Bear III

Late Friday afternoon, my daughter yells out that there is a bear in our back yard. Sure enough... I look out the ham shack window and there is a black bear walking around the premises.

This is my third bear sighting here at the WA1LOU QTH on the top of Compounce Mountain and I have seen evidence of other visits in the past. It sure makes life interesting and for the next few days, I will make sure that all is clear before I go outdoors.

The Reorg

Nothing new in the log since Monday.

During my lunch hour on Thursday, I spent about 15 minutes listening on the AM radio in my Subaru and conditions were excellent. Nothing new for the log, but most of the stations were stronger than usual on probably the coldest day of the winter, so far. Go figure.

I took some photos of the radio shack after its reorganization over the holidays. The photo below provides a good view of the current layout. The second photo is the same as the first with the addition of the annotations.

During the reorg, I found a sock buried among the wires and cables under the desk. Squeaky, our kleptomaniac cat, is probably responsible for the sock's relocation.

Number 3 on 1070

I logged my third station on 1070 kc last night at 2317 UTC using the C.Crane CC Skywave receiver: WINA in Charlottesville, Virginia, 384 miles transmitting 5 kW to my southwest with an S-1 to S-2 signal.

As mentioned previously, 1070 was dead to me before using the CC Skywave; none of my other radios could hear anything on 1070 due to the IBOC splatter from WTIC on 1080 blasting 50,000 watts 12 miles to my northeast.

Another 1070 Catch: WKOK

Late this afternoon (2250 UTC), I logged a second station on the previously dead-to-me* 1070 kHz courtesy of the new C.Crane Skywave receiver (again barefoot using its internal antenna). The new logging was WKOK in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, transmitting sports talk with 10 kW 208 miles to my west-southwest with an S-1 to S-3 signal.

* dead-to-me due to 50,000 watts of WTIC on 1080 kHz 12 miles away

My Christmas Present

Sister Gigi gifted me with a C.Crane CC Skywave receiver for Christmas. As the holiday festivities wound down Christmas evening, I had an opportunity to slip a pair of AA batteries into the Skywave to see how it works.

Whenever I try out a new radio, I have two frequencies I tune to first to give the radio a quick check-out: 92.1 Mc and 1070 kc.

92.1 Mc

My favorite FM radio station, WLNG, transmits on 92.1 Mc, 55 miles away on the North Shore of Long Island. Every portable radio I own requires that I fully extend its telescoping antenna and position the antenna just so in order to receive WLNG.

When I tuned the CC Skywave to 92.1, I could hear WLNG clearly when I touched its antenna. By removing the antenna from its cradled horizontal position and positioning it vertically without extending it one iota, WLNG's signal was solid and stereophonic. I was impressed.

1070 kc

1070 is a dead frequency for me. The 50,000 Watt blowtorch known as WTIC is 12 miles away on the opposite side of the valley transmitting on 1080 kc.  Every portable receiver I own only hears WTIC's backwash on 1070, but not 1090 (go figure), and as a result, my AM radio log has no entry for 1070.

Tuning the CC Skywave to 1070, I did not hear any sign of WTIC, but I could hear the weak signal of a station playing Christmas tunes. Repositioning the radio, I peaked the signal to an S-3 level and at 0437 UTC, I heard the station identification: CHOK in Sarnia, Ontario, transmitting 10 kW from Petrokia, Ontario, 488 miles to my north-northwest.

Wow ‑ I was very impressed! A brand new station in the log on a frequency that was previously unusable using the radio's stock internal antenna!

Merry Christmas to me!