THE DXer's NOTEBOOK #69-14

A bit of a mixed bag this issue, as we take a look at some individual postings to the listserv recently, with topics ranging from the 1926 to the current DX season, with no particular theme in mind other than to pass on some information and ask some questions…

Eric Loy <eloy@wdws.com>: This AM DX season has been pretty wacky, but productive for me so far.

While listening to CKWX-1130 dominate the frequency early this morning (12/27) I shook my head, considering the various areas that have opened up for me this season so far.

I started the year with about as many Colombians as Mexicans heard, but that is now WAY the other way after early XE openings. The "660 graveyard" has been productive for a lot of people across the US this season.

Honduras was a major surprise, and completed Central America for me.

Texas has been huge this time around, and a few Floridians were newly logged.

Meanwhile, looking north and west, after many years of being frustrated trying to get BC, CKWX has shown up quite a bit, the best being this morning, AND CFUN was heard as well, confirmed by e-mail.

From the north, not quite as productive as last season, but the Toronto airport station on 1280 is one I won't throw back.

Straight west, a couple of KFBK-1530 loggings were welcome. Not as regular as CKWX has been, but, hey.

Straight east, not as good. Maybe that will open up later.

So here are my targets for the second half of the season:

CBA-1070 (reported in WI a little while ago)

WAPA-680

ID my 910 SS UNID

ID one of my 1020 SS UNIDS

Arizona. Any Arizona.

XETRA-690 why not?

R. Clarin-860

A sign of a TA. Maybe Vatican-1611.

Well, anyway, it would be interesting to see targets for folks from around here and/or other DX areas.

John Callarman <JohnCallarman@msn.com>: Here is a real newspaper story I found while doing genealogical research in the microfilm of the weekly Wyoming, Illinois, Post-Herald. This story was published on March 17, 1926, and the headline:

"Radio Reception Is Bad On Mondays"

"Predicting radio superminds have been telling Chicago's public that the winter's "magnetic blanket," which has been smothering good reception in this and other areas, has been jerked aside. If it has, somebody must have slipped on another covering.

"Take last Monday night's period of quiet, for example. It is true that all of the locals "stood by" as per their "gentleman's agreement," yet the distant stations just were not there. The "blanket" was still in evidence despite the prediction made more than two weeks ago that it had gone or was almost ready to disappear.

"Weary dial manipulators who searched in vain for a long list of stations had to be satisfied with three or less. Even the powerful output of WJZ just barely pushed through. About the only station that came into Chicago with any degree like the punch that outsiders are supposed to have was WEMC at Berrien Springs, Michigan. His call letters graced almost every listener's log.

"The night was another case where a sharply dropping thermometer had its effect. The temperature finally got down under 20 degrees, carrying a galaxy of signals along with it. In fact observation has shown that cold weather this winter had had a disastrous effect on radio as far as reception is concerned.

"A peculiarity noticeable only on Monday nights again was prevalent. This peculiarity makes itself known by a buzzing which seems to be affected by tuning. Suspicious listeners have been commenting on the cause of this disturbance, but so far no reliable data has been forthcoming."

In the golden days of DX'ing, I guess, DX'ers' problems were made the news.

Benjamin Dangerfield <ben-dangerfield@worldnet.att.net>: This would have been at the maximum peak of the sun spot cycle at that time. Perhaps they didn't know about sun spot cycles back then. But it sure sounds like the conditions we are now experiencing.

Ron Gitschier <RGITSCHIER@doyle.navy.mil>: Here's what I do when I got to sea with my ship. It works for me pretty well.

I have my DX-398 and a Aiwa AM/'FM walkman cassette recorder (dig tuned). I patch my 398 lineout to the MIC input jack with great sounding results! I also have some small 'powered' speakers. And a Sony SRF A1 AM stereo FM stereo radio so I can sample the AM stereo stations still alive. And they're out there.

