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Following the recent good LF propagation to Alaska allowing me to hear several low powered NDBs that I haven't heard since early last fall (shows what a dismal DX winter this has been), I decided to check Saturday morning's Perseus recordings made about 30 minutes before local dawn.
I have previously only logged one station from Alaska on the medium wave band but then again, I don't often look for them.

I was surprised to hear the normal KBOI (Boise) powerhouse on 670KHz replaced by another strong signal ... KDLG in Dillingham. It can still be heard weakly under KDLG's strong signal. Listen as they go from a piano interlude to the ID. I just can't make out the short part before the identification when the announcer says, "this is your ?? radio station ...". It sounds like 'Monday" but this was on Saturday morning.

Next heard was KICY, in Nome, all in the clear on 850KHz with a good identification.

KICY was followed by KAGV in Big Lake, near Anchorage, on 1110KHz. This was a lucky catch as KBND in Bend, Oregon had a huge signal at the time but went open mike just long enough for KAGV to be clearly heard. Listen as the strong KBND signal goes quiet only to start up again at the end of the Alaskan's identification ... perfect timing!

A fourth Alaskan, KVNT in Eagle River, was also logged on 1020KHz... not with an ident but with talk of "Eagle River".

All-in-all, a good morning to the north. As the solar cycle draws lower and lower, this type of reception will only get better over the next few years ... something to look forward to for BCB DXers.

courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps

All of these signals were heard at 1400Z using the Perseus SDR and my 70' inverted L resonated at 400KHz.

The LF NDB band was alive with signals from the east on Tuesday evening ... not the best I have heard but one of the better openings this winter. Nothing over the past few years can compare with the unbelievably good propagation of the last Solar Cycle minimum, so there should be some great LF propagation in the upcoming years. Remember also that listening for NDB's in the 400Khz range can be a good test of your 630m receiving system.

My nightly "go to" propagation indicators to the east are YLJ-406, in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan and AA-365, in Fargo, on the ND/MN border. Their reported powers are 15W and 100W respectively.

YLJ's signal was a solid S9 as heard here, while AA, further to the south was also doing well, heard here.

Further to the east, 25W ZHD-399, in Dryden, Ontario, revealed itself here.

From near Montreal, ZHU-407, at 95W, made a rare appearance here, along with YMW-366, a 500-watter from Maniwaki, Quebec here.

YMW-366KHz Maniwaki, QC courtesy: http://www.ve3gop.com/pict.htm

By far the highlight of the evening (and a new catch for me) was little OO-391, at the Ottawa Municipal Airport, Ontario ... last reported to be at just 7W output! Listen here carefully for the long dash followed by the 'OO'.

OO-391KHz Oshawa, ON courtesy: http://www.ve3gop.com/pict.htm

Yahoo Group's NDBlist member, VE3GOP, is the beacon maintenance man for OO and many others, and will check the power tomorrow.

All of these signals were heard at ~ 9PM local time, in a 6Hz filter using the Perseus SDR and my 10' x 20' active loop.

The previous morning had some of the year's best propagation to Alaska so far ... that direction has been dismal ... with the following NDB's heard (mostly 25-watters) in the pre-dawn hours:

03 10 1300 529 SQM Level Island AK CO36
03 10 1300 396 CMJ Ketchikan AK CO45
03 10 1300 391 EEF Sisters Island AK CO28
03 10 1300 372 FPN Fredericks Point AK CO36
03 10 1300 266 ICK Annette Island AK CO45
03 10 1300 414 IME Mt. Edgecumbe AK CO27
03 10 1300 394 RWO Kodiak AK BO37
03 10 1300 209 CYT Yakataga AK BP80
03 10 1300 390 HBT Sand Point AK AO95
03 10 1300 358 SIT Sitka AK CO26
03 10 1300 350 VTR McGrath AK BP22
03 10 1100 338 CMQ Campbell Lake AK BP41
03 10 1100 233 ALJ Johnstone Point AK BP60
03 10 1100 212 CGL Coghlan Island AK CO28
03 10 1100 223 AFE Kake AK CO36
03 10 1100 229 AKW Klawock AK CO35
03 10 1100 283 DUT Dutch Harbor AK AO63
03 10 1100 245 HNS Haines AK CO29
03 10 1300 347 DJN Delta Junction AK BP74
03 10 1100 411 ILI Iliama AK BO29
03 10 1100 277 ACE Homer AK BO49
03 10 1100 355 AUB King Salmon AK BO18
03 10 1100 524 MNL Valdez AK BP61
03 10 1300 382 JNR Unalakleet AK AP93
03 10 1100 281 CRN Cairn Mountain AK BP21
03 10 1100 385 EHM Cape Newenham AK AO88
03 10 1100 385 OCC Yakutat AK CO09
03 10 1300 390 AES Northway AK BP29
03 10 1100 404 GCR Cordova AK BP70
03 10 1100 525 ICW Nenana AK BP54
03 10 1300 251 OSE Bethel AK AP90
03 10 1100 341 ELF Cold Bay AK AO85
03 10 1300 248 GLA Gulkana AK BP72
03 10 1100 379 IWW Kenai AK BP40
03 10 1300 399 SRI St. George AK AO56
03 10 1300 393 TOG Togiak, AK AO99
03 10 1300 429 BTS Dillingham, AK BO08
03 10 1300 227 MHM Minchumina AK BP33

