Halloween Loggings

WFME on 1560 kHz moved about 15 miles west from Queens, New York, to West Orange, New Jersey, and have been running a continuous test from their new transmitter site. In the evening, they are easy pickings and I entered them in the log at 0330 UTC on October 31. The new transmitter site is about 90 miles to the southwest.

Also on the 31st (at 0408), I logged a new navigational beacon: WG on 248 kHz in Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1300 miles to the northwest.

Both loggings were with the ICOM IC-R8600 and Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna (for WFME) and the 120-foot Loop on Ground antenna (for WG).

Still More E Skip

On Wednesday, 90.9 MHz was open all morning and I logged four new stations.

1339 UTC: WOWB in Brewton, Alabama, transmitting 100,000 watts, 1057 miles to the southwest

1401 UTC: KLRC in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, transmitting 100,000 watts, 1224 miles to the west-southwest

1506 UTC: WKMD in Madisonville, Kentucky, transmitting 20,500 watts, 830 miles to the west-southwest

1611 UTC: WDCB in  Glen Ellyn, Illinois, transmitting 5,000 watts, 780 miles to the west-northwest

Also on Tuesday at 0000 UTC, I logged a new TIS station on 1630 kHz, WQKY728, a Rhode Island DOT station in Cranston, Rhode Island, transmitting 10 watts 75 miles to the east

Receiver: ICOM IC-R8600, Antennas: ICOM AH-7000 discone, HyGain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical

Bigger LoG Antenna

Yesterday was a rare 73℉ November day – perfect weather for antenna work. So I put down a 128-foot Loop on Ground (LoG) antenna to replace the 60-foot LoG that my lawn mower ate during the summer.

Over twice the size of the old LoG, I expected the new LoG to outperform the old LoG and I was not disappointed!

Tuesday evening, I tuned the whole AM band listening to each station I encountered, which I found on almost every channel from 530 to 1710 kHz. I switched between the LoG, an 80-meter dipole and a Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical to compare reception of each station and in nearly all comparisons, the LoG outperformed the 80-meter dipole often by 5, 10 and even 20 dB according to the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver S-meter (the vertical was left in the dust). Worst case – in three comparisons, the LoG was only equal to the 80-meter dipole.

Whereas the old LoG was deaf on longwave, the new LoG outperformed the 80-meter dipole, the antenna I usually use on longwave. I even logged a new navigational beacon with the new LoG: HXO in Oxford/Huntsboro, North Carolina, transmitting 25 watts, 478 miles to the south-southwest.

I am very pleased with the new antenna and will take measures to keep it away from my lawn mower’s blades. 

2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast

June 21, I received and recorded the BBC's annual midwinter broadcast "to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch!" You can read all about it on The SWLing Post and see 49 seconds of my recording below.



2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast as received on June 21, 2019, 2158 UTC at WA1LOU in Wolcott, CT, USA using an ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical antenna.

I programmed the four frequencies that were originally announced for the broadcast into the IC-R8600, but learned afterwords that only three were used (5875, 7360, 9455).

I had solid copy on 9455 throughout the broadcast. 7360 had a lot of fading, but was still fair copy. 5875 was very poor copy during the last 10 minutes; there was no copy for the first 20 minutes.

Good Night

Navigational beacon EMR in Augusta, Georgia

I turned on the radio before midnight and found the longwave band full of navigational beacons. In two hours, I logged 14 new stations, ten in the USA and four in Canada, which is unusual because I typically hear Canadian beacons and occasionally USA beacons.

I also heard a lot of previously logged beacons including CBC in Cayman Brac and FIS in Key West, 1574 and 1287 miles away, respectively.

