Late November Loggings

New loggings since my last post:

Nov. 17, 2016, 0600 UTC: WEKZ on 1260 kc transmitting 19 watts from Monroe, Wisconsin, 854 miles to the west-northwest.

Nov. 22, 2016, 2355 UTC: YXK on 373 kc transmitting 25 watts from Rimouski, Quebec, 520 miles to the north-northeast

Nov. 28, 2016, 2100 UTC:

WZSK on 1040 kc transmitting 4 kw from Everett, Pennsylvania, 304 miles to the west-southwest

WCRW on 1190 kc transmitting 50 kW from Leesburg, Virginia, 297 miles to the west-southwest

WNWW on 1290 kc transmitting 490 watts from West Hartford, Connecticut, 14 miles to the north-northeast

Equipment used: ELAD FDM-S2/SW2 SDR receiver/software and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna

Time for Three

My first desktop radio. I sold the radio 30 years ago,
but still have the manual. (I wish I still had the radio.)

Sometimes, life gets in the way and hobbies take a back seat. That's my story and I'm sticking with it, yet I managed to add three new stations to the log since my previous post.

WWJZ on 640 kc in Mount Holly, New Jersey, transmitting 950 watts, 146 miles to my southeast.

W218AV, a translator for WMNR on 91.5 Mc in Warren, Connecticut, transmitting 250 watts, 22 miles to my west-northwest.

CFNV on 940 kc in Montreal, Quebec, transmitting unknown power, 269 miles to my north-northwest. This is a new station and is reportedly running tests at this time (mostly French music, occasional French voice station identifications and no commercials). This station is strong; not only did I log it from the home station, but I heard it clearly on my car radio throughout my sunrise 35-minute commute this morning.

Equipment used: ELAD FDM-S2 / ELAD FDM-SW2 receiver, an 80-meter inverted Vee for the AM/MW band and an ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna for the FM band.

Cuba!

UTC 0300 top-of-hour on October 12 was very productive.

I was thrilled to log WFLF on 540 kc transmitting 46 kW from Pine Hills, Florida, 1032 miles to the south-southwest.

And then I logged five Cuban stations:

Radio Rebelde on 600, 610 and 620 kc and Radio Progresso on 640 and 690 kc. All five are around 1400 miles to the south-southwest.

As usual, the receiver was the ELAD FDM-S2 / ELAD FDM-SW2 and the antenna, an 80-meter inverted Vee.

Navigational Beacons Galore!

I never heard so many navigational beacons on LW as I heard on my top-of-hour recording at 0500 UTC today. Most of them were already in my log, but I did add two new ones:

ZMX on 317 kc, transmitting 20 watts from St. Janvier, Quebec, 288 miles to the north-northwest.

UWP on 323 kc, transmitting 1,000 watts from Argentia, Newfoundland, 1012 miles to the east-northeast.

I also logged a new AM broadcast station near the top of the band:

WWCS, "Yahoo sports radio 540," on 540 kc, transmitting 500 watts from Canonsburg, Pennsylavania, 389 miles to the west-southwest.

As usual, equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 with an 80-meter inverted Vee. 

More 0500 UTC Top-of-the-Hour Loggings

I have been recording the 0500 UTC top-of-the-hour each morning for a week and have logged the following new stations.

Sept. 9:

• CMLA  on 640 kc from Las Tunas, Cuba, transmitting 10 kW, 1447 miles to the south

Sept. 11:

• Europe 1 on 183 kc from Felsberg, Germany, transmitting 2000 kW, 2771 miles to the northeast
• Rikisutvarpid Ras on 189 kc from Gufuskalar, Iceland, transmitting 300 kW, 2482 miles to the east-northeast

Sept. 12:

• PTD navigational beacon on 400 kc from Potsdam, NY, transmitting 25 watts, 235 miles to the north-northwest
• WSJW on 550 kc from Pawtucket, RI, transmitting 500 watts, 82 miles to the east-northeast
• WCSS on 1490 kc from Amsterdam, NY, transmitting 1000 watts, 112 mils to the north-northwest
• WNBP on 1450 kc from Newburyport, MA, transmitting 1000 watts, 135 miles to the northeast
• WGAW on 1340 kc from Gardner, MA, transmitting 1000 watts, 83 miles to the north-northeast 

Equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 with an 80-meter inverted Vee.

Eight New Loggings!

Conditions were excellent at the 0500 UTC top-of-the-hour on September 6... so good that it took me two days to listen to my recording of that top-of-the-hour. It resulted in eight new stations in the log including WDAE in St. Pete, Florida (1095 miles). I also heard previously logged WWL in New Orleans (1256 miles).

