the strongest Japanese big gun signals
ever heard in 8 years of TP-DXing.

Now, I'm *not* saying that you're a prophet or have special powers, but
your story reminds me of John 21:4-6 in the New Testament. Let me
substitute a few words to make my point:

*(4) When it was already very early morning, Gary stood on the cliff, but
the DXers did not know that it was Gary. (5) So Gary said to them,
Children, you don't have any DX, do you? They replied, No. (6) He told
them, Throw your antenna wire on the right side of the radio, and you will
find some. So they threw the antenna wire, and were not able to pull it in
because of the large number of DX catches. *


:^)   :^)


Whatever you're doing Gary, don't stop! Some fellas are chick magnets,
others attract DX, I guess  g

73,

Guy Atkins
DX-less in Puyallup, WA




 -- Forwarded message --
 From: d1028g...@aol.com
 To: irca@hard-core-dx.com, ultraligh...@yahoogroups.com
 Cc:
 Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2014 16:47:54 -0400 (EDT)
 Subject: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Rockwork 4) Ultralight TP's for 4-9



 Hello All,

    I hate to say this, given what the Rockworks guys were (not) hearing,
 but it was actually a pretty fair morning here for Asiatics at this
 time of year, though some of the DX was noted before 1300UT.   

 I wish that Nick could have been here this morning, when the Rockwork 4
 cliff delivered the strongest Japanese big gun signals I have ever heard in
 8 years of TP-DXing. Really wacky conditions-- like something straight out
 of October. Along with the NHK big guns on 594, 693 and 774 (all at S9+
 levels) 657-Pyongyang was at a similar blowtorch level, and 603-HLSA wasn't
 far behind  Before a DU propagation swoon around 1130 the New Zealand
 Samoan language station 531-PI was also at an excellent level, but in
 general the Kiwis and Aussies were well below their summer strengths.

 Murphy's Law struck early in this DXpedition as the Edirol R09 MP3
 recorder was accidentally left at home in Puyallup, making it impossible to
 post same-day MP3's (although the recordings are still being made). There
 was heavy rain here until around 

Re: [IRCA] Short antenna radials

[Stephen Airy]

I've been recently wondering about this myself (short-radial efficiency, or 
lack thereof), but more from the standpoint of low-power part 15 transmitting 
setups.  One example I'm thinking of is such that the total length of the 
antenna AND all ground radials is 3 meters, and does it make much difference if 
you use a base-fed radiator with radials vs a center-fed segmented short dipole 
without radials. (The rule in 15.219 specifies the antenna, transmission line, 
and ground lead cannot exceed 3 meters.)  There's other scenarios I'm wondering 
about, but I'll leave them off as I think it's beyond the scope of this list.

As for KFI, I believe the original tower was there long before the industrial 
complex was built. So, I think there could be ground radials there already, and 
the new tower was hooked up to them?  Or maybe they have another way of 
grounding it.
KFI *is* a few dB weaker at my house than KNX, in spite of being 12 miles 
closer (99 vs 111).  I think it's primarily the partial saltwater path for KNX 
in my case, though.  At a friend's house in Moreno Valley, as well as at my 
grandma's house in San Gabriel, KFI is considerably stronger, like 10-15 dB.

There is a very efficient station that I believe doesn't have ground radials - 
1530 KFBK in Sacramento, CA.  Also I suspect 1500 KSTP St Paul, MN's daytime 
site may also not have ground radials, but I'm not totally positive on that one.

73, Stephen

--
On Fri, Nov 29, 2013 9:28 AM PST Bob Coomler wrote:



I happened to be looking at a Google earth view of the KFI transmitting site 
(33° 52' 47 N, 118°00' 47 W) which is located smack in the middle of a 
commercial/industrial area.  I was struck by what a small diameter clear area 
there is around the base of the antenna; maybe 150 feet.  Just curious how the 
resulting short radials could really offer much efficiency?  Updates to my 
understanding of the situation would be welcomed.  :-)

Bob Coomler
Tucson, AZ
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Re: [IRCA] 1090 Aurora on Day power

[Stephen Airy]

I'm east of San Diego, and I'm hearing Spanish music under semi-local sports 
talker XEPRS (part-time ESPN) in their null.  Checking KMXA's TuneIn Radio app 
stream reveals similar-sounding music.  Right now as I type this, the local 
1090's running spots in Spanish, making it tough, but I hear what sounds like 
the same voice behind Mighty 1090 as on KMXA's stream also running spots.
That gives me hope that someday I may catch WSM under similarly-formatted KMTI 
and KFI's IBOC someday. I already have WLW and WHAS from the same area. I'm 
thinking it could be just a matter of time? :)
So far no trace of KAAY, though, which in another post I think I saw someone 
mentioning they're running full power ND?

73, Stephen


--
On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 7:32 PM PST Forrest Skaine wrote:

Totally annihilating KAAY right now. Should make it pretty far to th NE US

Todd in Woodbury Mn
Sony ICF 2010, Toyota car radio
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[IRCA] 700kHz on PL-398BT w/int loopstick near Rancho San Diego, CA - WLW?

[Stephen Airy]

Hello DXers,

I was checking several AM frequencies a few nights ago, and found 700 was open. 
 I think KALL, my normal received station, was on, but with an unmodulated 
carrier.  Lo and behold, I heard another English talk-type station underneath.  
I happened to have my camera recording, so last night I trimmed the 700 kHz 
portion and uploaded it.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-mB0l9BH0JA

More comments are in the video description, along with a couple described 
timestamps.

I don't recall hearing WLW or Cincinnati on the radio, but I think the 
voices may have matched the stream that I had playing in part of the video 
(using my Android phone).

Did I for sure have WLW?

73, Stephen
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Re: [IRCA] old Radio World article

[Stephen Airy]

I remember seeing an article like that a long time ago! I was looking for it 
relatively recently but haven't found it.  Some highlights I remember were 
mentions of loud and clear daytime reception 250 miles away near Ogden, Utah, 
with the radio near a railroad track, and  someone else hearing it in the 
daytime 400 miles away on the Oregon coast NW of Portland.  (At the time, in my 
early/mid teens and relatively new with DXing, I thought 400 miles daytime was 
amazing.  Now that I've read about Bruce Carter's experiments with large loops 
(and others), though, I realize that 1000 miles daytime should be routine and 
good enough for our female relatives/friends to gladly listen to, with a good 
setup. :) Oh, and Look, Ma, no saltwater or skywave enhancement!

Does the article you have mention anything remotely like the highlights I 
mentioned?  If so I'd like to see an electronic version of it again, if 
possible.

73, Stephen



--
On Sun, Nov 24, 2013 1:29 PM PST Scott wrote:

Patrick,

I'm a reader of the IRCA list.  I was going through some old files, purging 
stuff, and I came across a November 29th, 1995 Radio World article regarding 
KBOI AM, from Boise Idaho.  You were quoted in it.  The article was generally 
about KBOI's signal being enhanced by a railroad track.  Do you have a copy 
for your scrapbook?

Scott
Michigan



Sent from Samsung tablet
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[IRCA] 840 WHAS in under KXNT in El Cajon, CA tonight

[Stephen Airy]

I'm hearing 840 WHAS under KXNT right now just south of El Cajon, CA, on my 
barefoot Tecsun PL-398BT.  (I've heard them once before, last winter or so.)  I 
wonder if other stations could be making it across the US tonight? :) (a quick 
check didn't turn anything up, but I only spent about 15 seconds checking. 
maybe more patience could turn something up.)

73, Stephen
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Re: [IRCA] Some SSS highlights from last evening

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Neil, 

The 1140 in Vegas runs CBS Sports Radio. You might want to keep that in mind 
before you engrave Sacramento in stone. :)

73, Stephen
S of El Cajon, CA



--
On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 1:17 PM PDT neilkaz wrote:

As usual in late Oct, SSS DX to my west was decent last night and I'll post a 
few highlights. I expect to find more once I completely go over the recordings 
but nothing new was found so far. Times CDT.

Noteworthy was 1280 KZNS from UT blasting in with sports ads and local ads 
crushing KBNO/WWTC at 1924-5. 

1270 had a KIML Gillette ID at 1900 and as has been common KFKA was mixing in 
with WIBA 1310. Mexican format on 1170 was likely KJJD but I couldn't get an 
ID (got one a week or so ago). At about 1930 KOFI's oldies on 1180 were quite 
good, but this time nothing really noted from KSEN 1150.

2000 brought in a huge super dominant signal from KGA 1510 and the best ever 
signal from KVAN 1560 with usual SS accented gal giving their 4 station ID 
followed by La Estacion de la Familia.

Still no sign of Disney 1640 and X-band didn't seem all that good to the west 
coast. 1130 with Russian rlh should be from OR and Vancouver was in there as 
well. 1140 sports presumably will be Sacto.

KHNC 1360 was likely on late as quite good on my 2000 and 2100 recordings.

2nd time for me to hear KPOW with an ID on my 2000 recording prehaps leaving 
day power on late?

73 KAZ Barrington IL  Perseus SDR and two element broadside array of Double 
KAZ antennas spaced 260 ft aimed west
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Re: [IRCA] WKSH 1640 WI has gone silent

[Stephen Airy]

--
On Sun, Sep 29, 2013 8:49 AM PDT neilkaz wrote:

Times EDT.

Milwaukee's Radio Disney pulled the plug sometime yesterday afternoon (I 
think). They should be silent while looking for a buyer. This means the 
Portland area stn is now the only Dosney on this channel and they should be 
widely heard. Hopefully Oregon just became easier for those further east. 


I have yet to hear any Disney station on 1640 here in the San Diego, CA, area. 
Guess I can scratch Milwaukee off my target list.  Disney stations I have heard 
/ do hear include:
-- 710 KDIS (swapped with 1110, now KSPN)
-- 910 KWDZ (in spite of Harold's local 5kW with DA pointed at me from 9 mi 
same direction, caught between songs when KECR was having 
automation/synchronization problems around Halloween or Thanksgiving 2011)
-- 1110 KDIS (current L.A. station heard daytime, needs good selectivity to 
evade local 1130 (10kW, 6 mi N) and good overload resistance to tame 1170 
(50kW, 9 mi N). sometime I should go through my numerous C-Quam recordings from 
my SRF-42 and post them.)
-- 1240 KSON (local 11.2 mi W, owns channel at night, now Spanish Catholic KNSN)
-- 1240 KALY (local 1240 was running OC, now KDSK running oldies)
-- 1290 KKDD (best around SR/SS, also overnight, daytime is obliterated by 
co-channel to NW at 2x distance, 1/10th power. now contemporary Christian)
-- 1310 KMKY (through semi-local XEC's OC)
-- 1580 KMIK (blowtorch here at night (one of my strongest skywaves - only a 
few locals are stronger), but sometimes competing with pest KBLA, sometimes 
audible (and occasionally over KBLA) midday in winter)
-- 1680 KAVT (used to be nighttime regular, now KGED running Christian Talk)
-- 1690 KDDZ (now nearly impossible due to KFSG, which itself is obliterated by 
splatter from 1700 XEPE)

Cx are very good for high latitudes these past couple of days and we still 
have two more evenings of potentially great end of Sept SSS to look forward to.

KDZR will switch from 10 kW day power to 1 kW night power at 2230 EDT for two 
more days. 


Maybe I should try for them from here to the S/SE? Although, KDIA usually owns 
the channel, and there's a little splash from local 1630 XEUT.)

Last night here in IL, Disney started showing up on 1640 at about 2217 and was 
often dominant atop KOAG/WTNI/KBJA until they reduced power, but as usual I 
couldn't get any local material or ID. KDIA was not noted but they switch 
pattern at 2215. Later on, Disney would occasionally surface and actually come 
atop, but I can't copy what should have been an ID during their breaks about 2 
minutes before ToH, when other audible Disney's (1260,1690) IDed. 


How close are you to the area just south of Bartlett, IL? (One of the NBT 
winners from a previous year is in that area, IIRC.) I'm wondering how well 
various Disney stations come in there, especially 1640 (before it silenced) and 
1260 daytime? And what was KMIK reception like when they weren't switching 
patterns last fall? (This question is for anyone in the area, btw.)

Does anyone know, when other than a couple mins prior to ToH, Disney's 
typically go into local breaks and have ads and possibly an ID?


They usually have breaks approximately every 20 minutes or so. Also 
occasionally they'll layer a semi ID of sorts over the intro of a song, or tag 
it on the end before the DJ starts talking.

73, Stephen
east county San Diego, CA

73 KAZ Barrington IL
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Re: [IRCA] All India Radio on 1071 khz heard in Newfoundland tonight

[Stephen Airy]

Nice DXing, Allen. :)

I wonder how well your awesome DX skills would do with hearing All India Radio 
1071 Rajkot on the SRF-M37V - in the southwest quadrant of Columbia Park in 
Torrance, CA, strong enough to completely wipe out KNX? ;)

73, Stephen



--
On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 5:49 PM PDT Allen Willie wrote:

 
Hello to All,
 
 
Hearing All India Radio 1071 khz Rajkot once again tonight at 00:40 UTC here 
in Newfoundland . By far the strongest signal from that one so far this fall 
DX season. Heard using an SRF-39FP Ultralight radio in the middle of the 
kitchen and sounding like a local at times.
 
 
Good DX
 
Allen Willie VOPC1AA
Bristol's Hope , Newfoundland
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Re: [IRCA] A $40 Software-Defined Radio

[Stephen Airy]

Aha! I've been wondering when there'd be one that enables me to listen to MW, 
LW, VLF, etc! :) I wonder if it can be made to run with an Android phone 
running 4.1.2 Jellybean, instead of a windows/mac PC/laptop? I might like to 
try experimenting with this, one thing being using it as a band-wide visual 
spotting receiver when trying to DX TPs on my ultralights. :)

Another thought ... I have a PL-380 and PL-606 in various states of disrepair. 
(PL-380 has broken tuning knob, PL-606 has broken display.) I wonder if the 
Si4734 chips could be harvested and used to power an Android-based SDR? (Then 
of course there's the issue of keeping nearby noise sources shielded from the 
antenna.)



--
On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 8:38 AM PDT Dennis Gibson wrote:

Part 1:  http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/a-40-softwaredefined-radio

Part 2:   
http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/softwaredefined-radio-part-ii

Sent from my iPad
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Re: [IRCA] article on IBOC

[Stephen Airy]

I'd really like to see IBOC go to where the rich man went (in the story of him 
and Lazarus). :(

If IBOC stays, though, I was thinking. Maybe the stations that suffer from its 
interference could have a way of combatting it without further authorization 
from the FCC?
For example, allow the station, without a CP or STA, to increase its 
transmitter power - so that, the S/N ratio of unmodulated carrier to peak 
noise/hash in the deepest pattern null and/or place where interference is 
worst, is the same as what a fully-modulated signal would be in the strongest 
lobe at the same distance over the noise level in a theoretical giant screen 
room.

Also I was thinking of a way to get the FCC's attention, although I'm sure no 
one will do it. :p
Find out what is the most popular AM station for the commissioners, agents  
employees to listen to.  Then, build a ring of adjacent stations around 
Washington. These would be 50kW, have 12+ tower patterns entirely directed at 
the main FCC office, and would just barely comply with the 1st-adjacent 0.25 vs 
0.5 mV/m groundwave protection of the desired station. They'd also, if 
possible, negotiate accepted mutual interference among themselves, similar to 
what a graveyard channel has at night, or what a class D has from a 50kW class 
B 4-500 miles away with its entire 8-tower pattern blasting toward the D.  The 
antennas would be configured for almost no groundwave (you couldn't detect the 
carrier in QRSS CW/PSK31 with a beverage antenna and Perseus standing on the 
end of the ground radials, assuming 50kW TPO, 540kHz and saltwater path) and 
lots of skywave (overloading consumer radios at 500 miles to the point where 
you have severe distortion on-frequency,
 making the station unlistenable).
I wonder what that IBOC hash would be like at the FCC offices? :o

--
On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 8:30 PM PDT Barry McLarnon wrote:

On 09/01/2013 03:00 PM, Craig Healy wrote:
 Now if only WBZ-1030 in Boston, MA drops IBOC, there will be some happier 
 adjacent stations.  1020 Pittsburg, PA and 1040 in upstate NY.
Don't hold your breath for that one.  WBZ is a CBS station, and the head 
engineering honcho of CBS is one Glynn Walden, formerly of Ibiquity.  CBS is a 
major investor in Ibiquity and its predecessors, and it's only a slight 
exaggeration to refer to Walden as the Father of IBOC.  WBZ will never drop 
IBOC while he has any influence at CBS.

That upstate NY 1040 station, WYSL, filed a formal and well-documented 
interference complaint against WBZ way back in 2007 (I helped out by providing 
an engineering report describing the nature of the interference).  It fell on 
deaf ears at the FCC, and no action at all was taken.  Big money talks, and 
the FCC listens. WYSL finally had to resort to getting an FM translator to 
sidestep the interference problem.

Barry

-- Barry McLarnon  Ottawa, ON

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Re: [IRCA] What happened to Starchat BCB Chat ?

[Stephen Airy]

It's still there for me.  Steps I took to get in just now:
Open Chatzilla (my chat client - attached to Firefox)
type /server irc.starchat.net, then wait the several seconds for it to load
type /join #mwdx ... and there it is. :)
I also have AndChat on my Android phone, and it has an entry I can tap on to 
open the server.  (I don't remember if I have it set to auto-join the chat or 
not, though.)

73, Stephen A





 From: DX E-Mail dx-t...@att.net
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 7:16 AM
Subject: [IRCA] What happened to Starchat BCB Chat ?
 

What happened to the IRC chat for BCB DXing ?

I haven't been able to open the Starchat web page for days.

73

J.D. Stephens
dx-t...@att.net
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Re: [IRCA] Country # 102 heard on Ultralight Radio

[Stephen Airy]

Wow, Allen! :o

I'm beginning to think you have fewer countries NOT logged than I have 
countries logged! So far I have 7 countries logged - 
USA (too many to list here), 
Mexico (too many to list here - a couple dozen or so are good 24/7 reception on 
barefoot ultralights, including 1700 XEPE which I believe you have logged?), 
Canada (1130 CKWX when local 10kW KSDO, 6.3 mi N of me, was off the air one 
night), 
Japan (594 JOAK out from under local 5kW 600 KOGO's IBOC just 7.7 mi W of me, 
plus 774 JOUB, made easier by 760 KFMB's sunrise power reduction from 50kW to 
5kW 7.3 mi NW of me), 
North Korea (657 Pyongyang - anyone know a callsign for this station?), 
South Korea (972 HLCA and 1566 HLAZ through 1580 KMIK's IBOC which has since 
been shut off) and 
Thailand (1575 VOA - is there an official callsign for this?).

You seem to be a magnet for the exotic DX. :) I bet you could get TAs in the 
middle of the day on 1071 from Columbia Park in Torrance, CA, using just your 
Sony SRF-M37W with its stock wide filter. :) (KNX-1070's 50kW + IBOC TX is in 
Columbia Park.)

So if you use a double-full-wave longwire/beverage antenna on the beach (or an 
even better antenna), is it possible for you to hear any high-powered coastal 
European broadcasters on groundwave over the saltwater path?  Or can you hear 
any USA, or even Carribean or South American stations with the aid of the 
saltwater? I've read a post on here from a few years ago where someone on 
Signal Hill in NFLD, was able to clearly copy (which I understand clearly 
to mean completely free of noise - basically a local-grade signal) 5kW 560 WQAM 
Miami, FL, with a barefoot ICF-6500 on groundwave, IIRC.

Also I don't know if you have much in the way of local pests, but do you 
often log stations on their frequencies? :)
So far one of my better out-from-under-local-pest logs is 910 KWDZ Salt Lake 
City, UT, which transmits 1kW but has a deep null toward me.  It was dug out 
from under 910 KECR, whose 5kW sends 10kW toward me from 9.3 mi N of me, 
almost the same heading as KWDZ. :) Another one, although yet unID, is Spanish 
on 760, out from under 50kW KFMB, 7.7 mi NW of me.  I think it's Mexico, 
although I wish it was South America. :)  And, there's the 594-JOAK logging 
(under 600 KOGO's IBOC) mentioned above.

Or do you have more of a knack for the blind-luck loggings? There's a couple I 
remember...
840 WHAS, out from under a very strong skywave from KXNT while I was listening 
to Dave Ramsey.
One night in Feb/Mar a year/two ago I'd gone to sleep listening to my SRF-59 
(either 640 KFI, 910 KECR, 1070 KNX, 1090 XEPRS, 1110 KDIS or 1580 KMIK). Woke 
up around 5am to find the radio  headphones laying on the bed.  Put the 
headphones on and not 5 seconds later heard a faint equis eh eh equis in the 
noise, but alone on frequency.  Upon looking it up online, I found it was 1230 
XEEX from Culiacan, Mexico, about 795 mi SE of me. :) There was no splash from 
my local 1240 KNSN.

Now it seems like I have a TON of catching up to do in the exotic DX 
department. Your reception of such DX seems to be more routine than my 
reception of my strongest local daytime station, 50kW 1170 KCBQ. :)

73, Stephen

S of El Cajon, CA
32:45.7N, 116:56.8W




 From: Allen Willie vo1_001_...@yahoo.ca
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 4:13 AM
Subject: [IRCA] Country # 102 heard on Ultralight Radio
 

 
Hello To All,

It was well worth the early morning rise this morning as there was good 
propagation from the south as rarely heard here , WBAP on 820 from Ft. Worth , 
Texas had a decent signal as well as numerous Cuban outlets. Radio Coro from 
Venezuela on 780 also making an appearance. 

As I checked the lower part of the band I heard Spanish on 550 with a pretty 
good signal thinking that it was probably the usual Venezuela or Cuba . To my 
surprise , I began to hear Radio Colonia ID's and mentions of Uruguay. 

The station remained audible for quite some time all by itself on the frequency 
until it began to fade as sunrise approached.

Thus a new country for the Ultralight log once again.

550 khz - URUGUAY - CW1 Radio Colonia, Colonia del Sacramento 8:00 UTC w/ woman 
in Spanish quoting many uno's and quatro's, definitive Radio Colonia   
programa Radio Colonia  ID's as well as mentions of Uruguay by the woman and 
also repeated by a man afterwards. (Signal was all alone by itself on frequency 
) 

Ultralight Station # 1114 Ultralight Country # 102 Latin Station # 236 
　
Receiver: SRF-M37W barefoot

Good DX

Allen Willie  VOPC1AA
Bristol's Hope, Newfoundland 
47:43N 53:11W 
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[IRCA] Lost out on SRF-42 :( where to get another 1 similar price to orig new $?

