DXers Notebook - Sat, 2 Jun 2001

Rick Dau <rdau36@yahoo.com>: This is an old thread, but I'll put in my thoughts. From three different locations here in Iowa (Oakland, Iowa City, Spirit Lake), I've managed to bag every one of the lower 48 states except Oregon, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island. I do have two tentative receptions of KWJJ-1080 from the mid-1990s, and a very tentative logging of the Lake Oswego station on 1640 from October 1998, but anything definite from Oregon continues to elude me. Only two catches from Idaho: KBOI, which seems to come in at sunset only during the last week of September, and KID-590's DX test from about 5 years ago. KDWN-720, KROW-780, and the Laughlin station on 870 are the only Nevadans to have made it here. Another one of those late September regulars is KGA, but anything else from Washington is very difficult, although I do have a much-cherished QSL from KOMO-1000 dated Feb. 1989, and was thrilled to get KWSU-1250 nearly two years later. Only New Hampshire loggings are both from DX tests, WNTK-1020 and the 1250 from Manchester. Have tried many times at sunrise for both WVMT-620 and WSKW-1160...one day, those WILL arrive, I'm sure of it.

Neil Kazaross <neilkaz@interaccess.com>: You'll get Oregon if you try for KEX 1190 at sunset near the ends of Sep/Oct/Nov. I'm a couple hundred miles east of you and can get them sometimes with WOWO phased. Have you ever heard Idaho 1620.? My attempts have all failed.

Rick Dau: Neil, 1620 is actually pretty tough here, what with a 10 kW blowtorch on 1630 (transmitter is just 5 miles from my QTH) breathing down my neck, but I have been able to snare WTAW, WHLY, and KAZP here during those rare times when splatter from KCJJ is at a minimum. The Idaho station would be a dream catch for me. As far as Oregon goes...I have tried a couple of times to go after KXL-750 at sunset in late September, thinking that a station further down the dial would have a better chance of making it here, but WSB is just too strong. 1190 at night here in the winter is just a jumble between Fort Wayne and Dallas. I would hope that maybe KOAC-550 will do a CPC test for us folks again sometime soon.

Kevin Redding <amfmtvdx@qwest.net>: 1620 is heard here every night. KBOI is a morning listener here but they were almost 24/7 in the winter in AZ. Don't hear (KID-590) often but on occasion.

Neil Kazaross: Good to know that 1620 gets out. I hope to bag them come Sept prior to their sunset when they should be running 10 kW and Omaha only 1 kW.

Patrick Martin <mwdxer@webtv.net>: KDBZ-610-Portland has been operating for several months from the KEX site in SE Portland. They are ND 5/1 kW. They wanted 50 kW but the FCC said no. KXL-750 is directional to the West, but KEX-1190 is ND day, but directional nights. 1640 does not get out well, even with 10 kW. We had an apt. in NW Portland for a while. At 2 miles from their transmitter site, I could hear KDIA under them at night without any trouble. Their 1 kW sounded more like 250w and the 10kW days sounds more like 1 kW.

Willis Monk <wb5khd@inet75.com>: Rick Dau, I wonder where you are?, If you have QRM from Dallas and Ft. Wayne on 1190, Also from WSB-750.

From here in southeastern TN, I have a hard time hearing WSB-750. The Braves games are on this station and WSB in weak here. Maybe I am too close.

What I would like to hear is Alaska and Hawaii from here in TN. I do have a QSL from KORL-650 but I was in Garland, TX when I heard it. WSM-650 Nashville is hard to hear here also. At night even the stations from Chattanooga are lost.

Rick Dau: Willis, I am in Iowa City, Iowa, in the eastern part of the state, and 1190 here at night, from sunset on, is usually a battle between WOWO and KJOI, or whatever callsign the Dallas station uses nowadays. On some evenings, KVSV in Beloit, Kansas and WHMT in Humboldt, Tennessee will visit my QTH. My Iowa City logbook shows no stations from Oregon or Idaho, just one from Nevada (KDWN) and two from Washington, KGA and KUJ, the latter on a DX test. From out east, I have just one from Delaware (WDOV's DX test from 1991), two from New Hampshire, two from Connecticut (WTIC and WNLC), and two from New Jersey, WWJZ-640 and WJDM-1660. I could keep trying over and over at sunrise and sunset during the dead of winter for Oregon, Idaho, and the missing New England states, but I'm guessing that I'll have a better chance of hearing these on DX tests.

And we’ll extend this to the international side of the issue:

Benjamin Dangerfield <ben-dangerfield@worldnet.att.net>: To Mike Battaglino and any others here in the Eastern U.S. Don't give up on New Zealand! When 4YA Dunedin was on 780 it put in a good signal here with only 20 kW when the frequency was clear. It’s now on 810, so forget it, but there are many possible splits, and summertime might be a good time to try for them, when it's winter down there.