Here are all the new loggings:

WSVA on 550 kc from Harrisonburg, VA, 1000 watts, 384 miles south-southwest

WDAE on 620 kc from Saint Petersburg, FL, 5500 watts, 1095 miles  south-southwest

WFNC on 640 kc from Fayetteville, NC, 1000 watts, 556 miles south-southwest

WNIS on 790 kc from Norfolk, VA, 5000 watts, 362 miles south-southwest

WPHB on 1260 kc from Philipsburg, PA, 34 watts !, 277 miles west-southwest

WMID on 1340 kc from Atlantic City, NJ, 890 watts, 175 miles south-southwest

WCED on 1420 kc from Dubois, PA, 5 watts !!!, 307 miles west-southwest

WPGG on 1450 kc from Atlantic City, NJ, 1000 watts, 175 miles south-southwest

Equipment used: ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

By the way, I also heard some stations that were affected by aurora, but I did not log any because they were unintelligible.

Busted Vee

Walking the dog in the rain Wednesday morning, I noticed that one leg of my 80-meter inverted Vee antenna was missing!

Trying to investigate further with a leash in one hand and an umbrella in the other, I discovered that the antenna had come undone after the wire passes through the end insulator and wraps back around itself. It is an easy fix and I will get to it this weekend.

I gathered up the pieces and wrapped the loose end of the wire around the base of my tower to get it out of the way. By the way, the bungee cord that spanned the air between the end insulator and an eye hook bored into a tree was nowhere to be found.

And for what its worth, I listened around the LW and MW bands and did not notice much of a loss of signal strength using the busted antenna with the ELAD FDM-S2 receiver.

Beyond My First Transatlantics

NIST radio site in Fort Collins, Colorado

Since I heard my first transatlantic stations with my "new" radio, I have been sticking around the low end of the long waves to hear what I can hear.

WWVB was loud and clear on 60 kHz. The Fort Collins, Colorado, time signal transmits 50 kW, 1661 miles to the west-northwest. I might have been able to log it before, but this was the first time I tuned around that part of the band. (I checked a few older top-of-hour-recordings and sure enough, I heard WWVB on each recording).

I also heard an AM station at 216 kc at 0400 UTC, but I could not identify it. It was too weak for intelligence, but it definitely was not English... probably French or Spanish. Radio Monte Carlo is the only station listed for 216 kc, so that is what I probably heard... with transmitters in nearby France (Roumoules) using 900 kW, 3855 miles to the east-northeast.

In this morning's 0400 UTC top-of-the-hour recording, I again hear Radio Mediterranee Internationale (Medi 1) (171 kc, Nador, Morocco).

I hear France Inter (162 kc, Allouis, France) again and again in my top-of-the-hour recordings. I even heard it live and in person at 2300 UTC Tuesday.

During the first transatlantic excitement, I forgot to mention two other new loggings made that morning:

AY navigational beacon on 356 kc transmitting 25 watts, 1043 mile northeast in St. Anthony, Newfoundland,

WGOP on 540 kc transmitting 243 watts, 283 miles south-southwest in Pocomoke City, Maryland.

Equipment used was my ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver with my 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

Sixteen

I added the following 16 new stations to the log during the past few days using an ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver, an 80-meter inverted Vee antenna (for HF) and my 2007 Subaru's stock radio and antenna (for the FM logging) an ICOM IC-AH7000 discone antenna (for VHF/UHF).

YUY on 219 kc transmitting 500 watts from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, 540 miles to the north-northwest

QB on 230 kc transmitting 500 watts from Quebec, Quebec, 360 miles to the north

OW on 236 kc transmitting 14 watts from Ottawa, Quebec, 289 miles to the north-northwest

YVB on 243 kc transmitting 90 watts from Bonaventure, Quebec, 576 miles to the north-northeast

YXR on 257 kc transmitting 400 watts from Earlton, Ontario, 538 miles to the north-northwest

YQA on 272 kc transmitting 400 watts from Muskoka, Ontario, 396 miles to the northwest

YLQ on 289 kc transmitting 550 watts from La Tuque, Quebec, 398 miles to the north

QT on 332  kc transmitting 1000 watts from Thunder Bay, Ontario, 929 miles to the northwest

GW on 371 kc transmitting 500 watts from Kuujjuarapik, Quebec, 967 miles to the north-northwest

JT on 390 kc transmitting 450 watts from Stephenville, Newfoundland, 838 miles to the northeast

3B on 391 kc transmitting 100 watts from Brockville, Ontario, 253miles to the north-northwest

Y8 on 401  kc transmitting 126 watts from Drummondville, Quebec, 393 miles to the north-northwest

YTA on 409 kc transmitting 13 watts from Pembroke, Ontario, 359 miles to the north-northwest

