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The 'magic band' has always been associated with 50 MHz and its amazing propagation ... usually unpredictable and often without logical explanation. This past summer saw an explosion of digital FT8 activity on 6m which has, for me (and for others I suspect), eliminated almost all of the enjoyment I have found every year on this band.


With so much of the previous CW and phone activity now gone to FT8, the 'feel' of the band is just not what it once was. What I find puzzling is that so many have embraced this weak signal mode yet most of the two-way QSOs seem to be made between stations that can easily hear each other ... often at the very strong levels produced by 6m sporadic-E!

With FT8's inability to chat about antennas, rigs, propagation, locations or simply to exchange names, for me the magic has gone. Being able to hear signals build, fade up and down, or to experience the sudden arrival of bone-crushing signals from the east coast where none had existed moments earlier, is all part of what attracted me to 6m decades ago. I spent only a few hours on the band last summer, working a number of JA stations on FT8. No particular sense of satisfaction was garnered ... working a JA opening on CW is just way more exciting!

For many, the arrival of FT8 to the magic band has opened a whole new world and from seeing so many unfamiliar call signs on 6m this summer, it seems that FT8 has brought a lot of newcomers to the band. Unlike the JAs' worked every summer on CW, almost all of the FT8 JAs' sent their QSL immediately, with almost all excitingly indicating "1st VE" ... so this has to be a good thing! I suspect, that unless the level of conventional-mode activity returns to previous levels on 6m (highly unlikely), my interest in 50MHz will slowly wane or vanish altogether ... but thankfully, there's still magic to be found elsewhere on the ham bands!

As solar Cycle 24 draws down into its final months, the deep lows that were experienced at the end of Cycle 23 are starting to develop once again. For the past few weeks, propagation below the broadcast band has been the best it has been since the previous solar quieting.

Being just below the bottom edge of the broadcast band, 630m (472-479 kHz) has seen some of the benefits of the recent round of stagnant geomagnetic activity.

While some transcontinental QSOs are regularly being made on CW, most contacts are being completed using the weak signal JT9 QSO mode. Contacts can often be completed just as the sun begins to set and staying up into the wee hours to catch east coast DX is not a requirement. Over the past few weeks my 'states worked' total has climbed to 30 and with a couple of holdouts, the QSLs have been steadily arriving.

My 630m states worked, shown in red. Map courtesy: https://mapchart.net/

Last month's arrivals, in spite of the Canada Post delivery disruptions, are shown below.




The recent great propagation on 630m is well-demonstrated by last Saturday night's activity. For the previous two evenings, my JT9 CQ's (as well as QSOs) were being decoded for hours at a time by Rolf, LA2XPA in Norway. He was also hearing Larry, W7IUV, located a few hundred miles to my southwest, on the other side of the Cascade mountains in Washington state. Both of our signals would fade and trade places in Norway but often reaching audible CW levels! The problem was that neither myself or Larry could see any of Rolf's replies to us ... disappointing to us and frustrating for Rolf.

After an hour of trying, I asked Rolf (via the ON4KST LF chat page) what he was using for a receive antenna. It turned out that his secret weapon was a 1000' beverage pointed this way ... no wonder he was hearing so well. Larry, who was using a shorter, easterly pointing BOG (Beverage On Ground) for 630m receive, commented that he also had a 1000' beverage pointed toward Europe but it was optimized for 160m and doubted that it would work on 630. Just to make sure, he plugged it into a second receiver and soon indicated that he 'might' have seen a weak JT9 trace on the waterfall, close to Rolf's frequency.

One minute later Larry's comment was just "wow!" and the following minute he explained what had occurred. It seems that the 'possible weak trace' had suddenly skyrocketed to a -16db signal ... right at the edge of audibility! Larry and Rolf quickly exchanged signal reports and "RRs" as the first Europe-West Coast 630m QSO went into the history books ... 'wow' indeed!

Rolf reported that at his end, Larry's already good signal suddenly shot up to -5db, an easily copied CW level, before fading away for the night. Larry was pretty shocked at how quickly this strong short enhancement had occurred and we all hoped that the oft observed 'spotlight' propagation seen on 630 would move further west to VE7 ... but for now, it was not to be.

Earlier in the evening I had commented to Larry about some previous quirky 630m propagation and had suggested to him that it was probably just due to "the magic of radio" ... to which he politely dismissed with "sorry no magic, just hard work and dumb luck". Looks like he was right on both accounts, but after Saturday's excitement I think he may now believe in a little magic as well!