Michael P. Battaglino <Michael_P_Battaglino@newyorklife.com>: Ben, Thanks for "inspirational" message! :-) When I get to the new house in late June I'll be able to run a REALLY LONG (for me, anyway ) wire along the property and in the woods behind it, so I'll give it a shot. If I were to catch something it would be THE highlight of my DXing career, never having heard NZ before.

Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@nrcdxas.org>: But how long ago (read that less man-made noise, fewer stations) was that?

Bruce Conti <BACONTI@aol.com>: I heard French Polynesia (Tahiti) on 738 just last year, so it might be a challenge but not impossible with the right equipment (such as a high-end receiver like the Drake R8A/B and noise-reduced phased wire antennas). New Zealand would be on a similar bearing from here. The unstable solar activity might produce just the right conditions too. Local dawn/sunrise will be the best time to try.

David Gleason <amdavid@pacbell.net>: Another I remember making the East (Cleveland is in the east still, isn't it?) is, or was, Rotorua on 1000 with 10 kW. It was an occasional visitor after Seattle signed off in the early 60's. Not an issue of power but of a clear frequency.

Robert Foxworth <rfoxwor1@tampabay.rr.com>: Don't be in a real rush. Your chances will be much better in about 6 or 7 years when we are at the next solar minimum. I heard two NZ from New Jersey, 880 and 1000, well enough to verify, (+ 800), and both were in 1964, in December and March. I don't recall ever seeing such receptions in the Eastern US during years of solar maxima. I didn't hear such receptions in the 60's when solar activity was high. My next best results were in '73 and '74 (another minima) but by then co-channel problems were much worse. My 2NA-1510 logging was also in 1964. But then you might be the first to prove this wrong, and I hope you can do it.

Picking up from last time…

Bruce Conti <BACONTI@aol.com>: If you can't install an outdoor wire antenna 20+ feet away from radiated noise sources, or you're limited to use of a loop antenna, then your best bet is to locate your receiver and antenna in a remote corner of the house. If you're in an apartment or condo with a balcony or porch, try locating a loop outside with varactor remote controlled tuning.

Indeed, there can be many sources of household noise. Look for so-called "vampire" devices that remain powered on even when not in operation. Anything that operates by remote control or with a digital clock is a vampire; it continues to use electricity, even when off. Remote-control TVs and VCRs, telephones powered by wall-wart transformers, telephone answering machines, microwave ovens, digital thermostats, motion detectors, garage door openers, etc. are all vampires that are running and consuming electricity 24/7. These vampire devices have recently made the headlines in California

where electricity needs to be conserved.

Cable TV wiring can be a source of noise. Disconnect the cable at the coax T-connector located on the outside of your house, usually near the ground and attached to a safety ground rod. If the internal cable TV wiring in your house is a source of noise, then the internal wiring needs to be replaced with high-grade cable and connectors that don't leak RF.

My forced hot air furnace radiates severe noise whenever the blower fan motor is running. My noise-reduced antennas get rid of most if not all the noise from the furnace on mediumwave, and reduce the noise significantly on longwave. Switching to battery power reduces the noise further by getting rid of any conducted emissions created by the blower motor's current spikes. I don't have a basement, so the furnace is on the same floor as the radio room, thus my situation is probably similar to those with basement DX shacks. A portable receiver located within a couple of feet of the furnace will pick up deafening noise. If you're stuck in the basement next to the furnace, I would expect that a noise reduced antenna will eliminate most if not all the noise from the furnace or other utilities based on my experience.

Kevin Redding: And (cable TV) can be band covering and awful. This is my WORST problem. To make it worse all the cables in the whole neighborhood radiate this noise. Believe me, at the cost to replace it all, they will never change the wiring until it rots. Although (switching to battery power) makes a huge improvement, its still not the whole story. There are lots of things that RADIATE the signal and not through the wiring. Still need to know a little more about the transformer and how its connected.

Bruce Conti: "Hey--what a great way to meet the new neighbors--wandering around my property with a radio and headphones pointing it at different things!" This is actually the best way to find a quiet location for a wire antenna! If you can't follow my "20-foot rule," then do a walk-around your property to determine the quietest location for an outdoor wire. Do both a day and night survey as noise pick-up may vary based on what might be activated in the neighborhood. Then your neighbors will really be talking when they see you throwing wires into the trees.

Michael P Battaglino <Michael_P_Battaglino@newyorklife.com>: Bruce, I'll have the trees to do it, too! A much bigger lot that goes way back away from the house and I do not have any houses behind me! I think (I hope) it will wind up being a good location.

