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With a very quiet sun for the entire week, this past weekend's CLE proved to have much better conditions than normally experienced.


Conditions were 'good' but not 'great'. Really 'great' nights are few and far between but with the rapidly declining solar cycle, we should see more and more of these over the next few winters.

Most listeners around the world reported good conditions, with the nod going to Friday night as being the best. I thought that all three nights were good, but heard nothing new on night number three.

A surprise catch, with a good signal, was 'BRA -379' in Asheville, North Carolina. It's classified as an 'H-class' NDB and is an outer marker locator. I believe the H-class indicates a 400W transmitter and with the large vertical antenna, seems to get out very well.

courtesy: http://www.bing.com/maps

Even more surprising was 'SPH-375' located in Springhill, Louisiana. It is an LOM ndb, being co-located with the runway's ILS outer marker. The beacon appears to be using the classic "T' as seen here and is likely in the 25 watt range.

courtesy: http://www.bing.com/maps

As I mentioned earlier, I was rather dreading this CLE since my local blowtorch pest signal (AP-378) was smack in the middle of the CLE's frequency range. 'AP' is located 6/10ths of a mile from me, just down the shoreline and has a huge signal here.

Fortunately, Perseus has an extremely effective 'notch' filter, and this, along with putting 'AP' in my LF loop's null, allowed me to hear two other NDB's beneath it ... 'ZFA' (Faro, Yukon) and 'UX' (Hall Beach, Nunavut).

The following 44 stations were heard on the Perseus SDR while using either the LF loop or my inverted 'L', tuned to 370 kHz.

27 06:00 370.0 YBV Berens River, MB, CAN
27 06:00 370.0 PAI Whiteman, CA, USA
27 06:00 371.0 YK Yakima, WA, USA
27 11:00 371.0 UK Laughlin, CA, USA
27 06:00 371.0 PUR Marshall, MO, USA
27 06:00 371.0 ITU Great Falls, MT, USA
27 05:00 371.0 GW Kuujjuarapik, QC, CAN
27 06:00 372.0 ZPA Prince Albert, SK, CAN
27 08:00 372.0 YCO Kugluktuk, NU, CAN
27 05:00 373.0 MF Table Rock, OR, USA
27 06:00 374.0 LV Livermore, CA, USA
28 09:00 374.0 HY Hays, KS, USA
27 05:00 374.0 EX Kelowna, BC, CAN
27 08:00 374.0 EE Forada, MN, USA
28 09:30 375.0 SPH Springhill, LA, USA
27 05:00 375.0 FS Fort Simpson, NT, CAN
27 07:00 375.0 CP Casper, WY, USA
27 08:00 375.0 BM Balmoral, MB, CAN
27 08:00 375.0 BD Moose Jaw, SK, CAN
27 08:30 376.0 ZIN Matthew Town, BAH
27 07:00 376.0 YAG Fort Frances, ON, CAN
27 05:00 376.0 PVQ Deadhorse, ALS
27 07:00 376.0 LC Columbus, OH, USA
27 09:00 377.0 EHA Elkhart, KS, USA
27 08:00 377.0 BUB Burwell, NE, USA
27 08:00 378.0 ZFA Faro, YT, CAN
27 05:00 378.0 UX Hall Beach, NU, CAN
27 07:00 378.0 OT North Bend, OR, USA
27 05:00 378.0 AP Mayne Island, BC, CAN
27 08:00 379.0 ZEG Edmonton, AB, CAN
28 11:00 379.0 IWW Kenai, ALS
27 07:00 379.0 DL Duluth, MN, USA
27 08:00 379.0 BRA Asheville, NC, USA
27 10:00 380.0 OEL Oakley, KS, USA
27 08:00 380.0 GC Gillette, WY, USA
27 05:00 380.0 BBD Brady, TX, USA
27 08:00 381.5 SJX St James, MI, USA
27 10:00 382.0 YPW Powell River, BC, CAN
27 10:00 382.0 YE Fort Nelson, BC, CAN
27 06:00 382.0 SP Springfield, IL, USA
27 08:00 382.0 JNR Unalakleet, ALS
27 08:00 382.0 AW Marysville, WA, USA
27 10:00 383.0 PI Pocatello, ID, USA
27 07:00 383.0 CNP Chappell, NE, USA
27 10:00 384.0 3F Ile-a-la-crosse, SK, CAN

The listening results for all North American listeners and those outside of Europe can be found here.
　

A recent posting to Yahoo's 'NDB List Group' by Mike, an ardent NDB DXer in the UK (Sussex), announced the recent completion of his four-part video series describing the installation and testing of a new PAØRDT active antenna.


If you may be contemplating the installation of an active antenna such as this, or perhaps making a start at DXing the NDB band or listening on 630m, then you might enjoy following Mike's journey as he demonstrates that living in the noisy suburbs need not keep you from enjoying the LF/MF bands. Mike includes some interesting tests involving his grounding system versus noise ingress and the results of keeping the electrical main's ground isolated (or not) from the antenna cable's ground.