3U on 414 kc transmitting 85 watts from Gatineau, Quebec, 300 miles to the north-northwest

WAZZ on 1490 kc transmitting 1000 watts from Fayetteville, NC, 556 miles to the south-southwest

WNYZ-LP on 87.7 Mc transmitting 3000 watts from New York, NY, 80 miles to the southwest simulcasting WWRU-AM

Still More Navigational Beacons

This symbol denotes an NDB on an aeronautical chart. (Source: Wikipedia)

I heard these new navigational beacon loggings around 0700 UTC Sunday:

QB on 230 kc transmitting 500 watts from Quebec, Quebec, 360 miles to the north

OW on 236 kc transmitting 14 watts from Ottawa, Quebec, 289 miles to the north-northwest

YVB on 243 kc transmitting 90 watts from Bonaventure, Quebec, 576 miles to the north-northeast

YLQ on 289 kc transmitting 550 watts from La Tuque, Quebec, 398 miles to the north

Y8 on 401 kc transmitting 126 watts from Drummondville, Quebec, 393 miles to the north

3U on 414 kc transmitting 85 watts from Gatineau, Quebec, 300 miles to the north-northwest

As usual lately, equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

More Navigational Beacons

CA to WA1LOU

Before I went to bed last night, I tuned down the navigational beacon longwave band and logged six new ones:

BX on 220 kc transmitting 2 kW from Lourdes de Blank Salon, Quebec, 1005 miles to the northeast

QY on 263 kc transmitting 24 watts from Sydney, Nova Scotia, 718 miles to the east-northeast

YHR on 276 kc transmitting 500 watts from Chevery, Quebec, 881 miles to the northeast

NM on 278 kc transmitting 15 watts from Matagami, Quebec, 606 miles to the north-northwest

CA on 281 kc transmitting 1 kW from Cartwright, Newfoundland, 1111 miles to the north-northeast

YTA on 409 kc transmitting 13 watts from Pembroke, Ontario, 359 miles to the north-northwest

Nice thing about chasing navigational beacons is that as soon as you hear one, you can identify it because all it transmits is its callsign over and over again.

As usual lately, equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

F8

Victoriaville Airport

After feeding the cats at 0900 UTC, instead of going back to bed, I checked the AM band, but found nothing interesting. So I tuned to the navigational beacons and heard a half dozen beacons I had logged before including ML in Monroe, Louisiana, on 392 kc, 1232 miles away.

I heard a very weak beacon on 384 kc, so I hung in there for awhile and finally heard F8, a new logging from Victoriaville, Quebec, transmitting 25 watts, 310 miles to the north.

Equipment used was an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

8 at 0800

Instead of recording the 0900 UTC top-of-hour, I switched to 0800 UTC and logged eight new stations!

WMSA on 1340 kc in Massena, NY, transmitting 910 W, 246 miles to the north-northwest

WASR on 1420 kc in Wolfeboro, NH, transmitting 137 W, 161 miles to the north-northeast

WAZN on 1470 kc in Watertown, MA, transmitting 3.4 kW, 104 miles to the northeast

WUVR on 1490 kc in Lebanon, NH, transmitting 640 W, 145 miles to the north-northeast

WSMN on 1590 kc in Nashua, NH, transmitting 5 kW, 107 miles to the northeast

CHRN on 1610 kc in Montreal, PQ, Canada, transmitting 1 kW, 266 miles to the north

WNRP on 1620 kc in Pensacola, FL, transmitting 1 kW, 1108 to the miles SW

WPLA on 1670 kc in Dry Branch, GA, transmitting 1 kW, 845 miles to the SW

Using an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

Mystery on 1420

I added five new stations listening to my 0900 UTC top-of-hour recordings on Monday and Tuesday (using an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna).

WBEC on 1420 kc in Pittsfield, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 59 miles to my north-northwest.

WKOX on 1430 kc in Everett, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 109 miles to my east-northeast.

WCEC on 1490 kc in Haverhill, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 123 miles to my northeast.

WQCP849 (Rhode Island DOT TIS) on 1630 kc in Newport, RI, transmitting 10 watts, 85 miles to my east.

And finally, the mystery station: WAAF on 1420 kc. WAAF, "Boston's Rock Station," is an FM-only station, but I heard it loud and clear on 1420 AM at 0900 UTC Monday. Was this a test or a pirate or what? 

Twenty-four hours later, WBSM (New Bedford, MA) dominated 1420, but there was a station that I could not ID playing rock music under WBSM. Driving to work two hours later, WLIS (Old Saybrook, CT) dominated 1420 on my Subaru's receiver, but again I could hear an unidentified rock station under WLIS.

I will listen again tomorrow morning.

