Hunting For NDBs In CLE211

20 September 2016 | by Steve VE7SL  |  Leave a Comment (3)
'OO'- - 391 kHz Oshawa, ON




This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge, this time in the 15 kHz slice from 385.0 - 399.9 kHz.





A 'CLE' is a 'Co-ordinated Listening Event', as NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.

A nice challenge in this one is to hear the Oshawa, Ontario NDB, 'OO' on 391 kHz. This one runs at just 7 1/2 watts output and gets out amazingly well having been logged here last year. It has even been heard in Europe!

From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, comes the usual 'heads-up':

Hi all,

Our 211th Listening Event is only a few days away.
The Northern Hemisphere summertime storms have subsided, the equinox
will have passed when the CLE starts and we can all hope for some good
reception conditions.
Whether you are a keen propagation watcher or just a take-what-comes
listener (like me), please join in.

Days: Friday 23 September - Monday 26 September
Times: Start and end at midday LOCAL TIME
Range: 385.0 - 399.9 kHz

Please log all the NDBs you can identify that are listed in the range
(it includes 385 kHz but not 400 kHz) plus any UNIDs that you find there.
We last used this frequency range for CLE194 in May 2014.

Please send your CLE log to the List in a plain text email if possible
(not in an attachment) with 'CLE211' at the start of its title.
Show on each log line:

# The date (e.g. 2016-09-24, etc., or just 24) and UTC.
(the date changes at 00:00 UTC)
# kHz (the nominal published frequency, if known)
# The Call Ident.

Show those main items FIRST - other optional details such as Location
and Distance go LATER in the same line.

As always, tell us your own location and brief details of the equipment
that you were using during the weekend.

Good listening - enjoy the CLE
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------

(If you wish you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating the location and owner - with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, local or remote,
to make further loggings for the same CLE).
  
73 

Brian


These listening events serve several purposes. They:
  • determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the online database can be kept up-to-date
  • determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range
  • will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations
  • will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working
  • give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

Good hunting!


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Weekly Propagation Summary – 2016 Sep 19 16:10 UTC

19 September 2016 | by Tomas NW7US  |  Leave a Comment (0)

Weekly Propagation Summary (2016 Sep 19 16:10 UTC)

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2016 Sep 19 0130 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 12 – 18 September 2016

Solar activity was at very low levels throughout the period. Region 2585 (N08, L=222, class/area=Ekc/590 on 03 Sep) was the largest and most magnetically complex region on the disk this week, however, the region only produced low-level B-class flare activity before rotating out of view early in the period. Region 2592 (N14, L=027, class/area=Bxo/10 on 18 Sep) produced several low-level B-class flares in the latter half of the week, but was relatively simple throughout the period. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed this period.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 12-14 Sep, moderate levels on 18 Sep, and were at normal levels on 15-17 Sep.

Geomagnetic field activity was quiet on 13, 16-27 Sep and quiet to unsettled on 12, 14-15, and 18 Sep under a mostly nominal solar wind regime.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 19 September – 15 October 2016

Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels with a change for C-class flares throughout the period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach very high levels on 02-05 Oct with high levels expected on 21-25, 29 Sep-01 Oct, and 06-11 Oct following solar wind enhancements associated with the influence of multiple coronal hole high speed streams. Electron flux is expected to be at normal or normal to moderate levels throughout the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 28-30 Sep and G1 (Minor) storm levels on 19-20 Sep and 01 Oct due to the anticipated influence of multiple, recurrent coronal hole high speed streams. Active conditions are expected on 21 Sep and 02-05 Oct with generally quiet or quiet to unsettled conditions likely throughout the remainder of the period.

Don’t forget to visit our live space weather and radio propagation web site, at: http://SunSpotWatch.com/

Live Aurora mapping is at http://aurora.sunspotwatch.com/

If you are on Twitter, please follow these two users: + https://Twitter.com/NW7US + https://Twitter.com/hfradiospacewx

Get the space weather and radio propagation self-study course, today. Visit http://nw7us.us/swc for the latest sale and for more information!

Check out the stunning view of our Sun in action, as seen during the last five years with the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXN-MdoGM9g

We’re on Facebook: http://NW7US.us/swhfr


Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

19 September 2016 | by Hans BX2ABT  |  Leave a Comment (0)

By the end of this week my website pa2bx.nl will go down. The reason is simple: I will relinquish my Dutch call and no longer be PA2BX. The Dutch government started asking 31 Euros per year for maintaining a database with my call in it, while it used to be free. Not being stingy here. I know they also use the 31 Euros for other things that are beneficial for Dutch hams. But for me it’s just a little too expensive for something I use maybe once every 5 years. 31 Euros is a week’s worth of groceries in Taiwan and I have two big mouths to feed. I can re-apply for a new Dutch call any time, so nothing is lost.

