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Hunting For NDBs In CLE194
21 May 2015 | by
It's CLE time once again! For you low-frequency buffs, another challenge awaits. This month's frequency range covers the high end, 385.0 - 399.9 kHz. A list of all of the North American targets in this range can be found in the RNA database, while targets for European DXers will be found here... specify the frequency range wanted and check 'show all results'.
An excellent target for North Americans is little 'OO' on 390kHz. It gets out well at just 7.5watts and was heard here on Mayne Island earlier this year.
From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA) comes the following reminder:
Hi all,
Have you tried one of our Co-ordinated Listening Events yet?
CLEs are NOT contests - they allow us to share the same listening
challenge and in the process to learn more about our great hobby.
Short logs or long ones, everyone who enjoys taking part is a winner!
Since early in 2001 over 250 different NDB List members have taken
part in a CLE for the first time - and over four in every five came back
for more.
Fourteen members have come back over 100 times, 44 over 50 times.
End of the Commercial!
Our 194th CLE is almost here:
Days: Friday 22 May - Monday 25 May
Times: Start and end at midday LOCAL TIME
Range: 385.0 - 399.9 kHz
Just log all the NDBs that you can identify with their nominal (listed)
frequencies in the range - it includes 385 kHz, but not 400 kHz -
plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
Please send your CLE log in a plain text email if possible (not in
an attachment) and to the List, not direct to me.
Show on each line of your log:
# The Date (e.g. 2015-05-dd or just the day-of-the-month, dd)
# The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency, if known.
# The Call Ident.
Show those main items FIRST - any other details such as location,
distance, offsets, etc., go LATER in the same line (or in footnotes).
Please always include your own location and brief details of the
equipment that you were using.
It is important to put 'CLE194' at the start of the email subject.
If you send any interim logs, please also send a 'Final' (complete)
log showing all your loggings for the event.
I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 1700 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your log has been found OK.
It is a good idea to meet that deadline if you can, but make sure that
your log has arrived on the list by 0800 UTC on Wednesday at the
very latest. The combined results should be completed on that day.
You can find full information by going to the CLE Information Page
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm It also has a link to the seeklists
for this Event at REU/RNA/RWW.
Good listening
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------
( If you would like to listen remotely you could use any one remote
receiver, such as http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ for your
loggings, stating its location and owner and 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 )
 |
| OO-390 kHz courtesy: ve3gop.com |
It's CLE time once again! For you low-frequency buffs, another challenge awaits. This month's frequency range covers the high end, 385.0 - 399.9 kHz. A list of all of the North American targets in this range can be found in the RNA database, while targets for European DXers will be found here... specify the frequency range wanted and check 'show all results'.
An excellent target for North Americans is little 'OO' on 390kHz. It gets out well at just 7.5watts and was heard here on Mayne Island earlier this year.
From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA) comes the following reminder:
Hi all,
Have you tried one of our Co-ordinated Listening Events yet?
CLEs are NOT contests - they allow us to share the same listening
challenge and in the process to learn more about our great hobby.
Short logs or long ones, everyone who enjoys taking part is a winner!
Since early in 2001 over 250 different NDB List members have taken
part in a CLE for the first time - and over four in every five came back
for more.
Fourteen members have come back over 100 times, 44 over 50 times.
End of the Commercial!
Our 194th CLE is almost here:
Days: Friday 22 May - Monday 25 May
Times: Start and end at midday LOCAL TIME
Range: 385.0 - 399.9 kHz
Just log all the NDBs that you can identify with their nominal (listed)
frequencies in the range - it includes 385 kHz, but not 400 kHz -
plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
Please send your CLE log in a plain text email if possible (not in
an attachment) and to the List, not direct to me.
Show on each line of your log:
# The Date (e.g. 2015-05-dd or just the day-of-the-month, dd)
# The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
# kHz - the beacon's nominal published frequency, if known.
# The Call Ident.
Show those main items FIRST - any other details such as location,
distance, offsets, etc., go LATER in the same line (or in footnotes).
Please always include your own location and brief details of the
equipment that you were using.
It is important to put 'CLE194' at the start of the email subject.
If you send any interim logs, please also send a 'Final' (complete)
log showing all your loggings for the event.