Four More

My July 17, 0900 UTC top-of-the-hour recording yielded four new stations (using an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna).

WRSC on 1390 kc in State College, PA, transmitting 1 kW, 266 miles to my west-southwest.

WNRS on 1420 kc in Herkimir, NY, transmitting 64 W, 145 miles to my northwest.

WRED on 1440 kc in Westbrook, ME, transmitting 5 kW, 193 miles to my northeast.

WHKT on 1650 kc in Portsmouth, VA, transmitting 1 kW, 378 miles to my south-southwest.

Amazing DX

When I can hear the Hudson County (NJ) TIS in Jersey City on 1710, it bodes well for AM band DXing. Such was the case recording the 0200 UTC top-of-the-hour Wednesday night. As a result, I made four new entries in the log... two of them were amazing!

WOBM on 1310 in Lakewood Township, NJ, transmitting 8,900 watts, 123 miles to my south-southwest

WHOL on 1600 in Allentown, PA, transmitting 56 watts, 150 miles to my southwest

WQKJ417 (State of Florida Radio Service TIS) on 1630 in Fort Pierce, FL, transmitting 10 watts, 1063 miles to my south-southwest

WDHP on 1620 in Frederiksted, Virgin Islands, transmitting 1 kW, 1719 miles to my south-southeast

I'm not sure whether 10 watts over 1063 miles or 1 kW over 1719 miles is more amazing, but both impressed me!

Using an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

First Top-of-the-Hour After Dark

Monday evening, I recorded the first top-of-the-hour (9 PM EDST) after local sunset and heard two new ones for the log:

• WWTR on 1170 kc transmitting 600 watts from Bridgewater, NJ, 113 miles to my southwest
• WDER on 1320 kc transmitting 1,000 watts from Derry, NH, 120 miles to my northeast

The WDER catch was particularly nice considering 1320 is occupied by local station WATR, which is strong here day or night (5 kW or 1 kW, 5 miles away).

Equipment used: ELAD FDM-S2 receiver, 80-meter inverted Vee antenna

Three on the Fourth

There have been a lot of distractions this week that have prevented me from completely sifting through the two early morning recordings I made on July 4 with my ELAD FDM-2 SDR receiver.

I finished one, the 0400 UTC top-of-the-hour recording and am happy report that it has resulted in the following new additions to the log:

• WARM -  590 kc - Scranton, PA - 5 kW - 152 miles
• CFGO - 1200 kc - Ottawa, ON - 50 kW - 256 miles
• WLAM - 1470 kc - Lewiston, ME - 5 kW - 270 miles

Still using the 80-meter inverted Vee antenna. Plan to put some more wire up in the air real soon now!

Manual and My Imagination

Three additional top-of-the-hour recordings with the ELAD FDM-S2 receiver yielded five new stations:

• WZBK - 1220 kc - Keene, NH - 146 W - 149 miles
• WWRV - 1330 kc - New York, NY - 5 kW - 75 miles
• WEZS - 1350 kc - Laconia, NH - 412 W - 149 miles
• WOPG - 1460 kc - Albany, NY - 5 kW - 80 miles
• WJDY - 1470 kc - Salisbury, MD - 43 W - 265 miles

The ELAD FDM-SW2 software has a lot of features, but its manual leaves a lot to the imagination. As a result, I may not be using all the capabilities of the software.

So I will continue to study the manual, play with the software and try to figure it all out.

Time Machine

I am having a great time using the ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver. I particularly like the "time machine" feature, which I have been using to record the whole AM broadcast band at the top of the hour and then play it back to hear all the recorded stations.

In the "I learned something new" department, switching to LSB or USB, I was able to identify stations that were down in the mud and unidentifiable in the AM mode.

I am also trying to find out which overnight hours are the most productive. Here is the tally, so far:

• 0200 UTC = 6 new stations
• 0400 UTC = 6 new stations
• 0500 UTC on June 16 = 2 new stations

My latest recording at 0800 UTC resulted in 8 new stations:

• CMBR - 530 kc - Habana, Cuba - 10 kW - 1390 miles
• WRGC - 540 kc - Sylva, NC - 140 W - 702 miles
• WFIR - 960 kc - Roanoke, VA - 5 kW - 480 miles
• WLLI - 990 kc - Somerset, PA - 100 W - 340 miles
• WBLQ - 1230 kc - Westerly, RI - 1 kW - 60 miles
• WCMC - 1230 kc - Wildwood, NJ - 1 kW - 206 miles
• WBIX - 1260 kc - Boston, MA - 5 kW - 107 miles
• WNBF - 1290 kc - Binghamton, NY - 5 kW - 158 miles

Antenna used is an 80-meter inverted Vee.