The PAØRDT active whip is available from PAØRDT himself or if you are handy with a soldering iron, you might choose to build the same antenna in your workshop. These simple yet highly effective receiving antennas are being used successfully by hundreds of listeners all over the world and for their size provide some pretty amazing performance.












Much more information on the PAØRDT e-probe antenna may be found here in a previous blog posting. To see more of Mike's videos, you can visit his interesting Youtube Channel here.

As has been the case for much of this winter's DX season, LF conditions were very erratic during this past weekend's CLE NDB-listening event.



Geomagnetic activity fluctuated wildly from hour to hour, gradually settling down for Sunday night's last opportunity, with K-indices dropping to 1's or Ø's.

courtesy: http://www.solarham.net/planetk.htm

With the DST slowly climbing towards positive numbers after a week of coronal hole streaming and auroral absorption, I had hoped that Sunday night's conditions would be a bit better than they were ... although poor, it was the better of the three nights.

courtesy: http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dst_realtime/presentmonth/index.html

Participants in the central and southern states noted excellent conditions and were not as badly affected as listeners to the north, where the effects of any auroral activity are sudden and much more severe ... I'm always surprised at just how much difference one or two hundred miles further to the south can make.

The following NDB's were heard over the course of the weekend, all using the Perseus SDR to record two-minute grabs, every hour, from dusk through dawn. Going over the recordings takes some time but being able to, in effect, listen all night, readilly illustrates how much the band conditions on LF can change so drastically from hour-to-hour ... sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

25 11:00 350 VTR McGrath, ALS
23 05:00 350 SWU Id Falls, ID, USA
23 05:00 350 RG Oklahoma City, OK, USA
25 10:00 350 RB Resolute Bay, NU, CAN
23 05:00 350 ON Agate, OR, USA
23 05:00 350 NY Enderby, BC, CAN
24 13:00 350 DNS Denison, IA, USA
24 10:00 351 YKQ Waskaganish, QC, CAN
23 05:00 351 AE Paradise Hills, NM, USA
23 09:00 352 RG Rarotonga, CKS
25 10:00 353 ZXY Whitehorse, YT, CAN
23 05:00 353 RNT Renton, WA, USA
23 04:00 353 PG Portage La Prairie, MB, CAN
23 08:00 353 LLD Lanai, HWA
24 09:00 353 IN Ericsburg, MN, USA
23 08:00 353 DI Dickinson, ND, USA
23 05:00 353 CY Cheyenne, WY, USA
23 05:00 353 AL Dixie, WA, USA
23 08:00 353 5F Chevron, AB, CAN
24 07:00 355 YWP Webequie, ON, CAN
25 14:30 355 AUB King Salmon, ALS
23 08:00 356 ZXE Saskatoon, SK, CAN
23 08:00 356 ZF Yellowknife, NT, CAN
23 11:00 356 PND Portland, OR, USA
23 08:00 356 ON Penticton, BC, CAN
25 11:00 356 ODX Ord, NE, USA
23 08:00 356 MEF Medford, OR, USA
24 11:00 358 YKG Kangiqsujuaq, QC, CAN
23 05:00 359 YQZ Quesnel, BC, CAN
23 05:00 359 YAZ Tofino, BC, CAN
23 05:00 359 SDY Sidney, MT, USA
24 13:00 359 GGF Grant, NE, USA
23 05:00 359 BO Ustick, ID, USA
24 11:00 360 SW Warroad, MN, USA
25 13:00 361 HI Holman, NT, CAN
23 08:00 361 E3 Wabasca, AB, CAN
25 10:30 362 YZS Coral Harbour, NU, CAN
23 08:00 362 RPX Roundup, MT, USA
23 09:00 362 OWP Sand Springs, OK, USA
23 08:00 362 BF Seattle, WA, USA
23 08:00 362 6T Foremost, AB, CAN
23 10:00 364 4D Helmet, BC, CAN
25 07:00 365 PAL Palma, EQA
23 05:00 365 MA Mayo, YT, CAN
23 05:00 365 HQG Hugoton, KS, USA
23 05:00 365 DPY Deer Park, WA, USA
23 06:00 365 AA Harwood, MN, USA
25 10:00 366 YMW Maniwaki, QC, CAN
25 11:00 366 PNI Pohnpei, FSM
25 10:00 366 EOK Keokuk, IA, USA
25 11:30 367 R5 Pukatawagan, MB, CAN
23 08:00 368 ZP Sandspit, BC, CAN
23 08:00 368 VX Dafoe, SK, CAN
23 08:00 368 SX Cranbrook, BC, CAN
25 11:00 368 SOY Sioux, IA, USA

It will be nice to see a 'quiet sun' once again, hopefully sooner than later. For such a wimpy solar cycle, this one is not going down without a valiant fight, as it continues to mess-up LF and MF propagation, with an almost non-stop bombardment of coronal hole streams.