Luckily my web provider is so cheap that I’m going to keep them and from the beginning of October you are welcome at BX2ABT.com (B–X to Any Bloody Thing). I’m testing a new CMS at the moment and it looks like the new site is going to be nicer and easier to maintain than before.

In other news: I broke with my QSL manager, which made me decide to stop with QSLing altogether. I make only a few QSOs nowadays and lost interest in QSL cards a bit (call it a mid-life crisis thing). I still have a stack of cards from my Longtan QTH, but once they run out I won’t have new ones printed. If you still need one of my cards, my address is on the BX2ABT HamQTH.com entry.


Hans "Fong" van den Boogert, BX2ABT, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Taiwan. Contact him at [email protected].

Weekend plans go semi awry.

18 September 2016 | by Larry W2LJ  |  Leave a Comment (0)
I had planned on two Amateur Radio activities this weekend. I almost ended up going 0 for 2, but ended up batting .500 instead.

My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday.  The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.

After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing  a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail.  My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!


When I went to bed last night, I was really iffy about making the effort. The weather was supposed to be suspect but I decided to sleep on it, thinking perhaps that maybe it might be better to wait for another weekend.

Sunday morning dawned muggy and overcast. Not exactly the greatest of weather conditions. But then the thought occurred to me that K0BAK normally does most of his operating on SSB, and mine was to be CW; so I decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to go to Cheesequake State Park, anyway.

I left the house a little after 9:00 AM and got to the park just around 9:30 AM.  I found the Spring Hill Picnic Grounds to be deserted, save for a few parked cars. The occupants of those cars were all going off on hikes as the lot also served as the starting point for one of the park's many trailheads. With the picnic tables all to myself, I set up the PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10.  The line went up over a 60 foot tree with ease thanks to my trusty Joplin MO ARC Antenna Launcher.  I literally had the antenna up within minutes.  I've had enough practice with the launcher to now get a good shot on the first try, at least 90% of the time.

The setup was the usual, KX3 to antenna, the Power Werk deep cycle battery, the Palm Micro paddles and a set of ear buds.  The ear buds turned to be a life saver, as the picnic area turned out to be pretty gosh darn close to the Garden State Parkway, and there was lots of highway noise.  In some cases, there were also some ignition noise moments.  I thought I was far enough away where that wouldn't be a concern; but there must be a few vehicles out there that are close to being spark gap transmitters!

I got on the air at 1400 UTC, calling "CQ NPOTA" on 40 Meters at 7.034 MHz, and had my first QSO with W3JRR at 1415 UTC.  I stayed on 40 Meters for about 45 minutes before taking a break to stretch my legs and to use the rest facilities. Thank the Lord they were open!  I came back to the ear buds, and I could have sworn that I heard "BBO".  I thought that was my good friend W3BBO looking for me; as I spotted myself on the Cluster.  I called him a few times and heard no come back; so I decided to move on up to 20 Meters.

20 Meters turned out to be the better band.  My farthest DX QSOs happened there with S58AL in Slovenia and ON4RO in Belgium. I also ended up working Arizona and Washington state on 20 Meters. So even though I made it to Europe, this is where the Reverse Beacon Network picked me up:


Just before 1600 UTC, I was visited by a Park Ranger who came to put up a sign showing that the picnic grounds had been reserved by a Baptist Church group for a BBQ.  It was booked for 1:00 PM local or 1700 UTC.  I decided to pack it in, anyway.  My original plan was to put in about two hours, so that I wouldn't be away from the family for the entire day; and I put in my two hours, so I was happy.

The highlights of the day were working Kay Craigie N3KN, Dave Benson K1SWL of Small Wonder Labs and Rockmite fame, as well as Paul Signorelli W0RW, of QRP and Paraset Pedestrian Mobile fame.  It's always cool when you go on an outing like this and hear the call signs of people you regard as friends.  Not to say that ALL of you aren't friends ........ but you know what I mean!

37 QSOs later, my activation of AA17 was in the books for the day.  I still hope to join up with Dave Hackett KD2FSI to activate the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail before NPOTA comes to a close - so stay tuned!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Weekend plans go semi awry.

18 September 2016 | by Larry W2LJ  |  Leave a Comment (0)
I had planned on two Amateur Radio activities this weekend. I almost ended up going 0 for 2, but ended up batting .500 instead.