[Stephen Airy]

So I was watching an SRF-42 on ebay that was sitting at $25 with no bids. I put 
a bid in with a few minutes to go...then with ~10 seconds left got outbid. I 
increased my bid, but it wasn't enough. :/ I couldn't afford to go much over 
$30-35, and it went for $44.75. (Apparently a third person also bid on it.) I'm 
curious who (if anyone here) scored? Also anyone know where I can get one 
within my price range (or the price they originally sold for in RS stores)? Or 
better yet, one the same size under $50 with digital tuning that combines the 
audio bandwidth of the SRF-42 with better selectivity than a Tecsun DSP radio 
(there are stations I want to hear whose heterodyned-with-another-radio's-LO 
carriers are obliterated with splatter 10kHz away on my Tecsuns even in the 
±1kHz BW setting), forces stereo decode on weak and non-stereo signals (like 
the SRF-42) and empty/between channels (42 fails here) and has a low enough 
internal noise floor so a 5 uV/m
 signal (maximum groundwave overlap of a co-channel Class A's protected 0.1mV/m 
contour) would be nearly armchair copy. :)

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Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Cape Perpetua) Ultralight TP's DU's for 8-18

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Gary,

I always enjoy seeing your DXing reports, and listening to the audio files. :)

I was thinking, though.  I would love to see a video of an actual DX session.  
It would be interesting to me to see how you do it. :)  Would something like 
that be possible?

I'd also like to see a couple barefoot vs with-FSL comparisons, preferably with 
BF-copyable signals. I wonder if it'd exceed the boost given by a SAT + utility 
pole groundwire?  A couple times I've taken a ~28 dBu signal, and briefly seen 
~98 dBu (causing fleeting clipping, done by holding the radio at antenna in 
wrong orientation then quickly flipping right side up) before desense dropped 
it to the 80s or so.  How would the FSL or 9-foot air loop compare?

My next DU DX catch will be my first, as will my next Russian longwave catch. 
(For the latter, not having a suitable antenna, and having deaf radios that are 
barely above 15 dBu on a 302kHz DGPS station 17 miles away do not help.)  It'd 
be a bit tough for me to travel very far, though, to do it.  If I could go 
maybe 30 miles from home, which is a better environment - go to the 
desert/mountains where the strongest signals are the 50kW skywaves (a few of 
which approach 55-60+ dBu barefoot) and the strongest groundwaves are below 40 
dBu? Or, go to the coast in the populated/RF-saturated city area, where maybe 
20+ stations are 60+ dBu and 4-5 may be 84-88 dBu?

So far my best catches, I'm thinking, are...
1575 VOA from ~8500 miles one morning last year, splattered upon by two 50kW 
1580s within 300 miles, and
594 JOAK from ~57-5800 miles a few years ago, out from under local 5kW 
IBOC-spewing 600 KOGO less than 8 miles west. :)
I'd love to be able to get some DUs and improve on those. :) Bonus points for 
them being near-frequency to some strong locals, like 600, 690, 760, 910, 1130, 
1170, 1360, 1470. :)

73, Stephen




--
On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 10:29 PM PDT d1028g...@aol.com wrote:









Hello All,
 
Thanks to Nick and Bill for their TP-DXing reports. The Kiwi and Aussie 
regulars were temporarily evicted from their frequencies by several Japanese 
big guns this morning, making for another pretty wild session. Something 
unusual seemed to be in the making early on around 1215 on the Longwave 
frequencies, with three of the Radio Rossii stations (153, 180 and 279) 
constantly pegging the PL-380 S/N readout at the 25 maximum. This was the 
first time that 180-Rossii had ever managed this kind of turbo-charged signal 
(although 153 and 279 did it earlier this trip). The Asian trend was no 
fluke-- the first part of sunrise enhancement brought in 1566-HLAZ, 603-China 
(Hulun Buir?), 594-JOAK, 693-JOAB, 747-JOIB, 774-JOUB (pegging the PL-380's 
S/N) and 828-JOBB.
 
The Asian invasion wasn't exactly what I was hoping for during this DU-DXing 
trip, so I tried my best to null them out with the FSL and chase some new 
South Pacific DX. Results were mixed, as the DU's seemed to have serious 
anemia until around 1310. 594-JOAK and 774-JOUB were especially troublesome 
until finally being evicted by 594-NZ Rhema and 774-3LO around 1315. A vibrant 
531 DU mix brought in an UnID Aussie pop music station temporarily on top of 
531-PI, with an ID of sorts at 1337. Late on, 675-RNZ and 684-NZ Rhema managed 
their best signals yet this trip, and 603-R. Waatea finally had a DU 
co-channel.
 
So far this trip, the Cape Perpetua ocean cliff has been an equal-opportunity 
signal booster for both Asian and DU stations, depending on the prevailing 
propagation. 10 signals have managed to max out the PL-380's S/N readout at 25 
so far-- 3 Russian Longwaves (153, 180 and 279-Rossii), 3 from New Zealand 
(531-PI, 567-RNZ and 603-R. Waatea), 2 Australians (639-2HC and 792-4RN) and 2 
Japanese (594-JOAK and 774-JOUB). No other FSL-based ocean cliff DXpedition 
has ever come close to this level of diversity or monster-level signals, so 
the Cape Perpetua cliff certainly has been exceeding expectations so far. 
 
153-Radio Rossii  Monster signal pegging the PL-380 S/N at 1208
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/ljnsh05siem5cux/153-R.Rossii-1208z081813PL80.MP3
  
 
180-Radio Rossii  Another turbo-charged S/N pegging signal at 1218
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/u6vdmfnvti9aqpi/180-R.Rossii-1218z081813PL380.MP3
 
 
531-UnID Aussie  Temporarily dominant over 531-PI, this pop music station 
manages a marginal ID at 20 seconds into the recording. Any ideas from Down 
Under?
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/1yqnjbcymjb8u95/531-UnID-Aussie-1336z081813PL380.MP3
 
675-RNZ  (Christchurch, NZ, 10 kW)  Best signal yet during this trip with 
music and YL speech at 1311
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/qagdf6vaheb7rnf/675-RNZ-1311z081813PL380.MP3
 
684-NZ Rhema  (Gisborne, New Zealand, 5 kW)  Very good strength with ID and 
public service announcement at 1348
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/kznvggqgugsd1p4/684-NZ.Rhema-1348z081813PL380.MP3
  
 
774-JOUB  (Akita, Japan, 500 kW)  Asian invasion 

Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Rockwork 4) Ultralight DU's for 7-23

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Gary,

Would it be possible to leave the camera and/or recorder running the entire 
session?  The first time or two through, maybe you could scan fairly quickly, 
stopping for a few seconds or so on each channel.  (I'd also love to see a 
video of a full DX session, to see how you do it. ☺)

Also do you have multiple FSLs and ULRs there?  Would it be possible to have 2 
or 3 or more going simultaneously on different frequencies? :)

I've linked a few of my bandscan videos below.  Normally I like to use a Zoom 
H2n to record the audio (then later mate it with the video), but at the time, 
the one I had was malfunctioning.  (I have since gotten another one.)  In the 
videos, I used the camera's microphone to record the audio (which includes 
ambient noise due to using the radio's speaker).  For radios with no speaker, I 
connected to my Tecsun PL-398mp's line-in port.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS1ZlpTClbA - 3:14 (3 min, 14 sec)
2012-08-07 18;20 PDT - SRF-59 (modded Murata AM filter) - slower bandscan at 
34.07216, -117.29838 (this is less than 50 feet from a 590-KTIE tower)

The following videos were recorded on 2013-01-22 in the afternoon in my back 
yard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJl5lebq4jY - Tecsun PL-398mp, ±1k BW - 27:06
At the start, I do a trick to modify the desense properties so weaker signals 
sound louder and seem to be more accurate as to their indicated signal 
strength.  Also, on several frequencies in the 1100s, I use another radio's 
local oscillator to beat with carriers that are otherwise buried under 
splatter.  (Suggestions as to a ULR that would bring in those stations with 
armchair copy without any splatter would be welcomed. ;) )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouf7tw6aalE - Sony SRF-M37W (has modified AM IF 
filter) - 10:51

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUS17HH4V8E - Sony SRF-59 - 12:19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7UIQ0EvoSQ - Tecsun PL-606, ±1k BW - 14:46
My PL-606's display is broken. Presets 54 to 100 are AM 540 to 1000, 1 to 53 
are 1010 to 1530.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt6_Li9_fKk - Panasonic RQ-SW44V - 5:18
This is essentially the same as the RQ-SW20 below, but less sensitive.  (Would 
this one be deaf enough to qualify as a turkey?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKvW2NO3CJk - Panasonic RQ-SW20 - 9:06
This (or its twin the RQ-SW10) was my main radio since the mid 1990s, before I 
was aware of the ultralightdx group and others.  (This is my 3rd or 4th one.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=315ITDCLMVo - Ultronics Sports Radio - 3:59
A radio just like this was my first ever radio - I got it as a freebie with a 
bike for my 10th birthday.  This was the radio on which I made my first EVER 
DX catch - 890 KDXU St George, UT.  It was right at the noise floor, and 
pounded by splatter from locals 860 XEMO and 910 KECR, but there it was! :)  
This copy seems to have dual peaks when tuning across a station.  Also the IF 
frequency seems to be off considerably.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnmLc4mdmjg - Coby CX-70 - 4:18
I got this just for fun at Fry's a while back.  Getting a TP on this (or the 
Ultronics) would be quite an accomplishment. ;)    

Good luck on the DX tomorrow/today! :)
Some day I'd love to see your skills demonstrated in a stronger signal 
environment.  How'bout at a place like the southwest quadrant of Columbia Park 
in Torrance, CA? ;) (Due to 1070 KNX's tower not being all that far from there, 
a few stations on 1071 might be just a little bit tough, like 6WB Radio West 
from Katanning, Australia (2kW, 9280mi), Radio Kota Santri from Pekalongan, 
Indesia (0.25kW, 8867mi), and Radio Babil from Hillah, Iraq (1kW, 7726mi), but 
other than those... ;) Maybe they'd be tough with the ULRs, but shouldn't the 
Perseus guys be able to bring them in with no difficulty at all, while using an 
already-existing ~150.6-meter vertical receive antenna?)


73 and good DX,
Stephen





 From: d1028g...@aol.com d1028g...@aol.com
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 8:10 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff (Rockwork 4) Ultralight DU's for 7-23
 


Hi Bruce,

   Maybe one of these days you could start at the top of the dial and work 
down, just for variety :)   

Thanks for the suggestion, and I've been tempted to do just this. The drawback 
is that after concentrating on the low band DU's for so many live DXpeditions, 
my knowledge of the high band DU's is almost nil. I would probably spend most 
of the trip just leaning to sort out the Kiwi and Aussie high band big guns. 
During the next few days I do plan to concentrate more on the middle band, 
though-- assuming that elusive low-band targets like 558-Fiji and 666-New 
Caledonia don't continue playing hard to get.

   Tonga should be easy where you are, but you'll need to listen earlier.  
I have a recording of them signing off at 1108 today.   

I agree with you, Bruce, but making a special early trip to the Cliff around 
1100 (0400 local) 

Re: [IRCA] ? 4 ULR/DSP experts: -25kHz wide splatter in ?1k BW, , strong signal pumping?

[Stephen Airy]

But KECR is not running IBOC, and from what I know about FR, likely never will 
under their current ownership.


--
On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 9:25 PM PDT Aaron Kreider wrote:

I think some IBOC stations put out dirty signals - I've got this video of WIP 
610, Philadelphia putting out a signal from 570 to 650 khz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maEonHy2eSA


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[IRCA] ? 4 ULR/DSP experts: -25kHz wide splatter in ±1k BW, strong signal pumping?

[Stephen Airy]

Hello, ULR / Tecsun DSP radio experts (N7EKX, VA3SW, KE7MAV, etc)... :)


I've noticed that one of my medium-strength locals, 910 KECR (about 67 dBµ on 
the PL-398mp - an uncleanable smudge seems to make it look like 87 dBµ) seems 
to have quite a wide splash, even in the ±1kHz bandwidth mode.  The two videos 
below are recorded with the larger-than-ULR PL-398mp, but the ULR-sized PL-606 
(broken LCD display) and PL-380 (broken tuning knob, some 
nearly-impossible-to-press buttons) also do the same thing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_kQ6gVuCSo

As you can probably tell, the splatter is easily noticeable down in the low 
890s.  (The other radio is tuned to 910 to attempt to confirm the source of the 
modulation splats.)  Near the end of the video during the talking segment, I 
even hear blips of modulation splats down around 885 or 886 kHz.  Any idea why 
this would be happening?  It makes pulling in daytime DX targets on 900 and 920 
impossible, and 890 and 930 difficult, unless the station is off the air.  
(Thankfully - in quotes because I actually like some of their programming - 
KECR seems to be the most likely to be off the air when something goes wrong.)


The nearest target on 900 would be 500-watt KALI West Covina.  I'm in a deep 
notch, though, and have been unable to confirm hearing them even when KECR was 
off the air one early afternoon a couple Februarys ago.  On 920, KPSI Palm 
Springs or XESDA Ensenada should both be much easier targets, if it weren't for 
KECR, but they're basically the same or reciprocal directions, so I can't null 
KECR and bring in the others.  (I'm just barely outside XESDA's supposed 
0.15mV/m contour per Radio-Locator, whom I suspect greatly underestimates 
Mexico's ground conductivity.  See their daytime map of omni-directional 
KBLU-560 for example.)

You may have noticed RSSI dBµ numbers below 15 in the 880s, only rising as you 
were near 910.  I've found a trick on the PL-398mp that enables this.  A 
demonstration (in a bandscan video - warning, entire vid is 27+ min) is found 
in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJl5lebq4jY near the beginning.  You turn 
the radio on, go to SW, hold the VF button until it starts scanning, then 
quickly rotate the tuning down.  The background noise will be *much* louder, 
and the radio will be set in ±2kHz BW.  Using this technique, I am able to take 
Radio Disney's barely-audible 45/00 signal on 1110-KDIS (desensing due to 75/25 
1130-KSDO and 80/25 1170-KCBQ) and turn it into a listenable 22/~16 signal.  
I've heard that some models of the PL-310 can do this, and am wondering if any 
other DSP radios can?  I'm unable to do it on my PL-380 or PL-606, I suspect 
due to various other things being wrong with it.



I also noticed that KECR, especially when in the ±6kHz BW setting, has severe 
audio pumping.  I thought this was something that normally only happened with 
very weak stations?  Yet the KECR video above has it around the middle, with 
its mid-strength local-grade signal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0C_VIJpyZ0

This video has it too - even on a moderately strong signal (~94-95 dBµ in my 
front yard - yes, with a little off-camera enhancement) on the PL-398mp.  I 
notice that the S/N display shows 25dB during quiet spots, and often 00 dB or 
so during loud passages.  This seems opposite of what I would expect.  I also 
sometimes notice the audio pumping on 620-XESS, 1030-XESDD, 1090-XEPRS and 
1700-XEPE, which range in the low 40s to mid 50s dBµ signal strength and are 
essentially local reception.

Any ideas what could be the cause?


73, Stephen

P.S. what barefoot ULR would N7EKX use to get reception of his nearby Family 
Radio affiliate, 1460-KARR, comparable to what's in this video, while in his 
backyard? ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjoL9oqEVZM
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Re: [IRCA] [Amdx] REMINDER - DX TEST TONIGHT

[Stephen Airy]

I'm not even trying for it. Being in the extreme southwest, I'm too far - not 
worth it.


--
On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 5:31 PM PDT Paul B. Walker, Jr. wrote:

I expect most people to record this test instead of staying up for it.. i
suggest people record al l3 top of hours if they can..  only because
you might not hear it one hour but could the next.

Paul


On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 6:09 PM, Chernos Saul sau...@sympatico.ca wrote:


 DX TEST REMINDER - PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

 WKBI 1400 Saint Marys PA

 Will also run on WKBI's 250W/364ft FM translator W233BS 94.5 Saint Marys PA


 Sunday March 31 –  Saturday night (TONIGHT) into Sunday Morning


 The test will last 60 seconds ONLY, as follows:

 ABC News will run at exactly TOH at , 0100, and 0200 EDT. (0500, 0600
 and 0700 UTC). After each of the three newscasts ends, the 60-second tests
 will begin.

 Tests will consist of Morse code and sweep tones. The station IDs as
 Classy 1400  94.5 and runs an Adult Standards/Soft Oldies format.



 Translator W233BS 94.5 Saint Marys PA runs 250 watts at 364 feet from an
 elevation of about 2200 feet.

 QSL requests will be accepted for WKBI-AM 1400 as well as W233BS 94.5 if
 you happen by some miracle/chance to hear the FM.



 RECEPTION REPORTS:

 NO E-MAILS ACCEPTED.  Reports should be sent by regular postal mail only,
 accompanied by an SASE. Audio clips welcome on CD or mp3/wav files on
 USB/thumb/jump drive. Please do not send cassette tapes. Reports must
 include written or printed information with the listener's location,
 equipment used, and details about content heard. Please note that CDs will
 not be returned, but if you include sufficent postage, a USB/Thumb Drive
 will be returned.



 Send reports to:
 Paul Walker
 C/O WKBI 1400 DX TEST
 PO BOX O
 Ridgway,PA 15853



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Re: [IRCA] 740 KBRT heard in Michigan

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Tim

They did test their new transmitter once or twice some weeks back, but are 
planning to make the big switch on the 28th of this month.  Also I think their 
new transmitter would be a tougher catch there - it's directional aimed mostly 
out west over the Orange County area (and also L.A. somewhat but not as much) 
and out to sea.  The Catalina transmitter is (soon to be was) directional aimed 
inland, so from what I'm guessing (haven't actually looked at the mV/m @ 1 km 
numbers on the FCC data, but have looked at Radio-Locator coverage map and FCC 
pattern graphs) actually sends considerably more power toward you than their 
new transmitter.

They commented that when doing a drive test of their signal, it was noticeably 
weaker in the San Diego area.  I expect it'll definitely be weaker where I am, 
especially, considering where I am in the pattern (I'm a little more inland and 
east.)  It'll be interesting to compare it to 830 KLAA's omnidirectional 50kW 
signal (their stick is just a few miles on the other side of state highway 91 
in that area.)  Once the switch is made, I expect 1070 KNX will be the 
strongest station I hear from the L.A.  nearby area in the daytime.  With KBRT 
on Catalina Island, they have KNX beat by a couple dB or so.  KFI is in 3rd 
place, followed by KLAA and KLAC (5kW on 570, not sure at the moment which is 
stronger as I'm too busy listening to 1110 KDIS right now.:) )

73, Stephen





 From: Tim Tromp kilok...@gmail.com
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Cc: ABDX a...@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2013 3:56 AM
Subject: [IRCA] 740 KBRT heard in Michigan
 
1043-1151+ UTC, 740 KBRT in and out for the last hour or so, sometimes
dominating 740 for several minutes at a time.  I've recorded several
nice IDs already.  I'm guessing that this is from their new transmitter
location on the mainland (50kw now?).  Go get 'em!

73,
Tim Tromp
West Michigan
Perseus SDR + phased BOGs

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[IRCA] heard WHAS recently but not letting me send msg to group?

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all ... I heard WHAS recently in El Cajon, but somehow I can't send my post 
to this list? :( Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

You can read it on the ABDX Yahoo list and radiodiscussions.com though ... 


http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=228951.0
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/message/59680

... although I'd really like to duplicate it here as well in case some DXers 
that might want to see it don't participate on the other boards.

73, Stephen.
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Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Fwd: WG2XFQ on 486Khz....

[Stephen Airy]

Any chance I would be able to hear it on a Tecsun PL-398mp, PL-606 or PL-380 
near San Diego, CA?  They can tune 486 kHz, is DSB-AM only in that range (no 
SSB or CW) and has selectable bandwidths from 1kHz (probably more like 1.5) to 
6khz audio.  They are pretty deaf on LW and low MW, though.  I'm about 18 mi 
from a DGPS station on 302 kHz, and the signal strength indicator barely rises 
above the minimum.  A NDB on 397 kHz fades out completely at about 40-45 miles 
or so, and 560 KBLU from Yuma, AZ, is barely detectable (and unlistenable) at 
my house, and I'm basically right on the 0.15 mV/m fringe contour according to 
Radio-Locator.  Unfortunately I have no tunable or rotatable antenna that works 
on 486 kHz.  There is a several hundred foot barbed wire fence across the 
street which does give some boost (has enabled me to receive the NDB BO from 
Boise, ID, faintly on the PL-606), but it's oriented N/S.  Do I still have a 
chance?




 From: Bob Young bobyoun...@hotmail.com
To: NRC list a...@nrcdxas.org; a...@am-dx.com; a...@lists.wtfda.info; 
lbi...@yahoogroups.com; IRCA irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2012 3:36 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Fwd: WG2XFQ on 486Khz
 

What a nice rig! I'll be listening,

Bob Young
Millbury, Ma
KB1OKL

From: b...@psu.edu
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 23:52:27 -0500
To: a...@nrcdxas.org; a...@am-dx.com; a...@lists.wtfda.info; 
lbi...@yahoogroups.com; irca@hard-core-dx.com
Subject: [NRC-AM] Fwd: WG2XFQ on 486Khz

All,

Brian, WA1ZMS, in Forest VA plans to re-run a replica of Reginald Fessenden’s 
first aural transmission on New Year’s Eve; he first ran the transmission on 
486 kHz this past Christmas eve under the WD2XSH/31 experimental call sign, and 
I was able to hear the broadcast in Pennsylvania. Please see the forwarded 
email below for the details of his New Year's Eve transmission. Brian is active 
in 600 meter experimental work and collects early wireless gear. You can see 
the transmitter that Brian uses at this URL: 
http://w4dex.com/500khz/wd2xsh31.htm


If you do log his station, I am sure he would appreciate a report. 



73,
Brett Saylor



-- Forwarded message --
From: Brian, WA1ZMS wa1...@att.net


Date: Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 11:14 PM
Subject: RE: WG2XFQ on 486Khz
To: Brett Saylor b...@psu.edu
Cc: Charles Rippel lantarea...@gmail.com




Please pass the word…. 

WG2XFQ should be QRV (on the air) by late afternoon on Dec 31st.I will let it 
run through at least New Year’s Day.

Freq 486kHz.

ERP 20W into Marconi-T at 70ft.Same audio loop as for the X-Mass event, with a 
comment that this transmission is a repeat of the original X-Mass 2012 
transmisssion.

73,

-Brian, WA1ZMS/4  WD2XSH/31  WG2XFQ in Forest, VA. 




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Re: [IRCA] Puyallup, WA Ultralight TP's for 12-21

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Gary,

I wish you would have had time to record the earlier session. :)  Sometime I'd 
like to see videos of your TP DXing.
Was wondering ... what's with the lack of the Tecsuns and using an older-model 
FSL in your recent home loggings? Did the weather on the cliff really do your 
PL-380 and FSL in THAT bad? Or are they being used for other projects?

