Antenna Revival

I have a lot of vintage aluminum squirreled away in various locations on our premises. All of it is of the VHF and UHF variety except for one, a Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical intended for the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter HF bands. I bought it new in November 1980 for $81 and installed it at my old folks' home, but I seldom used it because I had a TET HB43sp 4-element beam that I favored for 20, 15 and 10 meters and I almost never got on 80 and 40. When I moved out of my old folks' home in the fall of 1983, I disassembled and packed up the Hy-Gain and never used it again.

Considering all my antenna choices, I thought about the Hy-Gain and wondered if it was a viable option. I found it in pieces in the shed and was surprised that it seemed to be in decent shape; most of the nuts and bolts were rusty, but otherwise, just dusty. However, there were parts missing ― the U-bolts for mounting the antenna and the four radials of the antenna's top hat.

None of the U-bolts in my hardware collection were the correct size, so I visited a big box hardware store, but none of the U-bolts they sold filled the bill. I probably will find what I need somewhere online, but in the meantime, I decided that two or three hose clamps would do the job temporarily.

Replacing the radials was more problematical. My plan was to use some Copperweld that I had on hand, straighten it as best as I could and solder ring terminals to the ends of each radial for mounting to the antenna. The only problem was that I did not know the proper length of each radial.

Reading various online top hat articles, it seemed the longer, the better was the recommended length for the radials. So I cut each radial to 24 inches, a length that was long, but not so long that the radials drooped much.

The weather finally cleared mid-morning on Field Day, so after lunch I assembled the antenna in about an hour and had it up in the air by the mid-afternoon. I did not have time to run a coax cable into the shack, so I brought the shack outdoors and connected my Elecraft KX3 transceiver to the antenna with a 25-foot run of coax and operated from my deck.

I went up and down the bands just to hear what I could hear and I was happy with the results. Reception with the vertical was on par with my 80-meter inverted Vee.

Next, I checked the SWR on each of the five pre-WARC bands and the KX3's internal antenna tuner was able to tune the antenna to 1.5:1 or better on each band.

I connected a microphone to the KX3 and began answering Field Day CQs transmitting 5 watts using the KX3's internal battery (1B Connecticut). I did not work all the stations I called and I did a lot more listening that transmitting, but in about 45 minutes, I worked a half dozen stations on 80, 40 and 20 meters. Nothing on 10 or 15 ― 15 meters seemed dead and the activity on 10 was sparse.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the antenna revival and plan to include the Hy-Gain as part of my antenna farm.  

680 to 690

Monitoring 680 kc got me two new ones, CFTR mentioned in the previous post and WINR in Binghamton, NY. Transmitting 5 kW, 150 miles to the west-northwest, I heard WINR out of the blue for about 10 minutes around 2315 UTC on the KX3.

Yesterday morning, I moved the car radio to 690 and listened to a station way down in the mud for about half my commute until CKGM took over the frequency. I never heard a station I.D., but I thought I heard West Virginia mentioned. Looking up West Virginia 690 radio stations, I found only one: WELD, but I had my doubts that it was WELD because it was only transmitting 14 watts at the time.

This morning listening to 690, I heard the station again, but today the signal was much better and I heard the WELD I.D. more than once: 14 watts, 370 miles to the west-southwest on the stock radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru!

Something Different

I have only two loggings on 970: WHCU and WWL in Ithaca and New Orleans, respectively, so I sat on that frequency last night hoping to add a new one to the log. I heard three stations: WHCU, a station broadcasting the Kansas vs. Villanova basketball game and a station way down in the mud playing mid-20th Century MOR.

I never heard an I.D. from the two unidentified stations, but from about 0245 to 0315 UTC, I heard a Morse Code transmission of the letters "RR" once per minute. I had no idea, so I searched the Internet for a clue and the consensus was that it was Radio Rebelde transmitting 1 kW from Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, 1409 miles to the south-southwest. I used my Elecraft KX3 and Terk Advantage antenna for this catch.

That is my third Radio Rebelde logging on three different frequencies, but the first two were traditional voice and music broadcasts; the third was something completely different!

WURD on 900

CHML dominates 900 kc here most of the night, but frequently other stations do battle with CHML and try to takeover the frequency. They always lose, but my goal this week was to log a new one on 900 (in addition to CHML, I also have WGHM in the log for 900).

The top of the hour is the most productive time to nab a new one, so I started listening at 2255 UTC last night and heard two or three stations depending on which antenna I used and which way they were swung (for the two that I can swing).