My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday.  The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.

After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing  a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail.  My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!


When I went to bed last night, I was really iffy about making the effort. The weather was supposed to be suspect but I decided to sleep on it, thinking perhaps that maybe it might be better to wait for another weekend.

Sunday morning dawned muggy and overcast. Not exactly the greatest of weather conditions. But then the thought occurred to me that K0BAK normally does most of his operating on SSB, and mine was to be CW; so I decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to go to Cheesequake State Park, anyway.

I left the house a little after 9:00 AM and got to the park just around 9:30 AM.  I found the Spring Hill Picnic Grounds to be deserted, save for a few parked cars. The occupants of those cars were all going off on hikes as the lot also served as the starting point for one of the park's many trailheads. With the picnic tables all to myself, I set up the PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10.  The line went up over a 60 foot tree with ease thanks to my trusty Joplin MO ARC Antenna Launcher.  I literally had the antenna up within minutes.  I've had enough practice with the launcher to now get a good shot on the first try, at least 90% of the time.

The setup was the usual, KX3 to antenna, the Power Werk deep cycle battery, the Palm Micro paddles and a set of ear buds.  The ear buds turned to be a life saver, as the picnic area turned out to be pretty gosh darn close to the Garden State Parkway, and there was lots of highway noise.  In some cases, there were also some ignition noise moments.  I thought I was far enough away where that wouldn't be a concern; but there must be a few vehicles out there that are close to being spark gap transmitters!

I got on the air at 1400 UTC, calling "CQ NPOTA" on 40 Meters at 7.034 MHz, and had my first QSO with W3JRR at 1415 UTC.  I stayed on 40 Meters for about 45 minutes before taking a break to stretch my legs and to use the rest facilities. Thank the Lord they were open!  I came back to the ear buds, and I could have sworn that I heard "BBO".  I thought that was my good friend W3BBO looking for me; as I spotted myself on the Cluster.  I called him a few times and heard no come back; so I decided to move on up to 20 Meters.

20 Meters turned out to be the better band.  My farthest DX QSOs happened there with S58AL in Slovenia and ON4RO in Belgium. I also ended up working Arizona and Washington state on 20 Meters. So even though I made it to Europe, this is where the Reverse Beacon Network picked me up:


Just before 1600 UTC, I was visited by a Park Ranger who came to put up a sign showing that the picnic grounds had been reserved by a Baptist Church group for a BBQ.  It was booked for 1:00 PM local or 1700 UTC.  I decided to pack it in, anyway.  My original plan was to put in about two hours, so that I wouldn't be away from the family for the entire day; and I put in my two hours, so I was happy.

The highlights of the day were working Kay Craigie N3KN, Dave Benson K1SWL of Small Wonder Labs and Rockmite fame, as well as Paul Signorelli W0RW, of QRP and Paraset Pedestrian Mobile fame.  It's always cool when you go on an outing like this and hear the call signs of people you regard as friends.  Not to say that ALL of you aren't friends ........ but you know what I mean!

37 QSOs later, my activation of AA17 was in the books for the day.  I still hope to join up with Dave Hackett KD2FSI to activate the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail before NPOTA comes to a close - so stay tuned!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

ICQ Podcast Episode 220 – Taking part in SSB Field Day

18 September 2016 | by Colin M6BOY  |  Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Matthew Nassau M0NJX and Andy Mace M0MUX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is Taking part in SSB Field Day.

  • CEPT Novice Licence and HAREC Changes
  • UK CubeSat Forum - Lunar Opportunity
  • Companies Plead Guilty to Capacitors Price Fixing
  • FCC Proposes Substantial Fine for Unlicensed Amateur Operation / False Police Call
  • Morse code at Eurovision?
  • Australian Club's 60th Birthday
  • WIA Seek New Ham Radio Allocations
  • Aberdeen Radio Club Celebrate 70th Anniversary

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

ICQ Podcast Episode 220 – Taking part in SSB Field Day

18 September 2016 | by Colin M6BOY  |  Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Matthew Nassau M0NJX and Andy Mace M0MUX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is Taking part in SSB Field Day.

  • CEPT Novice Licence and HAREC Changes
  • UK CubeSat Forum - Lunar Opportunity
  • Companies Plead Guilty to Capacitors Price Fixing
  • FCC Proposes Substantial Fine for Unlicensed Amateur Operation / False Police Call
  • Morse code at Eurovision?
  • Australian Club's 60th Birthday
  • WIA Seek New Ham Radio Allocations
  • Aberdeen Radio Club Celebrate 70th Anniversary

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
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