CLE 237 will be held this coming weekend and will be somewhat different than normal.







'CLE's are 'Co-ordinated Listening Events, and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum ... but this one is a little different.

This event has been organized around the Maidenhead Locator system and will challenge hunters to log beacons based upon the beacon's FIELD designation. Listeners should seek to log a maximum of five NDBs in each GRID FIELD.

The grid field is actually the first two letters of the grid locator, such as 'CN', 'FN', 'DM' etc., as seen in the map above. Each field itself is divided into 100 GRID SQUARES, but individual grid squares are not relevant for this CLE ... only the fields.

Most amateurs that operate on the VHF bands are very familiar with the 'grid square locator' system and many VHF operating awards and events are focused on working different grid squares. This may all be a new adventure for many non-VHF DXers but it does present a whole new way of keeping track of your catches.

I have always kept track of the grid square locator for all NDB signals that I hear and often find that a signal being heard from one particular square will lead to other beacons being heard (often new catches) from adjacent squares, while propagation is spotlighting that region ... it often pays to keep a grid square map handy while you search the band!

If you are not familiar with the grid square system, it's all pretty simple and this CLE only focuses on the largest part of the system, the FIELD. The first thing you should do is determine your own grid FIELD location, which, for North America, can be found very easily from the map above or anywhere in the world on K7FRY's locator map.

When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.

For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmits on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier is tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident can be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone is actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone is 1054 Hz.

Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.

Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.

All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.


From CLE organizer Brian Keyte:

===============================================
Here are the Final Details for this weekend's DX Listening Event.

We'll be listening for NDBs in as many Locator FIELDS as we can.

Fields are the first 2 letters of the 6 character locators ('Grid Square').

    Days:     Friday 26th October – Monday 29th October
    Times:    Midday on Friday to Midday on Monday, your LOCAL* time
            *(NB Many of us will be changing our house clocks this weekend.
               UTC time, shown in our logs, continues unaffected by that)
    QRG:      Normal LF/MF frequencies  190 - 1740 kHz
    Target:   UP TO 5 NORMAL NDBs IN EACH LOCATOR FIELD (see below)
                    (not DGPS, NAVTEX, Amateur or UNIDs)

Please also log YOUR NEAREST ACTIVE NDB - it will probably be one of
the five in your own Field.

A World map of all the locator Fields is attached.  You can see, for
example, that Field IO includes most of the British Isles.

(click map to expand)

Please post your CLE log to the List in a plain text email if possible,
with 'CLE237' at the start of its title and showing on each log line:

     The full Date ( e.g. 2018-10-26, etc., or just the day number 26 )
     UTC  (The day changes at 00:00 UTC).
     kHz - the NDB's nominal published frequency
     The Call Ident.

As always, put those FOUR MAIN ITEMS FIRST on each log line, with
any other optional details such as location and distance LATER in the
same line.

There is no need to show the locator Fields (the harvester program
will work out all of them and the nearest NDB you logged).

Your log will be easier to read if you leave a blank separator line
between the groups of up to 5 lines for each Field.

If you wish, you could add the 2-letter Field ident (NOTHING ELSE)
at the start of each separator line.

Any UNIDs that you come across will also be of interest - in a separate
part of your log please.

If you send interim logs, please make sure that you also send a 'FINAL'
log showing ALL your loggings for the CLE.

We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email to NDB List at about
18:00 UTC on Tuesday so you can check that your log has been found OK.
Do make sure that your Final log has arrived on the list by 09:00 UTC
on Wednesday 31st October at the very latest.
Joachim and I hope to complete the combined results within two days.


PLANNING YOUR LISTENING

It will really help you to plan your listening if you go to the excellent
Rxx Database  https://www.classaxe.com/dx/ndb/reu
(Replace the 'reu' by 'rna' if you are in North America, 'rww' elsewhere)

THE KEY PLACE to start entering details of what you want is
'Signal Locations - GSQs'.

Put a 2-letter FIELD id in that box to see all the NDBs in that Field that
have been logged from your part of the World (i.e. EU or NA or other).