Once I identified CHML, I nulled it out with my two swinging antennas and I could hear a station down in the mud, but in the clear that was either to my northeast (WGHM?) or southwest (?).

There was no station identification at 2300, but I hung in there and was rewarded a minute later with the I.D. of WURD transmitting 1 kW in Philadelphia, 180 miles to the southwest. I was using the Elecraft KX3 radio and Terk Advantage antenna at the time of the I.D.

970 x 2

970 is another frequency where I have only one logging, so I dialed up 970 on the KX3 Sunday evening at 2242 UTC and heard the station identification for WESO transmitting 1 kW, 59 miles to the east-northeast in Southbridge, Massachusetts. At 2248 UTC, WESO disappeared! I looked up the sunset time and it was 2248, so I assumed that WESO switched to nighttime power (21 watts) when the sun went down. All I could hear after that was WNYM, so I shut off the KX3 and ate dinner.

Out the door at 1130 UTC this morning, I tuned to 970 on the car radio and immediately logged another new one: WZAN transmitting 5 kW, 190 miles to the northeast in Portland, Maine. I lost WZAN about ten miles into my commute to work. (Sunrise was at 1112 UTC.)

Dry Spell Ends

Conditions have been very good lately. The Canadians have been loud and clear on my car radio during my morning commute and in the evening, stations from the south and west have been solid on the KX3. But for ten days, I had nothing new to show for it until last night.

ESPN Radio 1270, WDLA, from Walton, New York, dominated 1270 kc at the top of the hour of (2300 UTC) transmitting 89 watts* 120 miles to my west-northwest. Received with the Elecraft KX3 and C.Crane CC twin coil ferrite antenna.

* I go by the book when I list the stations' power. Some will say that WDLA must have been running daytime power in order to be heard by me. Maybe so, but how do I know ― how does anybody know? So I check if my logging occurred before or after sunset/sunrise and list the legal power for that station at that time.

1510 in the morning

Logged two new ones just before dawn on 1510 kc:

WFAI on Thursday morning 1145 UTC transmitting gospel music with 2500 watts from Salem, NJ, 190 miles to the southwest. Elecraft KX3 radio and C.Crane CC twin coil ferrite antenna were the equipment.

WLAC on Friday morning, 1125 UTC, transmitting 50,000 watts from Nashville, 830 miles to the west-southwest. Began hearing WLAC as I pulled out of my driveway and continued hearing it until it was captured by WMEX about half way to work. Also heard WFAI briefly near the end of my commute. Equipment was the stock radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

CHIN

Monday evening (2220 UTC), I logged Chinese language station, CHIN, transmitting 30 kW from Toronto on 1540 kc. CHIN is 360 miles to the north-northwest. Equipment used was the Elecraft KX3 radio and C.Crane CC twin coil ferrite antenna.

1710 TIS

Earlier this week, there was a discussion on the International Radio Club of America (IRCA) e-mail list about the low level of activity on 1710 kc. During the e-mail exchange, some folks listed the stations that they had heard on 1710. Among those stations was the Travelers Information Station (TIS) for the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

Springfield is less than 40 miles away as the crow flies, so I thought that that TIS was my best shot at logging something on 1710.

I began monitoring 1710 on the car radio during my daily commute to and from work, but did not hear any intelligence.

At home, I did the same with the KX3 switching between antennas to hear what I could hear.

Tuesday evening with the KX3 connected to the C.Crane CC twin coil ferrite antenna, I could hear a station down in the mud, but it was too weak to make any sense of it. Wednesday evening, conditions were better and I heard a woman describing the Armory and giving directions to the Armory from the nearby Interstate highways. Her announcement was on a continuous loop and was repeated every minute or so.

The Springfield Armory is 38 miles to the north-northeast and their TIS is transmitting a maximum of 10 watts. Looking it up on the FCC database, there is nothing listed for this station, so I have no call sign for it, but nevertheless, it is now in my log.

The time now is 4:45

Driving to work this morning listening to a Tower of Babble on graveyard frequency 1400 kc, I heard, "The time now is 4:45," but nothing more. Considering that it was 6:45 when I heard that time check, it would have been a very good catch if I identified the source two Time Zones to my west (a minimum of 1400 miles away), but I did not.

C'est la vie.

I started listening to 1400 on the way to work Monday morning. I don't know why they call 1400 and the other graveyard frequencies "graveyard" frequencies because they sure are alive. 1400 sounds more like a beehive than a graveyard.