Here is a list of the new loggings:

232 kHz: GP in Gaspe, Quebec, 645 miles NNE*

248 kHz: FRT in Spartanburg-Fairmont, South Carolina, 675 miles SW

335 kHz: ZKF in Kitchener - Wellington, Ontario, 395 miles NW*

348 kHz: BUP in Pittsfield - Burnham, Maine, 279 miles NE*

351 kHz: MSQ in Brandy Station, Virginia, 337 miles SW

353 kHz: QG in Windsor, Ontario, 512 miles W

361 kHz: HB in Burlington - Alamance, Virginia, 529 miles SW

367 kHz: FVX in Farmville, Virginia, 416 miles SW

383 kHz: 7P in Iroquois Falls, Ontario, 618 miles NNW

385 kHz: EMR in Augusta-Emory, Georgia, 750 miles SSW

400 kHz: CI in Sault Ste. Marie - Kincheloe, Michigan, 660 miles NW

412 kHz: CTZ in Clinton, North Carolina, 545 miles SSW

417 kHz: HQT in Coats - Harnett, North Carolina, 528 miles SSW

417 kHz: SLP in Shelby - First River, North Carolina, 642 miles SW

Receiver used: ICOM IC-R8600
Antennas used: Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A except three asterisked (*) loggings: 80-meter inverted Vee antenna,

CHOU

Added CHOU to my AM/MW log. On graveyard 1450 kHz transmitting 1000 watts from Montreal, 269 miles to the north. ICOM IC-R8600 was the receiver, Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical was the antenna.

One Extreme to Another

My newest loggings present one extreme to another — an FM station 28 miles away and an AM station 1003 miles away.

WGSK on 90.1 MHz transmitting 77 watts from South Kent, CT, 28 miles to the west-northwest.

WEBC on 560 kHz transmitting 5,000 watts from Duluth, MN, 1003 miles to the west-northwest.

Both received on my ICOM IC-R8600 receiver, WGSK with my ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna, WEBC with my HyGain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna.

WEUP

WEUP 1700 kHz in Huntsville, AL, transmitting 1 kW 881 miles to the southwest heard here Thursday for my 32nd state on the AM/MW band!

Equipment used: ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and the Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna.

Pirate on 1710

I heard a pirate station on 1710 kHz, Wednesday evening starting at 0020 UTC. No station identification or voice announcements, the station played 1950's rock songs continuously. It was S-7 on the 80-meter inverted Vee antenna and S-9 on the Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical antenna. I connected the Terk Advantage antenna to the ICOM IC-R8600 to locate where the station was located and the signal peaked at 0°/180°.

The IC-R8600 and a Tale of Three Antennas

I have three antennas connected to my new ICOM IC-R8600 receiver:

‣ ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna for VHF and UHF

‣ Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical for HF

‣ Homebrew 80-meter inverted Vee for HF

Monday night, I heard a foreign-language station on 1700 kHz. It never identified and after an hour, it disappeared into the noise. Tuesday night, I checked 1700 and the station was there again, but it was much stronger than Monday night.

I switched between my two HF antennas, but there was not much difference. I inadvertently switched in the discone and I could hear it on the VHF/UHF antenna too, but at a lower signal level.

The IC-R8600 seemed to be so sensitive that it could hear HF signals on a VHF/UHF antenna!

I tuned the radio to the LW band. In the past using other radios, I could only hear LW activity with the 80-meter inverted Vee, but with the IC-R8600, I could also hear LW activity with the vertical antenna, but at a lower signal level. I switched to the discone and yes, I could also hear LW activity with the VHF/UHF antenna, but at a much lower signal strength.

Wow! The IC-R8600 is an amazing receiver!

By the way, I finally identified the mystery foreign-language station: Radio Mega, WJCC in Miami Springs, Florida, 1666 miles to the south-southwest. I first logged WJCC two years ago and have heard it occasionally since then, but never as strong as I have heard it with the IC-R8600! It was armchair copy last night.

500

I logged my 500th AM station this evening! And appropriately, I did it the old school way. Instead of listening to a top of the hour recording of the whole AM band, the radio was tuned to 1600 and I listened to three or four stations mixing it up. At 2316Z, as clear as a bell, I heard the musical ID of WAYC transmitting 2700 watts out of Bedford, Pennsylvania, 310 miles to the west-southwest.