Unfortunately it looks like LF prop will be deteriorating rapidly, with the recent round of flares expecting to stir up absorption levels over the next several days ... however, HF should see the benefits of the increased sunspot activity ... maybe all is not lost after all!

Normally, 1660 KHz is dominated here by Spanish format KTIQ in Merced, California. I was surprised to tune past 1660 early on Saturday evening to hear Country & Western music. The top-of-hour ID was "Willie 1660 AM" who turned out to be KQWB in Fargo, North Dakota ... state #29 for me on the broadcast band! Not only was it dominating the frequency with an S9 +10db carrier, there were no other stations to be heard ... not even a whisper of KTIQ, normally heard weakly, even when looping to the east.

courtesy: https://www.google.com/maps/

Their 5 tower array is evidently doing a good job, when  propagation favors the eastern path as the antenna pattern has a strong western component while nulling the east.

courtesy: http://radio-locator.com

"... all country legends. This is a Taylor Swift-free zone, Willie at 1660 AM".

KQWB was logged at 0300Z (7 PM local time) using the 10' x 20' loop and Perseus SDR.

CIAO Antenna courtesy: https://maps.google.ca/

In spite of the high K index, the broadcast band was in good shape Friday night, with a nice signal from CIAO in Brampton, Ontario. Like many of the new stations out on the west coast, this is a multi-lingual broadcaster, with most programming in Punjabi or Hindi.

Courtesy: https://maps.google.ca/

It is supposedly limited to 250 watts at night but from the sound of their signal, this regulation may not be being followed ... either that or conditions were even better than I thought.

My recording was made at 0600z (10PM local time) while looping E-W with the 10'x20' loop and the Perseus SDR.


See if you can detect the telephone numbers being given. All have an area code assigned to the Toronto region. As well, there is a second station riding beneath. I suspect one of the Cubans, Radio Reloje or Radio Enciclopedia, both on 530. There also appears to be a top-of-hour short time 'pip' ...either from the Cuban or from CIAO.

Perhaps some more experienced readers can help fill-in the blanks for me.

With the recent quieting of the geomagnetic field, resulting in K values of 0's and 1's, along with a positive-going DST value, the broadcast band on Wednesday and Thursday night was much more vibrant than it has been in several weeks.

Being located on the eastern shoreline of Mayne Island, the direction towards all of the U.S.A. is over many miles of saltwater, so my main interest is in domestic / U.S.A. DX.

Wednesday evening netted two new states on the BCB ... Kansas and Indiana, for states #27 and #28 respectively, both heard on the Perseus SDR and my 10' x 20' amplified loop.

KWOD, on 1660KHz, identifying as "The Business Channel", was logged during a short top-of-the-hour fade-up at 0600z (10PM local time). Their night power is listed as 1,000 watts while their day power is 10,000 watts.

KWOD - Kansas courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps

KWOD Towers courtesy https://www.google.ca/maps

The transmitter site is located in the middle of a quiet residential district of older homes ... on all four sides.

I shudder to think what RFI problems those living in the adjacent homes must suffer when they are on daytime power!

WSLM - Indiana courtesy :https://www.google.ca/maps

WSLM, on 1220KHz, was also logged at 0600z, during a two-minute fade-up and in the middle of the local weather report.

Interestingly, the station's night-power is listed as "82 watts", which, judging by the readability of their signal, was not the case. Perhaps the engineer just 'forgot' to switch from their daylight power of 5,000 watts!