I take my 8mm video bag, leaving the camera at home, put two speakers in opposite ends of the main compartment. In between the speakers I lay down the Aiwa and SRF-A1 and even a blank cassette or two. On top of that I place my DX-398 and my 4-D cell holder. I like to power my DX-398 with the D-Cell pack I adapted with the proper adapter power plug. I like to use packing tape to secure the power plug, and even tie strap the D cell pack to the back of the 398 which serves as a neat, secure prop-up to angle back the 398. In the side pocket my WRTH 2001 book easily slides in along with a mini PC handheld mic and two patch cords. I like using a long stereo mini plug male to female. Then I dictate my "we're on 540 AM now off of Panama City, Panama at 2PM....." with the mic into the long patch cord female jack that's leading to the Aiwa walkman size radio-cassette recorder. Then I pull out the mic and take my double male stereo mini plug from the DX 398 line out and plug that into the female that leads to the Aiwa. I fear damaging my Aiwa's stereo mic input jack with lots of toggling between mic and DX 398 connected double male patch cord. I use the DX 398 for better audio and reception vice just using the Aiwa HJ470's AM section when taping station IDs or making airchecks. And the FM reception of the DX 398 w/telescopic whip ant blows the Aiwa walkman unit away.

Now with that all said, I plug a pair of Koss 6v internal C-cell speakers already in the video bag into the Aiwa's headphone jack. I'm shying away on depending on headphones for DXing AM. My ears are already on the fritz and I can amp the audio quite adequately between the headphone volume output of the walkman recorder and volume of the Koss speaker set. The C batteries in the speakers last a long time. I also carry a GE SR III with me to use mostly in port. Done DXing? All this packs up neatly and quickly into the video bag and neatly stows in my bed-locker (coffin locker) on the ship, safe and secure from theft.

I listen for stations day or night from sea on the aft end of the ship that we call the flight deck. We carry a helicopter, so sometimes when I'm DXing I have to clear out and strike inside the ship at a moment's notice. Also I don't have a chair or table. That makes it uncomfortable sitting on cleats or chocks used to moor the ship and little place to put down the equipment. The ship could be pitching or rolling, depending on the sea state. I could get sea spray in/on the equipment. Having the bag helps some. Occasionally when I can steal one I grab a chair to take outside; that helps a lot. I got those newfangled fold up chairs to use at my kid's ball games... I'm going to grab one for the second segment of my deployment the next time I go home! Maybe an umbrella to shield myself from the sun which gets pretty intense. All told it's great to be able to DX and log stations (on paper and tape) from different parts of the world being in the US Navy. I am at the tail end of my career and am glad I revived my AM DX hobby in the past couple of years, due in good part by discovering the NRC back a couple of years ago!

Bruce Conti <BACONTI@aol.com>: While searching the Internet for Radio Avivamiento, I found this list of licensed and unlicensed stations carrying one of many networks or programs using the Avivamiento name.

California: 9.975 and 17.775 SW (KVOH) "Alta Aventura"

Boston, Massachusetts: 1580 AM "Radio Manantial"

Lawrence, Massachusetts: 99.9 FM "Radio Inspiracion"

Linden, New Jersey: 1620 AM "Radio Vencedor"

New York: 1530 and 1660 (WWRU) AM "Radio Restauracion"

Port Arthur, Texas: 1150 AM, KUHD

Roma, Texas: 97.7 FM, KBMI "Radio Familiar"

Greg Myers <tmyers01@tampabay.rr.com>: Does anybody have the "current" address for 4VEH? The 2000 WRTH is totally worthless for ANY info on Haiti- at least that's what I gather. I e-mailed OMS Inter., the organization that operates it, but that has resulted in replies that provide no info as well. I also hear French on 1020 which I presume is Haiti also. I wonder how wrong the address info is for XE stations- which may explain why I get no replies from them either..... or that could be whole different story! TNX in advance for any help.

Les Rayburn <lowga@hotmail.com>: Using the new four foot loop last night (Christmas Eve) for the first time. Christmas Party limited my time to just a few minutes... Loop is located about 75 feet from the house, up on a telescoping mast about 35 feet high. Coax carries power and tuning voltage to the pre-amp...allowing me to tune the loop from about 600khz to 1710khz.