Coincidentally, Bedford is the half-way point on my annual 700-mile trek to Hamvention and on many of those roadtrips, I have stayed in a motel about a mile up the road from the WAYC transmitter.

Now on to the next 500!

(Equipment used for this logging were the ELAD FDM-S2/SW2 receiver and HyGain 18AVT/WB-A antenna.)

Eight New AM/MW Loggings

During the past month, I added 8 new loggings on the AM/MW band.

Best DX (December 23, 0500Z) was WHKY on 1290 kHz, transmitting 1 kW from Hickory, North Carolina, 607 miles to the southwest.

Trans-Atlantic LW stations have been very strong during the last 30 days. No new loggings, but in most cases recent reception has been better than when I originally logged these stations.

Equipment used: ELAD FDM-S2/FDM-SW2 SDR receiver, 80-meter inverted Vee antenna or Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna.

And Good DX'ing!

The refurbished Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical antenna at WA1LOU

A Very Good Night

I recorded the top of the hour (1000 UTC on November 29) and was very pleased with the results.

WPRX was off the air for some reason. Their transmitter is 2 miles away and although it only transmits 1,000 watts, I cannot hear anything but WPRX on 1120 kHz. With WPRX off the air, I logged KMOX for the first time, the St. Louis powerhouse transmitting 50 kW, 923 miles to the west-southwest.

I also logged three other new stations:

WWLZ on 820 kHz in Horseheads, New York, transmitting 850 watts, 204 miles to the west-northwest.

WTAD on 930 kHz in Quincy, Illinois, transmitting 1,000 watts, 973 miles to the west.

WQWK on 1450 kHz in State College, Pennsylvania, transmitting 1,000 watts, 261 miles to the west-southwest.

All four were received with the ELAD FDM-S2/FDM-SW2 receiver and Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna.

New loggings

Sunday morning:

📻  1000Z on 1160 kHz, WSKW in Skowhegan, Maine, transmitting 730 W about 270 miles to the north-northeast.

Monday evening:

📻  2300Z on 94.1 MHz, W231DJ in Danbury, Connecticut, transmitting 90 W about 30 miles to the southwest. This is WLAD's translator.

📻  0355Z on 684 kHz, RNE Radio Nacional in Dos Hermanas, Spain. Mostly talk with some short musical interludes. Transmitting 600 kW about 3500 miles to the east-northeast. By far, this was the strongest transatlantic signal I have heard in a long time on MW or LW.

📻  0400Z on 1570 kHz, WISP in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, transmitting 900 W about 150 miles to the southwest. Heard the top of the hour ID.

Equipment here: ELAD FDM-S2/SW2, ICOM AH-7000 discone (FM), 80-meter inverted Vee (LW/MW), Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical.

Transatlantic x 5

The last 24 hours on the AM/MW band have been remarkable. Conditions have been very good and I logged four five new stations and all four five were outside the USA.

ERTU Quran Karem on 864 kHz transmitting 500 kW from Santah, Egypt, 5,489 miles to the east-northeast at 2325Z, 2017-10-12

RNE Radio Nacional on 774 kHz transmitting 100 kW from Valenciana, Spain, 3,703 miles to the east-northeast at 0500Z, 2017-10-13

RNE Radio Nacional on 855 kHz transmitting 100 kW from Murcia, Spain, 3,700 miles to the east-northeast at 0507Z, 2017-10-13 

SER Radio on 1044 kHz transmitting 50 kW from San Sebastian, Spain, 3,503 miles to the east-northeast at 0513Z, 2017-10-13

SBC Radio on 1044 kHz transmitting from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 6,921 miles to the east-northeast at 2305, 2017-10-13

Equipment: ELAD FDM-S2/FDM-SW-2 SDR receiver and Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna for the Egypt logging and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna for the other loggings.

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.