Their phased antenna array puts their main lobes, due east and west, so evidently I was catching the northern edge of their pattern.

courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps

See what you can hear their during the short recording made of  the "Country WSLM" weather report





I have yet to check last night's recordings to see if conditions have held-up for two night's running ... more later if so.

Courtesy: http://www.solen.info/solar/

Those of you following the CLE low frequency NDB listening events, will know that this past one was longer than usual, running from December 25th to January 6th. Once again, the sun demonstrated its nasty-side, right on schedule. Conditions from this part of the continent were dreadful, while others, further to the south, were not as badly affected.

The cause of the poor propagation was a continual coronal hole stream, from a very large area in the sun's southern regions, as shown here. Now it appears that Coronal Hole 649, in the north, is about to swing into a geoeffective position, and take over the task of disrupting propagation.

CLE189 covered the range of 275-425KHz, with the objective of logging at least one beacon (preferrably the farthest one) on each available channel (150 in total). There are a number of channels that have no NDBs as well as many that get completely clobbered by 1 Kw DGPS (digital QRM) navigation signals along the coasts and the Great Lakes. Additionaly, I was fighting the new noisemaker in my neighborhood, which has yet to be eliminated.

Here is a screen shot of my Perseus receiver, showing the crud being generated...every 60Hz and never constant...drifting in and out of the desired passband continually. The only way to hear signals was to wait until there was a short hole created by the drifters going by. I will be happy when this is issue is finally resolved.

My log shows 111 stations in total, a surprising number, considering the poor propagation and the QRM. If anything, this demonstrates just what a superb receiver the Perseus SDR is:

29 01:26 275 HIN 1053 Whitney - Chadron Muni Apt, NE, USA
31 13:00 277 ACE 1344 Kachemak - Homer Apt, ALS
31 15:00 278 1U 521 Masset Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
31 15:00 280 GYZ 1005 Camp Guernsey - Guernsey, WY, USA
31 15:00 281 CRN 1510 Cairn Mtn - Sparrevohn LRRS, ALS
31 15:00 283 DUT 1867 Dutch Harbor - Unalaska Apt, ALS
29 09:00 284 QD 1014 The Pas Municipal Apt, MB, CAN
31 04:00 286 EKS 600 Ennis - Big Sky Apt, MT, USA
29 09:00 287 ZWG 1168 Winnipeg, MB, CAN
29 09:00 290 YYF 171 Penticton, BC, CAN
29 09:00 292 ZET 518 Devon - Edmonton IAP, AB, CAN
29 09:00 293 MB 18 Mill Bay - Sidney, BC, CAN
29 09:00 295 8C 537 Fairview Municipal Apt, AB, CAN
31 15:00 296 LGD 349 La Grande, OR, USA
29 09:00 299 TV 417 Turner Valley, AB, CAN
29 09:00 300 YIV 1272 Island Lake Apt, MB, CAN
29 09:00 302 QW 705 North Battleford, SK, CAN
29 09:00 304 FH 485 Mc Leod (Whitecourt), AB, CAN
29 09:00 305 YQ 1362 Churchill / Eastern Creek, MB, CAN
29 06:00 308 ZZD 515 Calmar (Edmonton Intl Apt), AB, CAN
29 08:00 311 9Y 421 Pincher Creek, AB, CAN
29 08:00 312 UNT 173 Naramata, BC, CAN
31 08:00 317 VC 873 La Ronge, SK, CAN
29 12:00 320 YQF 469 Red Deer - Penhold, AB, CAN
29 12:00 323 HJH 1393 Hebron Municipal Apt, NE, USA
31 06:00 325 YJQ 312 Bella Bella (Campbell Island), BC, CAN
29 12:00 326 DC 131 Princeton Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
29 07:00 328 YTL 1465 Big Trout Lake, ON, CAN
29 12:00 329 YEK 1414 Arviat, NU, CAN
02 09:00 330 2A 1147 South Indian Lake Apt, MB, CAN
29 13:00 332 POA 2681 Pahoa - Hawaii Island, HWA
29 09:00 333 STI 540 'Sturgeon' Mountain Home, ID, USA
29 09:00 334 YER 1560 Fort Severn, ON, CAN
29 09:00 335 YLD 1813 Chapleau - Devon, ON, CAN
29 12:00 336 LF 1167 La Salle, MB, CAN
29 09:00 337 7D 956 Hudson Bay, SK, CAN
29 08:00 338 RYN 1316 Ryan Field Apt - Tucson, AZ, USA
29 09:00 339 6X 1237 York Landing, MB, CAN
29 09:00 340 YY 2452 Mont Joli, QC, CAN
31 15:00 341 ELF 1710 Elfee - Cold Bay, ALS
29 12:00 342 PFT 1232 Piney - Pinecreek Border Apt, MN, USA
29 12:00 343 YZH 571 Slave Lake Municipal Apt, AB, CAN
29 14:00 344 FCH 857 Chandler - Fresno, CA, USA
29 09:00 346 YXL 1401 Sioux Lookout Municipal Apt, ON, CAN
29 09:00 347 PA 814 Prince Albert, SK, CAN
29 12:00 348 MNC 112 'Mason Co' Shelton, WA, USA
29 09:00 349 GW 1999 'Teock' Greenwood, MS, USA
29 08:00 350 RG 1604 GALLY - Oklahoma City, OK, USA
31 08:00 351 YKQ 1948 Waskaganish, QC, CAN
29 09:00 353 LLD 2684 Lanai - Lanai Island, HWA
29 09:00 355 YWP 1572 Webequie, ON, CAN
29 09:00 356 ZF 995 Yellowknife, NT, CAN
29 09:00 358 SIT 750 Sitka - Biorka Island, ALS
29 09:00 359 SDY 879 Sidney, MT, USA
29 09:00 360 SW 1267 'Roadd' Warroad, MN, USA
29 09:00 361 E3 630 Wabasca, AB, CAN
29 09:00 362 YZS 1807 Coral Harbour, NU, CAN
29 09:00 364 4D 735 Helmet, BC, CAN
29 09:00 365 HQG 1362 Hugoton Municipal Apt, KS, USA
29 07:00 366 YMW 2179 Maniwaki, QC, CAN
29 09:00 367 R5 1038 Pukatawagan Apt, MB, CAN
02 10:00 368 PNM 1402 Princeton Municipal Apt, MN, USA
29 13:00 370 YBV 1169 Berens River Apt, MB, CAN
29 09:00 371 GW 1946 Jarpik - Kuujjuarapik, QC, CAN
29 09:00 372 ZPA 824 Glass (Prince Albert), SK, CAN
29 09:00 373 TF 1191 ARUBA - Pueblo Mem Apt, CO, USA
29 13:00 374 LV 776 REIGA - Livermore, CA, USA
29 09:00 375 BM 1163 Balmoral, MB, CAN
29 09:00 376 YAG 1345 Fort Frances, ON, CAN
29 09:00 377 EHA 1350 Elkhart - Morton County Apt, KS, USA
29 12:00 378 OT 381 EMIRE - North Bend, OR, USA
29 09:00 379 YBE 945 Uranium City, SK, CAN
29 09:00 380 OEL 1297 Oakley Municipal Apt, KS, USA
29 09:00 382 YPL 1461 Pickle Lake, ON, CAN
29 09:00 383 CNP 1146 Chappell, NE, USA
29 09:00 384 3F 792 Ile-a-la-crosse, SK, CAN
29 15:00 385 EHM 1693 Cape Newenham LRRS Apt, ALS
29 09:00 386 HAU 558 Hauser - Helena, MT, USA
02 09:00 387 CAV 1473 Clarion, IA, USA
29 08:00 388 AM 2596 'Picny' Tampa, FL, USA
29 13:00 389 CSB 1275 Harry Strunk - Cambridge Muni, NE, USA
29 10:00 390 HBT 1620 Borland - Sand Point Apt, ALS
29 09:00 391 DDP 3772 Dorado - Vega Baja, PTR
29 12:00 392 XVG 1344 Longville, MN, USA
29 09:00 393 BR 2101 'Depoo' Brownsville, TX, USA
29 09:00 394 RWO 1333 Woody Island - Kodiak, ALS
29 09:00 395 ULS 1342 Ulysses Apt, KS, USA
29 09:00 396 YPH 1923 Inukjuak Apt, QC, CAN
29 09:00 397 ZSS 760 Yellowhead (Saskatoon), SK, CAN
29 09:00 398 3D 965 Cumberland House, SK, CAN
29 09:00 399 ZHD 1371 'Thunder' Dryden, ON, CAN
29 09:00 400 FN 1071 COLLN - Fort Collins, CO, USA
29 09:00 400 CKN 1220 Crookston, MN, USA
29 09:00 401 YPO 1644 Peawanuck Apt, ON, CAN
29 09:00 402 L4 888 Nipawin, SK, CAN
29 13:00 403 AZC 971 Colorado City Municipal Apt, AZ, USA
29 15:00 404 GCR 1185 Glacier River - Cordova Apt, ALS
29 14:00 405 2K 538 Camrose, AB, CAN
29 09:00 406 YLJ 725 Meadow Lake, SK, CAN
29 08:00 407 CO 1157 PETEY - Fountain, CO, USA
29 09:00 408 MW 221 PELLY - Moses Lake, WA, USA
29 10:00 408 JDM 1270 Wheatfield - Colby, KS, USA
29 12:00 410 GDV 860 Glendive - Dawson Comm Apt, MT, USA
29 09:00 412 1W 996 Sandy Bay, SK, CAN
29 12:00 413 YHD 1361 Dryden Regional, ON, CAN
29 09:00 414 GRN 1094 Gordon, NE, USA
29 09:00 415 CBC 3129 Cayman Brac - West End, CYM
29 09:00 417 IY 1508 CHUKK - Floyd, IA, USA
29 09:00 419 RYS 1975 Detroit / Grosse Ile, MI, USA
29 09:00 420 FQ 1422 MONTZ - East Chain, MN, USA
29 09:00 421 VLY 1721 McKenney, TX, USA