It's mounted on a small TV rotor, which works fine. I used a modified MFJ phaser with the 120 foot longwire and the loop last night. I decided to try to null WYDE 850khz, a strong local.

Around 11:30PM last night, I easily was able to null WYDE... revealing a powerful signal underneath. Heard locals ads for "Your Rocky Mountain Ford Dealer" and then later a great ID for KOA, Colorado.

Granted KOA has a huge signal and is no great DX catch... but I have never been able to null WYDE enough to hear it at all here. Last night it was literally arm chair copy.

While having the loop removed from the shack makes it impossible to do azimuth adjustments to deepen nulls...getting it out of the noise field seems to more than make up for the difference.

Can't wait for those West Coast DX Tests!

I may also try re-winding the loop with 10/40 litz wire to see if I can obtain higher "Q" and thus better nulls.

BTW, I used "Liquid Nails" and nylon screw bolts along with cider parts to construct the loop. Everything was varnished with marine coatings to insure good weatherproof performance.

Last six feet of mast is PVC with a varnished wooden dowel inserted for strength. Took all precautions to limit any metal that would distort the nulls.

Can't wait to give it a good test tonight when family activities die down.

Les returned the next day with…More notes on the Remote Tuned Active Loop antenna:

1. The design of the pre-amp and tuning control are indeed based on the varactor designs available at:

http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/index.html

I made some minor changes, like adding static protection diodes across the gate of the FET, etc. Nothing major.

The loop design is a clone of the "NRC Loop" made from cedar, and as mentioned using nylon screws, bolts, etc. purchased in the specialty hardware section of my local Lowes.

2. Rewound loop with 10/40 litz wire tonight and found that while the "Q" was sharper, overloading of the varactors occurred much more than when using standard 16 gauge stranded copper wire.

3. Wellbrook Communications in the UK, does indeed make MW loop antennas...however they are broadband and not "tuned" at all. As such, they are poor performers when compared to most any tuned active loop.

4. Further testing revealed that it was possible to get usable nulls on even the most powerful local AM stations. WERC 960 is the most powerful nighttime local here and I could null it enough to allow reception of at least two other stations.

KOA was again very clear here tonight. I was even able to clearly gather it's ID and call in show phone numbers using only the loop and no phasing.

My next step may be to try tuning this loop with a motor driven variable capacitor rather than the varactors. This might allow me to use litz wire in the design without worrying about overloading.

Can someone suggest a "hot list" of split frequency stations that I could test with? I'd like to try logging a few of the easier ones using the loop. A top five candidates from my inland Alabama location would be very helpful.

I’m including this question as I didn’t see any response to Fred on the listserv – did anyone tackle this project?

Frederick Vobbe <fredv@nrcdxas.org>: Has anyone built the "Bob Flick" loop, as presented in the Antenna Reference Manual (Vol 1, pg 34)? I'm thinking of building it in another configuration, and would like to compare notes.

The next few items from Patrick Martin relate to various antenna projects he worked on over the last few months, and are interesting in the results he found in his tests:

IS YOUR COAX ACTUALLY AN ANTENNA?Patrick Martin <mwdxer@webtv.net>: Per the article done (in DX News Vol. 68, No. 26) by Bill Bowers of Oklahoma. I decided to find out if the 75 feet of RG58/59 was picking up signals. When I disconnected the antenna from the coax, yes I did hear some signals. However when connecting the receiver directly to the antenna through a 3 foot piece of coax (Yes I took the R8 outside), I found no different in the noise floor or the signal numbers on the S Meter or the directivity of the antennas. None. KXL-750-Portland OR and KPAM-860-Portland both run 50 kW days. KXL is directional to the West and KPAM in ND. Both run right at S9+20 dB off the 1500 foot Eastern beverage during the day. With 75 feet of coax connected to the receiver inside the house or the three feet using the receiver at the antenna. When connecting the coax to the antenna and the coax to receiver, it kind of neutralizes the signals not in the path of the Eastern Beverage as far as I can tell. Other than the locals, the very weak stuff off from the lobe of the beverage are gone. There is one "big" difference between Oklahoma and the Oregon Coast, the water in the Ground. I find the noise level to be much worse in dry areas like our place in Rancho Mirage CA (1 1/2 inches of rain a year) compared to Seaside (65-100 inches a year).