You could alter the resulting list in lots of different ways:

Select 'Only active' (bottom right)
Enter your own Country or State in 'Heard Here'
Select a specific listener (yourself?) in 'Logged by' – BUT you might missa beacon that you haven’t   heard so far
Add extra locator Field(s) in the 'GSQs' box, separated by blanks
- In ANY of the above, you can select 'Map' instead of 'List' (top right)

Add your own full locator (6 characters) in the 'Distance - From GSQ' box to see the distances and bearings from your location.
In 'Sort By' (bottom line) select GSQ

Getting cleverer (!) you could use the wild card _ (an underscore) to see details of all Fields with the same column of Longitude or row of Latitude
e.g.  I_  selects all of locator column I (0  to 20 degrees west),  _O would give all of row O (50 to 60 degrees north).

Good Listening

73    Brian
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Keyte G3SIA                ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location: Surrey, SE England          (CLE coordinator)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

(As usual a handful of us may choose to listen via a remote receiver
with permission if required - its own location will be their temporary
home Field).
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local
or remote, to obtain further loggings for the same CLE.

===================================================

courtesy: https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

It seems that for the CLE236 listeners in western North America, my worst fears came true. The week preceding last weekend's listening event had seen great MF propagation and quiet geomagnetic conditions.




On Friday evening, shortly after the start, a geomagnetic storm commenced, with K-levels reaching 5-7 at various stations ... pretty much sounding the death knell once again. It seems more than coincidental that almost every CLE in the past few years has seen horrific geomagnetic conditions in lock-step with our scheduled monthly events!

Since there were no active regions on the Sun at the time, I suspect, as mentioned in my last blog, that we were victimized by a sudden spurt from the same coronal hole that whacked us last month, as it lined-up once again on its monthly reappearance. Arriving on Friday evening as sunset approached, the effects seemed to spare the rest of North America (and Europe), as western listeners were the only ones reporting poor propagation. As well, lightning noise, often abating by this time of the year, created havoc for many listeners ... even those with good propagation.

I can only hope that next month's event will see a major improvement in noise levels as well as in propagation quality. Hopefully, that pesky coronal hole will have closed itself by then!

On top of the above mentioned challenges, CLE236's frequency range was smack on top of my local pest, AP-378, whose antenna is less than one mile from my own antennas. Having an S9 +60db signal in the middle of the narrow CLE range does make for challenging listening. My 10' x 20' loop knocked AP's signal down about 25db, allowing me to hear the following signals, some only barely.


 
See you in CLE237.

AP-378 Mayne Island, BC

How time flies. Once again it's a CLE weekend. It seems like the last one was just a week ago!




 'CLE's are 'Co-ordinated Listening Events, and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.

This time the hunting ground is the 15 kHz slice from 370.0 - 384.9 kHz.

This is a somewhat dreaded range for me since my local blowtorch NDB, 'AP' (378 kHz), sits right in the middle of the range. 'AP' is located at the entrance to Active Pass, the main ferry route to Vancouver Island, and the antenna is about 3/4 of a mile down the beach from me. Needless to say, the beacon is about 40db over S9! With careful loop nulling, I can reduce this by about 25db but it's still an enormous signal to deal with.

Hopefully you can put 'AP' in your own log this weekend but its 25-watt signal will be much weaker for you. It's been logged as far east as Illinois and with your receiver in the CW mode, can be found on 378.399 kHz.

All too often our CLE weekends get hammered by geomagnetic disturbances, possibly because our monthly schedule syncs up nicely with the Sun's rotation and the disturbance from the previous month once again rotates into position. Conditions this time surely can't be much worse than for our previous event and today's mid-week check looks promising.

courtesy: NOAA

courtesy: NOAA

Things seem geomagnetically quiet at the moment so lets hope they stay that way. LF and MF propagation can often be amazing in the fall and as summer storms start to dissipate, the band can become much less noisy.

From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA), comes the following CLE info:


Hi all,

Please join us in our 236th coordinated Listening Event which starts
this Friday and celebrates the arrival of the Equinox this weekend.
CLEs are not contests - if you enjoy taking part you will be a winner!

    Days:    Friday 21 September - Monday 24 September
    Times:   Start and end at midday, LOCAL TIME at the receiver
    Range:   370 - 384.9 kHz

Just log all the NDBs that you can identify with their nominal (listed)
frequencies in the range (it includes 370 kHz, but not 385 kHz)
plus any UNIDs that you come across there.