73,
Stephen Airy




 From: d1028g...@aol.com d1028g...@aol.com
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com; ultraligh...@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, December 21, 2012 8:48 AM
Subject: [IRCA] Puyallup, WA Ultralight TP's for 12-21
 



Hello All,

I'm in full agreement with the comments by Bill and Walt-- this morning was 
easily the best TP-DX morning of the entire month. I first tuned in at 1410 and 
found the band full of strong signals from Japan, Korea and China... similar to 
a peak-season morning in mid-October. The Japanese on 594, 693, 747, 828, 1287 
and 1503 were vibrant, as were the Koreans on 972, 1053, 1134 and 1566. Even 
1323 kHz was managing a Chinese signal here, the first time that has ever 
happened with Ultralight radios. Unfortunately I had no time to continue the 
DXing effort until around 1530, when a lot of the best signals had dropped down 
into the noise. From 1530-1550 the Koreans on 972 and 1566 were still strong, 
and 1575-VOA was fading in and out of the noise with good signals. Despite the 
great DX earlier around 1410 UTC I was only able to record a couple of vibrant 
signals during the later (less impressive) session. All the DX was heard 
indoors with the backup C.Crane SWP
 Slider Ultralight and!
  early-model 8 FSL antenna.

972-HLCA  Dangjin, S. Korea  Good Korean pop music and
                     Korean YL-OM conversation at 1537
                     http://www.mediafire.com/?t5qcihk0cpvp6y6 

1566-HLAZ  Jeju, S. Korea  Very good Chinese YL and OM
                     speech during Christian program at 1540
                     http://www.mediafire.com/?27jb7anjn7sb5t4  

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
C.Crane SWP 7.5 Slider loopstick Ultralight (2008 model) +
8 Medium Wave FSL antenna (2011 model)

    


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Re: [IRCA] XEPE-1700

[Stephen Airy]

I've heard that the 1700 in Iowa also runs ESPN, at least according to Tim 
Tromp / kilokat7.

XESPN is a local for me, about 15.6 miles S of my location.  On my Tecsun 
radios they typically indicate in the low 50s dBµ or thereabouts using the 
internal ferrite bar loopstick antenna.  I made a recording at around 4am PST 
TOHon 2012-01-02 with the GE SR3.  It includes several Mexican-targeted ads and 
a legal TOH ID.  Any chance that the voices on the Mexican-targeted ads match 
with anything in your recording?

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?uytdnncefx78z71

I haven't been listening to them much, as it's not baseball season and I'm not 
all that much into football or basketball.


73, Stephen




 From: Russ Edmunds wb2...@yahoo.com
To: AM WTFDA a...@lists.wtfda.info; NRC List a...@nrcdxas.org; IRCA List 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 1:46 PM
Subject: [IRCA] XEPE-1700
 
This morning in the 0400 and 0500 hours I had ESPN Sports liners atop WJCC-FL. 
There isn't anything else on channel known to run ESPN Sports, and 10 kw ND 
certainly could make it this far, but so far I haven't found ( pending a more 
detailed re-review of the recordings ) anything sounding like either any local 
content at all.

Has anyone else hear them on the EC ?


Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia  
Grid FN20id
wb2...@yahoo.com
FM: Yamaha T-80  Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot

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Re: [IRCA] XEPE-1700

[Stephen Airy]

oh ok :) I already sent my reply re: XEPE possibility before I refreshed my 
inbox and saw this. :)  Maybe the recording linked therein it'll help you be 
able to pick it out in the future, though. :)
Several weeks ago I was listening to the GlobalTuners node in Ireland, and 
dialed up 1700.  With the help of my PL-398mp sitting next to me, I was able to 
match the voices in the Mexican-targeted ads referred to in my other post.  It 
was too weak to understand what they were saying, and the TOH ID was completely 
masked, but I definitely know the Atlantic MWDX Globaltuners node (Ireland) 
heard XEPE that time.




 From: Russ Edmunds wb2...@yahoo.com
To: AM WTFDA a...@lists.wtfda.info; NRC List a...@nrcdxas.org; IRCA List 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Cc: LBI Group lbi...@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] XEPE-1700
 
After further review, this is apparently KBGG-IA, Their site shows the ESPN 
affiliation although I didn't find it on stationintel.

Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia  
Grid FN20id
wb2...@yahoo.com
FM: Yamaha T-80  Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot


--- On Tue, 12/4/12, Russ Edmunds wb2...@yahoo.com wrote:

 From: Russ Edmunds wb2...@yahoo.com
 Subject: XEPE-1700
 To: AM WTFDA a...@lists.wtfda.info, NRC List a...@nrcdxas.org, IRCA 
 List irca@hard-core-dx.com
 Date: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 4:46 PM
 This morning in the 0400 and 0500
 hours I had ESPN Sports liners atop WJCC-FL. There isn't
 anything else on channel known to run ESPN Sports, and 10 kw
 ND certainly could make it this far, but so far I haven't
 found ( pending a more detailed re-review of the recordings
 ) anything sounding like either any local content at all.
 
 Has anyone else hear them on the EC ?
 
 
 Russ Edmunds
 15 mi NNW of Philadelphia  
 Grid FN20id
 wb2...@yahoo.com
 FM: Yamaha T-80  Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig
 G8
 AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot
 

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[IRCA] For eastern USA DXers (or anywhere) - is this typical/routine GY reception?

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all ... so almost a couple months ago I caught this...

2012-10-03 02;35 PDT - 1400 KTUC - PL-398mp - (or possibly KCYK)

That
 was, I think, KTUC Tuscon, AZ, about 349 mi / 562 km from me, heading 
94° (reverse 277°).  Or, could it have been KCYK Yuma, AZ, which is 
about 134 mi / 215 km at a heading of 93° / 274°?  KTUC is listed as 
Nostalgia, and KCYK is Country according to Radio-Locator.  I'm leaning 
toward KTUC, as I was often hearing music from the 50s, 60s, etc when 
pointing my radio to the east.  It's possible that KCYK could have 
popped up briefly though.  Interesting thing is, the song is one that 
I've always thought as being similar to some of the upbeat 50s / early 
60s pop music (before the Beatles), but per Wikipedia, apparently it 
came out in like 1975?

I actually started the recording a bit 
after the strength had started to wane somewhat.  A minute or two prior,
 it was a cleaner signal, and was indicating up around a moderately 
solid 50-54 dBµ or so on the Tecsun's signal strength display.  That's a
 strength normally reserved for 50kW clears, and even then only exceeded
 on propagation peaks by nearby directional 50kW stations like KDWN, 
KCBS, KXNT (25kW night), KMIK, whose main lobes are aimed pretty much 
right at me.
In the several days/weeks surrounding that, KKJL San 
Luis Obispo, CA from 274 miles NW, also nostalgia per R-L, was quite 
common, to the point where I was listening to it for the music, not for 
DXing (and it would have been a candidate for a preset on some radios). :) (It 
was in a deep fade when I recorded that video, though, besides coming from 
another direction.)

So for you DXers out there ... is that typical routine graveyard DX reception, 
say, in the eastern states?
Or
 is it even remotely possible (assuming that was KTUC @ 349 mi, not KCYK
 @ 134 mi), that for a few minutes I had a graveyard station coming in 
clearer than some of you regularly receive some clear stations even if
 you're the same distance or closer to the transmitter? ;) Could the roles of 
graveyard vs clear channel have temporarily been reversed? :)
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[IRCA] (error/redo) For eastern USA DXers (or anywhere) - is this typical/routine GY reception?

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all ... so almost a couple months ago I caught this...

http://youtu.be/91crQZQxLP0

That
was, I think, KTUC Tuscon, AZ, about 349 mi / 562 km from me, heading 94° 
(reverse 277°).  Or, could it have been KCYK Yuma, AZ, which is about 134 mi / 
215 km at a heading of 93° / 274°?  KTUC is listed as Nostalgia, and KCYK is 
Country according to Radio-Locator.  I'm leaning toward KTUC, as I was often 
hearing music from the 50s, 60s, etc when pointing my radio to the east.  It's 
possible that KCYK could have popped up briefly though.  Interesting thing is, 
the song is one that I've always thought as being similar to some of the upbeat 
50s / early 
60s pop music (before the Beatles), but per Wikipedia, apparently it came out 
in like 1975?

I actually started the recording a bit after the strength had started to wane 
somewhat.  A minute or two prior, it was a cleaner signal, and was indicating 
up around a moderately solid 50-54 dBµ or so on the Tecsun's signal strength 
display.  That's a strength normally reserved for 50kW clears, and even then 
only exceeded on propagation peaks by nearby directional 50kW stations like 
KDWN, KCBS, KXNT (25kW night), KMIK, whose main lobes are aimed pretty much 
right at me.
In the several days/weeks surrounding that, KKJL San Luis Obispo, CA from 274 
miles NW, also nostalgia per R-L, was quite common, to the point where I was 
listening to it for the music, not for DXing
 (and it would have been a candidate for a preset on some radios). :) 
(It was in a deep fade when I recorded that video, though, besides 
coming from another direction.)

So for you DXers out there ... is that typical routine graveyard DX reception, 
say, in the eastern states?
Or
is it even remotely possible (assuming that was KTUC @ 349 mi, not KCYK @ 134 
mi), that for a few minutes I had a graveyard station coming in 
clearer than some of you regularly receive some clear stations even if you're 
the same distance or closer to the transmitter? ;) Could the 
roles of graveyard vs clear channel have temporarily been reversed? 
:)
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[IRCA] Did I just get caught up into Heaven, or is 1580 KMIK's HD/IBOC off?

[Stephen Airy]

So I was listening to 1580 KMIK, and decided to briefly switch over to 1110 
KDIS.  (I'm a little south of El Cajon, CA, about 299.6 mi / 482.2 km, 262.2° 
from KMIK and 111.4 mi / 179.3 km, 146.7° from KDIS.  KMIK is usually one of 
the strongest skywave signals here, often capable of exceeding some of my 
locals, except for KFMB, KECR, KSDO and maybe a couple others.)  A few seconds 
later I noticed the same passage of music I had just heard on 1580 aired on 
1110.  Odd, I thought, normally 1580 is a second or so behind 1110, and now 
they seem to be several seconds ahead.  Hey HD has a several second delay 
compared to just straight analog - I wonder if…  So after flipping back and 
forth between 1110 and 1580 a couple times to verify the change in delay, I 
tuned to 1570 

and was greeted with ...

*batatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatataBING!*

NO HASH!!! :D  Just a clean, if somewhat weak, signal from a presumed 1570 
XERF, which is a regular here.

I then tuned off-frequency a kHz at a time on my PL-398mp using its 1 kHz 
setting (which according to you traditional purists is a 2 kHz RF bandwidth, if 
not a little wider).  (This can give me some idea of the audio bandwidth of a 
station even if my radio's not capable of reproducing that audio when tuned 
on-frequency.  Splatter will still be loud as long as you're within their audio 
passband and 1 kHz beyond to a lesser extent, then at 2 kHz beyond it drops off 
like a cliff.)  I got out to 1574 and 1586 kHz and the splatter was still 
strong.  On 1573 and 1587 the stations on 1570 and 1590 respectively took over. 
 The bandwidth check is also made more difficult no thanks to some co-channel 
interference from KBLA.

I understand that back in the day, 1580 Tempe (when they were KCWW and running 
country) broadcast in analog C-Quam AM Stereo.  My Sony SRF-42 is currently 
non-functional, so does anyone else have a way of finding out if they're 
running analog AM Stereo now?



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Re: [IRCA] 1030 WONQ heard in WBZ Null...Not WJR Null!! Whoops!!

[Stephen Airy]

Haha lol :) Was thinking ... I didn't know you were THAT close to WJR's 
transmitter. :p  WBZ must be a tough cookie there, though. :)  You're doing 
better than me, though, at nulling out the strong ones.  If I'm extremely 
careful positioning my radio (seems if I move it 0.01mm or 0°0'0.1 the wrong 
way I lose something like 100dB of the null) I can get a fairly significant 
null on my local 50kW (nighttime - 5kW daytime) KFMB (7.3 mi NW, same freq as 
WJR) and hear an as-yet-unID Spanish station underneath.  I still have yet to 
ID them, though, or better yet bag WJR, although I did hear KKZN once.
I wonder if it might be possible to hear my semi-local 1030 XESDD there?  I 
think they run 5kW omnidirectional (unless they've found a way to go 
directional like the radio-locator plot shows with a single tower).  Or what 
about 1390 XEKT from Tecate (erroneously listed on FCC and R-L as being on 
1380)?  Also you were one of the fairly recent ones to the east that's heard 
1700 XEPE, right?  (besides Allen in NFLD, Tim in Michigan, or me on the 
Atlantic MWDX globaltuners node in the UK a few nights ago.)


73, Stephen





 From: Robert Ross va...@rogers.com
To: IRCA AM List irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Sunday, November 4, 2012 5:33 AM
Subject: [IRCA] 1030 WONQ heard in WBZ Null...Not WJR Null!! Whoops!!
 
Hi Guys:

  In my Original Logging Posting I said WONQ was heard in the WJR Null...that 
should have said the WBZ Null Guess the EST Switchover goofed me up...not 
sure where I got WJR from??? HAHHAHA.

73...ROB VA3SW



**
1030 WONQ  Oviedo, FLORIDA  Nov/04/12  0554 EST    SPANISH       FAIR-GOOD @ 
Times!!!
Spanish Tropical Music and Vocals. @ 0554 EST Tune In. Male DJ gave ID in 
SPANISH as
UVE DOBLE - OH - ENE - KU. @ 0557 EST.  Made a mention of 
CASSELBERRY...which is
a Nearby Town to Oviedo. Into a Spanish Ballad @ 0557-0600 EST.
Male DJ with Jingles and Spanish Ads 0600 EST. Male and Female Spoke Spanish 
0601-03 EST.
Another ID in Spanish same as above @ 0603 EST. Into More Spanish Tropical 
flavoured Music.
Was still in past 0635 EST with same type of Music Program. 
Don't know if they were using 45 KW or 1.7 KW???

Heard in WBZ Null.
^^^

NEW STN                 ULR # 1025        45 KW/1.7 KW
ROSS, ONT.
*
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[IRCA] 1110 KDIS a blowtorch into San Diego tonight

[Stephen Airy]

They should normally be fairly weak here in El Cajon (and mixing with KFAB) at 
night, with occasional peaks to a fair level, but tonight they're pounding in 
here like a local, with occasional fades to a fair level.  There's virtually 
no trace of KFAB, and they can even be heard on my Coby CX-83, even with a 10kW 
on 1130 just 6.3 miles away in almost the same direction.  (It's absent on the 
CX-70, though, thanks to its atrocious lack of selectivity.)  Is anyone to the 
east hearing them tonight?

Also does anyone know what Disney stations are likely to be heard outside the 
USA, even if only during a brief time window when it's dark at the receiving 
location but the station is on day pattern?  A couple places I'm interested in 
are Malaysia and el Estado de Mexico (around el Distrito Federal).  I know of 
some people in those locations that would love to hear some songs that air (I 
think only) on Radio Disney, but are unable to listen to it via the website or 
app in their home countries.  I know KMIK can be heard in Australia and New 
Zealand (and 1575 from Thailand near Malaysia can be heard in the western USA) 
and WQEW regularly makes it into europe, but are there other possible options?  
For Malaysia I was thinking possibly 910 WFDF due to its pattern taking it over 
the pole, and for Mexico what about KMIK or KDIS in the evening before pattern 
changes, or would KDDZ 1690 Denver, WSDZ 1260 St Louis, 1160 San Antonio or 
some others be better?

73
Stephen Airy
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[IRCA] ? 4 Gary Rob, the 2 ULR NDB rivals

[Stephen Airy]

Hi guys,

Was just wondering...  what's the closest NDB (to the other's home location) 
that either one of you has logged, from your own home location, that the other 
has NOT yet logged?  If you want you could expand to mediumwave stations - 
non-directional non-GYers preferred but not required. :)  Bonus points for Rob 
having logged a station in WA that Gary hasn't heard, or for Gary having bagged 
one from ON that has evaded Rob. ;)

Hey Rob.  What's this I hear about a snowmobile suit being ready?  Is it 
really that much colder there than here? ;)  A couple days ago at my house it 
was 100°F (or, in your parliance, about 38°C) outside... in the shade - around 
3 or 4 pm.  Having humidity in the teens (or lower - I suspect the device was 
bottomed out) definitely makes it more bearable, I think.  (It was still 86°F 
in the house around 6pm IIRC.)  Guess it's too hot for me to get any NDBs right 
now, especially considering the only LW antenna I have is a 
north/south-running barbed-wire fence across the street? ;)  (It has been 
cooling off to the mid-60s at night, though.)

I did some TP DX attempts yesterday morning, using my PL-398mp as a 
spotter/leader, guiding the busted-display (no frequency readout) PL-606 to 
promising targets.  I'll need to go through the video when I get a chance 
before I post it, though, to weed out the extra stuff.
I did get fairly decent audio on 1575 through a combination of splash from 1580 
KBLA Santa Monica, CA, 1580 KMIK Tempe, AZ  ~1570 KMIK-HD Tempe, AZ.  I did 
use the Select-A-Tenna, although I was still able to hear them when I removed 
the SAT from the PL-606.
I also was able to get 1566, which I presume was HLAZ.  The SAT was required, 
though - there was no barefoot reception.  I don't remember if I had any 
others, but I doubt it.  774-JOUB was missing, as was 972-HLCA, 657-Pyongyang 
and 594-JOAK, all of which have been heard here previously.  (JOAK is tough due 
to a local 5kW IBOC spewer on 600 less than 8 miles away.)  I also tried for 
747-JOIB, 828-JOBB(?) and 693-JOAB(?), but was rewarded only with splatter and 
IBOC hash.
I hope to have a chance to post the video of my 1575 (and maybe 1566) reception 
later today or tomorrow, to prove that I did receive them (and hopefully 
someone can then confirm my suspicion that 1566 is HLAZ (confirmed previously) 
and 1575 is VOA-Thailand (heard previously but not confirmed)). :)


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[IRCA] PL-606 PL-398mp TPs (1575 1566 mostly) - 2012-09-15 (Sat AM) - near El Cajon, CA

[Stephen Airy]

Hello, TP DXers,

Yesterday morning (2012-09-15) I went out into my back yard a little before 
sunrise to attempt some TP DXing with my PL-606 and PL-398mp.
I was mostly using the PL-606 (ultralight), but the PL-398mp was necessary to 
lead the way due to the PL-606 having a broken display and no frequency 
readout.  (More info available in the description of a video linked farther 
down, which shows my reception of 1575 and 1566.)

Other than 1575 and 1566, I was unable to pick out any other signals.  JOUB-774 
couldn't get past 760 KFMB, JOIB-747 couldn't be heard over the din of KFMB and 
740 KBRT  KCBS and their IBOC, JOBB-828 was blocked by 830 KLAA, JOAB-693 was 
splashed by local XEWW-690, and JOAK-594 (which was heard once a couple years 
ago with the PL-380 and SAT) couldn't get past local 600-KOGO and its IBOC 
(which was active when I heard them in 2010).

I was able to hear stations on 1575 and 1566, though.  Video link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPODlMA1_Q4
Although the entire DX session isn't featured in the video (it was recorded 
though), there is quite a bit of extra stuff (including tuning the radios  
adjusting antennas), so timestamps are included in the description so you can 
jump right to where I had the DX.  For 1575, reception on the PL-606 aided by 
the SAT starts at around 2:30 (PL-398mp which had led the 
frequency-readout-absent PL-606 to its target is still heard for another 12 
seconds before I mute it), and barefoot starts at around 4:46.  For 1566, 
PL-606 + SAT starts at around 9:30, but improves around 10:35.  Barefoot 
reception was briefly attempted, but unsuccessful, unlike with 1575.

I'm suspecting 1575 is VOA from Thailand (~ 13,429.2 km / 8344.5 mi, heading ~ 
217° from me) and 1566 could be HLAZ near Jeju, South Korea (10,122.2 km / 
6,289.7 mi, heading ~ 229° from me).  I believe I've had my reception of 
1566-HLAZ confirmed previously ( 
http://www.mail-archive.com/irca@hard-core-dx.com/msg49158.html - link in 
message to audio may no longer be active) and I thought I've heard 1575 
previously but it may not have been good enough to confirm.  Hopefully 1575's 
signal is good enough to confirm my suspicions on what I heard?

73,
Stephen Airy (near El Cajon, CA)
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Re: [IRCA] Top Ten South Pacific Signals from the Cape Perpetua (OR) Cliff

[Stephen Airy]

 it booming signals while eastern Australia
  was down in the noise. A frequent blowtorch on the Cliff
  http://www.mediafire.com/?rsvoh1aro2w0xtr

I also hear, along with the crunch, a het.  Would 890-KDXU be strong enough 
to cause that, or is there another station on 890 in the Northwest?

  1008-Newstalk ZB (Tauranga, NZ, 10 kW)  One of the stronger Kiwis, but
  its proximity to a 1010 kHz domestic station saddled it with a tedious
  2 kHz heterodyne on the low-tech Tecsun ultralight. The strongest of
  the Kiwi Newstalk ZB stations on the Cliff
  http://www.mediafire.com/?nl9j9f242ldirfm

Which 3 or 4 stations on 1010 do you think might have been causing the het?  I 
hear at least 2 different beat rates on the het, if not 3.

  Of course, many other South Pacific stations were received on the
  Cliff, but these were just the ten strongest ones. Low-powered New
  Zealand stations (and one obscure 400w Aussie X-bander on 1701 kHz)
  were the order of the day. A full DXpedition report on this bizarre
  4-day trip will be prepared shortly, which hopefully will motivate
  other DXing fanatics to push their luck on the cliffs!

  73 and Good DX,
  Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
  Cape Perpetua DXpedition video posted at
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzBfstOXA4


73 and even better DX, 
Stephen Airy (in east Mt Helix (S of El Cajon, E of La Mesa, N of Rancho San 
Diego), CA, USA)
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Re: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff Ultralight DU's for 7-20

[Stephen Airy]

 bandscans in addition to mine, like 
yours, others, etc, so I could get an idea of what the local stations / QRM are 
like in other locations. :)


73 and good DX,
Stephen Airy




 From: d1028g...@aol.com d1028g...@aol.com
To: ultraligh...@yahoogroups.com; irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 1:29 PM
Subject: [IRCA] Oregon Cliff Ultralight DU's for 7-20
 
Hello All,

The typical rules of medium wave propagation seemed to be thrown out the window 
this morning on the Cliff, as numerous low-powered New Zealand stations tested 
the overload level of the Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight. 2.5 kW Radio Kahungunu (a 
Maori-language station which has apparently never been heard at Grayland) was 
maxing out the PL-380's S/N display at 25 for about 5 minutes with its 
distinctive Island Music around 1230, while 828-Radio Trackside (2 kW) was 
solid copy at the same time. 567-RN, 657-Southern Star, 675-RN and 603-Waatea 
all were maxing out the PL-380's S/N at 25 this morning, and although the time 
was limited, I crammed in as much fanatical DXing as I could.

The Aussies were decidedly weaker than the Kiwis this morning, but I pushed my 
luck by checking for X-band Aussies (all 400 watts or less). On the X-band the 
Aussies had no New Zealand competition, and on 1701 kHz I was lucky to find 
fairly decent DU English audio as soon as I tuned in. For some unknown reason 
the Tijuana ESPN noise generator was silent, and I was able to record a fairly 
decent ID from an obscure Christian broadcaster on the frequency. Totally wacky!