I was thinking the coax might cause the noise level to increase somewhat, but I could find no difference. The only antenna I did not check was the 400' NNW wire with 150 feet of coax. There is no power over there and I did not want to haul a battery with me to run the R8.

These tests were done on MW (530-1700 kHz). At least here on the Oregon coast I find the coax to be fine in running my antennas. It might be different in a dryer climate.

I did this test for two reasons. The first reason was to find of if my coax was affecting the directivity and noise floor. The second was to see if I was getting any loss in the coax. It has been out there a few years, but only maybe 10 feet is buried. The rest of it runs under the house totally shielded by the metal around the base of the house which is also grounded.

VERTICAL ANTENNASPatrick Martin: I have hooked up a 40 foot vertical up in the backyard with a series of Ground rods for a Ground plane. It works pretty good and does throw a lobe mostly to the North for some reason. Any ideas on a loading coil I could wrap to extend the length? Or is it worthwhile? Also has anyone experimented with more than one vertical to phase them to get a directional pattern for receiving? I wonder how they would compare with other antennas?

Patrick Martin: One experiment I have not made for a number of years was comparing my box loop to the K9AY, EWE, and beverages. The other day 930-Bellingham, WA (1 kW), at 200+ miles to the NNW changed call letters. In logging them, I tried different combos, antennas to get the best signal. I finally found a combo using the 40 foot vertical with the NNW beverage to get the best signal during the day. It was OK, about S3 or 4. I thought I would try the loop, and not a peep out of them, just barely a het on 930 during the day. I tried other frequencies and I found if I did not have my outdoor antennas, I would not hear half of what I do during the day. At night, who knows? The phased antennas, beverages, etc all out do the loop.

Patrick Martin: As many of you know I have replaced my old EWE antenna with a new one. I had to, as the old one came down after 20 years, and there was an electric fence between me and the old end (termination) of the old EWE's location. I found I could not run one exactly the same direction as before. My old one rain SW/NE with the lobe to the SW. The new one runs WSW/ENE, with the lobe to the WSW. The vertical sections are at an angle a bit more than I like, but at least I have improved on them. Little by little I have been working, trying to get the old pattern back. I have been getting close, very close. I tried a counterpoise between the two grounds (the one at the termination (5 copper rods) and the one on the coax end (4 ground rods). That helped a bit but I was getting too much background noise for some reason. I ran into to an interesting situation the other day. While I was trying different combos of hooking in a counterpoise I tried hooking the ground from the coax end over to the hot lead on my 40 foot vertical. The pattern improved a bit more. Not a big difference, but it works better. The nulls on 630 (KCIS-Edmonds, WA), leaving KWRO-Coquile OR in the clear are pretty good now. The null on KGNW-820-Seattle is not quite a good as before. Close, but not quite there. I can knock it down to 3-4 S Units, but not completely out, to hear KORC-Waltport, OR in the clear. The K9AY antenna does a bit better on that. But 1030 has KLLU-Reedsport in the clear with Shelton, WA way behind, if I hear it all.

I am really a "nit picker" when it comes to my antennas. I try for perfection. I know I will not get that, but I get a close as possible and then some. hi.

With TP/DU conditions so poor so far this early Fall, I think I have been expecting too much. I am spoiled after years of excellent DX and conditions.

I have come to the conclusion that both the K9AY & EWE and indeed working, but until conditions improve the best antenna in the World wont do a whole lot. What can I do to improve that? Humnnn...

I have information on propagation, interference sources, antennae, and yet more on receivers waiting for upcoming columns. Hope to see you then.