Kevin Redding: OK Bruce I have done everything except the transformer. I will go looking for a Mini-Circuits models T4-1 or T4-6. I shunt the transformer across the shield and conductor of the coax outdoors at the antenna end. How do I get the antenna to pass signal to the coax. Do I just run loops around or through the transformer? Is it just a toroid with wire wrapped around it from the antenna and the coax fed end?

Would like to read the Feb issue of PopComm but the magazine is very rare in Arizona and I don't have access to the old Target DX stuff because I wasn't in the club yet. I am for anything that will kill some noise. Its pitiful here. I even get it on portables so I don't have much hope, but I will try anything.

Think you can post some more info on this since I don't have access to the items listed?

Bruce Conti: The transformer has four pins. Two pins are the low impedance windings which are attached to the coax. The other two pins are the high impedance windings which are attached to the antenna and ground.

Mark Durenberger <Mark@durenberger.com>: Kevin, have you tried a truly balanced loop such as the big Kiwa loop? Those things REALLY can make a difference!

Neil Kazaross: I have a Kiwa Loop and while it is less susceptible to noise than a random longwire or vertical it still picks up severe line noise unless set in the direction to null the majority of it. When I lived in a neighborhood in Rancho Bernardo, CA the area had buried wiring and little line noise. Here in IL my semi-rural area was VERY quiet until about 3 months ago when something happened to the power lines and they became exceedingly noisy much of the time. I'll check with the Ham who lives about 1/4 mile away from me and see if we can't both complain and get the power company out here.

Rick Shaftan <shaftan@ptd.net>: I have a problem with a phone line that makes using a loop difficult, plus the fax machine puts out a lot of noise. The computer isn't that bad.

John Sampson <jsampson@qwest.net>: In 45+ years of DXing, I have had a number of noise problems; some are solvable, some aren't. Current ones reflect comments by others and include:

1. Wife's computer - This is an Apple Power Book G2, the in line transformer gives noise at all times when connected to a hot AC circuit (have solved the problem in Minnesota with an in-line surge suppresser that can be turned off when the computer is not in use, fortunately, our power up there is rather bad and subject to spikes so I have been able to sell the concept; power is not as susceptible here in SCW and haven't figured out an ascetic way to put a suppresser in line yet). When her computer is turned on, I can't use the radio at all, squeals blanket everything.

2. Low voltage desk lamp - Even when connected to a half hot switch and off, this gives a motor boating effect all over the band. When on, is just as bad as the above computer. I have to unplug it from the power line to eliminate its noise.

3. Television Set - We have one of those vampire types (a Zenith), squeals at various frequencies when off, the only way to eliminate those is to unplug the set (I have connected an in-line extension cord with an on:off switch that I can use to depower the thing when DXing).

4. My computer - An Apple Power Book G3, not as bad as my wife's but still provides enough interference so that it needs to be disconnected from the power line when DXing.

5. Printer -Have an Epson here in SCW, which is somewhat noisy when off but in line, and an Apple 1200 in Minnesota, which is terribly noisy when off but in line; both need to be effectively unplugged before DXing.

6. Dimmer Switches - Have a number of these in the house in SCW (not my idea!); all need to be off before DXing.

7. Cable TV - As Bruce Conti says, a big RF leakier!, unfortunately, I have a line very close to the radio here in SCW.

8. Low voltage track lighting - Have this in Minnesota; when on, so much noise that I can't DX; when off, no problem. Did have one in another house that we owned in the early 1990s; I found, about the time that we moved, that it was my primary noise source when "off" (had dimmer switches that, even though "off", evidently were still in the power circuit and gave significant noise; when they were on, forget DXing!).

9. Electric golf cart charger - I suspect that this isn't a common problem; however, we have an electric golf cart with an internal charger and when this is connected and charging, it's extremely noisy.

10. Clothes Dryer - When on, generates some noise (my listening area is very close to the laundry room); solution, don't do laundry (ha, ha).

11. All else- When we first moved to Sun City West, we were one of the few houses in our area and the band was very quiet. Since the area has built up, noise has increased significantly. Even when all of the noise sources in the house are turned off and the main breaker is thrown, I can put a portable radio by the incoming power line and get an annoying amount of noise.

As a test several years ago, I tried, in a table lamp, one of the florescent light bulbs that are being touted by the electricity providers as an energy saver. It proved a terrible noise generator and I pitched the ones that I had purchased.

In other houses, I've also noticed noise coming from furnace motors. Fish tank heaters were identified as a big problem, too, but haven't heard much about them recently.

It's my opinion that increases in electrical noise are a byproduct of "advancements" (and I use that term very loosely) in technology and that electrical noise is something that we DXers don't like but are going to have to endure. Unfortunately for the DXer, solid state controlling devices, florescent lighting, vampire stuff and Cable Television are a fact of life.