The rain and wind were nasty on the Cliff this morning, but fortunately the 
hot-rodded radios and FSL antennas were up to the weather challenge. Thanks 
very much to Nick, Steve and Dennis for the daily DU-DXing reports... but I 
feel more than a little embarassed at the relative results here. I wish that 
you could all join me for at least one of these wacky ULR + FSL transoceanic 
sessions (like Norm Clark plans to do tomorrow morning)... the experience would 
probably turn any of you into a DU-DXing fanatic!!

73, Gary DeBock (temporarily DXing at Cape Perpetua, OR ocean side Cliff, 400' 
high)
7.5 Medium Wave Loopstick PL-380 (new design) + 8 MW FSL antenna



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Re: [IRCA] Eclipse DX?

[Stephen Airy]

Was 1140 Disney-type music?  If so that would have been Vegas.  They're not a 
Disney affiliate, but they do seem to play much of the same music.  I can 
occasionally hear them here when they're strong enough to cut through 1130 
KSDO's local (10kW @ 6.3mi N) Radio Nueva Vida splatter.

73,
Stephen Airy
El Cajon / La Mesa, CA



--
On Mon, May 21, 2012 11:00 AM PDT Chris Knight wrote:

I watched the eclipse take place beginning around 6:00PM Arizona Time 
(MST/PDT) and noted Utah doing very well on 650, 1080 (stn underneath probably 
KGVY), 1120, 1160 (KSL), and 1320. Also noted a strong station on 1140 (Las 
Vegas?). I checked 640 and 1070 for Los Angeles but nothing there. I checked 
stations toward the oncoming SS such as 820 WBAP, 1200 WOAI. Nothing there.
 
73,
 
Chris Knight
Phoenix, Arizona
Radio: Sony ICF-7600GR. No external antenna.
 


 From: Glenn Hauser wghau...@yahoo.com
To: d...@yahoogroups.com; ABDX a...@yahoogroups.com; irca@hard-core-dx.com; 
a...@nrcdxas.org; mwdx m...@yahoogroups.com; hard-core...@hard-core-dx.com; 
a...@wtfda.info 
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Eclipse DX?
  
Some major targets, high-power 50 or 10-kW stations within the path, include: 
KKOH Reno 780
KDXU Saint George 890
KTNN Window Rock 660
KHAC Tse Bonito 880
KKOB Albuquerque 770, plus loads of other ABQ stations; maybe more likely at 
the hi end of the band?

Here`s a more detailed map of the track:
http://media.skyandtelescope.com/images/2012_annular_eclipse_track_l.jpg

Glenn

--- On Sun, 5/20/12, Glenn Hauser wghau...@yahoo.com wrote:

 Lacking a total eclipse, let`s see if
 there are any DX effects during the imminent annular
 eclipse. Beside avoiding looking directly at the sun, if you
 are close to the path of annularity, tune around MW and even
 lower SW bands to see if night-like conditions briefly skip
 in some signals not normally heard in the daytime. Here`s
 info including maps:
 
 http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/A-Preview-of-May-20ths-Annular-Eclipse-141037803.html
 
 Since the maximum eclipse will be at sunset around here,
 like from Dallas to Chicago, night-time conditions will
 already be in effect normally.
 
 Sp best DX results should be over northern California, where
 it`s long before sunset. There might be propagational
 patches energized for paths at an angle to the path, e.g.
 from Idaho to southern California or vice versa. But should
 theoretically be best along the path, i.e. northern
 California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and into west Texas.
 
 
 For this you may disregard worries about weather obscuring
 the event!
 
 73, Glenn Hauser, OK

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Re: [IRCA] FW: 1000th station heard on ULR

[Stephen Airy]

Congratulations on #1000, Richard!  How many of those were barefoot? :)

On a good day, I might be able to hear about 100 stations or so around midday 
from here on ultralights with a good enough antenna, but I have a 
LLLNG way to go to #1,000!  (Rob, there 
isn't by any chance a reward for hearing a lot of daytime stations or 
something, is there? ;) )


I too have heard 1566-HLAZ here, once (if not twice).  Having 50kW 1580-KMIK's 
IBOC blasting right at me from 300 miles east (and being in their main 6-tower 
nighttime lobe) did NOT make it easy. :)  An even tougher one was 594-JOAK, dug 
out from between local 5kW 600-KOGO (7.3 mi west) and its IBOC (which is turned 
off now fortunately).  My first ever Japanese logging was 774-JOUB (you 
mentioned 747 - did you mean 774, or did you mean the station on 747, whose 
callsign escapes me?)  These were all heard with the Select-A-Tenna-aided 
PL-380 or PL-606.  I've heard others from across the puddle, but won't mention 
them here.

I'd say one of my most exciting moments thus far was the aforementioned 
reception of JOAK.  I do have a few domestic loggings that could maybe compete, 
though - hearing 1230 XEEX's TOH ID nearly alone on channel @ 795 mi around 4am 
about 10 seconds after turning my SRF-59 on (and having bumped the tuning dial 
somehow cause 1230 wasn't the frequency it was on when I turned it off), 
hearing Albuquerque's then-Disney outlet KALY on 1240 under my local 
then-KSON's open carrier (the two are opposite directions from me, and KSON, 
now KNSN, is strong enough to pretty much blanket the frequency at night unless 
I 90-degree null them), and hearing 700-KALL at 626 miles NNE at midday over an 
all-land path even though 77kW 690-XEWW is just 32 miles SSW of me, just to 
name a few.
Something that might beat it, I'm thinking, might be hearing stations from 
Australia, Asia, Alaska, south America and Europe all fighting each other on 
1170 kHz in the middle of the night, each strong enough to completely block 
reception of my local 1170-KCBQ at 9.3 miles (bonus points if KCBQ's running 
their 50kW daytime rig at the time - they're supposed to be 2.9 kW at night and 
I don't remember ever catching them cheating).  Even better would be pick any 
frequency, have the fighting international stations completely blanking my 
reception of local 760-KFMB (nighttime 50kW at 7.3 miles NW).  Something like 
that would probably make my year. :)  Another thing that could might be, on a 
trip to the beach with a ULR and a big antenna, hearing midday groundwave 
reception of a TP or DU in the LW band or lower part of the MW band.  (With an 
all-saltwater path, I almost wonder if that might be possible under the right 
circumstances?)


BTW my original intent on the ULR quest was actually to find something 
pocketable / beltclippable with better selectivity and sensitivity compared to 
what I had been using.  (It was a Panasonic RQ-SW20 which I still have - it's 
similar in selectivity to the stock SRF-M37W and several dB less sensitive.)  
There were stations I wanted to listen to (and still are) that were 
undetectable either due to being buried in the noise, or buried under 
near-FM-channel-plus-IBOC-width splatter originating on the first adjacents, 
for example.  I'm still looking for the one, and along the way learning some 
things.  (Apparently what I also need is good stop band rejection, for 
example.)  I'll save further discussion on that point for another future post 
sometime.

73 and good luck on your quest for #10,000  ;)
Stephen Airy




 From: Robert Ross va...@rogers.com
 To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
 irca@hard-core-dx.com 
 Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 12:29 AM
 Subject: Re: [IRCA] FW: 1000th station heard on ULR



 RichardCongratulations on Logging Station # 1000 on an ULR !! You worked 
 very hard to accomplish this feat, and I'm sure everyone on the list joins in 
  the celebrations!!! 

 Keep up the good work.and we'll follow your journey to # 2000 as 
 well!!

 Thanks for helping to Promote Ultralight Radio, and bagging some nice DX in 
 the Process!! Hang your 1000 Ultralight STATIONS Heard Certificate with  
 Pride...

 73ROB VA3SW   (For the ULR AWARDS COMMITTEE)

 Robert S. Ross
 London, Ontario CANADA




On 2012-04-28, at 2:30 AM, richa...@perryisp.net wrote:

 After four years and one month, I was able 
 to log station #1000 on my barefoot Sony 
 SRF-T615.
 
 4/27/12
 1100 UTC  880 kHz XEPNK, Los Mochis, 
 Sinaloa, México (2 kW @ 1611 km / 1001 mi).  
 Heard at 1100 with woman announcing ochenta 
 ocho A M, the national anthem of México at 
 1100-1102, and the recently adopted anthem 
 of Sinaloa at 1102-1104.  A brief, mostly 
 unintelligible announcement by a woman at 
 1104, followed by a romantic song performed 
 by a woman at 1105. The signal strength was 
 poor with moderate QRM from Grupo

Re: [IRCA] Pre/post Sunset Skip --04/07/12

[Stephen Airy]

As far as I know, KIEV isn't on the air, and from what I've read on various 
other boards/lists/forums, isn't gonna be for a while.  I suspect the sports 
you heard on 1500 may have been KSTP St. Paul - they are a semi regular weak 
visitor here on my Tecsun PL-606.  Also along a similar vein, any possibility 
that your 1570 Spanish could have been XERF?
As for 760 S.D., I bet monitoring them right at their LSS might be interesting 
... they are 5kW ND day and 50kW DA (null toward Detroit with a kidney bean 
like pattern or something like that) night.  They might be very weak or not 
there at all before pattern change, then suddenly jump to life with a much 
stronger signal at sunset.  Where I am, their signal is full quieting day and 
night, using only a portable's built-in ferrite.  I do have a way to tell the 
difference in strength at pattern change, though ...  ;)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICaOz_Nvxeo   As strong as they are, though, it 
is still possible to get a fairly deep null, though ...  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWLX26cQpbQ  (although as you could probably 
tell from the video, it's EXTREMELY difficult to hold it - move the radio even 
a fraction of a degree off axis and you've lost about 20-30dB of null or 
something like that.)
CKWX is usually impossible here due to a local co-channel 10kW that's 6 miles N 
of me, but a couple months ago I caught them off the air and was able to get 
CKWX's signal.  (I have a recording if desired.)
As for 640 L.A., interestingly their groundwave signal is slightly weaker here 
than 1070 KNX, even though KFI is 12 miles closer (99 mi vs KNX's 111).  KFI's 
signal has an all land path to me, but KNX comes partially over saltwater, due 
to its transmitter being more to the west and the geography of the Southern 
California coastline

73, Stephen (in El Cajon / La Mesa, CA).




 From: bill kral jwk...@yahoo.ca
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 11:04 AM
Subject: [IRCA] Pre/post Sunset Skip --04/07/12
 
Saturday evening skip was absolutely amazing. Things must have started to hop 
at 18:00 PDT but I started my scan at 18:30 and the first signal in loud and 
clear was 940 Fresno CA. The total band was showing good skip except 540 which 
was still vacant. No CBK yet while 990 and 1010 were active already. 1700 had 
an audible signal from Tj.Mex.  Some of the closer by graveyarders were topping 
out with temporary clear signals and one that ID'd nicely was KEDO Longview WA 
during a Mariners Baseball game. KPWX in Mt.Angel OR was still giving CKWX Van 
BC a hard time at least half an hour after LSS so are they cheating by delaying 
powering down to night power? Caught some sports on 1500 before it faded and I 
assumed it to be KIEV Culver City CA (if they are on air now). Heard Spanish on 
1570 for a few minutes before disappearing so either KCVR Lodi CA or KTGE 
Salinas CA. Both of these were first time catches here. 640 LA and 760 S.D. 
were showing signs of life
an hour before LSS at 7:55 PM PDT.Scanning time was cut short due to other 
commitments but this time I enjoyed a little downtime from the digital noise 
that usually plagues most of the vacant freqs here. 
Bill in BC
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[IRCA] Strongest in El Cajon, CA (Re: Strongest Stations Kalama, WA)

[Stephen Airy]

I don't have the fancy setup you guys have, but I do have a Tecsun PL-606 which 
has a relative signal strength indicator (although I don't believe it's 
calibrated to any particular source.)  Here's a list of several of the 
strongest stations here as indicated on my barefoot Tecsun PL-606...
Day:
1170 KCBQ - 81/25 (81 dBµ RSSI, 25 dB S/N) - 50 kW DA (112.5 kW ERP) @ 9.3 mi, 
7°
1130 KSDO - 75/25 - 10 kW DA (~ 10.3 kW ERP) @ 6.3 mi, 350°
760 KFMB - 72/25 - 5 kW ND @ 7.3 mi, 321°
690 XEWW - 69/25 - 77 kW DA (~ 187 kW ERP) @ 32.4 mi, 189°
600 KOGO - 68/25 - 5 kW DA (~ 2.4 kW ERP) @ 7.7 mi, 249°
1360 KLSD - 67/25 - 5 kW ND @ 8.3 mi, 255°
910 KECR - 66/25 - 5 kW DA (~ 5.12 kW ERP) @ 9.3 mi, 7°
1240 KNSN - 58/25 - 0.55 kW ND @ 11.2 mi, 246°

Night:
760 KFMB - 80/25 - 50kW DA (~ 37 kW ERP) @ 7.3 mi, 321°
1130 KSDO - 76/25 - 10 kW DA (~ 12.7 kW ERP) @ 6.3 mi, 350°
910 KECR - 71/25 - 5 kW DA (~ 10.5 kW ERP) @ 9.3 mi, 7°
600 KOGO - 68/25 - 5 kW DA (~ 2.4 kW ERP) @ 7.7 mi, 249°
1170 KCBQ - 68/25 - 2.9 kW DA (~ 7.8 kW ERP) @ 9.3 mi, 7°
690 XEWW - 62/25 - 50 kW DA (~ 18.8 kW ERP) @ 32.4 mi, 189°
1360 KLSD - 61/25 - 1 kW ND @ 8.3 mi, 255°
1240 KNSN - 60/25 - 0.55 kW ND @ 11.2 mi, 246°

Now I'm curious ... I don't know if you guys have any of the DSP radios with 
the signal displays, but if you do ... how do your big rigs, using the highest 
gain antenna setups you have, behave (indicated signal strength, how far do you 
have to tune off-frequency (assuming an untuned omnidirectional antenna and 
bandwidth set for normal AM program listening) before it's no longer a factor 
in the reception of near-frequency weak DX (including blocking/desense, not 
just audible splatter), etc) on very strong signals there, especially ones that 
indicate over 80 to 88 dBµ on a barefoot DSP radio (especially if it's the 
PL-360 with no antenna plugged into its antenna port)?  And toward the other 
end of the scale, what might be the average signal to noise ratio on the big 
rigs with the big antennas on a signal that is barely readable (indicating 0 or 
1 dB S/N and requiring headphones) on a barefoot DSP radio?






 From: Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net
To: Dennis Vroom vroom...@ymail.com; Mailing list for the International Radio 
Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Monday, April 2, 2012 10:19 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Strongest Stations Kalama, WA
 
Hi Dennis,

I should hook up the 45' vertical I have and see what S Meter reading I
get. Right now I have it dsconnected.
   Here KIRO is my strongest signal at about S9+15 with the NE EWE. 

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager


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Re: [IRCA] pending radio setup in Newfoundland

[Stephen Airy]

Allen

I'm curious to know what midday/groundwave catches you might have across the 
pond with that setup grounded in the saltwater? :)  I've heard of 5kW 560 Miami 
(when their transmitter was in Biscaine (sp?) Bay) being heard on a barefoot 
Sony ICF-6500W at Signal Hill, NFLD.  With some Europeans being in the hundreds 
of kW or even a megawatt or more, I wonder if you'd hear any on groundwave 
there with a good setup, especially longwave stations?  (I haven't heard any 
here, but I've got a major urban area between me and the Pacific, which also is 
much larger than the Atlantic, especially heading west or southwest from here.)


--
On Sat, Mar 31, 2012 9:17 AM PDT Allen Willie wrote:

RE:

 I'm amazed at Alan Willie's TA DX list of snags with an otherwise not so 
 sensitive little pocket radio and also a little envious since I'm not even 
 getting any TPs with a fairly good full sized portable but then he's much 
 closer to his TAs than I am to my TPs. But anyway whenever he sends in a 
 report it always mentions the ultralights. I'd like to see what the results 
 would be if he used a big rig with adjustable RF gain etc.and something like 
 a loop antenna. Can we persuade him to do some DXing with something a little 
 more sensitive -weather permitting ? Bill in BC
  


Hello To All

Plans are,  once the weather clears up I'll be putting out a 300 foot longwire 
antenna for both my Kenwood R-5000 and Yaesu FRG - 100 receivers

I'm looking forward to finding out what is out there to be heard on them as 
well.

Will be reporting when everything is up and running in the months ahead.


Good DX

Allen Willie
Bristol's Hope, Newfoundland



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Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test

[Stephen Airy]

Hmm..  I thought it was around 15 minutes into my recording (which started 
around 12:51am PST, which would have made it around 1:06am, besides the 
possibility that the clock in my Zoom H2n could be a minute off).  I can't seem 
to pick anything out of the recording, though.  I even listened to most of it 
again in case I had the wrong time in my mind, but no dice.

If it's tough to get KDWN to shut down, would it be possible to reduce their 
radiation to the southwest by about 140-160 dB during KOTZ's test? ;)

Another thing I was thinking .. don't know if this would work, but   might 
it be possible to include some fully-modulated morse code at, say, 7 kHz, along 
with a fully-modulated continuous tone at 6 kHz?  (BTW by fully modulated (it's 
possible I have the wrong term) I mean the same power goes into that morse or 
into that continuous tone as is in the on-assigned-frequency carrier.)  I was 
thinking I might have a chance, if the continuous tone could fool my PL-606 
into thinking there was a carrier there, and the morse would beat with it so 
I'd hear 1 kHz morse by tuning to, in the previous example, 714 or 726 kHz 
(getting away from some of KDWN's splatter, also XEEBC/XEX (not sure which, 
suspect the former) on 730 and KSPN on 710 are usually much weaker signals than 
KDWN, but KCBS's IBOC could be a problem, though).  (Maybe an offset of 5, 6, 7 
or 8 kHz would work for the continuous tone, with the morse being 
somewhere within that range and within about 1.5 kHz of the continuous 
carrier.)  (It probably wouldn't be possible to switch KOTZ into a mode where 
their main 720 kHz carrier was shut off and instead they were on 714 or 726 
kHz, though.)

I did get KBOI, though.  Posting a recording will have to wait till at least 
Wednesday, though, as I have other non-radio things going on the next few days.

As for KDWN, this video clip could give you a little idea of what KOTZ needs to 
punch through. ;)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaLPsevaRGk  And just 40 kHz 
up from that:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICaOz_Nvxeo




 From: Paul B. Walker, Jr. walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com
To: Stephen Airy pianoplayer88...@yahoo.com; Mailing list for the 
International Radio Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 11:36 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test
 

Check the time you heard the phone off hook signal, Stephen and I'll tell you 
if it was KOTZ for sure.

And as for KDWN shutting off, its not that easy to get a 50KW major market 
signal to just shut down.

Paul



On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 3:34 AM, Stephen Airy pianoplayer88...@yahoo.com 
wrote:

I would definitely want another chance to try for them.  I think I heard a hint 
of phone off-hook signal once through heavy KDWN QRM in SoCal, but I'd have to 
check my recording (which may not happen till Wednesday).  Also it would help 
if somehow some downtime could be arranged at KDWN so those of us in Southern 
California would have a better chance at logging KOTZ.





 From: Russ Edmunds wb2...@yahoo.com
To: a...@nrcdxas.org
Cc: IRCA List irca@hard-core-dx.com
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test


It'll take a week at least for the current activity to quiet down. I'd suggest 
2 weeks.

Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia 
Grid FN20id
wb2...@yahoo.com
FM: Yamaha T-80  Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot

--- On Sat, 3/10/12, Paul B. Walker, Jr. walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com wrote:

From: Paul B. Walker, Jr. walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com
Subject: [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test
To: NRC a...@nrcdxas.org, Mailing list for the International Radio Club 
of America irca@hard-core-dx.com
Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012, 8:12 PM

Chief Engineer Pierre Lonewolf has graciously agreed to re run the 31 minute 
50 second DX test on KOTZ.

He originally was going to re-run it tonight, but I said that's way too short 
notice, plus solar stuff and other conditions aren't too great right now.


Anyone wanna suggest or share with me when they think the KOTZ test should be 
re-run? I'll pass comments onto Pierre.

Paul Walker


-Inline Attachment Follows-

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Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test

[Stephen Airy]

I would definitely want another chance to try for them.  I think I heard a hint 
of phone off-hook signal once through heavy KDWN QRM in SoCal, but I'd have to 
check my recording (which may not happen till Wednesday).  Also it would help 
if somehow some downtime could be arranged at KDWN so those of us in Southern 
California would have a better chance at logging KOTZ.




 From: Russ Edmunds wb2...@yahoo.com
To: a...@nrcdxas.org 
Cc: IRCA List irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test
 
It'll take a week at least for the current activity to quiet down. I'd suggest 
2 weeks.

Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia  
Grid FN20id
wb2...@yahoo.com
FM: Yamaha T-80  Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot

--- On Sat, 3/10/12, Paul B. Walker, Jr. walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com wrote:

From: Paul B. Walker, Jr. walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com
Subject: [NRC-AM] Good News Regarding The KOTZ 720 DX Test
To: NRC a...@nrcdxas.org, Mailing list for the International Radio Club of 
America irca@hard-core-dx.com
Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012, 8:12 PM

Chief Engineer Pierre Lonewolf has graciously agreed to re run the 31 minute 50 
second DX test on KOTZ.

He originally was going to re-run it tonight, but I said that's way too short 
notice, plus solar stuff and other conditions aren't too great right now.


Anyone wanna suggest or share with me when they think the KOTZ test should be 
re-run? I'll pass comments onto Pierre.

Paul Walker


-Inline Attachment Follows-

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[IRCA] 720-KOTZ DX Test tomorrow - do I have a chance? + suggestion

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all,

I've read about 670-WSCR, 720-WGN and 780-WBBM being off the air, and a few 
stations on their frequencies doing some DX tests.  So far I'm aware of 
670-KBOI doing 1 minute of 50kW ND morse code a couple times (I forget what 
times, though).  I've heard them previously before they re-directionalized 
their night pattern away from Southern California, but I think I might be able 
to get them on their ND pattern.  KIRN Simi Valley, CA (receivable but weak in 
the daytime) and maybe KMZQ Las Vegas, NV (I've also heard KLTT Commerce City, 
CO) might be a bit tough to get past, though 

... but nowhere near as tough as 720-KDWN will be to get past hem to bag KOTZ 
in Alaska.  For example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaLPsevaRGk

BTW I'm near 32°45'40N 116°56'50W.  Do I have a chance of catching KOTZ 
breaking through that pest?  KDWN is about 410 km / 255 mi from me at a bearing 
of about 26° - their augmented IDF @ 1 km toward me (bearing ~205°) is about 
3436 mV/m, giving them about 111 kW ERP toward me.  KOTZ, being 10 kW ND, is 
about 4804 km / 2985 mi distant at a bearing of about 336° / reverse 119°.
Even if KDWN is relatively tame, I'm wondering if 760-KFMB could also influence 
my ability (or lack thereof) to get KOTZ?  KFMB is about 11.75 km / 7.3 mi from 
me at a bearing of about 321°, with an ERP toward me (bearing ~140°) of about 
35.5 kW (theoretical IDF ~1814 mV/m @ 1 km, TPO 50 kW).  As you can probably 
tell from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICaOz_Nvxeo - KFMB can have a fairly 
strong signal here, especially after their pattern change to their 50kW night 
pattern. :)

So, do I still have any chance at KOTZ?  I will probably be using a Tecsun 
PL-606 and Select-A-Tenna, and possibly also the utility ground wire featured 
in the two videos (hidden behind the wooden strip on the pole.)