Please send your CLE log to the List in a plain text email if possible
(not in an attachment) with CLE236 and FINAL at the start of its title.
Show on each log line:
    # The date (e.g. 2018-09-21, etc., or just 21) 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. 
If you send interim logs, please also send a 'FINAL' (complete) log.

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

Joachim or I will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 17:00
UTC on Tuesday - you can then check that your log has been found OK.
All logs must arrive on the list at the very latest by 08:00 UTC on
Wednesday 26th September.  We hope to complete making the combined
results within a day or two.

To help you to plan your listening, seeklists and maps for your part of the
World are available via the CLE page  http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm

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

If you are interested in some remote listening - maybe due to local difficulties - you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings, stating its location and with the owner’s permission if required. A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, local or remote, to make further loggings for the same CLE.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------

In the years before amateurs in the UK had access to the 630m band as we know it today (472-479kHz), hams there could apply for a 'special research permit' allowing them to operate between 501 and 504kHz.


One of the first and most active stations was operated by Finbar O'Connor, EIØCF, located in the most northern part of Ireland, near Malin Head. In the early days, Finbar might as well have been AC4YN in Lhasa, Tibet, as a 630m or a 2200m QSO with EIØCF was a much prized DX trophy and a genuine 'right of passage' for many little backyard LF and MF stations throughout Europe.

Nowadays, 630m activity in Europe is not as robust as it once was but Finbar is still active on MF from his modest station. He reports being copied in North America on several occasions. Although mainly active in the WSPR mode, Finbar is now considering the two-way JT9 weak signal QSO mode and may hopefully once again, tease east coast North American MF operators with a new rare entity from his seaside location.

Finbar's WSPRlite setup for 630m

Over the years, EIØCF has gone portable as well as marine mobile to demonstrate the viability of this part of the spectrum for very reliable groundwave comms using equipment that is both simple and quick to deploy. Although he used a CW-based system, his conclusions could just as easily apply to SSB or digital modes.

EI0CF/marine on 630m!

What follows is a delightful adventure, in Finbar's own words, describing some of his field trips back in the 500kHz experimental days ... perhaps it will inspire some North American portable work or provide ideas for an emergency prep 630m grab-and-go kit, or just get you excited about our newest amateur allocation.


                                    ******************
              Operating Portable on 501 - 504 khz Medium Wave



Operations on the north flank of Slieve Snacht Inishowen Peninsula.

In June 2009 Ireland joined a growing number of countries permitted to operate on a small portion of the medium wave band, just below the commercial broadcast segment, in the range 501 - 504 khz. Several stations were granted permission and operations commenced. As has been documented elsewhere many stations have been worked, both in band and cross band, at home and abroad, ranging from Continental Europe, across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada, down to the southern end of Ukraine and finally up to Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and also being heard in Moscow.

A notable feature of this band is the steady reliable nature of groundwave coverage and with this in mind I recently availed of the facility whereby portable operations can take place. Comreg, together with the IRTS and the individual involved, require that each event is applied for, giving relevant dates, location, contact details, hours of operation and the power of the transmitter being used.

In the period leading up to all this it was necessary to build and test a viable portable station based on the use of my Berlingo van. A 30' part of a 40' Spiderbeam fibreglass  pole was used with a simple round wooden peg to secure the 'Tee' wire antenna, which was fabricated from twin twisted multistrand speaker wire. The vertical used both, while the rest was pulled apart to form the two horizontal legs.

A 100 metre roll of 1.5 mm insulated earthing wire was cut into 16 lengths to provide radial wires, with lugs soldered to one end and a bonding bolt used to secure a single point for the radial kit. The far ends formed a small loop which was sealed and secured with insulating tape. The loop provided an eye for a small L shaped stiff wire, fashioned from discarded coat hangers, an ideal and cheap way to hold the ends of the radial wires in place in the ground.

To secure the antenna support to the van, I refer you to the excellent idea described by John EI7BA, on his web page, for a ball hitch connection:

http://www.qsl.net/ei7ba/a_ball_hitch_mobile_mount.htm

Using this superb idea, I got the welder out and made one for myself. It worked perfectly.

I now had the support and wire antenna, with a ballpark figure for what might resonate, along with the radial kit. I next needed a dedicated antenna tuning unit. An old variometer and two extra fixed multitap coils were selected. A home made 1 amp ammeter and SWR twin meter unit completed the fit-out. These were all assembled on a base with a handle on the top, making it easy to move around whilst out and about.