Patrick Martin <mwdxer@webtv.net>: I have been reading with interest about everyone's noise problems. Fortunately, I have very few where I live. I live in an area where all the power lines, cable, etc. are underground. However, the highway (101) is only about 500 feet from me and the power lines along the highway get noisy at times. I have lived here since 1981. One thing that interested me was the low noise level. Even though the houses in the area have doubled, the noise level hasn't changed much. My biggest problem has been my neighbors electric fencing. I do need a receiver with a noise blanker to remove than. Other than that the noise generally is almost zilch on MW & SW. On LW I do get more noise, but I rarely DX LW so it isn't a concern.

About 15 years ago my neighbor bought a fish tank and after a few weeks the arcing was noisy, so I asked her if I could clean the contacts and it worked. She moved about a year later and the noise was gone.

The new energy saving fluorescent. bulbs are a bit noisy. The local power company was giving them away (2 of them), so I ordered two to try them out. They don't buzz, but do cause carriers. The radiation was only a few feet away on a portable. Maybe it is different here with everything underground. The radiation isn't bad. Also the ground is wet here a lot of the time so the grounding works well.

I have been going to move several times during the years, but in checking the DX and noise in the different areas I would rather stay here.

In the house there is one laptop that causes very little noise unless you are close to it, Web TV seems to be quiet except for the printer (HP) when in use. The sat. equipment. is quiet enough too. Anything noisy

would go out the door pronto. No light dimmers or anything like that. By the way the two free bulbs I got are not in use.

All my antennas are connected with coax and matching transformers, so no noise pick up there either. I have had my share of noise and if I can control it I do. The power company (Pacific) has been very good in running down arcing lines on the couple of occasions I have needed some help.

Robert Foxworth <rfoxwor1@tampabay.rr.com>: A thorough list, with some surprising things on it. Another one I saw recently, which surprised me - a drop-in stove top for natural gas use. New ones don't use pilot lights, for gas conservation. Instead, there apparently is some sort of electronic circuit that senses when the front gas knob is turned, and operates an igniter. These things generate a constant sputtering-type RF noise. I was a victim of one when last living in NY.

Paul Smith, W4KNX <sunray2@gte.net>: Not quite on subject, but I have to comment. Those new energy saving fluorescent's with the electronic ballast operate at much higher frequency than the 1,200 flashes per minute the old ones did. We put a frequency counter on one and read about 35 kHz with all kinds of harmonics. I fix TV's amongst other electronics, and we have had problems with Infrared remotes not working where these lamps are used. They put out so much garbage that the remotes cant get over the interference.Patrick Martin: How far did the harmonics radiate? The screw in bulbs I have tried here are not bad. Maybe because the utilities are underground. I do know the power company sent out thousands in Oregon and Washington free.

Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@nrcdxas.org>: As I've said before, my shack is in the basement. I've done thorough checks of everything, both with the HQ-150 and loop and walking around with a portable.

The number one problem here is SCR dimmers and light-sensitive switches, including the sensors for the garage door openers.

Number two is the televisions, although I have noticed minimal problems with the "vampire" issue, perhaps because one or the other is almost always on.

We have a server, and 2-3 computers running at any given time, and the server is actually on the same power circuit as my shack, but I notice no problems unless I put the portable within 18 inches of any of the equipment.

The igniter element in the dryer is worse than the one in the oven, and both are worse than anything the furnace radiates.

But, I still do not understand how outdoor noise-reduced wires can have any effect on radiated energy which is picked up by the wiring of the receiver itself!

Benjamin Dangerfield <ben-dangerfield@worldnet.att.net>: Russ, I agree that light sensitive switches may be a main problem, but why garage door openers ? Our openers don't even cause any radio noise even when the door is going up or down which is about a half dozen times a day.

Russ Edmunds: Not the openers themselves, but it's the motion sensors which are there for safety to protect children and small animals to prevent the doors from closing on them.

Rick Kenneally <woodlandview@yahoo.com>: Moving my listening station to a different part of the house farther away from our noisy electrical panels has really improved conditions on the lower end of the band, but it has also surfaced some other QRM sources. Our child-proof nightlights give off a wicked buzz when on, and my little Sony recording Walkman gives an interesting warble on certain frequencies. Finally, there is the unid neighborhood warble that is strong near power lines but from which you never quite escape.

I mention this because I was wondering if DX News could open up a section for reporting new QRM sources. Seeing as there are almost as many as there are radio stations, and that the challenge of identifying them is often greater than that of IDing stations, it seems that we could define a whole new branch of the hobby. Now, how to get them to QSL...See you another month…