Also, I was thinking of something that might make it a little easier to get 
KOTZ (and other stations) during the test.  Would it be at all possible to 
include some morse code IDs / tests at, for example, 5 and 4 or 6 kHz 
modulation simultaneously?  (Not 5 kHz code, then 6 kHz code, but both the 5 
and 6 kHz tones played simultaneously.)  I'd suggest that the tones (especially 
the 5 kHz one) be at full modulation, or same power into each of those as goes 
into the carrier.  I'm hoping that I would be able to tune to 715 or 725 kHz 
with my PL-606, and if it works like I hope it would, the tones would fool my 
PL-606 into thinking there was a carrier on one (or both) of those frequencies 
(causing the S/N display to register something other than 00 if the signal is 
strong enough), and I'd hear a 1 kHz beat note.  (Given a sufficient signal I'd 
probably hear that beatnote anyway even if the S/N display never rose above 
00.)  Alternately, maybe a 7 and 8
 kHz tone combination (so I'd tune to, say, 712, 713, 727 or 728 kHz for the 
code, with the 1 kHz beat note audible) may work, if it could be sent at full 
power / modulation.  Is there any possibility of that?  I was able to hear the 
5 kHz tones on the 1490 KRSN DX test recently with my SRF-59, but I didn't have 
an über-strong pest on that frequency like I do on 720 with KDWN, and I'm 
hoping I can use the PL-606 to try to catch KOTZ.

Also could someone recap what the plans for DX tests are so far on the 3 
frequencies - 670, 720 and 780?

BTW I have heard WGN once several years ago one morning when KDWN was off the 
air, and I heard WBBM once when I got lucky and was able to null KKOH Reno and 
local pest KFMB (the radio I was using has selectivity that I'd guess is 
marginally better than the stock filter in the Sony SRF-M37V/W series radios.)  
For some reason KAZM Sedona, AZ, was a non-factor then, but is a semi-regular 
on 780 when I null Reno aim east.  I still have yet to catch 670 WMA-- i mean 
WSCR.  KLTT near Denver might pose an obstacle, but hopefully I'd be able to 
tame relative weaklings KIRN Simi Valley and KMZQ Las Vegas, and receive WSCR 
sometime ; also KBOI is a relative non-factor here on their current night 
pattern.

73,

Stephen
S of El Cajon, CA
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Re: [IRCA] CKMO Signoff at Midnight on March 4th

[Stephen Airy]

Are they still on?  All I've been hearing here in El Cajon, CA (using the 
PL-606 + SAT) is XEW and local 910-KECR splatter even before midnight.


--
On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 11:59 PM PST bill kral wrote:

Listening to CKMO 900 I just heard an announcement for News from The BBC at 
the top of the hour so whether we'll still hear that on 900 is coming up soon 
in about 5 minutes PST 
Bill in BC
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Re: [IRCA] CKMO Signoff at Midnight on March 4th

[Stephen Airy]

Ok.  I hope to try later tonight (well after sunset - probably more like 10pm 
PST or later), but otherwise I don't expect I'll be able to do much DXing 
before then.
This video shows what I got, or rather, attempted, earlier around midnight...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kcr7L57S0Q
Can anyone hear anything besides XEW or KECR splatter in there?  Should I make 
any attempt at CKMO later tonight?


(Somehow the previous msg I sent copied you, Bill, as well as the list - it was 
supposed to just go to the list only (blame the settings on yahoo mobile mail 
on my android phone).  I suspect you received and replied to the non-list copy 
which is why I got it directly instead of the list.)




 From: bill kral jwk...@yahoo.ca
To: Stephen Airy pianoplayer88...@yahoo.com 
Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 12:17 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] CKMO Signoff at Midnight on March 4th
 

Hi Stephen, 
CKMO is still on the air at 00:12 PST so they'll be doing another 23 hrs and 48 
minutes so I hope conditions improve for you in the meantime. 
Bill in Vic BC

From: Stephen Airy pianoplayer88...@yahoo.com
To: jwk...@yahoo.ca; irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 12:08:57 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] CKMO Signoff at Midnight on March 4th
 

Are they still on?  All I've been hearing here in El Cajon, CA (using the 
PL-606 + SAT) is XEW and local 910-KECR splatter even before midnight.


--
On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 11:59 PM PST bill kral wrote:

Listening to CKMO 900 I just heard an announcement for News from The BBC at 
the top of the hour so whether we'll still hear that on 900 is coming up soon 
in about 5 minutes PST 
Bill in BC
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Re: [IRCA] CKMO 900 0835 utc

[Stephen Airy]

So the CW is 700 Hz, you say?

When I recorded the video last night (link in a prev msg) of my reception on 
900, I don't recall ever hearing any trace of CW.  XEW was on top, and there 
was considerable splatter from 910-KECR.

I hope to try again tonight, though, and I was thinking  Does anyone think 
I have a chance if I record it, then import the audio in an editor and use a 
very narrow bandpass filter around 700 Hz (for example ±15-20 Hz @ -3 dB, 
25-100 Hz @ -60-90 dB depending on how good Audacity's custom equalizer works), 
I might have a chance to pick out some CW?  With the unedited audio straight 
from the radio, I can't detect any trace of CW in the previous recording, even 
though I have a sharp ear that can detect slightly out of tune notes on a piano 
that 99% of people would think are fine,  for example.


--
On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 9:44 AM PST Nick Hall-Patch wrote:

The CW ID seems to be at the end of a canned verbal ID by a man 
mentioning call letters, Camosun College and ending with we are 
Village 900The CW pitch seems to be a few Hertz below 700Hz for 
those who might want to try some filtering on an otherwise blocked 
channel.   I've heard the ID on the hour as well (not before BBC 
news?) as well as after the news,  but it seems to be popping up at 
other times also.   Oh yes, the CW ID is pretty swift also, at least 
to my aged ears, and goes on for over 10 seconds.

Good luck with catching this.   It's effectively a several day long 
DX test, with no hope of a repeat, so best to log them now.

best wishes,

Nick

At 16:16 04-03-12, you wrote:
Dennis (and the group):  yes, they did not sign-off at midnight last night,
so it will be tonight.  I tuned them in again just after 7:00 AM (15:00
UTC).  After the BBCWS news came the longer CW ID again, followed by a 23
minute history of CKMO.  Haven't heard this one until now.  CKMO started as
a closed circuit system at Camosun College.  After a couple of years, they
received a FM frequency (103.1) and later traded with a commercial operator
for 900 AM.  The callsign originated way back to 1928 (no relation to the
college then, of course).  From midnight, the only way to listen to Village
900 will be on villagenow.net.  At 7:29, the short CW ID was repeated (and
once again at about 7:50 AM).  The expected (and announced) BBCWS news
didn't happen at 08:00.  Instead, there's a program about Killer whales
(Orcas).  Probably an old program.  73,Walt Salmaniw, Victoria.

On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 8:43 AM, Dennis Vroom vroom...@ymail.com wrote:

 
 
  At 0835 utc heard a announcement on CKMO for their signing-off the air at
  Midnight Sunday
  03/04/12.  The announcement listed the reason for going to the internet
  and was about 3 minutes
  long.  CKMO was a top the channel most of the time during this period.
 
  Best regards,
 
  Dennis,
  Kalama, WA
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Re: [IRCA] Chicago Stations Off Air / rolling DX tests?

[Stephen Airy]

Any chance that someone could get some of the stations out west to shut off 
their transmitters (like 670 KIRN, KMZQ, KBOI  KLTT, 720 KDWN, 780 KKOH, KAZM) 
for a short period at the time (probably 3am PST/PDT?) when the Chicago 
stations fire back up, and get the Chicago stations to do brief tests (maybe 
5-10 minutes each)?  Also what do you (or anyone else) know of having KIRN, 
KMZQ, KBOI, KLTT, KDWN, KKOH, KAZM, etc test with their 50kW ND rigs (or 
whatever their max power is for each station - for example KIRN is 5kW/3kW 
DA-1)?

Also it'd be interesting to sometime get WJR off so KFMB (local for me) could 
run 50kW ND for a test sometime (they run 5kW ND day, 50kW DA night 
normally)... which reminds me - a rolling test may be interesting on that 
frequency.
First, WJR would test for 50 minutes starting at :05 (while KFMB and KKZN are 
off).
Next, after they've been off 10 minutes, KKZN would test starting at :05 the 
next hour (10 minutes each of day power (50kW) / day pattern, night power (1 
kW) / night pattern, day power / night pattern, night power / day pattern, max 
power (50kW, day) / ND), then would sign off for 10 minutes.
Finally, KFMB would test for 50 minutes (12.5 minutes each of day power (5kW) / 
day pattern (ND), night power (50kW) / night pattern (DA - cardioid 
patternnulling toward Detroit, most of the signal thrown west), night power 
(50kW) / reverse night pattern (switching the pattern around so the null is 
180° opposite what it normally is), then night power (50kW) / day pattern 
(ND)), then would sign off for 10 minutes.
Then, at :05, everything would return to normal.  (Not sure which time to start 
the tests - starting at midnight Detroit time may be too early for San Diego to 
go off the air, and starting at 1-2am San Diego time might mean Detroit is off 
the air too late in the morning, and have sunrise on the east coast toward the 
end of the test.)




 From: Paul B. Walker, Jr. walkerbroadcast...@gmail.com
To: bill kral jwk...@yahoo.ca; Mailing list for the International Radio Club 
of America irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 4:49 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Chicago Stations Off Air
 
WSCR, WGN and WBBm are the ones that will be off, as originally reported.

I am working on one Class B on one of these channels and a Class D on
another to see if they can test

Paul



On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 7:40 PM, bill kral jwk...@yahoo.ca wrote:

 How many Chicago stations are going to be off air? Just the Big Four or
 maybe more. How close together are their TX sites? Close enough to be off
 air due to a hydro outage in the area or some other common reason? And if
 that's the reason they would go to back up generators and run a reduced
 output TX. A few nights ago 3 of the big 4 were audible here due to
 extended fading of KBOI, KDWN, KKOH. KOMO is too close for fading and I
 don't have the capabilty of nulling a signal to let a distant one in. I
 don't think that any of the big guys occupying the same freqs out west will
 do DX tests at night since they do scheduled network shows overnight.
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Re: [IRCA] WHP/WTKT not heard in Omaha

[Stephen Airy]

KFBK does have the highest RMS field at 1 km (and unless I'm calculating wrong 
it seems KSTP, which has a similar-type antenna, has the highest RfccMS field 
at 1 km for 1 kW of applied input power.  BTW KFBK's RMS field is actually 
3126.79 mV/m @ 1 km nighttime, 3545.89 mV/m @ 1 km daytime, and KSTP is 511.77 
mV/m @ 1 km @ 1 kW daytime (non-directional - nighttime they run directional 
from a different site that does not use Franklins).  All that is moot, though, 
with the high groundwave losses at that end of the band, even though Sacramento 
and surrounding area does have good ground conductivity. (I think part of it is 
15 or 30 on the map.)  I have heard KFBK at noon in El Cajon, CA, but that 
was near-winter-solstice daytime skywave.

Ok so this isn't 450 miles... but how's this - 
http://www.mediafire.com/?fjne6cs5z524zu2 - for 16.4 watts ERP (actually 5 kW, 
but in a deep null) at 181 miles, using only a small radio's (SRF-59, then 
PL-606) built-in ferrite loopstick at 1:45pm PST (although it was on Dec 23)?  
(There is a little competition from co-channel XECL off the back side of the 
loopstic's pattern.)  With efficiency like that, I wonder how far 50kW on 540 
kHz (or 2 MW on 153 kHz) with a Franklin antenna would go before the signal is 
undetectable even on a beverage?  BTW try beating *THAT* efficiency in the 
north central U.S. ;)

73,
Stephen
south of El Cajon, east of La Mesa, CA




 From: Rick Dau drummer1965...@yahoo.com
To: a...@nrcdxas.org a...@nrcdxas.org; Mailing list for the International 
Radio Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 11:11 AM
Subject: [IRCA] WHP/WTKT not heard in Omaha
 
And 580 was ruled by those same two stations here, too, Randy.  KXNO was on top 
on 1460, as I suspected they would be.  I tried (0005 ELT) and tried (0033) and 
tried (0105) for WHP, but they just didn't pop through.  And I'm with Bill 
Dvorak on this one, either cx to the east last night were a dud, or WHP had to 
have been on night pattern.  Surely 5 kw on ND from central Pennsylvania 
would've made it this far. 
 
And ESPECIALLY at such a low dial position!  I got into it last night with 
someone on Star Chat who kept INSISTING that KFBK-1530 in Sacramento has the 
strongest groundwave signal of any station in the US!  Used something about 
5632.70 mV/m at 1 km or somesuch as his rationale.  Puh-LZE.  KFBK doesn't 
get out much east of Reno/Carson City in the daytime, and that doesn't even 
BEGIN to touch the 450+ mile radius of KFYR-550 in Bismarck, ND, which wins 
that honor going away.  
 
73,
Rick Dau
South Omaha, Nebraska



From: Stewart, Joseph R randystew...@missouristate.edu
To: a...@nrcdxas.org a...@nrcdxas.org 
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: [NRC-AM] WHP 580 DX Test Heard in Madison WI

Neither WHP nor WTKT made it here between   0116 Eastern (listening 
live--I'm not equipped for overnight recording).  580 was dominated by WIBW 
Topeka and XEMU La Rancherita del Aire.  1460 was pretty much a jumble.  

Randy Stewart
Battlefield (near Springfield) MO
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Re: [IRCA] Daytona 500 IN PROGRESS....look for MRN affiliates on AM

[Stephen Airy]

I'm getting it weaker than normal but still nearly armchair copy on 700 KALL, 
pushing aside 690 XEWW splatt is also listed as an affiliate but they seem to 
have something else running, and have a het (around F or F# about 1/2 octave 
below middle C) ripping the frequency to shreds.




 From: Chernos Saul sau...@sympatico.ca
To: a...@nrcdxas.org; irca@hard-core-dx.com; a...@wtfda.info; 
amfmt...@mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Daytona 500 IN PROGRESSlook for MRN affiliates on AM
 

730 shelby NC, 600 WSJS NC, others...good tip
 Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:46:00 -0800
 From: drummer1965...@yahoo.com
 To: a...@nrcdxas.org; a...@yahoogroups.com; irca@hard-core-dx.com
 Subject: [IRCA] Daytona 500 IN PROGRESSlook for MRN affiliates on AM
 
 A rare, rare opportunity for DXers...for the first time ever, the Daytona 500 
 is being run on a weeknight.  MRN (Motor Racing Network) has the radio call, 
 and some of its affiliates, especially in the South, may even be on day power 
  pattern for the broadcast.  Go get 'em! 
  
 73,
 Rick Dau (without my goatee, I bear somewhat of a resemblance to Tony 
 Stewart)  :) 
 South Omaha, Nebraska
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[IRCA] Thinking of trying for KRPI (XEBG = pest), question re: null pest vs peak target...

[Stephen Airy]

I plan to use the PL-606 and Select-A-Tenna to try for this test.  I'm 17.5 mi 
@ 193° from 1kW ND 1550-XEBG, and 1149 mi @ 347° from KRPI, in a deep KRPI null 
(~174 mV/m @ 1 km ; 386 watts ERP toward me).

Should I null the local pest with the SAT and peak the target with the PL-606's 
built-in ferrite (they're closer to being opposite directions than at right 
angles btw), or peak KRPI with the SAT and null XEBG with the PL-606's 
loopstick?
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[IRCA] No go vs. XEBG. Could next test station plz put a 140-170+ 99.99% dBµV/m skywave to San Diego, CA?

[Stephen Airy]

... so I have a chance at catching them?  I believe I struck out with the KRPI 
test.  (I did record it though.)  Of the several tests that have been on in the 
past year or so, the only one I've logged was the 1490 in New Mexico.  I doubt 
I have much of a chance at the two tests tomorrow, and there's a chance I may 
not be around to try.  Also it'd help if it's on a frequency that isn't 
assigned to any stations within about 250 miles of me, or 1000 miles if it's 
the same or opposite direction. :|
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Re: [IRCA] [Amdx] DX Tests update - PLEASE GIVE WIDEST POSSIBLE DISSEMINATION

[Stephen Airy]

Any chance they could run night power and day pattern for a few minutes, or 
better yet non-directional on day pattern for a few minutes during the test?  
They have a deep null almost right toward me in southern California, and I have 
a semi-local Mexican on 1550, XEBG, which will make it almost impossible if 
they just use day pattern with day power. :(




 From: James Pogue kh...@comcast.net
To: 'Ira Elbert New III' i...@hotmail.com 
Cc: m...@yahoogroups.com; 'NRCDXAS' a...@nrcdxas.org; 'AM WTFDA' 
a...@wtfda.info; 'Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America' 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 4:15 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [Amdx] DX Tests update - PLEASE GIVE WIDEST POSSIBLE 
DISSEMINATION
 
In case anyone needs them, here are the details for this weekend's tests:

KRPI 1550 DX Test
KRPI Radio, 1550 kHz, Ferndale, WA will conduct a DX Test on Sunday morning,
Feb. 26, 2012 from 4:00 to 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The test will consist of
voice announcements, Morse code identifications, distinctive music, and
audio tones.
Chief Engineer David Harris has indicated the station will be using their
daytime power and antenna pattern for the test. Reception reports and
digital audio recordings may be directed to 1550radio[at]gmail[dot]com.
DXers can receive a KRPI QSL card for correct reception reports by sending
their reports along with a self-addressed envelope and return postage to the
following address:
Mr. David Harris, Chief Engineer
KRPI Radio
P.O. Box 3213
Ferndale, WA 98248
Many thanks to Mr. Harris who is also amateur radio operator AC7OB.


* WHP 580 DX Test
WHP Radio, 580 kHz, Harrisburg, PA will conduct a DX Test on Monday morning,
Feb. 27, 2012 at 12:05, 12:33, 1:05, 1:33, 2:05, 2:33, 3:05, 3:33, 4:05 and
4:33 a.m. Eastern Time for one minute. The test will consist of voice
announcements and Morse code identifications.
Operations Manager R.J. Harris is also investigating the possibility of
using the WHP daytime antenna pattern during the test periods. More
information regarding the DX Test will be provided as it is developed.
Reception reports and digital audio recordings may be directed to
RJHarris[at]ClearChannel[dot]com
DXers can receive a WHP QSL card for correct reception reports by sending
their reports along with a self-addressed envelope and return postage to the
following address:
Mr. R.J. Harris, Operations Manager
WHP Radio
600 Corporate Circle
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Many thanks to Mr. Harris who is also amateur radio operator W3HP. 

* WTKT 1460 DX Test
WTKT Radio, 1460 kHz, Harrisburg, PA will conduct a DX Test on Monday
morning, Feb. 27, 2012 at 12:15, 12:45, 1:15, 1:45, 2:15, 2:45, 3:15, 3:45,
4:15 and 4:45 a.m. Eastern Time for one minute. The test will consist of
voice announcements and Morse code identifications.
Operations Manager R.J. Harris is also investigating the possibility of
using the WTKT daytime antenna pattern during the test periods. More
information regarding the DX Test will be provided as it is developed.
Reception reports and digital audio recordings may be directed to
RJHarris[at]ClearChannel[dot]com
DXers can receive a WTKT QSL for correct reception reports by sending their
reports along with a self-addressed envelope and return postage to the
following address:
Mr. R.J. Harris, Operations Manager
1460 The Ticket
c/o Clear Channel Communications
600 Corporate Circle
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Many thanks to Mr. Harris who is also amateur radio operator W3HP. 


-Original Message-
From: Ira Elbert New III [mailto:i...@hotmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 6:10 PM
To: James Pogue
Cc: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America; NRCDXAS;
m...@yahoogroups.com; AM WTFDA
Subject: Re: [Amdx] DX Tests update - PLEASE GIVE WIDEST POSSIBLE
DISSEMINATION

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

Sorry.  Couldn't resist.

Bert

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 23, 2012, at 6:55 PM, James Pogue kh...@comcast.net wrote:

 I double-checked today to make sure we were on track all looks good for
both
 tests. Here is an edited version of what I got back from Dave Harris (I
 don't want to give away too much as we want to ensure everyone stays
 honest):
 
 
 
 Yes Jim, we are on track.  The test will begin at 1:00 AM Pacific time on
 Sunday Morning and last for half an hour.  There will be a full minute of
 Morse Code at the top of each five minute segment.  The Morse Code text
will
 be //deleted// at 1000 Hz followed by the same sequence at 1500 Hz. The
 speed is about 12 WPM.  There will be an occasional announcement
indicating
 that the station is engaged in a test, and there will be a mix of //unique
 music// and //more unique music//. 
 
 We will be running day power (50kW) and day pattern during the test.  I am
 really looking forward to this event and hope it proves successful.
 
 73, David
 
 
 
 I also checked with RJ Harris at WTKT and WHP and he said everything is
set
 to go for his tests too.
 