The main antenna for 500kHz was disconnected and left floating and the van set up with all this gear, but no transmitter. Instead, my little antenna bridge running off a 9-volt battery provided the necessary signal to start testing for basic resonance.

Whether from sheer good luck or some sub-conscious input, resonance fell within the range of the variometer with only one of the two extra coils in circuit. The relative height and length also play a part in the range of resonance secured. Matching to 50 ohms was then optimized by selecting 4700 pf Mica capacitors using Croc Clip links. The available value ranged from 1 nF to 14 nF.

I have a selection of 500khz transmitters, two of which are to the design of Roger, GW3UEP, who lives 10 miles inland from the coast, in south Wales. His 500khz web site is well worth checking out, containing plans for versions of his 500khz transmitters, test equipment pictures and recordings of 500khz activities.

http://www.gw3uep.ukfsn.org/

One of these was used to put some RF into this first portable style installation, and by arrangement, Roger listened and heard my signal. We delightedly completed a short contact, with my transmitter running just 10 watts.Things were looking good.

One of the very valuable things about portable operations stems from the need to bring together several elements to secure a working radio station, without the usual backup we enjoy from home. Planning is essential. Doing a dry run, i.e. actually physically building the intended station then notating all the gear required and making a list as well as providing backup items, particularly those that which if broken or lost, would render the whole radio station non-viable. This also extends to the operator of the equipment. Will they be warm or cool enough, have shade, food, water and enough needed rest? Always be prepared to abandon the project if safety is compromised, for whatever reason.



Now that I had a viable portable station for 500kHz working, it was time to head off and test both the equipment and myself in the real world, but without any live transmissions taking place.

Several sites were chosen and tested, with particular emphasis placed on remoteness, i.e. high up on mountains or near the sea. All sites worked very well, but those by the sea proved really excellent. Reception of NDB’s (Non Directional Beacons) provided a ready supply of medium to low frequency signals for range testing. I was now itching to “ have a go “ out in the wilds, on 500kHz! Using the method required by Comreg, an application was made for several sites, on specific days.




In early June I loaded up the van with all the gear and headed off for the mountain above Redcastle, County Donegal. Using a narrow track and climbing higher, to about 270 meters, a place was found leading to an old quarry. Typically, it had started to rain. By the time I had erected the support pole, pulled out and secured the top hat wires using light nylon line and deployed the radial wires around and below the vertical drop wire, my trouser ends were very wet!

Plugging in the 12-volt supply, the receiver was very quickly perked up, using the variometer. The Morse key connected to the QTX transmitter and the transmit / receiver switch flicked over. Time to get some RF flowing in the antenna. Sure enough, on key down, the antenna current meter shot right up to 400 mA, but the SWR match was not exactly perfect. Time to work those Croc Clips and start selecting shunt capacitors to find the perfect match. Soon I had that sorted to my satisfaction, with antenna current now up to 550 mA. A quick return to receive showed that Roger, GW3UEP was already tuned up on frequency.




"..... GW3UEP DE EIØCF/P HW K"

He came back straight away! Oh joy, we were on the air on 500, in a remote mountain area, the top of my antenna almost tipping the clouds as they swept past. I was open to the elements, standing at the back door of the van with the tips of my fingers reaching for the knob of my very favourite old Amplidan morse key, snug beside the other bits and pieces of equipment on the van floor!

My logbook, with its pages flapping back and forward in the wind, soon had the first 500kHz portable contact documented. A full hour later, solid steady signals continued at a distance of 250 miles. Proving just how good groundwave signals can be, I terminated communications from the remote portable location, happy with the results. Within 12 minutes I had dismantled the station and was on my way to Moville, along with a strong cup of coffee at the café on the town's main street.

Several other portable operations have since taken place. A number have also occurred at my home location. We live right beside the sea; high tides lap up on to the salt marsh, which is part of the property.




Driving a single earth rod into the sea shore to a depth of 1 metre, with no radials and just a single wire between the rod and the ATU earth, the 1 amp RF meter had its meter needle slamming against the end stop. Lots of antenna current for 15 watts transmitter output power. Those same 15 watts only providing, at best, 550 mA, whilst up on the mountain sites.

Finally, it was thought productive to try a kite-supported antenna from the seashore portable set up. Winds on the day selected seemed strong enough to enable my Delta shape kite to head aloft with a flying line and antenna wire attached. The Berlingo van was driven down on shore, everything connected and tuned up. All was well, or was it?