I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 1700 UTC on
Tuesday so that you can check that your log has been found OK.
It is a good idea to meet that deadline if you can, but make sure that
your log has arrived on the list by 0800 UTC on Wednesday at the
very latest. The combined results should be completed on that day.
You can find full information by going to the CLE Information Page
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm It also has a link to the seeklists
for this Event at REU/RNA/RWW.
Good listening
Brian
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England (CLE co-ordinator)
----------------------------------------------------------
( If you would like to listen remotely you could use any one remote
receiver, such as http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ for your
loggings, stating its location and owner and 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 )
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.
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...do 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.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
» Leave a Comment (0)
Some great news
I received an e-mail from John AE5X this morning. John is one of the best Ham Radio/QRP bloggers out there, IMHO, and it was great to hear from him. He informed me that he has undertaken authoring a specialized niche blog - about off road motorcycling and QRP.
My initial reactions were thus:
1) Wow! It's great to hear from John.
2) John's writing again - fantastic!
3) I know diddly squat about motorcycling.
4) This ties into QRP, so how can this be a bad thing?
5) Even though #3 is true, #4 is also true, so maybe I can learn something here.
6) Boy, it's good to have John back again.
So even if you're like me (and don't know squat about motorcycling), you do know about QRP and you do like the way John writes - it's still a win/win situation. AND if you DO know about motorcycling, then you've really hit pay dirt! (Win/win/win).
I have added John's new blog to the blog roll on the right, and the hyperlink above will take you right there. Please take the time to read his work, and if you like what you're reading - let him know. We bloggers appreciate the feedback and love hearing from you, good, bad or indifferent. Just do ME a favor and tell him W2LJ sent you.
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].
My initial reactions were thus:
1) Wow! It's great to hear from John.
2) John's writing again - fantastic!
3) I know diddly squat about motorcycling.
4) This ties into QRP, so how can this be a bad thing?
5) Even though #3 is true, #4 is also true, so maybe I can learn something here.
6) Boy, it's good to have John back again.
So even if you're like me (and don't know squat about motorcycling), you do know about QRP and you do like the way John writes - it's still a win/win situation. AND if you DO know about motorcycling, then you've really hit pay dirt! (Win/win/win).
I have added John's new blog to the blog roll on the right, and the hyperlink above will take you right there. Please take the time to read his work, and if you like what you're reading - let him know. We bloggers appreciate the feedback and love hearing from you, good, bad or indifferent. Just do ME a favor and tell him W2LJ sent you.
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].
» Leave a Comment (2)
160m indoor loft antenna
Some years ago G6ALB and I wanted a simple talkback link that we could use when co-operating on experiments. We were 3km apart with Andrew being in the next village. We immediately thought about simple AM rigs for topband (160m).
As I had no 160m antenna, I built the design linked here. This antenna works well with best WSPR spots being over 1000km.
We decided that topband was too noisy for our simple AM rigs for our intended purpose. The noise floor at both our locations is very high on 160m. I have since moved QTH but we are still thinking about this link. We are now 3.3km apart. Probably 6m would be a better choice as less noisy and we both have vertical antennas.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/160m_loft_ant .
Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.
» Leave a Comment (1)
Skeeter Hunt 2015
E-mails are starting to roll in - so I wanted to make an early announcement.
Yes! There will be a Skeeter Hunt in 2015. It will be held on Sunday, August 9th. Skeeter numbers will be issued starting on the "First Day of Summer", which will be Sunday June 21st - the weekend before Field Day.
There is one major rule change for this year - there will be no extra bonus points for working DX stations this year. As many of you know, the Skeeter Hunt seems to always coincide with the "Work All Germany" contest, and in years past, working a DX station was worth 3 points. Several Skeeters in the Mid-West and on the West coast pointed out that this is an unfair advantage to East coast Skeeters. After considering it, I have come to agree with this, and have eliminated that extra DX bonus. The playing field will be much more equal this year.
The Bonus word for this year is "CULICIDAE", which is the Latin word for the family of insects that mosquitoes belong to. Work enough call signs that include those letters and you can garner yourself another 100 points. There's an "L" in there and I will be happy to be the official "L" provider for the Hunt. Hi! (I think Don K3RLL among others, will also be happy to give away "L"s, too.)