 

[IRCA] KNX possibly under CFAX?? Re: 5 Mini-FSL Heathkit Construction Article

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Gary,

First off, I wonder if you possibly have 1070-KNX underneath your 1070-CFAX 
antenna shootout recording linked in the article??  I think I may have 
recognized the voice in the background.  Here are a few stronger recordings of 
KNX including that same voice so maybe you could check it out for yourself...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuxAxxZydxY - recorded in front of my house 
(comparing a few antennas) - includes traffic, voice I recognized

http://www.mediafire.com/?tod6q8ddtt22c9l - received 2-2011 w/PL-606, 
Select-A-Tenna, chain-link fence, indicating ~69-72 dBu.  Includes their 
traffic sounder (they do traffic+weather on the 5's) in case you want to try to 
listen to 1070 again and ID them that way
http://www.mediafire.com/?tod6q8ddtt22c9l - received 7-2010 with barefoot 
PL-380, same man speaks legal TOH ID mid-newscast


Also how much gain would you say that FSL (or other sizes) have over the stock 
antenna on mediumwave?  For example how would they compare to the gain shown in 
these videos?  (comparing the stock ferrite, Select-A-Tenna, SAT + utility 
groundwire, and in a few also including utility ground without the SAT.  First 
one is recorded near home, the rest are in a rural area where there weren't so 
many strong signals to overload the radio (the strongest, 690 XEWW, was 46/25 
barefoot, but isn't featured in the linked videos))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ay5k3txG_Q  (1550 XEBG - barefoot 29 dBµ, 
SAT+Util 86 dBµ)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyH8roZYys8  (640 KFI - barefoot 32 dBµ, 
SAT+Util 82 dBµ)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRB-64G4iws  (600 KOGO - barefoot 26 dBµ, 
SAT+Util 79 dBµ)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wCT-DxAfJY  (830 KLAA - barefoot 35 dBµ, 
SAT+Util 87 dBµ)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyhuL8sdNeU  (1110 KDIS - barefoot 19 dBµ, 
SAT+Util 71 dBµ)


And how good are the nulls?  Would they be comparable to or better than?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWLX26cQpbQ  (760 KFMB - lowest 22 dBµ, highest 
brief peak 93 dBµ, highest steady signal 87 dBµ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7fU5hIIuOY  (1170 KCBQ - bottoming out at 15 
dBµ, peaking at 82, settling at 80)


Also you wouldn't by any chance have any idea how to attempt to ID the stations 
underneath the pests in these videos (the ones that briefly come up when they 
drop carrier at sunset/sunrise?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICaOz_Nvxeo - suspect a Mexican (or other 
Spanish language signal) under here, but maybe KFMB is, especially after 
pattern change, what you might call a meltdown level signal? ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoH4ftOjG7M - if you thought KFMB was strong...  
this one does have about 10 seconds or so of KCBQ off the air, but presumed KSL 
IBOC makes it tough to make anything out.  (Normally KLOK San Jose is audible 
when KCBQ is off, though.)  Hey what was that Chinese or other Asian target on 
1170, or do I have absolutely no chance at sunrise during KCBQ's pattern 
change? ;)  (At least I don't have to try to pull it out from here... ;)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEMLcEqCu3E    
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIU3mP5f38  I bet even 1450-KSUH when combining 
the 9-foot loop AND the 8 (or 12) FSL doesn't get THAT strong! ;) )

Also speaking of very small FSLs...  I've noticed there's a seller or two on 
Ebay who have some very small ferrite rods (like 3x15mm, 4x10mm, 5x10mm, 
4x20mm, 6x16mm, 8x30mm to name some sizes).  I can't find any info about 
permeability on them, though - maybe someone knows of a source of 
similarly-sized bulk ferrites that is the proper material?  Of course I realize 
that those aren't going to compare to the 12 (or whatever size) DXpedition 
FSL, but do you think they might work for building a pocket-size FSL, for 
example 2 x 3.5 x 0.75 (either rectangular or oval shaped, or would it be 
better to keep it round)?  Could something like that possibly improve on a 
ULR's built-in ferrite?  (Matching or beating a Select-A-Tenna would be nice.)

Or, should I just settle for finding the proper wire to wind this little 
Amidon-61 7.5 I scored on eBay for  $10 for 150 - 1710 kHz coverage? ;)
https://picasaweb.google.com/118228966367965758611/TecsunPL606#5699882971854492322
I'd prefer to make it be an inductive-coupled version, if possible.  Also if I 
could find a way to hook it up to a longwire to inductively couple to my 
radios, it'd be nice.  An example of where I might use said longwire is 
32°45'40N 116°56'50W.  It's a school campus, though, so I can't leave it out 
when I'm not using it.  I figure I'd want to have it on one of those spools 
that holds a 100-foot electrical cord - 600-800 feet of antenna wire oughtta 
fit on one of those, right?  What would I expect to pay for usable wire 
(preferably somewhere south of $25-40) for that purpose?  (Of course it'd have 
to be used as a BOG.)

Speaking of litz wire, is there a hierarchy / pecking order of alternate types 
to use for winding when there isn't enough room 

Re: [IRCA] PL-360?

[Stephen Airy]

Hi Richard,

I've noticed that my PL-606's 6 kHz bandwidth is actually more like a 4.  
If I tune 5 or more kHz off in that setting I get the distorted off-tune audio, 
and the signal strength dBµ meter drops off much more than it would if I was 
still within the bandwidth.  Also when viewing a recording of a station in a 
computer editing program on a graph (one that shows dB on the vertical axis and 
Hz on the horizontal axis - what kind of graph is that?) there is very little 
if any energy much above 4 kHz, even on non-IBOC stations that I know (using 
other wider-bandwidth radios) broadcast out to 10 kHz or more.  (In spite of 
this, it's not a particularly sharp / total cutoff above the bandwidth - I have 
to go down to the 1 kHz (or maybe 2 kHz) setting before the top piano notes 
(around 4 kHz) in music that has piano on my local Family Radio religious 
station are inaudible, although at 2 or 3 kHz they are much weaker than in the 
6 - i mean 4 kHz
 bandwidth.)  Does yours behave like that too, or is it just mine?

73,
Stephen




 From: richa...@perryisp.net richa...@perryisp.net
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] PL-360?
 
Look at the Tecsun PL-606.  It's slightly smaller than the PL-380.  It does not 
have direct keyboard entry, but does have selectible AM bandwidths of 6, 3, 2, 
and 
1 kHz.  When conditions allowed I have heard several of the Japanese power 
houses in Oklahoma on a barefoot PL-606.

Richard Allen.


--- Original Message ---
From    : Tim Hills[mailto:thi...@sio.midco.net]
Sent    : 2/17/2012 12:06:17 PM
To      : IRCA@hard-core-dx.com
Cc      : 
Subject : RE: [IRCA] PL-360?

I'm looking for something small and lightweight to do a bit of DX-ing in 
my travels. I've seen posts about the 360 but are there any other small 
receivers, maybe a bit bigger that people here would suggest?

Tim Hills
Sioux Falls, SD
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Re: [IRCA] WFIL DX Test heard in California (and Michigan)

[Stephen Airy]

What program was on what you think was KSFO, Tim?  I had Bill Handel's Handel 
on the Law on KBLU (Yuma, AZ) ripping 560 to shreds here in El Cajon.  KBLU is 
normally directional with their main wide lobe to the south, nulls to the 
northwest and northeast and a minor lobe to the north at night, and 
non-directional daytime, running 1 kW fulltime.  This is the first time I've 
had them at night (they can be faintly heard during the day on a good radio) - 
normally KSFO is dominant at night.  There were other stations noticeable under 
KBLU (in KSFO's null for the test), but I was unable to ID anything, and so I 
don't think I heard any part of the WFIL test on my PL-606 + Select-A-Tenna.




 From: Tim Tromp kilok...@gmail.com
To: IRCA Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com; abdx a...@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 10:07 PM
Subject: [IRCA] WFIL DX Test heard in California (and Michigan)
 
WFIL was an easy catch here, tearing up CFOS in the process with clear
voice IDs and numerous different sweep tones.  After about a half hour, I
logged onto a remote Perseus SDR located in Cocoa, FL. and also heard and
saw the sweep tones on the waterfall display - they were easily visible.  I
thought it would be interesting to check some other remotes, so I logged
onto Token's Perseus located in the Mojave Desert, CA.  Under presumed KSFO
and near the end of the test, I could hear a faint sweep tone and could
also visually see the faint but distinguishable lines drawn on the
waterfall display.  If had been thinking faster, I would have captured a
screenshot showing the sweep tone on the waterfall display.  By the time I
thought of this, the test had ended.

Thanks to all who coordinated this test - a new one for my logbook!

Tim Tromp
West Michigan
Perseus SDR + Phased BOGs
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Re: [IRCA] (OT) Spam

[Stephen Airy]

*slaps self on wrist*  I normally run with an admin account (I'm also behind a 
hardware firewall/router which I'm sure helps).  There are a lot of things I do 
that require admin access and I get sicker of having to authenticate every few 
minutes than you guys do of hearing IBOC hash. ;)  I haven't suffered much from 
viruses, although I'm starting to get a little suspicious as sometimes I'll see 
hard drive activity even when I'm not sitting at my computer.  (It could be 
caused, though, by the fact that I often intentionally have so many things 
running simultaneously that my pagefile USAGE is upwards of 1.5 to 3 times the 
CAPACITY of my physical RAM!  (I have 4 GB, but 32-bit windows only addresses 3 
GB.))




 From: Nick Hall-Patch n...@ieee.org
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 1:32 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] (OT) Spam
 
Just out of interest, how many users of Windows normally run their computer 
using a limited or standard account rather than using administrator privileges, 
and how many of those limited users have suffered from viruses etc.?

Thanks, and sorry for OT.

best wishes,

Nick


At 21:09 28-01-12, you wrote:
 Back up everything you want to see again and do it often. As I told Paul 
 off-list, I got hit with a virus or something from one of those mouse-over 
 things on a legitimate site about 3 years ago and lost my hard drive. Because 
 I was well- and recently-backed up, I lost only a few files. But getting the 
 hard drive replaced wasn't fun at all.
 
 
 Russ Edmunds
 15 mi NNW of Philadelphia
 Grid FN20id
 wb2...@yahoo.com
 FM: Yamaha T-80  Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
 AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot


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Re: [IRCA] More fun on 1400 (Graveyard DX)

[Stephen Airy]

I haven't concentrated much on graveyard DX, but there are a couple that stood 
out for me.

First one was several years ago (probably at least 6 or 8 now, I don't 
remember).  I have a local on 1240 about 11.2 miles west of me, KSON (now 
KNSN), whose signal is strong enough to pretty much have the frequency all to 
itself (unless I null them).  I tuned to their frequency using a Panasonic 
RQ-SW20 (or SW10, can't remember and both models have the same radio circuitry 
inside) and Select-A-Tenna, as I noticed KSON was on the air but with an 
unmodulated carrier.  Well lo and behold, I heard Radio Disney underneath.  
Checking their affiliates list revealed a station in Albuquerque, NM, KALY, 
about 616 miles east of me.  (That station is no longer airing RD.  
Incidentally my local 1240 had been a Disney affiliate prior to this catch.)

The other one was more recent, within the last year or so.  I had gone to sleep 
with my SRF-59 listening to - what, I forget exactly, but was most likely 1070 
KNX, 1090 XEPRS, 1110 KDIS, 1580 KMIK or 1700 XEPE.  I woke up around TOH at 
either 5am or 6am (this was in winter so it was still dark outside), put the 
headphones on and turned the radio on.  Not 10 seconds after I turned it on, I 
heard a faint voice Equis, E E Equis in the static.  I was unable to get much 
more as the signal was so poor, but that was enough.  Upon checking the FCC's 
website, I found that apparently my radio's tuning had been bumped during the 
night, as I had 1230 XEEX Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.  There was no splatter 
from my local 1240 (probably because the radio wasn't tuned exactly on 
frequency, but a little bit low like maybe a few kHz), but even more 
interesting was there was virtually no audible co-channel chatter like you'd 
normally expect on a graveyard.  XEEX
 virtually had the frequency all to itself, even though it was very faint, 
although I could hear a little bit of the infrasonic heterodynes underneath 
like other stations were trying to break through, but couldn't come up with any 
audio.

Am I the only one who has had catches like that?  (Digging out GY DX out from 
under a local that blankets the frequency, or turning on a radio after the 
tuning had inadvertently gotten bumped, and getting a TOH ID within 10 seconds 
on a GY channel (or any) that had the frequency all to itself?)

Another thing I thought of the other day...  I wonder how the graveyard 
nickname for these channels got their name?  I'm guessing it had something to 
do with the frequencies having so many different stations receivable in a given 
location that nothing would be intelligible without a lot of patience, even 
though individually they'd be strong enough to be almost like locals in many 
cases.  Well I was thinking what about a nickname, like ghost channels, for 
those that maybe only have one or two stations audible (and no splatter or IBOC 
from local/strong adjacents), but whose signals are so weak that you'd be lucky 
to hear any audio, and would more likely only hear the beating of two clashing 
carrier frequencies?




 From: Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 11:05 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] More fun on 1400
 
Glad you caught them too. Graveyard channels are a lot of fun to DX.

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager


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Re: [IRCA] Fwd: Music of Your Life Returns to AM Radio

[Stephen Airy]

Ahh this'll be fun  interesting.  :)  Looks like from here in El Cajon (near 
San Diego) I'll be able to listen to TWO of the types of music I like - MYL 
(especially the 50s-era triplet/ballads (the ones in, I think, 12/8 time)), AND 
Radio Disney (Yes, I'll admit I like them).  All I'll have to do is tune to 
1580, and I can hear KBLA *AND* KMIK simultaneously. :)  (Now if the two of 
them would just get their carrier frequencies synchronized so I don't hear the 
fluttering het from one being off-frequency, that would help immensely.)  I 
also get ...  hold it!  940 in Fresno is now KYNO - I thought KWRU moved to I 
think 1300, didn't it?  (I remember when 940 was KFRE.)  Anyway I can often get 
940 KYNO, but the het from Mexicali being off frequency is quite bad.

P.S. Off topic, but for anyone that uses the new version of Yahoo Mail ... Is 
there a way to read incoming chat messages WITHOUT adding that person to my 
list?  I often get chat requests, but I only seem to see an option of adding 
them to my friends list, or closing the window.  Based on their screen names 
they look like people I probably don't know, so I really would like to read the 
message (and also preferably view their profile) BEFORE I add them to my list.




 From: Geralyn Hollerman lynnholler...@yahoo.com
To: irca irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 4:05 AM
Subject: [IRCA] Fwd: Music of Your Life Returns to AM Radio
 


 Original Message  
Subject: Music of Your Life Returns to AM Radio 
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:09:12 +1300 
From: Radio Heritage Mail i...@radioheritage.net 
Reply-To: i...@radioheritage.net 
To: i...@radioheritage.net 


Media Release
Radio Heritage Foundation
January 27 2012 New Life on AM for Music of Your Life 
_ Those who listened to US stations in the 
late 70's and early 80's
will remember this music format - featuring adult standards - heard
on a large number of AM stations. After years of decline as listeners moved 
away from AM, the format
found a new home online [www.musicofyourlife.com] supported by a
small group of generally low power fringe AM stations in areas with
high numbers of retirees. In a stunning comeback, MOYL has signed a deal with 
the owner of some
39 AM stations to replace many existing brokered Asian and Spanish
language programs with their formula of 'Great American Songbook' and
complementary adult contemporary hits [think Michael Buble] from
February 1 2012. What's interesting: Asian and Spanish language programs are 
replaced
[presumably as their younger listeners migrate to FM and online],
music returns to AM, and some of these high power [10-50kW] stations
are familiar to many listeners: KBLA 1580 in Los Angeles, KIQI 1010
in San Francisco, KXPA 1540 in Seattle, KWRU 940 in Fresno, WNMA 1210
in Miami and many others. MOYL is targeted directly at the 'baby boomer' 
market, and is closely
associated with long time artist Pat Boone and his family - he's one
of the personality presenters - and advertisers are clearly seeing
value in using this format on AM radio in major US radio markets to
reach the 55+ listeners. For these older listeners, it'll be pleasant to tune 
to AM and hear
familiar tunes and slow paced presenters instead of incessant talk,
chatter and sports. The real test will be - can MOYL move some of the
next generation current 40-55 audience from FM to AM - and breathe
new life back into the AM dial. From a radio heritage perspective, this move 
by MOYL underscores the
appeal of radio and familiar music to the 'babyboomer' generation
which grew up with AM radio, and which increasingly and instinctively
returns to its roots as retirement beckons.  It's this audience which dominates 
visitors to the Radio Heritage
Foundation website [www.radioheritage.com] and enjoys the hundreds of
entertaining features about broadcasters from their era of radio. If you're 
interested in radio from the 1930-1970 era, you'll enjoy
many of the stories, images and memories at www.radioheritage.com. Radio 
Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit connecting
radio, popular culture, history and heritage at www.radioheritage.com. 
Voluntary annual supporter donation towards
operating costs is just US$25. 






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Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] KRPI-1550 Daytime Pattern

[Stephen Airy]

So what would be my best chance of logging them in south El Cajon (east of San 
Diego), CA?  Looking at their pattern data and plot (as well including the 
field strength values specified in the detailed results) and calculating from 
that info, their ERP toward me on their day pattern appears to be about 375 
watts, and on their night pattern looks like about 1.6 kW.  (I'm in a deep null 
in their day pattern, and a not-quite-as-deep null in their night pattern.)  To 
compound matters, I have a local 1 kW ND co-channel, XEBG, about 17.5 miles 
from me that's only about 30° different from the opposite (180°) bearing, and 
all my antennas have a figure 8 pickup pattern.  It *IS* possible to get a deep 
null on a local station, but I have to position the radio *JUST* right ( 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7fU5hIIuOY ) to do so (which eliminates my 
ability to simultaneously specifically peak a desired station unless it just 
happens to be on the right bearing).


Any chance they could run part of the test non-directional so I (as well as 
others in California) would have a chance at logging them?  (I often hear 50kW 
ND KUAZ Tuscon on the channel when they're on around sunrise/sunset.)







 From: Bruce Portzer bport...@comcast.net
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] KRPI-1550 Daytime Pattern
 


KRPI's actual daytime antenna pattern can be viewed on the FCC website 
http://transition.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/127961-23102.pdf
   One of the two main lobes is at 90 degrees, so it should get out well to the 
east.  



The local geo graphy skews the groundwave quite a bit, what with saltwater to 
the west and the C ascade mountains to the east, which explains the coverage 
shown on R adio L ocator.  



Bruce 
   

- Original Message -


From: David Yocis davidyo...@hotmail.com 
To: NRC a...@nrcdxas.org, irca@hard-core-dx.com, a...@lists.wtfda.info 
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 11:48:36 AM 
Subject: Re: [IRCA] [NRC-AM] KRPI-1550 Daytime Pattern 


Neil Kazaross has reported hearing KRPI in Chicagoland at sunset on several 
occasions, so the day pattern does send some power eastward.   
David Yocis To: irca@hard-core-dx.com; a...@lists.wtfda.info 
From: midcapem...@aol.com 
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:54:23 -0500 
CC: a...@nrcdxas.org 
Subject: [NRC-AM] KRPI-1550 Daytime Pattern 


Well, upon further review, I can see that their daytime pattern does have a 
pretty good lobe to the East. 


  


http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KRPIservice=AMstatus=Lhours=D 








Marc DeLorenzo 

South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts 


http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=228 


  


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Re: [IRCA] OT: Yahoo Chat

[Stephen Airy]

Glad to see you've made it in to the #mwdx chat, Rick.

Now if we can just get some more DXers in there, like N7EKX, AA7U, Tim Hall 
(KD6YDP?), KE7MAV, Paul Walker (W5VPY?), (and considering I'm young enough (30) 
to be grandson to most of you seasoned DXers, I'm probably missing a few 
billion other names in there somewhere. ;) ) I'm sure it'd be a fun chat 
session. :)




 From: Barry McLarnon b...@bdmcomm.ca
To: Rick Dau drummer1965...@yahoo.com; Mailing list for the International 
Radio Club of America irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] OT: Yahoo Chat
 
On Friday 27 January 2012 21:58:04 Rick Dau wrote:
 Not a chat room per se, but you should be able to reach me if you happen
  to see me online and logged into Yahoo Messenger.  But speaking of DX and
  chat rooms, I know that several here use #MWDX on Star Chat, but the last
  time I logged onto Star Chat, I looked for the #MWDX room and didn't see
  it listed.  Is there a trick to getting into it?

I see it listed in the currently active channels, sixth one from the top.

The java interface on the website is reportedly flaky at times, so it's 
better to install an IRC client (mIRC, etc.) on your PC and use that to 
connect to a StarChat server.

Barry

-- 
Barry McLarnon VE3JF  Ottawa, ON
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Re: [IRCA] Whatever happened to Tim Hall

[Stephen Airy]

Tim posted a few days ago on the yahoo ABDX list:  
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/message/54910




 From: Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 1:37 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Whatever happened to Tim Hall
 
Doug,

As far as I know he is still in Chula Vista, but I have not heard
fromhim in sometime either.

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager


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Re: [IRCA] WHO and iboc

[Stephen Airy]

That sounds like a good step in the right direction.  I would also like KFYI, 
KTSA, WBZS, KLZ,  WQAM,  WRDT, KLAC, KLIF, WSPZ,  KMJ,  WGAC,  WHP, WTAG,  
KQNT, KOGO,  WBOB,  WCAO, WMT,  WREC, KOJM, WFNZ,  WIP, WTVN,  WVTJ,  KMKI, 
KTAR,  WDAE, WTMJ,  KHOW,  KJSL,  WMAL,  WPRO, KFI,  WMEN, WOI,  WWLS, KENI,  
WFAN, KBOI,  KDLG, KLTT,  WSCR, KKYX,  KSTL,  KTSM, WJOX, WLW,  WAQI, WOR, 
KDWN,  KOTZ, WGN,  KINF, KYYA, WTNT,  KBRT, KCBS,  KVOR, WSBR,  KOAL, KKZN,  
KTKR,  WJR,  KAAM, KCBC,  KCHU, WABC,  WWCN, WBBM,  KABC,  KBME, KNST,  WKRD, 
WPRV, WQXI,  WNNW, WNYC,  KGO,  KLVZ, WGY,  KUTR, WBAP,  WOSU, WVSG,  WWBA, 
KSDP, WCCO,  KMPH, KXNT, WHAS,  KFUO, KHHO,  KOA, WXJC,  KMVP, KONO,  WAEC,  
WWDB,  KRLA,  KSKO, WKAR, WCBS,  KBBI, WLS,  KSGL, KZPA, KGME, KIYU, KKSF,  
KNEW, KPOF, KWDZ,  WFDF, WRNL, KARN, WBAA,  WHJJ, WOKY,  KNSA, WFXJ,  WGIN, 
WLBL,  WIPR, KMTX,  KPRZ, KRWZ, KTBR, WPEN, WWJ,  WXGI,  KKGN,
 WELI, KESP,  WFLA, WHA,  KFWB, WHSR,  WOFX, WONE,  WTEM,  KATD,  WDCX, WDYZ,  
WMYM, KTOK,  WMVP, WINS,  WOLB, KDKA,  WURN,  WBZ, KCBR,  KTCT,  KYW, KNX, 
WAPI,  WDIA, WFNI, WNCT,  WTSO, KRLD, WKJK, WTIC, KMXA, WTAM, WWWE,  KDIS, WBT, 
KMOX, WTWZ,  KTCN, WDFN,  WISN, KHTK,  WQBA, WRVA, WVEL,  KRDY, KSL,  WYLL,  
KFAQ, KLOK, WWTR,  WHAM, KPHN, WOWO, WCHB, WKOX,  WOAI,  WRTO, WLRO,  WPHT, 
WSKR, KLDC, WZBK,  KDIX, KOY,  KSJK, WCWA,  WECK,  WJBC, WJOI,  WTKG, WYTS,  
KALY,  KJCR, WBUR, WHVN,  WMMB, WTAX,  KKDZ, KWSU, WDDZ, WHNZ, WMTR,  WMKI, 
WNDE,  WSDZ, WSUA,  WWMK, WWVT,  WYDE,  KFLC, WCGC, WXYT,  KRVM, KWSX,  WADO, 
WHTK, KCUB,  WCCC,  WDZY,  WRNI, WWTX, KAKC,  KCSF, KPMO,  KVET, WAVZ, WRDZ,  
KMKY, KTCK,  WGSP, WIBA, WTLC, KJPR, KKPZ, KCBL, KUOW,  KVOQ, WEXL,  WHAT,  
WIZE, WJYI,  WARF, WMMV,  KBKB,  KFIV, WKAT,  WSAI, KAST,  WSPD, KHEY, KMUS, 
KRKO,  WMYF, WWMI,  KGNU, WGRB,  WNIO,  KRZR, KTUC, 
 WCOS, WJLD,  WVAE,  WWIN, KBHS,  WHK,  KTBZ, WPLN,  WXKS, KDIZ, KFNY,  KMRY, 
KRZY,  KTZR, KTZR,  WBYU, WCTC,  WILM, WSDV,  KXNO, WDDY,  WTKT, KIID,  WSAN, 
WWNN,  WDAS, WGFY,  WGVU, WKGC,  WKGZ, KCFC, KSYC, WBAE,  WOLF,  WPCI, WFED,  
WLAC, KCMN,  KFBK, KGBT, WCKY, KGBC,  WDCD, KUAZ, WSDK, WQEW,  KCVR, KMIK,  
WSRF,  KMIC, WATX,  WHGT,  KATZ, KEPN,  KGYM, KXEW, WHTY,  WMNE, WTAW, WRDW,  
KDZR, WKSH,  WBCN, KDDZ,  WVON and KKLF to all shut off their IBOC (and for any 
that already have and I accidentally named them here, keep it off), open their 
audio to full NRSC spec, and turn on their C-Quam (or other analog stereo) 
exciters.  If possible, I'd like them to use a stereo format that doesn't have 
any platform motion even when you have skywave/groundwave fading or 
off-frequency co-channel interference, and can maintain stereo separation even 
with weak signals that only a DXer would be able to copy.  (My SRF-42 that I 
had, and
 may still have somewhere, would have stereo mode on signals that other 
similar-sized radios with similar-sized antennas could barely detect at all.  
BTW it was forced stereo - every station would be in stereo mode even if it 
actually wasn't broadcasting C-Quam - it wasn't dependent on pilot tones.)  I'd 
even forgive IBOC-like splatter if it's because their analog high frequency 
response is vastly improved.