The receiver now seemed quite dead with no band noise and no antenna current on transmit. Looking skywards I could see nothing. My eye followed the antenna wire heading for deeper water. Then I saw it. The kite had plunged into the sea! The following 30 minutes entailed untangling loads of seaweed with the line wrapped around rocks, barnacles and everything imaginable. What a mess! I almost gave up, but knew that Roger would be coming up on frequency, on sked, in about 15 minutes.

Eventually I managed to get the kite skywards again but by now the wind was acting more unpredictably. I established contact with Roger and he immediately gave me an S 7 report for my 15 watts. This equated to the report I would get from my main station antenna running 100 watts. My single ground rod and 150 feet of wire were doing the business.

We carried on our contact, but what remained became a battle of wits, with a kite constantly diving down and soaring up again. Several times the antenna wire was in part lying on the sea shore and antenna current way down to 200 mA or lower. My left hand was on the variometer tuning knob, tweaking the setting as best as possible, while pulling in the slack to keep the antenna wire off the ground. Feeding the wire out again to a misbehaving kite, I kept keying away with my right hand, keeping Roger updated so he could understand why my signal was changing both in pitch (sudden antenna mis-match conditions) and signal strength.

Luckily he was also making a recording, which proved later to be a fascinating record of a difficult portable antenna and station operation. It’s remarkable how tolerant, despite the wildly changing antenna conditions, the system actually was in practice. Communications were maintained despite all these negative factors and severely decreased radiated power at times.


Several other tests were conducted within these experiments which would have been almost impossible to conduct without the challenges thrown up by my portable operations. To my mind the 501 – 504khz band exhibits a distinct advantage for enhanced groundwave coverage over that available to higher frequencies.

Relatively simple equipment deployed in remote locations, with or without the availability of the power grid, would provide a solid backbone link or network in times of emergency. Transmitter power output was kept deliberately low to ensure that a higher ERP would not mask any possible weakness in the system. I am happy to conclude that Medium Frequency CW proved it’s worth once again.

Already I have further plans to test smaller, more compact portable antenna and earthing systems in more remote locations.

Finbar O’Connor EIØCF Malin, County Donegal.

BF-362 Seattle

courtesy: NOAA

My log consisted of 30 stations, with all but two from Friday night before the storm. As usual, the receiver was a Perseus SDR and an 'Inverted-L', resonated at 300 kHz.
25 12:00  350     SWU   Idaho Falls, ID, USA
25 08:00  350     RG   Oklahoma City, OK, USA
25 07:00  350     NY   Enderby, BC, CAN
25 07:00  351     YKQ   Waskaganish, QC, CAN
26 12:00  352     RG   Rarotonga IAP, CKS
25 07:00  353     ZXY   Whitehorse, YT, CAN
25 08:00  353     PG   Portage La Prairie, MB, CAN
25 13:00  353     LLD   Lanai Island, HWA
25 07:00  353     AL   Dixie, WA, USA
25 12:00  355     AUB   King Salmon, ALS
25 12:00  356     ZXE   Saskatoon, SK, CAN
25 08:00  356     ZF   Yellowknife, NT, CAN
25 08:00  356     PND   Portland, OR, USA
25 08:00  356     ON   Penticton, BC, CAN
25 12:00  356     MEF   Medford, OR, USA
25 09:00  358     SIT   Sitka, ALS
25 09:00  359     YQZ   Quesnel, BC, CAN
25 09:00  359     YAZ   Tofino, BC, CAN
25 07:00  361     HI   Holman, NT, CAN
25 07:00  361     E3   Wabasca, AB, CAN
25 07:00  362     YZS    Coral Harbour, NU, CAN
25 07:00  362     RPX   Roundup, MT, USA
25 07:00  362     BF   Seattle, WA, USA
25 08:00  362     6T   Foremost, AB, CAN
25 07:00  365     YGZ   Grise Fiord, NU, CAN
25 12:00  365     MA   Mayo, YT, CAN
27 08:00  365     DPY   Deer Park, WA, USA
25 07:00  365     AA   Harwood, MN, USA
25 12:00  368     ZP   Sandspit, BC, CAN
25 12:00  368     VX   Dafoe, SK, CAN

The results from ALL participants may be viewed here.