A new logging

Down in Titirangi I have installed a 5m EWE pointing at roughly 60 degrees. This should put it through Mexico/ Louisianna - no such luck hearing them!

I have had a pre-amp attached and it has overloaded everything to an alarming degree. So, I have removed it.

Before doing this the only Yank I could hear was KLOK on 1170. It was coming in at a fair but very steady level with Indian music and announcements (e.g. Namaste India). A report has been sent off.

I haven't had a lot of time to listen since then but have heard Yanks on 1420, 1570, 1580. Had I had the time and persevered I am sure others could have been heard. It is certainly not a vintage season for MW DX.

A verie

RNZI was logged on 13730 on 7 January at 0406 with a good signal, relaying National Radio. The verie arrived, courtesy the services of Adrian Sainsbury on 29 Janaury.

Another logging

CBR 1010 kHz in Calgary, Alberta was heard on the 12th at 0825 UTC at good levels with deep fades. It took a while to work out what was being heard as they were broadcasting a Public Radio International programme. However, the mention of CBC in the news bulletin at 0900 confirmed it.

I will try reporting them, but not sure whether the CBC verify or not - only one way to find out!

A new logging

This evening the conditions are very noisy - however, on 1410 CFTE in Vancouver, BC, Canada was quite audible, with regular deep fades at 0915 UTC (1.15 am local time). The noise made it difficult to follow what was being said, but there was enough there to give me sufficient details to report it.

I have tried before without success - not sure I will bother again.

Some  loggings of late

It has been an interesting time lately. The conditions for reception have been variable. Some nights it is very noisy and on other occasions it has been quite quiet. For a while around New Year manything below 1000 kHz was inaudible because of noise. I thought it must be my system or neighbours. However, a couple of nights later without any change to either the equipment or neighbourhood it was fine. On the 5th signals were there, but the noise was bad. I checked on the normally very quiet NZRDXL SDR based in Russell, about 160 km (100 miles) north of here and it was also noisy, so I was reasssured.

I have been focusing on the US 'graveyard' channels - particularly 1410, 1430 and 1450. I hear talking but it is not quite strong enough to be understood, or what can be understood is fairly meaningless because they are carrying networked programmes. Patience is what is needed.

Meanwhile, here is a trail of what has been heard lately - I have verified almost all of these, so spend no time dwelling on them (nb for North American readers, 7/1 = 7th January, not 1st July!):

590    0952 HAWAII, KSSK fair with music – dominant over talk station. 7/1 SMF

690    0950 HAWAII, KHNR (presumed) with talk – fair. 7/1 SMF

770    0940 USA, KKOB – fair but a bit up and down with Red Eye Radio. 3/1 SMF

830    0947 HAWAII, KHVH – fair but up and down. Id for Newsradio and then talk. 3/1 SMF

850    0944 USA, Unknown. Possibly KOA with talk but under a rock music station 3/1 SMF

850    1103 USA, KOA – Good with news and Denver time check. 3/1 SMF

940    0935 USA, KFIG – fair with sports news 2/1 Mixed KKNE Hawaii but dominant 7/1 SMF

1020 0940 USA, KTNQ – fair with SS talk. 2/1 SMF

1050 1100 USA, KTCT Fair with sports news 3/1 SMF

1070 1100 USA, KNX Fair with news 3/1 SMF

1110 0905 HAWAII, KAOI (possibly) fair with talk but lots of atmospheric noise. 5/1 SMF

1120 1100 USA, KPNW Fair at best with news then C to C. 3/1 V/g 7/1 SMF

1190 0911 USA, KEX (presumed) fair with talk but much atmospheric noise. 5/1 SMF

1200 1100 USA, WOAI Fair with news after fade at top of the hour. Good id at 1107 3/1 SMF

1280 0908 USA, KXTK – fair/ poor with ESPN sport. Noisy 4/1 SMF

1420 0932 HAWAII, KKEA – fair with sports news 3/1 SMF

1430 0915 USA, KYNO (presumed) with Oldies – fair at best, mixed possibly with KMRB and Chinese mx 4/1 SMF

1460 0920 USA, KION – fair with talk – phone calls and C to C type talk 3/1 SMF

1500 1006 USA, Mixed KSTP (// 1420) ESPN sport with another talk station. KSTP at fair levels. 6/1 SMF

1530 0930 USA, KFBK – good with news and id 2/1 SMF

1540 0900 USA, KMPC – id on the hour by male announcer – this is KMPC….. poor signal really – quite noisy, 29/12 SMF

1540 0929 HAWAII, KREA – fair with mentions of Korea in Korean 2/1 SMF

15801005   USA, KBLA (presumed) fair/ good with SS religious talk. SMF 6/1

1640 1000 USA, KDIA – Fair/ good with id on hour and religious talk. 6/1 SMF

New EWE and Frustration

I have erected a 5 metre EWE at our property in Titirangi, Auckland, where we spend the week working.

The aerial is not working well at all and even regular power houses such as KUAU on 1580 and XERF on 1570 cannot be heard. I have to discover what the reason for this is. The noise levels don't appear to be too bad. The section slopes down quite steeply at the back of the house. The aerial is probably 3m lower at the far end - whether that makes any difference or not I do not know. It may be the way I wound the ferrite core, or the way things are connected up. It is a bit frustrating as we are within sight of the sea, so I should be able to hear things.

I will be trying to change things soon with the hope that I might hear something.

Ironically, the only frequency I could hear thing on was 1170. I think it was too early for the Aussies to come in, so it likely wasn't 1170. What it was I don't know - perhaps a birdie from a NZ station?? What I do know is that right on the top of the hour it faded!!