73,

Stephen




 From: Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 10:28 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] WHO and iboc
 
Steve,

KEX 1190 has had theirs off too. It has been off at least a week now.
There is hope. 

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager


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[IRCA] 4' Air Core loop vs 5 FSL observations ...

[Stephen Airy]

I was listening to the comparisons that Gary DeBock posted in the ultralightdx 
group of the gain imparted to an ultralight radio with a 5 mini FSL vs. a 
4-foot air core loop, and noticed a few things.


On 980 CJME, in the first part of the recording I can hear another station or 
two underneath them.  In the 2nd part, they're still there, but under a new 
type of hiss and harder to detect.  This hiss is the same type of thing I hear 
when my PL-380 and PL-606 are being desensed by strong local signals, but the 
weaker station is still strong enough to break through.  (I've had signals that 
sounded like this and indicated something like 49/25 or 50/25 - when I tuned 
off frequency to where no station was heard it was 49/00 or 50/00.)  The first 
part sounds relatively clean (although that hiss is still there, just not as 
prominent), though, but from what it sounds like and comparing to my similar 
reception situations, I wouldn't be surprised if the signal reading was 
actually lower.  (I've had cases where a signal was indicating maybe 50/02 or 
so near a strong signal, but when the local went off it cleaned up and was 
indicating more like 32/25 or
 so.  The recording of CJME doesn't quite sound clean enough for a 15/25 
reading, though - I have seen those, for example on the 2nd harmonic of my 
local 1170 KCBQ (82/25 on the PL-606) with the whip antenna positioned just 
right.)  Or am I just imagining things with the recording?


That 1050 splatter really kills 1040 on the air-core loop, doesn't it!  I can 
still hear it, but it's much better on the FSL.  (One test I'd like to hear, if 
possible, is the 9-foot air-core loop tuned and directed at 1450-KSUH, and the 
FSL tuned to either 1440 (to try to get KODL) or 1460 (to attempt KARR or 
KUTI).)  I also hear that desense-type sound I mentioned above, but in this 
case the 2nd part of the recording is definitely superior.

1070-CFAX's recording is quite interesting to me.  In the 2nd part of the 
recording, I'm hearing what sounds a lot like one of the news announcers on 
KNX!  I can't positively ID it, though, although I'll mention that someone in 
Kalima, WA had KFI (another L.A. area 50kW ND station on 640) at 12:06pm 
today.  Gary, if you're reading this, any chance you could re-record 1070 at 
about the same time of day with whatever you think would be the best antenna to 
bring out that signal, and try to include either TOH, or the traffic at :05, 
:15, :25, :35, :45 or :55?      This recording - 
http://www.mediafire.com/?tod6q8ddtt22c9l - has the KNX traffic sounder in it 
(and is my typical midday reception on KNX (50kW, 111 mi) with the PL-606 
coupled to the Select-A-Tenna and a chain-link fence, and 
http://www.mediafire.com/?qretc5q74onf5vz was KNX at TOH recorded a year and a 
half ago on the barefoot/stock PL-380 in my house (and may give you a hint that
 sometimes you might need to listen for the legal ID quickly spoken by the news 
anchor practically mid-newscast a little BEFORE the standard time it would 
normally air.)
Just wondering - what 50kW-or-less stations over 100 miles away do you have 
with comparable barefoot daytime reception quality?  Also how strong is 
CKWX-1130 there?  They are my first ULR Canadian I logged from here, helped by 
my local 10kW co-channel 6 miles away on the same heading being off the air for 
a while one night.  (I posted earlier about it, on the 1st or so.)


On 1520-KGDD's recording, I heard what sounded like a KXA (KKXA) ID at around 
0:32 or so.  Also, I heard what sounded like skywave fading (in addition to the 
fade caused by two stations being off frequency) - is there any possibility 
sometime of doing tests when there's no skywave detectable (if i don't have to 
wait till around June 21 at local solar noon that'd be nice), or are the loops 
just THAT sensitive?

Speaking of FSLs, I've been noticing quite a few very small bars advertised on 
ebay by costcocity003 and sicilydreamer.  They're sold in packs of 6, and 
sizes include 1.7x12mm for $2.92, 4x10mm for $3.04, 5x10mm for $3.28, 3x15mm 
for $3.06, 6x16mm for $3.97, 4x20mm for $3.28, 10x25mm for $5.87 and 8x30mm for 
$5.63 (lowest prices given, not including shipping or tax, all shipped from 
Hong Kong).  I've been thinking about the possible idea of building my own 
SiLabs-DSP-based (not sure which chip(s) I'd use yet though - if I could have 
AM C-Quam capability that'd be nice for example) ultralight radio - target size 
would be something no larger than about 20-25mm thick, 50-75mm wide and about 
75-100mm tall or so.  I'm just wondering which of 3 types of antennas might 
work best - single traditional 3 x 0.375 (cut to 2.5 if necessary or maybe a 
4x0.25 cut to length) Amidon-61 bar wound with 660/46 Litz wire, a rectangular 
air-core loop wound around
 the perimeter of the radio (for example 70x90mm), or a rectangular FSL with a 
circumference of maybe 320mm and a diameter of say 20 mm?  Has anyone 
experimented with such tiny 

Re: [IRCA] For DXers targetting 1700-XEPE ....

[Stephen Airy]

I'll have to check tomorrow - I *JUST* missed TOH this time, but I would expect 
they do.




 From: Steve Francis amdxm...@aol.com
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Thursday, January 5, 2012 8:36 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] For DXers targetting 1700-XEPE 
 

Any chance they play the Mexican National Anthem at midnight?  

Steve Francis
Alcoa, Tennessee



-Original Message-
From: Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com
Sent: Thu, Jan 5, 2012 11:14 pm
Subject: Re: [IRCA] For DXers targetting 1700-XEPE 


According to the CE at XEPE they are indeed 10 KW ND 24/7.
73,
Patrick
Patrick Martin
easide OR
GED QSL Manager

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[IRCA] For DXers targetting 1700-XEPE ....

[Stephen Airy]

I recorded a few minutes around 4:00am TOH a few days ago.  This includes, at 
the beginning, a few ads that target Mexico, read by a couple voices that 
frequently do those ads.  Their legal ID (in Spanish) is at 2:03 in the clip, 
after a brief ESPN current/next program announcement.

http://www.mediafire.com/?uytdnncefx78z71

I did edit out a couple other ads  sponsor messages, as well as a portion of 
the SportsCenter update that was talking about coach firings, etc.  An unedited 
clip is available.
This was recorded on the barefoot GE Superradio III.

Hopefully the clip can give you clues as to the identity of sports stations you 
may hear on 1700, if in fact XEPE is receivable there.

I'm about 15.6 miles (25 km) north of XEPE's transmitter.  I'd like to know ... 
who, of you DXers that don't receive XEPE at all in the daytime in summer, have 
received them at night at least as strong as I hear them?  (The clip was 
recorded at 4am, but it's a fairly solid signal 24/7 with a little nighttime 
skywave/groundwave fading here and there.)  Also what equipment do you use?  
(I'm especially interested to find out how far it's received at night on pocket 
radios, using only the built-in ferrite bar antenna, as strong as I hear them 
in the daytime.)
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[IRCA] No chance for me, but did get KKZN under KFMB Re: WTTN 1580 WI Not on Night Power

[Stephen Airy]

Hmm... looks like I still won't have a chance at that one, even with its SW 
lobe.  Co-channel KMIK in Tempe, AZ (300 miles east of me), goes directional 
with 6 towers at night and sends nearly all its IBOC-dehanced juicemy way.  
They are one of the strongest stations I get here at night, sometimes rivaling 
the strength of some locals within 10 miles of me.  (Only the two nearby 50kW 
blasters (1170 daytime and 760 nighttime) and the 10kW (1130, 6 mi) are 
guaranteed to be stronger.  KMIK has out-slugged 1360 (5kW/1kW, 8 mi), 910 
(5kW, 9 mi), 1170 night (2.9 kW, 9 mi) and 600 (5 kW, 8 mi), and has almost 
tied with 760 daytime (5 kW, 7 mi).)

On the other hand, I did log 760 KKZN Thornton (Denver), CO, at 3:45 pm PST 
this afternoon, heard both on the GE Superradio III and the Tecsun PL-606 
barefoot in KFMB's null.  KKZN aired a traffic  weather report while KFMB had 
a talk show running (also KFMB is at a right angle from me vs. Denver, and 
hadn't stepped up to 50 kW for sunset yet) making it easier for me to hear the 
Denver area station.




 From: dxe...@aol.com dxe...@aol.com
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 8:08 PM
Subject: [IRCA] WTTN 1580 WI Not on Night Power
 

WTTN 1580, formerly licensed to Watertown WI, moved to Columbus WI in 2009  
to become a rimshot station in the Madison market. Licensed as a 5kw  
directional station daytime, it drops to 4 watts ND nights, and cannot 
normally  
be heard here.

Tonight at 2200 CST  WTTN is blasting into Madison, obviously not on  its 
night facilities, probably at its full 5kw daytime power. Format is SS:SPT,  
ESPN Deportes.

The station's daytime pattern is to the ESE/WNW (toward  
Milwaukee/west-central Wisconsin) with a smaller SW lobe right into the much  
closer Madison 
market.
73     Bill Dvorak     Madison  WI 
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[IRCA] FINALLY!! My FIRST(!) ULR Canadian log - CKWX!! Thanks, KSDO, for...

[Stephen Airy]

... shutting off your transmitter for over an hour a few nights ago so I could 
have a chance at bagging 1130 CKWX on your channel.  It was very much 
appreciated.

So I caught my nearest blowtorch pest, 10kW 1130 KSDO (6.3 mi, 350°) off the 
air on the 29th of Dec, so I grabbed the SAT and my Zoom H2n so I could record 
1130 to see what was lurking there.  Upon checking the recording a short while 
ago, I heard a traffic lead-in and a News 1130 promo that seemed to match the 
promos I heard on CKWX's online stream.

New Canadian Log:  1130 CKWX Vancouver, BC - 1176 mi (1892 km), 346° - 
2011-12-29, 4:41am PST - Tecsun PL-606 with Select-A-Tenna
Audio Clip:  http://www.mediafire.com/?xlio3tjmzsttvj8
Total countries now heard: 6 - USA, Mexico (XEWW is 69-70 dBu barefoot daytime 
on PL-606), Japan (JOUB  JOAK), North Korea (657), South Korea (972, 1566), 
Canada (CKLW).  Not counted yet is a possible-but-unconfirmed 1575 Thailand and 
1557 Taiwan from last year.  (I made recordings, and could link them if I could 
find them and re-upload them.)


So I had left the recording running unattended for a little over an hour, but 
was unable to capture the 5:00am PST TOH ID.  Upon returning, I retuned to 1120 
to see if I could get KPNW from Eugene, OR.  (I've already logged KANN Roy, UT 
(with a barefoot SRF-59 shortly before sunset one evening this past summer, 
with KSDO on the air), and I figure that KMOX at an approximate right angle to 
KSDO's transmitter from here would be easier than KPNW almost in line.)  Here 
are a few clips below...


http://www.mediafire.com/?174j2ms5h94h4f3 - at 2:06 in this clip KSDO came back 
on, completely splattering 1120 with their Radio Nueva Vida music.
KSDO seems to have been in a talk segment with fairly long breaks during the 
next 3 clips.  If there's no clue buried under 1110 KDIS's IBOC in the previous 
recording, are there any clues to 1120's identity in the following clips?  (The 
radio  antenna was oriented to favor signals from the north/northwest general 
direction.)

http://www.mediafire.com/?adia9ka3lfurp5i
http://www.mediafire.com/?4n808v3futvoel9
http://www.mediafire.com/?kqmd3k2nw0r48ki

If I built a FSL (which last I checked the parts are still $100-$150 or so too 
expensive for me for the affordable version), would it be selective and 
directional enough to bring in KPNW (840 mi, 339°) and CKLW as clear as I 
normally receive KSDO barefoot, without any trace of QRM or blocking/desense 
from KSDO?  BTW, at the spot where I recorded CKLW and 1120's unID, KSDO checks 
in at night on my PL-606 at about 71/25 barefoot, and 88/25 when using the SAT.

Also, during the San Diego blackout last September (IIRC) when KSDO was off, I 
was unable to bag CKLW then, but I did catch KQNA Prescott Valley, AZ, on late, 
and have also bagged KRDU Dinuba, CA, at other times KSDO has been off.


73,  Stephen (El Cajon / La Mesa, CA - near San Diego)
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[IRCA] Question for the competing ULR LW NDB DXers ;)

[Stephen Airy]

Alright you guys  ;)

I saw the post that one of you has logged his 25th NDB state (bonus points for 
not even residing in the USA).

So who will be the first to do at least one of the following...
Log all 50 states (bonus points if it's done by someone outside the USA), 
although the contiguous 48 may be passable.  (You could log all Canadian 
provinces or Mexican states, as alternate options.)

Log at least one NDB on every allocated frequency by a particular country (in 1 
kHz divisions, for example 282.5 - 283.5 kHz would count as 283 kHz)
Log every NDB on one frequency in your home country plus adjacent countries

I know I won't be the first.  I'll be lucky with my current equipment (PL-606 
and barbed wire fence - does the fence, even though it's fixed, non-rotatable, 
non-tunable, and originally wasn't designed as an antenna, put me in the 
unlimited category?) to log my 15th NDB overall, 5th state, 4th using ONLY 
the built-in ferrite (unless DGPS  traveling 80 miles for another one doesn't 
count), OR 2nd on the same frequency (from the same location) before all 
current competitors have completed all of the above challenges. ;)

73,
Stephen

P.S. With those Ferrite Sleeve Loops, does every single NDB frequency sound as 
crowded as the Class C (graveyard) mediumwave channels would sound at night 
when using only the Amidon 7.5 stick?
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[IRCA] Pests vs. Targets (Re: Northern Ireland-1341)

[Stephen Airy]

Speaking of pest vs. desired station, I've been wondering about something.

About how much stronger does a signal have to be above what John Q. Public 
might consider acceptable quality (I've heard David Gleason says this is 10-15 
mV/m in urban areas) before a trans-oceanic-and-equatorial DXer would begin to 
consider calling it a pest?  80 dB?  100 dB?  Maybe 120 dB?   ( Or does a 
station not have to be overloading a radio's front-end to be considered a pest? 
;) )

Or, how much weaker could a station be than something like 
http://youtu.be/kEIU3mP5f38 or http://youtu.be/fEMLcEqCu3E and still be a pest 
for you DXers in search of exotic antipodal (path through earth from you to the 
station goes exactly through earth's center) part 15 dx? :)

Anyhow, I've got a few targets I'd like to try to receive sometime here in El 
Cajon, CA, including:10 kW 684 kHz Radio Maurice 1 on Mauritius Island about 
11,500 mi NNE of me (I have a 77kW/50kW 32 mi SSW of me on 690)
50 kW 760 khz Radio Sana'a Al Mukalla/Alshahr, Yemen, about 9000 mi NNE of me 
(I have a 5/50kW co-channel about 7 miles NNW of me)
10 kW 819 kHz Radio Maurice 2 (same)
50 kW 909 kHz IRIB Radio Iran Lar, Iran, about 8250 mi NNE of me
750 kW 909 kHz Yemen RadioAl Hudaydah, Yemen, about 8900 mi NE of me (I have a 
5kW on 910 about 9 mi N of me)
600 kW 909 kHz VOA Moepeng Hill, Botswania, about 10,160 mi E of me
600 kW 1170 kHz Radio Sawa Al-Dhabbaya, United Arab Emirates, about 8450 mi NNE 
of me (I have a 50kW/2.9kW co-channel about 9 mi N of me that's off the air for 
about 10 seconds every time they do their pattern change)
1 kW 1206 kHz Radio Rodrigues on Rodrigues Island (a few hundred mi E of 
Mauritius - path from me to them goes within a couple degrees of the North 
Pole, also there's a semi-local 20kW/10kW (unless their 30 kW night CP has been 
built) about 25 mi NNW of me)
2 kW 1575 kHz BBC WS on Mauritius Island (1580 KMIK may be 300 mi E of me, but 
they and their IBOC are often the strongest station I hear at night that is not 
usually audible in the daytime, rivaling some locals within 10-15 miles of me)

That's not an exhaustive list by any means - there's others on 909, 1170, etc 
(co-channel to my locals, yes ;) ) I'd like to try for that are in areas 
surrounding the Indian Ocean.  What would be my best chance at receiving 
those?  For now, I have a Tecsun PL-606 ultralight and Select-A-Tenna, but 
don't expect to be doing much DXing over this weekend as I'll be out of town.  
(I'll have my radio with me, but haven't decided if there's room for the SAT 
yet.)



 From: Marc DeLorenzo midcapem...@aol.com
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 2:21 PM
Subject: [IRCA] Northern Ireland-1341
 

Paul-

One man's pest is another man's DX.  I've only heard R. Ulster-1341 a few times 
and it is always a thrill!



Marc DeLorenzo 
South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=228




-Original Message-
From: paul crankshaw hoddles...@gmail.com
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com
Sent: Thu, Dec 22, 2011 5:17 pm
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Northern Ireland-1341


Yes, sounding good in the opposite direction too. PLenty of NY stations 
eard here at 2100 and 1270 WXYT Detroit at 2200.
1341 BBC Ulster is my worst pest - directly in line between here and NA!
Paul
roon, Scotland
On 22/12/2011 21:10, Marc DeLorenzo wrote:
BBC Radio Ulster-1341 fair with news, sports, weather 2100-2104 UTC; Merry 
hristmas from BBC Radio Ulster. Into live concert of folk mx at 2105 UTC.


Marc DeLorenzo
South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=228

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Re: [IRCA] Mystery station while WHO off the air

[Stephen Airy]

Before they could give their call letters, WHO came back on

Sounds almost like the reverse of an experience I had at least a few months 
ago. :)  I was inductively coupling my PL-606 to a SAT  utility line, tuned to 
1670.  Normally KHPY Moreno Valley owns the frequency, often being 
near-local-like barefoot.  For about 1-2 seconds at TOH, KHPY was open-carrier 
(between spots maybe) and I heard a KNRO call.
I'm still hoping for the day I can catch an ID of a SS during the ~0.5 seconds 
that 760 KFMB (7.3 mi NW) is off the air while making its ND/DA 5kW/50kW 
day/night pattern switch. ;)  Who knows, maybe I could bag that 50kW in Yemen 
or wherever it is?



--
On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 6:35 PM PST John Fisher wrote:

Steve,

I was listening to a feature on Fox Sports Radio about the Indy Driver at that 
time also. Two Fox stations that I see listed on 1040 are WQBB, Knoxville, TN 
and CKST, The Team in Vancouver, BC. Maybe one of those?

John Fisher,
Kingston, ON

--
From: Hawkins n...@mchsi.com
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 9:14 PM
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com
Subject: [IRCA] Mystery station while WHO off the air

 IRCA,
 
 This morning, while cruising in the dark, just below light speed, across 
 Iowas frozen tundra, cradled in the warm womb of the MotherShip, my mammoth 
 Buick Century, WHO 1040, for inexplicable reasons, went off the air.  No 
 audio, no carrier, no nothing,nada.  This was about 0530 CST. In it's 
 customary place was a sports radio station with a short report about the 
 death of an Indy 500 driver.  Before they could give their call letters, WHO 
 came back on, their overwhelming, tsunami like carrier bringing dead silence 
 to the frequency until the local host started talking.
 
 This was the first time in a very long time, that WHO has been off, so I 
 have absolutely no idea who this was.
 
 Any ideas?
 
 Thanks,
 Steve
 Boone, Iowa
 -- Stephen Hawkins NG0G
 n...@mchsi.com
 73 49 111 01001001
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Re: [IRCA] PL-606 odd behavior in Lakeside, CA recently

[Stephen Airy]

Responses inserted below...




 From: Mark Durenberger ma...@durenberger.com
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 7:21 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] PL-606 odd behavior in Lakeside, CA recently
 
  Stephen, my two cents worth on a couple of things I noticed from your first 
video:

  ++ If your goal was KSL:

  1.  You probably could have favored KSL against KCBQ by dialing to 1158 or 
so...still within the KSL bandwidth but farther away from the 1170 
sidebands.  I'm sure you've done that.

If I had done that, I would have been slightly outside KSL's bandwidth, 
distorting its audio somewhat.  I had the radio on its 1 kHz bandwidth 
setting, which is really translated to +/- 1 kHz / audio frequency response (it 
actually is probably more like 1.5 or 1.8), which to traditional bandwidth 
police should probably read 2 khz as they count the entire bandwidth, not the 
bandwidth from the carrier to one edge.

  2.  You can probably do better on KSL by getting the radio off the ground 
and orienting it toward Salt Lake...or away from KCBQ.

As for getting it off the ground, I know from experience that simultaneously 
holding and operating a radio AND a camera is NOT easy. :)

Reorienting - I chose KSL and that particular location for multiple reasons...  
KSL was chosen because it doesn't have a day/night pattern change, being a 50kW 
clear channel.  (My other possible choices, 1150 KTLK, 1180 KERN, 1190 KGBN, 
which would have been about in the same azimuth as KCBQ from there which would 
have been preferred for the test, all do their pattern change at the same time 
as KCBQ at this time of the year.)  Also that location was chosen, in part, 
because KCBQ shares their transmitter site with 910 KECR (who was actually 
there first).  I wanted a location where KCBQ had a very strong daytime signal, 
but KECR's signal was relatively weak owing to different back nulls/lobes in 
their patterns, limiting the blocking/desense caused by KECR.  (I was southeast 
of them, and both stations' main lobes are aimed southwest.)  Also if I chose a 
location where KSL would have been on the same azimuth as KCBQ, KECR's signal 
wouldn't have been
 enough weaker than KCBQ to enable KCBQ to be very strong with KECR being 
relatively weak - KECR still would have been moderately strong.