Over the past two weeks, I have spent some time reviewing several Perseus SDR recordings sent to me by Walter Salminaw in Victoria, B.C.




Walter is a hard core, mainly BCB DXer, who has a winterized vacation home in the remote Haida Gwaii Archipelago region of north west British Columbia, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.


He has built several permanent antennas, including loops and various beverages, mainly favoring Asia, the Pacific and over-the-pole. Some of his BCB recordings reveal mind-numbing signals from all parts of Asia ... not S9, but S9+++ and simply amazing.

I had asked Walter for some of his files that covered the NDB band, during periods of good propagation, so that I might be able to determine if my selected list of Alaskan beacons were actually on-the-air or not. There are several NDBs in Alaska that seem to be active, according to FAA information, but have never been heard by NDB DXers. Using Walt's recordings, along with his NW-pointed beverage, allowed my to have a deep listen into Alaska and finally get some answers.

It was exciting to tune through the very quiet band, from a northern perspective, and to hear many of the more 'difficult' (normally weak here) Alaskan targets at S9 levels. Unfortunately, going through my list of suspects, turned-up no sign of activity from any of them and explains why I have never been able to hear them from here! Like so many regions around the world, it seems that the once huge network of Alaskan NDBs is quickly being phased out up there as well.

An unexpected side benefit of going through Walt's files, turned up several instances of beacons in the Canadian north, that had been reported shut down, several years ago. It was surprising to hear them still as active as ever. Additionally, one NDB in Alaska, unheard here for two years and thought to be gone for some time, was found to be still happily keying away.

I've sent these findings to the RNA database for updating ... but it would have been nice to hear some of my long-sought after Alaskan 'ghosts', which seem likely to have been off-the-air for several years.

I would like to thank Walter for taking the time to share his Perseus files with me and for his unexpected contribution to the RNA database. Here are a few of the log's highlights:

DD UTC kHz Call mi New Location

courtesy: http://www.noaa.gov/

The CLE 200 event this past weekend once again delivered mediocre propagation on all three evenings. In spite of Sunday night's G1-class geomagnetic storm and high K values, Sunday's overnight period proved to be the best of the weekend's generally 'below average' conditions ... this is the time of the year that LF propagation is usually at its best. Thankfully, there are still several months ahead that could offer some really great mid-winter prop.

The following NDBs were logged using the Perseus SDR along with my LF inverted L, resonated at 300kHz:

28 09:00 335 CC Concord, CA, USA
28 09:00 335 CVP Helena, MT, USA
28 08:00 335 YUT Repulse Bay, NU, CAN
28 06:00 335 YLD Chapleau, ON, CAN
28 09:00 336 LF La Salle, MB, CAN
28 13:00 337 FF Fergus Falls, MN, USA
28 09:00 337 7D Hudson Bay, SK, CAN
28 12:00 338 CMQ Campbell Lake, ALS
28 09:00 338 ZU Whitecourt, AB, CAN
28 12:00 338 RYN Tucson, AZ, USA
30 08:00 338 SHL Sheldon, IA, USA
28 07:00 338 TU Tulsa, OK, USA
28 12:00 338 YPX Puvirnituq, QC, CAN
28 12:00 338 K Port Angeles, WA, USA
28 10:00 339 6X York Landing, MB, CAN
28 10:00 339 MKR Glasgow, MT, USA
29 06:00 340 YY Mont Joli, QC, CAN
28 13:00 341 ELF Cold Bay, ALS
28 10:00 341 OIN Oberlin, KS, USA
29 06:00 341 YYU Kapuskasing, ON, CAN
28 09:00 341 DB Burwash, YT, CAN
28 09:00 342 PFT Pinecreek, MN, USA
28 09:00 343 YZH Slave Lake, AB, CAN
28 09:00 344 YOP Rainbow Lake, AB, CAN
28 09:00 344 XX Abbotsford, BC, CAN
28 09:00 344 FCH Fresno, CA, USA
28 09:00 344 BKU Baker, MT, USA
28 09:00 344 POY Powell, WY, USA
30 08:00 345 GF Grand Forks, ND, USA
30 08:00 346 OLT Soldotna, ALS
28 09:00 346 YXL Sioux Lookout, ON, CAN
28 15:00 347 TNC Tin City, ALS
28 13:30 347 DJN Delta Junction, ALS
28 06:00 347 LEN Leeny, ID, USA
28 15:00 347 SBX Shelby, MT, USA
30 08:00 347 YK Yankton, SD, USA
28 09:00 347 PA Prince Albert, SK, CAN
30 08:00 348 MC Mason City, IA, USA
28 07:00 348 MNC Shelton, WA, USA