Once again, the 10' x 20' loop was employed for the entire affair, surviving two bad wind storms during the listening event.

It's always interesting to use one of the many 'audio viewing' software programs, such as 'Argo', 'Spectran' or Spectrum Lab, driven with receiver audio, to dig deep into a section of the spectrum using very narrow bandwidths. The narrower the bandwidth becomes, the greater the signal-to-noise ratio, increasing sensitivity in effect. The use of digital signal processing software can create the extremely narrow milliHertz  filtering needed to view signals buried deep in the noise...the deeper the search (20db, 30db or more into the noise), the longer the time needed to build up the visual display of signals that would be far too weak to detect aurally.

Recently, rather than using Argo to view a slice of spectrum I set up the Perseus waterfall display to have a deep-look at 1240kHz. This is one of the broadcast-band's 'local' channels and one that BCB DXers refer to as a 'graveyard channel'. Almost all stations on the various graveyard frequencies run a maximum of 1kW day and night. According to the Medium Wave List, there are presently 166 stations in North America operating on 1240kHz...one of the reasons that 'DXing the graveyards' is so interesting.

With this in mind, I recently took a mid-afternoon listen. Just one station was audible to my ear, likely one of the stations to my south in Washington state. Centering Perseus on 1240kHz, the waterfall was set to display a ~50Hz slice of the spectrum...1240kHz +/- 25Hz. The screen below shows the display, ranging from 1239.976kHz to 1240.024kHz. After letting the waterfall visual display slowly build up, it revealed 26 separate carriers. The remaining signals, although propagating to my location, were too weak to be detected aurally.

26 midday carriers visible on 1240kHz

Checking the MWList once again, it shows only 11 stations to be within expected daylight groundwave distance from here...Washington, Oregon and B.C. Evidently there is some mid-afternoon skywave involved or I am seeing some extended groundwave from Idaho, Montana and California. MW List shows a total of 27 possible candidates, assuming extended groundwave, so it would seem that most of them are making it here in daylight.


The screen above was made approximately one hour after sunset (looping E-W) and shows the same 25Hz slice centered on 1240kHz. There are ~70 carriers visible by now, with most of them fading. Some transmitters appear to be rock-solid while most exhibit a cyclical drift, no doubt the result of some form of crystal temperature stability attempt. I'm guessing that the rock-solid ones are using more modern synthesizers for frequency generation.

Listening on 1240 during this period reveals a boiling cauldron of audio, mostly unreadable until one station fades-up and becomes intelligible for a short period before fading to be replaced by another. Sitting on this frequency at the top-of-hour identification time can often catch a few idents with careful listening.


Even comparatively empty 540kHz reveals 22 different carriers, the only audible one being CBK in Watrous, Saskatchewan, the brighter trace at 540.002kHz. The one at the right looks as if it may have just come on the air for the evening. It's possible that many of these are low powered traffic information stations (TIS) running at 10 watts.