  ++ If your goal was to observe comparative signal strengths...I wouldn't 
bother.  I never rely on signal readings on any radio, but instead just go 
for what's coming out of the speaker.  As you've noted, signal strengths can 
be so arbitrary and, depending on the radio, can actually be misleading.

  Finally...that close to a 50-kilowatt signal, some radios simply go into 
overload and all bets are off.  That didn't sound like the case with your 
PL-606 but it is a problem with some radios.

It may have gone into front end overload (blocking/desense, manifest by the 
50/00 reading while KCBQ was at full power and KSL not being audible at all - 
it goes away when KCBQ's transmitter shuts off for several seconds starting 
around 0:53, revealing KSL and XEQIN), but it was nothing compared to what you 
would see in my other two videos linked in the message. ;)

  Please forgive, if I'm just re-stating the obvious g

You're forgiven, although I don't really know if all of what you stated was 
obvious. :)

  Regards,

  Mark Durenberger

--
From: Stephen Airy pianoplayer88...@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:31 PM
To: irca@hard-core-dx.com
Subject: [IRCA] PL-606 odd behavior in Lakeside, CA recently

 Hi all,
 
 I was in Lakeside, CA, yesterday, and recorded a video clip of what happens 
 when I try to receive 1160-KSL at around local sunset using my PL-606.  I did 
 mention a few things in the video's description...
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eQql8niXLE
 
 Is there some internal modification I could try so that I have the same 
 quality of reception as from 0:53 to about 1:00 or so as at other times 
 (while realizing the variability of skywave)?  It'd be a bonus if reception 
 would also be like that a couple miles to the northwest or so. ;)
 
 
 Also a month ago I recorded these two videos.
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEMLcEqCu3E
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIU3mP5f38
 
 Anyone have any idea what's going on, specifically, especially when I put my 
 radio  SAT up to the utility pole?  (Overload isn't descriptive enough - 
 is it front-end, detector, audio rectifying signal bypassing RF/IF stages, 
 etc - what (technically?) is happening?)
 
 Thanks for any education that can be sent my way. :)
 
 73,
 Stephen
 
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[IRCA] PL-606 odd behavior in Lakeside, CA recently

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all,

I was in Lakeside, CA, yesterday, and recorded a video clip of what happens 
when I try to receive 1160-KSL at around local sunset using my PL-606.  I did 
mention a few things in the video's description...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eQql8niXLE

Is there some internal modification I could try so that I have the same quality 
of reception as from 0:53 to about 1:00 or so as at other times (while 
realizing the variability of skywave)?  It'd be a bonus if reception would also 
be like that a couple miles to the northwest or so. ;)


Also a month ago I recorded these two videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEMLcEqCu3E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIU3mP5f38

Anyone have any idea what's going on, specifically, especially when I put my 
radio  SAT up to the utility pole?  (Overload isn't descriptive enough - is 
it front-end, detector, audio rectifying signal bypassing RF/IF stages, etc - 
what (technically?) is happening?)

Thanks for any education that can be sent my way. :)

73,
Stephen

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Re: [IRCA] Possible PL-606 LW reception on barbed wire fence?

[Stephen Airy]

Well I just went back out there several minutes ago, and heard extremely faint 
audio on a few LW broadcast channels.  I also checked that 404, and with the 
fence it was only maybe a couple dB or so better, if that, than the barefoot 
portion of the recording I linked previously.
I also took Bill in BC's suggestion (almost wouldn't have seen the message due 
to the generic title but I accidentally tapped it on my phone intending to 
click Tim's message) to take another AM radio (in this case a Sony SRF-59) and 
check for mediumwave parallels, but I wasn't able to find any.  (I didn't check 
every single mediumwave frequency - only the ones that have very strong 
signals, for example indicate well above 70-75 dBu (a few are 86 to 88 dBu) on 
the PL-606 on the fence.)

Partway through the NDB portion of the band check, though, I heard the coyotes 
howling down the street.  Not wanting to tangle with those pests, I abruptly 
aborted my bandscan.  While I was scanning (manually), there were a few 
frequencies I thought I heard something a little different than the normal 
no-signal background noise.  I wasn't sure if they were anything legitimate, 
though, and I was searching for NDBs so I didn't take any notes (translation: 
speak into the microphone of my pocket 4-channel recorder (Zoom H2n) saying the 
time, frequency, signal reading, etc, while simultaneously recording the radio 
via the line-in port).

That's quite interesting about the fence...and the toaster. :)  (Almost got me 
to thinking I wonder if God has somehow ever used amplitude-modulated radio 
waves to talk to people back when the Bible was being written...;))

I'd actually like to hear a comparison of Gary Debock's FSL with a Tecsun radio 
(PL-606 for example) vs. the stock receiver using only its built-in ferrite, 
comparing reception of an NDB (one that's faintly audible barefoot, and 
preferably AWAY from the electrical interference near the house, or is his QTH 
just a lot noisier than mine?)

Also does anyone know of any online loop antenna calculators that will work for 
very small antennas, ferrite sleeve loops, ferrite bar antennas, etc?  The few 
I've come across are geared more for larger air-core loops and I'd like to 
start small and inexpensive (smaller than the PL-606 and cheaper than the 
SRF-59) if possible.  A few ideas I want to try are a 2 long ferrite bar 
antenna, a 2x3x0.5 air-core loop, and a same-size ferrite sleeve loop (using 
a bunch of half-inch ferrites - could a bunch of those, enough to make a 2 
FSL, be had for under $10-15?).

73,

Stephen




 From: Tim Hills thi...@sio.midco.net
To: Stephen Airy pianoplayer88...@yahoo.com; IRCA@hard-core-dx.com 
Sent: Saturday, December 3, 2011 5:43 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Possible PL-606 LW reception on barbed wire fence?
 

Stephen:

There was a clear difference in the 404, cleaned some of the wax out
of my ears when the level came up. Odd resonances can happen in
almost anything, groundwave from MOG could be lining up just right
to focus it there. Be interesting to go back when the soil is dryer
or wetter to see if you get the same results in the same spot.

It was just the fence resonating, no other equipment. It's only
happened once and I've checked again several times. Could be Iron
and Zinc oxides at the point(s) of contact acting as a
rectifier/detector. Very cold, no wind and very quiet that night.
Just the right place at the right time I guess. The toaster I
inherited from my mother. When I was a 5 or 6 a Ham down the street
used to come through quite loud on it. I thought Donald Duck was
trapped in there at first :P

An FSL is on my to-do list but there's a few projects I need to tend
to first.

73

Tim Hills
Sioux Falls, SD

On 12/3/2011 14:56, Stephen Airy wrote: 
Hi Tim,
 
Well if you'll listen to the 404-MOG comparison, that'll give you an idea of 
the performance of this fence antenna.  That recording is the NDB received 
barefoot, then with the radio on the fence.  To my ear, there's quite a 
difference.
Also I've noticed that not the entire fence works - just a specific section at 
a specific level.  I just happened to discover it accidentally. :)
So when you heard Neil on your fence, what radio were you using?  Or was the 
fence itself demodulating the AM signal and acting as a speaker of sorts? :o ;)
I've heard AM signals on other devices as well, too.  When I was at my 
grandpa's memorial service a year ago in his back yard, I could hear two 
Asian-language stations in the speakers for the audio system.  (The 50kW 
station on 1430 is 1/3 mile to the northwest, along with a 23kW diplexing with 
them on 1300.)  Recently I was near 50kW 1170 KCBQ's transmitter site 
attempting to record a few things with some radios, and noticed that if I held 
my audio cable right, I could clearly and loudly hear KCBQ's audio on my Zoom 
H2n recorder (with no trace of 5kW 910 KECR which uses

[IRCA] Possible PL-606 LW reception on barbed wire fence?

[Stephen Airy]

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
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Re: [IRCA] TA, early TP in Victoria

[Stephen Airy]

I was noticing your times being close together for TPs and TAs, and was 
thinking...

Has anyone ever heard a TP *AND* a TA (each with strong enough audio to trip a 
seek/scan function, or continuously peg a Tecsun radio's S/N indicator) 
simultaneously competing on the same frequency?  (Bonus points if it's on a 
divisible-by-90 frequency and wipes out a local that normally indicates upwards 
of 88-94 dBu (on-channel, plus 50/00 at least ±100 kHz) on a stock Si4734-based 
radio ;) or is that not possible?)

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 11:12 PM PST Nick Hall-Patch wrote:

Not much evidence of TA's this evening until after 0600UT, when weak carriers 
appeared on channels such as 945 (5 carriers), 1089 (3 carriers) 1215 (2 
carriers) ,1107 (4 carriers), 1116 (2 carriers), 1269 (just one)but at by 
0615UT, carriers were also appearing  on TP channels such as 747, 774 and 
1287, with fair audio (JJ talk by man) by 0655UT on 774;  279 had weak audio 
also.

best wishes,

Nick



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Re: [IRCA] Daytime Skip signals

[Stephen Airy]

I thought when a signal got up to S9 (extremely strong signal using RST 
reports), one would be seeing 50/00 readings on nearby blank channels on 
Tecsun radios (and 88/25 to 94/25 on-channel, as well as over 66-72 dBu on IBOC 
sidebands). ;)
I hear IBOC hash even adjacent to S3 moderately weak or S4 fair (tripping a 
seek/scan or point of maximum volume above which noise gets quieter) signals.  
(One example is KFI, 99 mi from my house, which is around 42/25 to 45/25 
daytime on my PL-606.  KNX at 111 mi is generally a few dB stronger or so due 
to a partial saltwater path.)

On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 7:17 PM PST Patrick Martin wrote:

Dennis,

Generally when a signal gets up to S9 on the R8, I get IBOC hash on
adjacents. 
But 1150  1170 do have strong signals too. 
Thanks for the info.

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager


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[IRCA] Recorder picking up station by itself, how to prevent without reducing signal strength?

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all,
 
I was trying to record an experiment with my Tecsun PL-606 several days ago.  
Unfortunately, the Zoom H2n recorder I was using (which otherwise seems to be a 
very good recorder) was picking up a station's mid-strength(?) signal with JUST 
the audio patch cord plugged in, without even having the PL-606 attached!
http://www.mediafire.com/?1sc854wnk4h0js4
When I unplugged the cord from the H2n it no longer picked up the station (just 
picked up the surrounding sounds via the built-in mic), but I need the cord to 
capture the output from the PL-606.
 
Is there some way I can stop the patch cable from picking up the station's 
signal, WITHOUT reducing the station's received strength in any way?  I need 
the signal to be that strong for some experiments I'm wanting to do with my 
PL-606.  I think it's probably one of the cheap Radio Shack black cables I'm 
using - is it possible a better quality patch cable might be better shielded 
and not pick up the station's ~150-170dBµV/m 1170 kHz signal?
 
Thanks and 73,
Stephen
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[IRCA] WGBW Test (10-11p PDT): Tried with PL-606 + SAT, not sure?

[Stephen Airy]

Ok, I tried for them using my PL-606 + SAT.  I recorded what I heard and split 
the recording into 10-minute segments (about 3 MB each; the last one is a 
little over 10 minutes).
 
http://www.mediafire.com/?50jurbna2b2l0
 
Timestamps at the beginning of each recording are in the file names.  Does 
anyone hear any hint of the test in any of the recordings?  Or did I not have 
any chance with WGBW sending 49 watts at me from about 1760 miles away and 1580 
KMIK blasting at least 100+ kW with its IBOC from 300 miles away only a few 
degrees off heading?
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[IRCA] LW NDB - 42 mi typical GW range? Or is my stock PL-606 really that deaf?

[Stephen Airy]

I was on my way south from Riverside, CA, this afternoon, so I decided to see 
how far the SB NDB on 397 kHz could be heard on my stock Tecsun PL-606.  When 
I was just leaving Temecula on I-15 heading south, I made this recording at 
around 5:33pm PDT on 2011-10-23 about 42 miles from the transmitter site at a 
heading of approximately 162°.  Their transmitter site is approximately 
34°3'23.2986N 117°21'58.0608W.
http://www.mediafire.com/?4ptyh5178s38rji
The radio was sitting in the back window of a 2006(? - maybe 2008 I don't know 
for sure) Honda Accord, and set to 1 kHz bandwidth, using only the supplied 
internal ferrite bar antenna.  The signal strength was indicating 15/00, but if 
you listen very carefully (headphones REQUIRED (preferably ones with good 
isolation, not the cheap ones that typically come with consumer radios - I'm 
using JVC Marshmallow model #HA-FX38 or something like that which I believe are 
around $20 at malwart ;) )) you may be able to make out parts (or if you have 
exceptional ears, all) of three repeats of ... -... in ~1000 Hz CW.
 
Is that the typical expected range of an LW NDB signal?  Or.. how much 
improvement could I expect by using a different LW antenna with my PL-606?  For 
example, if I had one of Gary Debock's LW FSL antennas or 7.5 LW loopsticks, 
should I expect a midday signal more like this, but at 32°45'38N 116°56'42W 
(about 92.8 mi / 149.3 km @ 165°)?
Sound: http://www.mediafire.com/?2fiwyatrsu7a593
Photo: 
https://picasaweb.google.com/118228966367965758611/TecsunPL606#5666915364042427250
(The actual signal had quite a bit less background noise than is audible in the 
sound.  I made the mistake of recording it about 15-20dB or so too low and had 
to raise the volume after the fact.)  The signal was so strong here, in fact, 
that I was able to hear its 2nd harmonic (794) with the Sony SRF-59.  
http://www.mediafire.com/?u9p9n1buvtn5sw7
 
Speaking of LW FSLs, $150 is way out of my price range for building an 
antenna.  Is there something that's more like $20-40 or so that I could build 
that would be a noticeable improvement (sensitivity going from undetectable to 
armchair copy or from readable-but-weak to full quieting, selectivity / 
blocking/desense improving so I can hear, on MW for example, stations around 
30-100 µV/m without any adverse effects from first-adjacent 3-10 V/m signals on 
one side and maybe 30-100 mV/m or so on the other side)?
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[IRCA] WGBW Test (10-11p PDT): Should I try? Which radio 2 use?

[Stephen Airy]

Hi all, regarding the WGBW test...
 
I'm about 2834.46 km from them at a bearing of 253.47°.  According to their 
daytime pattern data, they have a standard field of 76.96 mV/m @ 1 km.  (Their 
IDF for 10kW is 1098.7 mV/m; calculations indicate they radiate approximately 
49 watts in my direction.)
My main nighttime pest is 1580 KMIK Tempe, AZ, whose IBOC-spewing jammer blasts 
me from 482.23 km at a bearing toward me of 262.18°.  Their field toward me is 
approximately 2875 mV/m @ 1 km.  (IDF is 2026.04 mV/m; calculations indicating 
their ERP toward me is about 100 kW.)
On many occasions at night, KMIK has been about as strong as 600 KOGO @ 8 miles 
on its 5kW pattern, 910 KECR @ 9 miles on its 5kW day pattern, 1170 KCBQ @ 9 
miles on its 2.9kW night pattern and 1360 KLSD @ 8 miles on its 1kW night 
operations.
 
I'm also wondering which radio should I use?  Should I use the Tecsun PL-606 
with its narrow DSP filtering?  Or, should I use the GE Superradio III with its 
longer ferrite bar?  In either case, I do have a Select-A-Tenna available, 
which I expect to use as well.
 
Do I have any reasonable chance of hearing them here?
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Re: [IRCA] wgbw heard in Winnipeg/MB

[Stephen Airy]

Their day pattern is directional with a deep southwesterly null.  They send 49 
watts to me near San Diego, and with KMIK's IBOC only 300 miles away on the 
same heading and their analog blasting 100+kw toward me, I'm getting nada.

On Sat Oct 22nd, 2011 10:29 PM PDT Rick Dau wrote:

I've been listening for the past 20 minutes, and I'm not hearing a dang 
thing.  At 10 kw, and at this short distance, they should be blowing my doors 
off. 
 
73,
Rick Dau 
South Omaha, Nebraska
Kenwood R-5000 + Quantum QX Pro Loop




From: Patrick Martin mwd...@webtv.net
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 12:15 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] wgbw heard in Winnipeg/MB

I am getting bits of the DX test here, notted 12:05.30 CDT. Not strong,
but in the jumble peaking at times. 

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
Seaside OR
KGED QSL Manager


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Re: [IRCA] DSP radios near transmitter sites

[Stephen Airy]

How close to the MW transmitters?  If I can do it, I'm hoping to take my PL-606 
(and maybe my PL-380 as well as my SRF-59, and if I can fit it in my backpack 
with my Select-A-Tenna (yes I will be testing the PL-606 at the utility pole 
with the SAT tuned to 1170 ;)), the GE Superradio III) to 32°53'37.8N 
116°55'40.4W or thereabouts sometime today.  About 300 feet from there is the 
nearest tower of a multi-tower array for 50kW 1170 KCBQ, shared with 5kW 910 
KECR.  I may also check out some other spots in the general vicinity, including 
reading the signal strengths on the two stations (as well as 760 KFMB and 1130 
KSDO whose transmitters are a few miles to the southwest), from various spots 
on other roads in the area.
 
I generally notice little modulation splatter beyond 10 kHz or so, but what 
I'll be looking at is the effects of desense, among other things.  Also when 
the dBµ meter is very high, like 98 dBµ, I do usually hear the station 
intermodulating on other frequencies.
I've noticed that when KCBQ does its day/night power change, it is usually off 
the air for several seconds.  Their night power is 2.9 kW, with a slightly 
different pattern (and tighter nulls in some directions at night than during 
the day).  Some day soon I hope to take advantage of this and make a recording 
of a nearby frequency (like 1150 for example) right at the time KCBQ is making 
its switch.  It won't be today, and maybe not this month, as I also want to 
scout around to find the nighttime signal readings of the two stations at that 
site.  I'm hoping to find a place where 760, 910 and 1130 are no more than 
about 60-63 dBµ or so, 1170 is at least 87-89 dBµ daytime and no more than 
about 51-57 dBµ or so nighttime, and do the sunset (or maybe sunrise) 
recording from there.
 
Speaking of using the SAT + utility ground and the PL-606 together ...  here's 
an example of what happens with 1170 in the daytime about 9.3 miles south of 
their transmitter. :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w49RVGQzFc  Maybe this 
should give some idea of what to expect closer to the site? ;)
Also has anyone else besides me tested a DSP radio this close to a transmitter 
site? ;)  
https://picasaweb.google.com/118228966367965758611/TecsunPL606#5597872520572769682
 


From: Guy Atkins d...@guyatkins.com
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
irca@hard-core-dx.com
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 8:30 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] DSP radios near transmitter sites

The 600kw transmitter mentioned in the original post is of course far more
massive than the 50kw stations in the USA. However, the email exchange below
may be of interest regarding the D96L's front end. Gary, Kevin, myself, and
a few others did some tests in July 2009 with the Kchibo D96L. We found the
radio to be surprisingly resistant to overload when close to MW
transmitters.
73,

Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA


--(below is from July 2009)


The trip I took at noon today with the D96L to locations near three local MW
transmitters was enlightening. I stopped by Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue,
and then had time left over to get even closer to the transmitters. I parked
near a campus of office buildings, as close as I could get to the north
boundary of Mercer Slough Nature Park (If I had consulted a map first I
could have gotten within about 500 ft. of the KKNW transmitter!

Below are the results from the two testing locations. The 1 kHz filter was
used in all instances:

From Kelsey Creek Park

880 kHz, KIXI  (50 KW); 1.5 miles away
87 dBu on the meter
some moderate splatter +/- 10 kHz from 880
no splatter when tuned +/- 13 kHz from 880

1150 kHz, KKNW (10 KW); 1.6 miles away
89 dBu on the meter
some moderate splatter +/- 10 kHz from 1150
no splatter when tuned +/- 13 kHz from 1150

1540 kHz, KXPA (5 KW); 1.2 miles away
87 dBu on the meter
Splatter barely noted at 10 kHz +/- from 1540
no splatter when tuned +/- 12 kHz from 1540


from north end of Mercer Slough Nature Park

880 kHz, KIXI  (50 KW); 0.6 miles away
93 dBu on the meter !!
moderate splatter +/- 10 kHz from 880
no splatter when tuned +/- 13 kHz from 880

1150 kHz, KKNW (10 KW); 0.6 miles away
90 dBu on the meter !!
moderate splatter +/- 10 kHz from 1150
no splatter when tuned +/- 13 kHz from 1150

1540 kHz, KXPA (5 KW); 0.3 miles away
90 dBu on the meter !
moderate splatter at 10 kHz +/- from 1540
no splatter when tuned +/- 13 kHz from 1540

There you have it...this radio (and likely other SiLab chipped radios) have
an amazing front end. I didn't think to check for signs of images further
above and below the fundamental; I was concentrating on selectivity and
resistance to splatter near a local. There would probably be a hint of image
signal like John discovered with his biggie loop antenna slightly picking up
one of his Vancouver flamethrowers.

73,

Guy



---

I tried 

[IRCA] (Maybe OT?) Chasing NDBs Part 15 AM - transmitter site locations?

[Stephen Airy]

Does anyone know what site(s) are ACCURATE for giving the transmitter locations 
of various NDB and DGPS beacons in the 153 to 513 khz range?  I'm checking out 
a couple sites (including one that Gary DeBock mentioned some time ago on the 
ultralightdx yahoo group) and am getting conflicting information on a couple 
specific signals I'm trying to pinpoint.  I'd like to determine the exact 
distance and heading from them to my location or vice versa.
A couple specific targets I'm interested in are the 302 kHz DGPS station near 
Point Loma, San Diego, CA (unless I'm reading it wrong, 
http://www.classaxe.com/dx/ndb/rna/ seems to list them as being in Jamul which 
is basically the opposite direction from me compared to where Point Loma is), 
and 397 SB in San Bernardino, CA.  (I'll be near that area Monday and if 
possible I'd like to hear them as a strong (~90/25 or higher on my 
barefoot PL-606) signal.)
 
Also the last few times I've been in the area, near the San Bernardino 
Greyhound bus station I've heard what sounds like Spanish-language religious 
programming on 1630 that's different than what XEUT plays (and is MUCH too 
strong there to be XEUT in the daytime).  As I go a few miles south closer to 
I-10, the signal gets very weak but is still kind-of readable.  At the campus 
of Loma Linda University, there's something still there, but barely detectable 
(and at that point it could be XEUT, or XEUT mixing with the other signal).  Is 
there some way I could find out where that station is located?  I won't have 
much time while I'm there to go around direction-finding, unfortunately, so if 
someone knows where that 1630 signal and the 397 beacon are transmitting from, 
or a quick way to find out, I'd appreciate it. :)
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