I continued listening to 1400 when I returned home after work and was rewarded with a clear station identification at the top of the hour (0300 UTC): WICK in Scranton, Pennsylvania, transmitting 1 kW, 140 miles to my west. Heard that on the Elecraft KX3 and the Terk Advantage antenna. By the way, I think I heard WICK briefly on the car radio this morning, too.

Sunday evening (2200 UTC), tuning around, I stopped briefly on 700 kc to listen to somebodies whining about their constitutional rights on WLW (Cincinnati). Listening closely, I could hear a weak Spanish station under WLW, so I nulled out WLW as best I could with the C.Crane CC twin coil ferrite antenna and managed to identify WDMV transmitting 5 kW from Walkersville, Maryland, 275 miles to my southwest.

WDMV was a nice catch ― only the second station logged on 700, which is usually dominated by WLW in my neck of the woods.

1590 x 2

Logged two new ones on 1590 kc last evening.

WAKR in Akron, Ohio, transmitting 5 kW, 450 miles to the west with a station ID at 2133 UTC, I logged this one driving home from work on the stock AM-FM radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

WPSN in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, transmitting 15 watts (!) to the west with a station ID at the top of the hour (2359 UTC). Logged from home on my Elecraft KX3 and Terk Advantage antenna.

WBOB in Jacksonville

WBOB, 600 kc, Jacksonville, Florida, ran a test from 0500 to 0800 UTC Sunday. I had my doubts that I would hear them (WBOB is 924 miles to my south-southwest), but I stayed up anyway and was rewarded with a new log entry.

I began hearing WBOB at 0516 UTC and monitored 600 kc until 0605 UTC. During that time, I heard voice and Morse Code station identifications, as well as, music (the Price is Right theme song), a variety of tone sweeps and telephone busy signals. WBOB was competing with local WICC and an unidentified Spanish station (it may be Radio Rebelde in Cuba), but I managed to hear "something" from WBOB most of the 49 minutes I monitored 600 kc.

I e-mailed a reception report, which the station already confirmed and promised a QSL card real soon now.

I used my Elecraft KX3 with the 80-meter inverted Vee dipole most of the time, but the signal was so good that I tried listening with my C.Crane Skywave receiver using its stock internal antenna and heard a voice ID loud and clear.

WESR and WTSN

I added two new stations to the log.

WESR on 1330 kc transmitting 51 watts, 307 miles south-southwest in Onley-Onancock, Virginia, monitored at 0000 UTC Tuesday on my Elecraft KX3 and 80-meter inverted Vee.

WTSN on 1270 kc transmitting 5,000 watts, 152 miles northeast from Dover, New Hampshire, monitored at 1140 UTC Wednesday on the stock AM FM radio in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

1070 Night

It was an interesting night!

With 1080 kc occupied by 50,000 watts of WTIC and its IBOC 12 miles away, 1070 kc can be challenging. So I always check 1070 to see what’s happening.

Last night, shortly after sunset, there was no interference from WTIC (was IBOC off?) and I could clearly hear a weak station playing Christmas pop songs with the KX3’s receiver and the 80-meter inverted Vee. I listened for a station id, but I could never decipher what the announcer was saying. I quit listening after the signal faded into the noise.

I checked again around 1 AM local time (0600 UTC) and same thing: one Christmas pop song after another, but the announcer’s voice was muddled and I could not get any useful information.

Up at 5 AM EST /1000 UTC to feed the menagerie, I checked 1070 again and Christmas pop songs are still on the air. I switched to the Terk Advantage loop antenna and heard more of the same, but turning the antenna about 30 degrees, I nulled out the mystery station, but now I could hear an even weaker station also playing Christmas pop songs (Elvis’ Blue Christmas).

I switched back to the 80-meter antenna and sat on 1070 for awhile. Finally, I could decipher what the announcer was saying. After a couple of ads for businesses located in “Greenville,” I figured I was hearing WNCT in Greenville, NC, transmitting 10 kW 481 miles to the south-southwest.

WEMJ

Top of the hour, specifically at 0000 UTC last night, the station ID of WEMJ popped out of the cacophony of 1490 kc. Transmitting 1,000 watts 152 miles to the north-northeast in Laconia, New Hampshire, I heard WEMJ on my KX3 and 80-meter inverted Vee.