I am having a bit of trouble with the QSL.NET webpage, so for all the details of this year's Skeeter Hunt, you can go to my Skeeter Hunt page of this blog - http://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html.
I am hoping to have the QSL.NET problems ironed away by this weekend, but then again, you never know.
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].
Yes! There will be a Skeeter Hunt in 2015. It will be held on Sunday, August 9th. Skeeter numbers will be issued starting on the "First Day of Summer", which will be Sunday June 21st - the weekend before Field Day.
There is one major rule change for this year - there will be no extra bonus points for working DX stations this year. As many of you know, the Skeeter Hunt seems to always coincide with the "Work All Germany" contest, and in years past, working a DX station was worth 3 points. Several Skeeters in the Mid-West and on the West coast pointed out that this is an unfair advantage to East coast Skeeters. After considering it, I have come to agree with this, and have eliminated that extra DX bonus. The playing field will be much more equal this year.
The Bonus word for this year is "CULICIDAE", which is the Latin word for the family of insects that mosquitoes belong to. Work enough call signs that include those letters and you can garner yourself another 100 points. There's an "L" in there and I will be happy to be the official "L" provider for the Hunt. Hi! (I think Don K3RLL among others, will also be happy to give away "L"s, too.)
I am having a bit of trouble with the QSL.NET webpage, so for all the details of this year's Skeeter Hunt, you can go to my Skeeter Hunt page of this blog - http://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html.
I am hoping to have the QSL.NET problems ironed away by this weekend, but then again, you never know.
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].
» Leave a Comment (0)
Amateur VLF DXing
Operating an amateur station at VLF is a very specialised area of experimentation. There are basically 2 different threads (1) earth-mode or utilities assisted earth-mode with propagation mainly along or close to roads and (2) radiated DXing in which a VLF signal is actually radiated and propagated to great distances. With (1) I have managed 6km with QRSS3 with 5W from a TDA2003 audio IC at 8.97kHz. Earth-mode gear can be low powered and simple to build.
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| VLF amateur signals |
With (2) the Atlantic Ocean has now been crossed, i.e. quite remarkable distances with amateur powers and antennas. Usually very large loading coils are needed and making these can be “challenging”. As high voltages are likely, great care is needed. Of course, most DXing is done with very long stable transmissions in very narrow bandwidths. Most amateur VLF gear is home made with free PC software to allow signals to be seen. Casual listening is not effective. Most operation is now around 8.300kHz as this is unallocated in many countries.
News of VLF activity may be found at https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/ .
Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.
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AmateurLogic 78: Live from Dayton Hamvention 2015
AmateurLogic.TV Episode 78 is now available for download.
Join George, Tommy, Ray and a host of special guests at Dayton Hamvention 2015. Shot in front of a live audience at the Icom booth.
1:54:27
George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].
» Leave a Comment (0)
Inexpensive Kit From China
 |
| courtesy: http://www.banggood.com/ |
A recent posting to the GQRP Yahoo Group brought my attention to another inexpensive offering from China. This time it's Bangood's complete "Pixie" type 40m QRP transceiver for the incredible sum of $4.16 (U.S.)! The price includes all components, a nicely silk-screened PCB and free shipping. One really wonders how it is possible to make any profit with such an offering but it obviously is. However, all may not be what it seems. One purchaser, IK1ZYW (Paolo) who built the kit, described his findings in a recent blog posting of his building experience.
In spite of the problems noted above (with some now corrected), the kit still seems a bargain, if one takes the necessary care with construction.
Playing with QRP can often provide ham radio's best "fun for the money" as DX- capable transmitters can often be built for just a few dollars. I vividly recall the fun I had one winter while pursuing the first-ever Tuna Tin W.A.S. endeavour on 7040kHz.
I made many new friends on 7040 that winter and every weekend many of them would listen-in or call to see how my progress was going. The highlight of the adventure was late one Saturday night when I had three New England stations all answer the same CQ ... what amazing fun for a handful of parts at less than $10 ... not including the cost of a can of Tuna!
The little Pixie kit offered above has a power level fully capable of W.A.S. on 40m and with the decrease in solar conditions, 40m will just keep improving. If you purchase and build one of these kits, please let us know how your experience went. The 'interesting' construction notes may be found here.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
» Leave a Comment (4)
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