2 new in 3 minutes

I was connecting a new power supply (a Powerwerx SS-30DV) to the KX3 and PX3 when I noticed that the top of the hour was approaching. So I powered up the KX3 and ended up on 1390 kc listening to a commercial for something or other, then at 0000 UTC, the station ID, WFBL in Syracuse, NY, running 5 kW, 200 miles to my west-northwest.

I quickly moved over to 1380 kc and heard a woman speaking Chinese. It had to be WKDM in New York City. I don't understand Chinese, so I confirmed that it was WKDM by listening to it on the Internet's TuneIn. Running 5 kW, their transmitter is located in the New Jersey Meadowlands, 81 miles to my southwest.

Both new loggings were captured with the Elecraft KX3 and an 80 meter inverted Vee antenna.

Good Catch

This week, I monitored 1200 kc off and on because I could often hear other stations down in the mud under WXKS, which dominates that frequency here. Thursday evening at about 2345 UTC, I was rewarded with an unknown station broadcasting modern black gospel music; it was coming in so strongly that at times, I could not hear WXKS at all. The signal got stronger at the top of the hour approached, but I missed a station identification. However, I did hear the name of the program that was on at 0000 UTC: the Big Brother CJ Show.

Checking my sources, there are not many gospel stations on 1200 in my neck of the woods. I narrowed the choices down to WCHB near Detroit and WMIR in South Carolina. The station's signal peaked with my Terk Advantage loop antenna favoring the south and north, so WMIR was more likely than WCHB to the west. Checking with WMIR, they do broadcast the Big Brother CJ Show at 0000 UTC, so that is how I logged it using my Elecraft KX3 transceiver with the Terk.

WMIR is 630 miles to my south-southwest and was transmitting only 11 watts at the time!

Two New Ones

Monday evening, I finally identified the Spanish language station on 920 kc: WURA transmitting 7 kW from Quantico, Virginia, 310 miles to my southwest. The station was very weak, but solid until sunset when it switches to 750 watts and lets WHJJ and CKNX vie for 920.

At 1056 UTC Saturday, I caught the station id of WKMB transmitting 250 watts from Stirling, New Hersey, 100 miles to my southwest. This was a nice catch because it was on the often difficult 1070 kc... difficult due to the IBOC QRM from the 50-kW WTIC on 1080 kc, 15 miles to my northeast.

Both new ones were captured using the Elecraft KX3 with the Terk Advantage antenna.

CKNX... not new

920 kc has been my hang-out for the past few nights. WHJJ in Providence dominates 920, but when I null it out with the Terk Advantage antenna I hear a Spanish station just after sunset, which gives way to a country & western station that competes unsuccessfully with WHJJ the rest of the night.

I have been unable to identify the Spanish station mainly because my Spanish is weak.

The country & western station has been too weak to identify until last night at 0220 UTC when it dominated 920 for about ten minutes. Turned out to be CKNX, about 450 miles to my north-northwest in Wingham, Ontario.

I thought CKNX was a new one, but I had already logged it back in June 2013.

Now, if I can only identify the Spanish station! I am sure it would be a new one.

By the way, I was using the Elecraft KX3 with the Terk antenna.

Top of the Mountain to You!

ICOM AH-7000 up on the roof

I am on vacation this week trying to get some antenna work completed before the weather becomes inhospitable for working outdoors. Monday I put my ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna up on the roof. My daughter assisted from the ground guiding the coax and antenna up to me on the roof. The install was successful.

After dinner I had an opportunity to test the antenna installation as well as finally get my Elecraft KX3 2-meter transporter (KX3-2M) on the air with a 2-meter antenna. After tuning around and hitting a bunch of repeaters, I settled on 146.52 MHz simplex where I found a conversation already in progress. They were locals who I did not know, so I hung back.

After that conversation ended, I heard WO2M in Mattituck, Long Island calling DX. I called him and he got right back to me, but cut it short because he said the band was open and he was looking for bigger fish to the south. No matter, I was pleased that my 2 watts into the discone managed to be heard 50 miles away.

I sat back waiting for him to catch the bigger fish. Meanwhile,  I heard three other stations: Pittsfield, Mass,  Clinton, Mass and Manasquan, New Jersey, 60, 85 and 120 miles away, respectively.

I was very satisfied with the operation of the KX3 transverter and ICOM discne antenna.

By the way, I logged a new AM station on Saturday: WENE on 1340 kc running 1000 watts from Gloversville, NY, 120 miles north-northwest. It was the first new logging using the KX3 (the antenna was my 40 meter dipole).

Today, the weather was wet, so I postponed my antenna work plans to tomorrow.